Science Fiction

Genre is Not a Dirty Word

/ Nicola | Thoughts on Fantasy / 5 Comments
Photo by Ian Collins (CC BY-ND 2.0)

I’ve encountered quite a few fantasy and science fiction authors – famous and popular ones at that – who, when asked about their decision to write in the genre, say something along the lines of “oh, well, I just write what I write and someone slots it into a genre later, I don’t think about what genre I want to write in”. There’s often this additional implication that ‘genre’ is a dirty word – that is the oppressive tool of publishers and bookshops. Books get hemmed in and categorised by this evil notion of genre, and their authors get pigeon-holed as ‘fantasy writers’ or ‘crime writers’.

Frankly, I never understand this. I love the word genre.  Continue reading →

Learning a Fantasy Language? Apparently There’s an App for That

/ Nicola | Thoughts on Fantasy / 5 Comments
Galadriel’s Lament. Photo by Roberta Cortese (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

I work part time at an institute that runs classes in a whole range of foreign languages. Real-world languages, that is – like French and Arabic and Japanese. On our feedback forms at the end of each course, we ask students to suggest any new languages that they would like us to offer in the following year. One day a colleague came to me, confused, with a feedback form in hand, and asked:

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The Power of “What If?” Premises in Science Fiction and Fantasy

/ Nicola | Thoughts on Fantasy / 2 Comments

Image: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

There’s no doubt that a really good “what if?” scenario – a fascinating premise that envisions a society or world with a pivotal difference to our own – is a big hook for a speculative fiction book or film. An intriguing premise will almost always entice me to go see the film at the cinema, particularly a science fiction film.

On the whole, science fiction does these “what if” scenarios really well (especially dystopian sci-fi), and the concepts are memorable. I’m sure many people could guess which popular science fiction films the below scenarios refer to: Continue reading →

Confessions of an Audiobook Convert

/ Nicola | Thoughts on Fantasy / 4 Comments
Photo by Nicola Alter (CC BY SA 4.0)

If you’d told me a year ago that I’d be looking forward to mundane things like morning commutes and chopping onions, solely because that meant I could binge on an audiobook… well, I wouldn’t have told you you were crazy, but I’d probably have nodded and smiled and filed you away in the weird person trying too hard to sell me something category. I’d have maybe agreed to give the whole “listening to a book” thing a try, but it would have been grudgingly and with scepticism.

In fact, I’d say I had a definite prejudice against audiobooks, even though I’d never listened to one. Why? As an aspiring author, I’d started going to readings.

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The ‘Ye Olde’ in Epic Fantasy: 5 Archaisms Explained

/ Nicola | Thoughts on Fantasy / 3 Comments

Here Be Dragons Map

The other day I found myself explaining the word ‘wont’ to someone. Not the contraction ‘won’t’, but rather its apostrophe-less unrelated twin:

Wont
adjective: accustomed, used, given, inclined. e.g. “As he was wont to do”
— New Oxford American Dictionary

In other words, the one almost no-one uses. I believe I was attempting to add a vaguely historical flourish to a comment I was making. Unfortunately the person I was speaking to was German, and wont turned out to be a word they hadn’t yet added to their English vocabulary (can’t blame them really).

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Why the End of the World Will Never Get Old

/ Nicola | Thoughts on Fantasy / 1 Comment

X-Men Days of Future Past Poster

I recently went to the cinema to see the latest X-Men film, Days of Future Past. I’m a massive fan of the X-Men series, and to date none of the films have disappointed me. This newest instalment was no different. I loved it. A thoroughly entertaining and gripping addition to the franchise.

However, it gave me a slightly different emotional experience to the other six films. Not in a bad way, I still enjoyed it, but the experience of watching it just felt a little… different.  Continue reading →

Why We Read Fantasy: Is There a Secret Ingredient?

/ Nicola | Thoughts on Fantasy / 9 Comments

For years, perhaps since the earliest fantasy criticism, authors and critics have touted the element of ‘wonder’ as being central to fantasy, and to some extent, science fiction.

We’re often told that it’s why we’re drawn to the genre, that it’s this particular intangible, magical feeling of awe that we are seeking when we dive into Middle Earth, linger in the corridors of Hogwarts, or encounter the many worlds and peoples of Star Trek.  Continue reading →