To Expose Or Not To Expose…That Is the Question
In fiction, exposition breaks away from the ongoing action of a scene to give information. It can be a paragraph or go on for several pages. Exposition often provides contextual information critical for the reader to buy-in to character-motivation or the ideas promoted in the story.
It’s Halloween!
Need some scary, macabre, bizarre inspiration for all hallows eve? Look no further!
Characters: Cazaril from The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold is your typical medieval fantasy. There’s magic, and knights, and people in distress and political schemes. On the surface, it doesn’t seem much more than a carbon copy of everything else out there. However, Curse of Chalion does have a lot to make it stand out from the crowd. Among them, is Cazaril, the protagonist. He is not your typical, heroically minded, buffed-up warrior, handsome features hero. The interesting thing about Cazaril, is that he used to be.
Review: The Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson
There is a lot more to Richard Matheson’s The Shrinking Man than giant spiders and cats. It is the discovery that the amazing journey of life continues on infinitely, no matter how miniscule we become.
Book Review: Tell My Sorrows to the Stones
It’s week five of Six Weeks of Scares. This time out, our subject is a single author collection, namely Tell My Sorrows to the Stones by Christopher Golden. Golden’s work has been highly acclaimed and in horror circles he’s well respected. This book contains a dozen reasons why that’s the case. Golden’s work is of the quiet school of horror, much like that of the late Charles L. Grant. The selections presented here have a wide range of tone and subject matter.
Lisbeth Salander
We’ve been having some pretty wild weather here in the Wairarapa lately, which meant that I’ve been sitting without power for over 24 hours earlier this week. While sitting around waiting for the contractors from the power company to turn up and put me back on the grid, I’ve managed to read myself through a substantial chunk of Stieg Larsson’s “Millenium” trilogy*: finally! I should say!
Review: The Colors of Space
In the tradition of Heinlein, The Colors of Space by Marion Zimmer Bradley is a provocative space adventure for young adults. But upon closer look, there is a lot more to the story as it becomes a prime example of an archetypical hero’s journey.
Witch: The Old Woman
Not all witches are always out to suck a child’s soul – or fatten them up and eat them
Characters: Zinzi December from Zoo City
As far as main characters go, Zinzi’s got a lot of problems before the book even starts.
Ten Questions You Need to Ask Your Characters Before They Can Stay In Your Story
our story lives and breathes through your characters. Through them your premise, idea and your plot come alive. Characters give your story meaning; they draw in the reader who lives the journey through them. Without them you wouldn’t have a story—you’d have a treatise.
Back to School: Pamela Dean’s Tam Lin
The book is like those rare courses some of us are lucky enough to take–the ones you don’t want to end.
Characters: Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft
Like many good journeys, Lara’s begins with disaster which thrusts her into the unknown
Bad Robots
Robots are supposed to follow three laws that will maintain their loyalty to humanity. But as we all know, even a bunch of nuts and bolts can go bad. So let’s take a look at some of the bad robots we’ve grown to love.
REVIEW- The Killing Fields (Legacy #2)
It reminds me of watching the Incredible Hulk when I was growing up. Bill Bixby was awesome, but I wanted to see a green-painted Lou Ferrigno tearing stuff up
Pacific Rim Novelization by Alex Irvine
The novelization of Pacific Rim by Alex Irvine is more than just a book based on a movie. This is a book that stands alone by allowing fans to appreciate the literary value not always expressed through film.
Is the Hulk Catholic?
This is a post for the writers. And for readers who enjoy a bit of a rant. Warning: contains religion.
Characters: Raleigh Becket From Pacific Rim
I don’t know about you, but I really liked Pacific Rim. I found it a delightful tale about how humanity can overcome any problem so long as we put our differences behind us. It also […]
Review: GRABBERS (2012)
There’s nothing better than a good monster movie. The problem is, most monster movies these days suck. Some intentionally (Sharktopus, I’m looking at you). The Syfy Channel seems to specialize in these CGI stinkers that […]
Wonder Woman’s Foreign Successors
I’ve been reading Mike Madrid’s The Supergirls, a really fantastic look at the history of superheroines in mainstream American comics. I just reached the 1970s, and the karate-chopping, white-pantsuit-wearing, depowered Wonder Woman era that came with […]
CHARACTERS: Rintaro Okabe of Steins;Gate
Just so you all know, I didn’t intend this series to feature so many anime characters. I wanted to talk about the characters from books I’d read, movies I’d seen, and television shows I’d watched. […]
Stumbling Into a Free-Fall
Free-Fall by Graham Templeton is a thought provoking story from the June 2013, Issue 18 of Clarkesworld Magazine with precise character utilization, and a pleasure to stumble upon.
Characters: Jet Black frmo Cowboy BeBop
Rounding out the characters from Cowboy Bebop, we end with Jet Black, the Black Dog. Yes, there’s still Ed, but what else can be said about her than, he’s a seven foot ex basketball pro, […]
Save Our Stereotypes
I don’t want to destroy the damsel in distress. I don’t want to destroy the sleeping beauty. Or the femme fatale. Or the pollyanna. Or the ditz. Or the girl next door. I watch attempts […]
Characters: Faye Valentine From Cowboy Bebop
My last article talked about Spike from Cowboy Bebop. I decided to write this week’s article on Bebop’s other fan-favorite character, Faye Valentine. Originally a theif who trusts no one, Faye becomes an important […]
Great Science Fiction Artists – James Bama
James Bama single-handedly introduced the entire world to Doc Savage (he and his editors at Bantam Books and art director Len Leone). Doc Savage, as most of you know, was the greatest of the pulp […]
MCM Expo (Comic-Con) Part Deux
I was recently in London – less than a week ago to be exact – and had the great pleasure of once again attending another MCM Expo at the Excel Centre in east London. It […]
Characters: Spike Spiegel
Ask someone to name the most important SF anime of all time, and chances are they’ll say Cowboy Bebop. It’s hard to argue. The sometimes-drama-sometimes-comedy about spacefaring bounty hunters had most of what you could […]
Pretty Soldiers: Hotaru Tomoe
Hotaru Tomoe is abused by her father. She suffers from an illness that leaves her breathless, weak and wracked with pain. She is picked on by her classmates. Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune are planning […]
Everything I Know, I Learned from Edgar Allan Poe
Everything I know about writing science fiction, reading it, and understanding it, I learned from Edgar Allan Poe, specifically his one story, “The Fall of the House of Usher”. This goes for all of world […]
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