Death

Poisons, Antidotes and Remedies in Fantasy

/ Nicola @ Thoughts on Fantasy / 13 Comments
Box of old vials containing arsenic, belladonna and other substances at the German Pharmacy Museum.

The dramatic regicide-by-poison in Game of Thrones may have placed them centre-stage, but poisons have always been rife in the fantasy and science fiction genres, along with antidotes and remedies.

Poisoning may simply seem like a convenient (if dastardly) way to kill a character, but poisons and antidotes are used in a variety of ways to add twists, tension, and complexities to fantasy plots. Continue reading →

Are Movies Bigger Tearjerkers Than Books?

/ Nicola @ Thoughts on Fantasy / 13 Comments
Photo from This Isn’t Happiness Blog

When it comes to books and movies, I would dub myself a moderate-to-heavy crier. There are highly sensitive people who cry at the drop of a hat, and there are steely never-criers who could count on one hand the things that moistened their eyes. I’d say I’m somewhere in the middle, leaning toward the quick-to-cry end of the scale.

So the other day on Facebook group when someone asked the question “which books made you cry? ” it got me thinking. Continue reading →

Are They Really Dead? 5 Kinds of False Deaths in Fantasy

/ Nicola @ Thoughts on Fantasy / 7 Comments
Photo by Alan Weir via Flickr CC BY 2.0

When a favourite character dies in a fantasy novel, movie or TV show, our sense of sadness or shock is often tempered by that niggling question that immediately presents itself… are they really dead?

And we can’t be blamed for asking it. Continue reading →

The Taboo on Killing the Villain

/ Nicola @ Thoughts on Fantasy / 2 Comments

I don’t know if I’m alone in this, but every time the hero spares the life of the dastardly, evil villain, I roll my eyes. Even when I was a kid this annoyed me.

Don’t get me wrong, in the real world I’m no fan of vigilantly justice, or the death penalty. I don’t think random good Samaritans should be offing people because they decided it was the right thing to do.

But in the fictional world, when the ass-kicking, world-saving, all-round nice guy or gal battles the evil villain, and finally gets the chance to end their reign of terror once and for all… and they let them live??  Continue reading →