There seems to be a fixed idea that, at least until very recently, most fantasy has been set in a mediaeval-type setting. This is almost an article of faith to many people, in the face of all evidence, and shows that they have very little understanding of what mediaeval1 really means. Some fantasy authors haveContinue reading “The Middle Ages That Never Were”
Tag Archives: world-making
You Get Your Sword and I’ll Get My Trowel — Archaeological Fantasy
We’ve always been fascinated by far-off lands, unknown civilisations and lost cities. Ancient legends, from Gilgamesh to Odysseus to St Brendan, told of voyages that discovered lands lying just a little off the map. During the late mediaeval and early modern period, countless books were published purporting to tell of voyages to bizarre and fantasticContinue reading “You Get Your Sword and I’ll Get My Trowel — Archaeological Fantasy”
Diversity in Fantasy
This is a heavily rewritten version of a post I wrote for my old blog almost exactly ten years ago. At the time, I felt points needed to be made about diversity in fantasy, but I suppose I tacitly assumed that things would continue getting gradually better, as they had up until that point. WhatContinue reading “Diversity in Fantasy”
A Fantasy World That’s All Grown Up
There’s a very clear traditional idea of what a fantasy world is supposed to be like. It has warriors riding horses and wielding swords and axes. It doesn’t have them travelling on planes and operating computers. It just doesn’t. But why not? After all, our world has had all that and much, much more, atContinue reading “A Fantasy World That’s All Grown Up”
Who Wants to Live Forever?
About forty years ago, I wrote a short story exploring the idea of immortality. The main character (a kind of everyman — or everywoman in this case) does a favour to a supernatural being who, in gratitude, offers to make her immortal. As she’s a bit unsure what to make of this, he takes herContinue reading “Who Wants to Live Forever?”
Empires, Evil and Otherwise
You don’t have to travel far within either fantasy or science fiction before you trip over an empire. If anything, in fact, they’re even more prevalent in SF than in fantasy, from the empire of the Klingons and the one that strikes back to the enemies of the Foundation and of the Atreides. Most areContinue reading “Empires, Evil and Otherwise”
Introducing Loshi vi Assarid — The Thief of Shimeth
Back in the late 1970s, I wrote a short story called The Gift of the Outcast. It was a deliberate attempt to write something that was closer to traditional sword & sorcery than the more elaborate fantasy I was writing. It concerned a young thief, Loshi, in a city called Shimeth who was hired toContinue reading “Introducing Loshi vi Assarid — The Thief of Shimeth”
Witch World by Andre Norton — A Retrospect
Back in the 1970s, after reading Lord of the Rings had changed my world, I naturally went looking for similar books. Lin Carter and the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series proved invaluable, not only for the old classics they reprinted, but also for the many other authors and series Carter name-checked in his various introductions. OneContinue reading “Witch World by Andre Norton — A Retrospect”
A City as Old as Time
You come across it constantly in fantasy. An ancient city, dreaming in its senescence. A city so old that no records have survived of when it was founded. A city as old as time. But surely that’s nonsense. Cities don’t really last that long, do they? Don’t they come and go, lasting a few centuriesContinue reading “A City as Old as Time”
The Quels — Expanding the World
Lately, prequels seem to be everywhere on TV. There’s nothing new about prequels, but in the past few months we’ve had (with varied results) prequels for Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings and The Witcher. “Quels” (sequels, prequels and paraquels) aren’t restricted to any one genre, but they seem particularly prevalent in SF andContinue reading “The Quels — Expanding the World”
The Fantasy Worlds of Nyki Blatchley 