Showing posts with label Thoughts on fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thoughts on fantasy. Show all posts
Monday, March 4, 2024

Our modern problems with reading

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We don’t have infinite time. The amount of reading attention any new book must compete with is getting progressively smaller. So we have to ...
8 comments:
Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Ruminations on subversive and restorative impulses, and conservative and liberal modes of fantasy fiction

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Two towers, old and new. Liberalism seeks to make anew. Conservatism desires to preserve the time-tested.  The former represents the creativ...
10 comments:
Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Are we in a new sword-and-sorcery renaissance? Not yet. At least commercially.

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Some corners of the internet are speculating whether we’re in a third sword-and-sorcery wave. This assumes a first, unnamed wave in which S&...
14 comments:
Saturday, April 1, 2023

Heroes behaving badly: The wondrous and bastardly creations of Jack Vance

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S&S protagonists: Occasionally lovable scumbags. Cugel the Clever probably isn’t a guy you want to invite to dinner. You’d be guaranteed...
Saturday, January 14, 2023

The big Excalibur post

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Up on the blog of DMR Books is the big Excalibur post I've been meaning to write for years. 2K words about not just one of my favorite f...
3 comments:
Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Raging against Twitter and the dying of the written word

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“Does anyone go sit down and read an entire blog post anymore? Most people aren’t going to go read an entire 500 word blog.” These sentences...
12 comments:
Sunday, November 6, 2022

An observation about heavy metal and sword-and-sorcery

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Blue Cheer and Deep Purple = Lord Dunsany and James Branch Cabell Black Sabbath = Robert E. Howard Judas Priest and Iron Maiden = Fritz Leib...
3 comments:
Saturday, October 1, 2022

Of Jack London, Earle Labor, and William Dean Howells

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I was listening to a recent Art of Manliness podcast in which host Brett McKay replayed “Jack London’s Literary Code,” an episode originall...
6 comments:
Friday, September 2, 2022

Fantastic! And thoughts on pastiches

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More witches! Art by Jones. Recently I picked up seven issues of Fantastic. This former digest-sized magazine ran from 1952-1980 before fol...
6 comments:
Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Getting political in fantasy fiction

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A good idea? Or, should politics be avoided? Can it ever be avoided, when authors are humans and presumably possessed of some political bent...
10 comments:
Wednesday, August 3, 2022

Some ruminations on sword-and-sorcery’s slide into Grimdark

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Sword-and-sorcery continues to show stirrings, and life. Outlets like Tales from the Magician’s Skull, DMR Books, new projects like Whetston...
8 comments:
Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Literary freedom: My stance, and an explanation

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Literary freedom is my credo. With very few exceptions, I think you should be able to write whatever you want. What does this look like in p...
5 comments:
Wednesday, July 20, 2022

S&S updates: Dunsany, New Edge, book deals, and a fine response to a troubling essay

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Hail to the King of Dreams, baby. A roundup of recent-ish news and updates on the sacred genre. My most recent essay for Tales from the Magi...
5 comments:
Thursday, June 16, 2022

On staying in and weaving out of reading lanes, and Stephen King’s Christine

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Feel the fury, of a possessed 1958 Plymouth Fury My reading often keeps me in a well-worn, familiar travel lane.  That lane is, broadly, fan...
3 comments:
Saturday, May 21, 2022

A rant on the practice of maddening literalism

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I’m not one for rants these days… I try to keep things positive, always, because life is short, and walking around angry is no way to live i...
6 comments:
Wednesday, April 27, 2022

On suspect art, sword-and-sorcery, and good storytelling

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Confession: I really like the old forms of S&S. I love my old purple-edged Lancers, and Heavy Metal (the movie, and bands like Manowar)....
8 comments:
Saturday, March 26, 2022

Fueling the Fire of Fantasy Fiction: Gaming’s Influence on Today’s Writers

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Another post of mine is up and can be found on the blog of Goodman Games/Tales from the Magician's Skull: Fueling the Fire of Fantasy Fi...
Wednesday, March 9, 2022

Fantasy without Tolkien? Yes that happened, and yes it matters.

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My latest post is up on the blog of DMR Books: "Fantasy without Tolkien? Yes that happened, and yes it matters." Check it out here...
3 comments:
Friday, February 25, 2022

In the house, with Rogues in the House

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The latest episode of Rogues in the House is out, with me joining the crew for a panel session on the current state of sword-and-sorcery. Al...
9 comments:
Friday, December 17, 2021

Old Norse Saga part deux: I missed an opportunity to plug Steve Tompkins

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With a few more days of separation from my recent DMR Books blog post, I realize I missed an opportunity to plug this wonderful essay by the...
4 comments: