Fantasy

The Most German Fairy Tales

/ Nicola | Thoughts on Fantasy / 31 Comments
Houses in Bad Sooden-Allendorf, Germany. Photo by Nicola Alter (CC BY SA 4.0)

Germany has long been considered a land of fairy tales. The Brothers Grimm collection of Märchen popularised the tales they collected here, and plenty of German villages, houses and forests look like they might have sprung straight out of a story book.

But having moved to Germany a little over a year ago, I’ve become more aware of the smaller ways in which the famous fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm reflect their cultural origins. For the first time, I can see evidence of the roots they sprung from in the world around me – roots I wouldn’t have noticed while in my Australian homeland. Continue reading →

Two Year Blogiversary

/ Nicola | Thoughts on Fantasy / 7 Comments
Photo by Kelly Sikkema (CC0 1.0)

So my blogiversary came and went in May and I completely forgot about it. I’ve been blogging for two years now, though it feels like I’ve been at it for longer… maybe it’s because my memories of pre-blogging days have gotten a bit faded at the edges, or because I’ve had a lot happen in the past two years (including moving to a new country!)… or just because I just have a terribly distorted concept of time.

Regardless, it has been 2 years, so as I usually do on my blogiversary (well, I did it last year, so I may as well make a tradition out of it), I’ve put together a list of the most popular posts on Thoughts on Fantasy from the past 12 months: Continue reading →

What Are the Best-Selling Fantasy Books and Series of All Time?

/ Nicola | Thoughts on Fantasy / 18 Comments
Photo from Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 2.0) – People waiting for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows release

The other day I came across this Wikipedia article listing best-selling books, and as I scrolled through the list (which is based on estimated number of copies sold), it struck me that many of the titles listed – including the top 4 – are fantasy novels. And I’m not just talking about Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings… these two series undoubtedly dominate the top of the lists, but there are other fantasy books in the mix too.

So this got me to thinking, what are the most popular fantasy books and series of all time, in terms of book sales?  I thought I’d use the list to answer this question, compiling those fantasies that are estimated to have sold 50 million copies or more: Continue reading →

10 Common Mistakes I See in Epic Fantasy Writing

/ Nicola | Thoughts on Fantasy / 31 Comments
Photo by Berenice (CC BY-NC 2.0)

I recently encountered a question on Quora asking what some “fatal flaws” or mistakes in fantasy novels are. I wrote a response to it, and it got me thinking about the things that most commonly make me give up on a fantasy book, rate it poorly, or even avoid reading it in the first place. This was a helpful exercise as I want to avoid these things in my own writing, and it struck me that if I expanded and extended my answer it might make for an interesting (perhaps even useful!) blog post. Continue reading →

Writing for Fantasy Faction

/ Nicola | Thoughts on Fantasy / 4 Comments
Fantasy Faction website logo

I just wanted to do a short post this week to mention that I recently became a staff writer for Fantasy Faction, so in addition to keeping up this weekly Thoughts on Fantasy blog (or at least, I usually manage to keep it weekly!) I’ll be writing one or two articles a month for Fantasy Faction.  Continue reading →

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

/ 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?

/ 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 →

Fantasy and Optimism: What’s the Use of a Happy Ending?

/ Nicola | Thoughts on Fantasy / 3 Comments
Photo by Nicola Alter (CC BY SA 4.0)

For me, happy endings have always been one of the biggest draw cards of fantasy fiction. However, I didn’t really place any significance on them till I was listening to a TED talk about gaming.

In this TED talk, game designer and researcher Jane McGonigal discusses the countless hours that are invested by humanity worldwide in playing video games every week.  Continue reading →

Are The Most Popular Fantasy Books The Best Fantasy Books?

/ Nicola | Thoughts on Fantasy / 6 Comments

Image: Popular Fantasy Novels

A month or so ago while trawling through Facebook I came across a Buzzfeed article titled The 51 Best Fantasy Series Ever Written. The image, for maximum click-enticing effect, was additionally headlined “The 51 Fantasy Series You Need to Read Before You Die”.

And yes, like the lemming I am, I clicked on it. Continue reading →

Reading Classic Fantasy and Science Fiction Novels

/ Nicola | Thoughts on Fantasy / 5 Comments
Photo by Celeste RC (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

As a teenager, hearing the word “classic” coupled with the word “book” was enough to make me suspicious. “Classics” were the books I got forced to read in school. They were the books everyone told me I simply must read, the books I thought would surely be great… until I found myself struggling through an archaic tome that was neither interesting nor inspiring. Even more daunting was the fact that this canon of old, famous and important books was seemingly endless. I felt like I might be in the grave before I finished them all. Continue reading →