Judging a Book by Its Cover: 17 Typical Features of Fantasy Covers

December 28, 2015July 22, 2017 / Nicola @ Thoughts on Fantasy / 18 Comments

Chart showing trends in fantasy cover in 2008 and 2009, created by Orbit Books, source: The Chart of Fantasy Art Part One

If you’re wandering through a store or scanning a website, it’s generally easy to recognise a fantasy novel. Most covers have features and styles that make them unmistakable. In fact, fantasy and science fiction novels have a history of standing out… and not always in a positive way. They are famous for their gaudy, bizarre and sometimes downright ugly cover art – there’s even a website dedicated to collecting the worst sci-fi and fantasy book covers. Continue reading →

What is Fantasy Fiction?

November 30, 2015July 28, 2016 / Nicola @ Thoughts on Fantasy / 5 Comments

Photo by Willis (CC BY 2.0)

If you read a lot in the genre, recognising a book or film as “fantasy fiction” is probably something innate and automatic. However, if you’re not familiar with it, or if you’ve wondered where the lines are drawn, a definition might help to clarify things.

But how do you define something as slippery and changeable as a genre? Continue reading →

Accepting the Existence of Magic

January 27, 2015July 28, 2016 / Nicola @ Thoughts on Fantasy / 15 Comments

Photo by Andrei Oprinca (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

If you’re a paranormal fantasy reader you might find this scenario familiar:

The main character, Mary Sue, has finally cottoned on to the fact that things around her aren’t quite what they seem. In fact, things are getting downright weird. The various laws that govern time and space and normality in her world are breaking to pieces around her. In short, she’s encountering the supernatural… either that or she’s just mad. This is a fantasy novel, however, so you can be 99% sure it’s not madness.

The trouble is, Mary Sue continues to insist that she is mad. Continue reading →