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Fantasy

Rewriting Our Own Fantastic Histories

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Fantasy novels, especially High Fantasy like Tad Williams “The Dragonbone Chair”, J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings”, Terry Brooks’ “Shanara” or Robert Jordan’s “The Wheel of Time” have a special place in my heart. Not so much “The Game of Thrones”. Not because it’s not well done. It is. It’s amazing, and well plotted. But damn, it’s so dark and violent. And shaded. I tend to be a bit of a round-robin reader, bouncing back and forth between science fiction and fantasy. I love science fiction for its speculation about what might be coming. But more and more, those … Read more

Announcement: No Fae is An Island, by Angel Martinez

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Just got this notice from MLR Press. So exciting: Diego comes home to a world that refused to stand still in his absence—there’s a vampire on Tearmann Island’s security force, a curious selkie has followed him home, and so much to do to make the world a safer place for magic, but Diego’s no longer sure he has the right to interfere. Three years ago, Danu banished Diego for a time from the human world. Three years and three days doesn’t seem that long to be away from home but living among the wild /fae /can change a man and … Read more

Building a Magical (Gay) World

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QSF member Edmond Manning has graciously allowed us to cross-post this one, which originally appeared on RJ Scott’s blog: I have always loved fairy tales. I love stories sculpted out of ancient prophecy and malicious curses, magic healing tears and quests to recapture jewel-encrusted chalices. The problem is that I always wanted to believe in these stories but I had a hard time letting go of reality and explanations. What powers the spells? How does a 900 lb. unicorn fly through the sky on such delicate, prissy wings? How exactly do you make the jewel-encrusted chalice so that it doesn’t … Read more

It’s Time to Out Some Wizards

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Okay, so we all now know that Dumbledore, the head of Hogwarts school of magic in the Harry Potter series, was secretly gay. And we also noted Ian McKellen, who has played Gandalf in the Lord of the rings movies, is also gay, even if the character of Gandalf is not. And I always suspected that Frodo and Sam had little thing going on the side. It’s a proven fact that the more gay people you know, the more likely you are to support LGBT writes, so I think the time is come. My challenge to you today – name … Read more

Magic in the Everyday World

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For today’s column on writing and reading LGBT Fantasy, I thought I’d go in a little bit different direction. Most of our previous discussions have focused on high fantasy – elves and dwarves in the tradition of Tolkien or epic fantasies like Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time, or the idea of Faery and its interaction with the real world. But what about stories that dip their toes into the fantasy pool, but in a more subtle way? These stories are often called “magical realism”, and can involve a touch of the supernatural, the unexplained, or simply something a little outside … Read more

Vegetables as Characters

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OK, so we’re watching a recent episode of the awesome show Face Off, where make-up artists compete against one another. This one’s called Twisted Trees, and it’s about creating a character that’s based on a certain type of tree. A few writers have written vegetarian characters in Fantasy – the Ents of the Lord of the Rings spring quickly to mind. Or how about the Ellcrys in Terry Brooks’ Shannara series, that springs from a living being? So today I’m wondering about writing vegetation – trees, bushes, heck, even fungus – as fully realized characters. Have you done it? Have … Read more

Why No Gay Sex in Game of Thrones Books?

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I understand that most people watch the HBO series “Game Of Thrones” for its copious and brutal acts of violence and for its regular bouts of carnal exercise. It’s noticeable, however, that this carnal exercise has explicitly been of the heterosexual variety in George R.R. Martin’s books, though that’s not the case on the TV show adapted from the novels. Why might this be?… “Frankly, it is the way I prefer to write fiction because that is the way all of us experience life. You’re seeing me from your viewpoint, you’re not seeing what someone over here is seeing,” Martin … Read more

Religious Iconography in Fantasy and Paranormal Stories

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Since today is Sunday, it seems fitting to tackle a new topic here at QSF – the use of religious iconography, including angels, demons and devils, in Fantasy and Paranormal stories. This practice has a long and studied tradition, going back to some of the very roots of Fantasy (see CS Lewis and the Narnia Chronicles) and Paranormal (often drawing on themes of heaven and hell). But it seems to me that there’s a particular opportunity here for storytelling from an LGBt point of view – our community was long persecuted by the Church, and even now, most opposition to … Read more

Writing in Your Own Tongue

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Some very successful fantasy novels have flirted with inventing their own language or languages – among them the Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien was a professional philologist and Old English specialist) and George R. Martin’s Game of Thrones. But many writers just use a few choice words in their new lingua, to give their stories a bit of High Fantasy flavor. To be sure, a new language isn’t an absolute necessity in Fantasy – it really depends on the story you are telling. But it can add a bit of flair and flavor to your work, setting it apart … Read more

Q&A With Anna Frost, Author of The Fox’s Mask

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Anna Frost, a fantasy writer with a great YA series – The Fox’s Mask, The Fox’s Quest, and The Fox’s God – stopped by the QSF blog for a Q&A. QSF: How did you get into writing? Frost: I was a voracious reader as a child/teen and at some point it occurred to me I could write my own stories too. There was no stopping me from then on. QSF: Is this your first book? Frost: Most writers have old manuscripts hidden away, stories that didn’t work out or weren’t good enough, but yes I would call this my first … Read more