This post is an article index, a collection of links to articles with a given theme, in this case the Elfland theme, which can with some fairness be described as a distinct project within this blog, although it does pertain to the fantasy genre,.
Wednesday, 25 March 2015
Elfland Article Index
It's Wednesday again...
This post is an article index, a collection of links to articles with a given theme, in this case the Elfland theme, which can with some fairness be described as a distinct project within this blog, although it does pertain to the fantasy genre,.
This post is an article index, a collection of links to articles with a given theme, in this case the Elfland theme, which can with some fairness be described as a distinct project within this blog, although it does pertain to the fantasy genre,.
Wednesday, 24 December 2014
Wednesday, 16 October 2013
Possibilities in Space
It's Wednesday again...
Any good SF world must be understood as a possibility space. A universe which is characterized first and foremost by its physics:
By what is and isn't possible, and by how easy (or difficult) each of these non-impossible things are to do.
Once you have created the possibility space, you must extrapolate how the people in the world will exploit the possibilities. Because, you know, they're people. They are going to exploit it. Some of them, at least. That's what people are like.
I'll mostly be talking about science fiction in this post, but the principles I refer to are eminently applicable to fantasy as well.
Any good SF world must be understood as a possibility space. A universe which is characterized first and foremost by its physics:
By what is and isn't possible, and by how easy (or difficult) each of these non-impossible things are to do.
Once you have created the possibility space, you must extrapolate how the people in the world will exploit the possibilities. Because, you know, they're people. They are going to exploit it. Some of them, at least. That's what people are like.
I'll mostly be talking about science fiction in this post, but the principles I refer to are eminently applicable to fantasy as well.
Wednesday, 25 September 2013
Update on Elfland article series
It's Wednesday again...
And I've decided to not let the slow progress of the final part of the Elfland article series, the bibliography (in 3 parts), prevent me from writing other blog posts.
I'm still determined to write those finishing articles for Elfland, but it's slow going, and I'm in the mood to allow myself to write other blog posts too, in parallel with working on the Bibliography articles.
Note, though, that I have in mind giving Nanowrimo a try this year, so there's absolutely no guarantee of more posts soon, whether Elfland or otherwise.
And I've decided to not let the slow progress of the final part of the Elfland article series, the bibliography (in 3 parts), prevent me from writing other blog posts.
I'm still determined to write those finishing articles for Elfland, but it's slow going, and I'm in the mood to allow myself to write other blog posts too, in parallel with working on the Bibliography articles.
Note, though, that I have in mind giving Nanowrimo a try this year, so there's absolutely no guarantee of more posts soon, whether Elfland or otherwise.
Peter Knutsen typed these letters
Wednesday, 12 June 2013
Iain M. Banks
It's Wednesday again...
... and 3 days ago, one of my favourite SF authors, Iain M. Banks, died, age 59.
In this entry, I'll mostly talk about five of his science fiction novels, "Consider Phlebas", "Player of Games", "Use of Weapons", "Against a Dark Background" and "The Algebraist. The first three, as well as most of his later SF novels, take place in Banks' "Culture" universe, named after a humanoid post-scarcity communist utopia (although personally I'm more and more inclined to try to coin/promote the phrase post-maslowian, because "post-scarcity" gets very strong reactions from some people, and is also somewhat misleading).
If you just want to know where to start with his works, and want to read the rest of this blog at a later time, the standard recommendation, which I support, is to begin with either "Consider Phlebas" or "Player of Games" (the later available in a tolerable Danish translation).
... and 3 days ago, one of my favourite SF authors, Iain M. Banks, died, age 59.
In this entry, I'll mostly talk about five of his science fiction novels, "Consider Phlebas", "Player of Games", "Use of Weapons", "Against a Dark Background" and "The Algebraist. The first three, as well as most of his later SF novels, take place in Banks' "Culture" universe, named after a humanoid post-scarcity communist utopia (although personally I'm more and more inclined to try to coin/promote the phrase post-maslowian, because "post-scarcity" gets very strong reactions from some people, and is also somewhat misleading).
If you just want to know where to start with his works, and want to read the rest of this blog at a later time, the standard recommendation, which I support, is to begin with either "Consider Phlebas" or "Player of Games" (the later available in a tolerable Danish translation).
Wednesday, 17 April 2013
SF vs Horror 2/2
It's Wednesday again...
In this entry, I'll talk more about why I don't think it's very useful to classify horror along with SF.
Wednesday, 3 April 2013
Historicity: Welcome to Elfland 5/6
It's finally Wednesday again...
... this concludes my Welcome to Elfland article series, and will be followed by a bibliography post.
Wednesday, 15 August 2012
Historicity: Welcome to Elfland 4/6
It's Wednesday again...
I think there'll be one more installment of this guide-to-Elfland, after this one, plus a bibliography of useful media. After that, I think I'll have covered all the bases of this subject.
Wednesday, 1 August 2012
Historicity: Welcome to Elfland 3/6
It's Wednesday again...
This "introduction to medievality" article turned out to be quite long, so currently it has been split up into a series of four articles.
This "introduction to medievality" article turned out to be quite long, so currently it has been split up into a series of four articles.
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Historicity: Welcome to Elfland 2/6
It's Wednesday again...
As promised, in this blog entry I'll try to give a brief introduction to some aspects of real medieval historicity, in this first and several more entries.
Do be warned, dear reader, that the past wasn't pretty. It wasn't Disney. When you go visit Elfland, make sure to bring a big sword - or better yet, bring several strong friends with big swords, in order to minimize the probability that some of the people you encounter will do nasty things to you.
As promised, in this blog entry I'll try to give a brief introduction to some aspects of real medieval historicity, in this first and several more entries.
Do be warned, dear reader, that the past wasn't pretty. It wasn't Disney. When you go visit Elfland, make sure to bring a big sword - or better yet, bring several strong friends with big swords, in order to minimize the probability that some of the people you encounter will do nasty things to you.
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
Historicity and D&D-Land 1/6
It's Wednesday again...
... And it is the year 2012, Western Reckoning.
I am keenly aware of when I am, at all times. That's not to say you can accost me at random and demand that I tell you the time. I am probably less able to correctly estimate the time of day, without resorting to artificial aids, than the average person. No, I am talking about a more coarse-grained kind of time: The time period.
... And it is the year 2012, Western Reckoning.
I am keenly aware of when I am, at all times. That's not to say you can accost me at random and demand that I tell you the time. I am probably less able to correctly estimate the time of day, without resorting to artificial aids, than the average person. No, I am talking about a more coarse-grained kind of time: The time period.
Wednesday, 20 June 2012
Are slans fans?
It's Wednesday again...
A couple of months ago, I re-read "Slan" by A.E. van Vogt.
It's an absolute classic of the golden age of John W. Campbell (the man who invented modern science fiction) and the Astounding magazine (where it was serialized, before it was published in book form).
A couple of months ago, I re-read "Slan" by A.E. van Vogt.
It's an absolute classic of the golden age of John W. Campbell (the man who invented modern science fiction) and the Astounding magazine (where it was serialized, before it was published in book form).
Wednesday, 6 June 2012
Robin of Sherwood
It's now Wednesday again!
A few moons ago, Richard "Kip" Carpenter, the creator of the amazing historical fantasy TV show, "Robin of sherwood", died, 82 years old.
Carpenter also created the "Dick Turpin" TV show, which I remember having watched some episodes of in the mid 1980s, and he has done some other things I might have seen, such as "Black Beauty" (not sure if I ever watched a television version of that, but possible) and maybe some version of "The Borrowers" (I recall having watched something that was like "The Borrowers"on Danish or Swedish television, but the chronology doesn't fit - I have a sense that what I recall was from when I was younger, so probably a show with a similar premise but not based on Mary Norton's novels. Tiny people is a good visual gimmick for a film or show). But it is for "Robin of Sherwood" that he will never be forgotten.
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
On Genre Protocol Acquisition
It's Wednesday again...
Some weeks ago, Sven posted the first ever comment on my blog. He asked how readers learn the genre protocol. I replied that that was a very good question...
Some weeks ago, Sven posted the first ever comment on my blog. He asked how readers learn the genre protocol. I replied that that was a very good question...
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
B&B does it the hard way
It's Wednesday again...
Last month, I re-read "Heart of the Comet", written by David Brin and Gregory Benford. Very often such collaborations are really the work of the junior writer, one less popular and perhaps less skilled, with the senior writer contributing nothing to the project except some celebrity veneer and geek cred, and perhaps a few basic ideas for the actual writer to chew on, such as frequently happened late in Arthur C. Clarke's career.
I don't think this is the case here, however. Brin is only 9 years younger than Benford, and had already clearly surpassed Benford with the brilliant space opera novel Startide Rising. Style-wise the novel reads like a Brin, with many brief scenes written from the point of view of different characters, but I have no reason to speculate about this not being a true collaboration between equals.
Last month, I re-read "Heart of the Comet", written by David Brin and Gregory Benford. Very often such collaborations are really the work of the junior writer, one less popular and perhaps less skilled, with the senior writer contributing nothing to the project except some celebrity veneer and geek cred, and perhaps a few basic ideas for the actual writer to chew on, such as frequently happened late in Arthur C. Clarke's career.
I don't think this is the case here, however. Brin is only 9 years younger than Benford, and had already clearly surpassed Benford with the brilliant space opera novel Startide Rising. Style-wise the novel reads like a Brin, with many brief scenes written from the point of view of different characters, but I have no reason to speculate about this not being a true collaboration between equals.
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Important Public Announcement!
It's Wednesday, and this is quite important!
... It isn't entirely true, but it isn't entirely wrong either; and it is most definitely important.
... It isn't entirely true, but it isn't entirely wrong either; and it is most definitely important.
Wednesday, 7 December 2011
Literature as a genre - asking questions of texts
It's Wednesday again...
Some of my dear readers may have noticed that I very often go out of my way to avoid using the term "literature", and instead talk about "written fiction". I'm not being eccentric, though. I have a point.
Literature is a genre all of its own, just like fantasy or science fiction or spy thrillers are.
Some of my dear readers may have noticed that I very often go out of my way to avoid using the term "literature", and instead talk about "written fiction". I'm not being eccentric, though. I have a point.
Literature is a genre all of its own, just like fantasy or science fiction or spy thrillers are.
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
On the wrongness of hobbits
It is Hevensday today...
Fantasy and science fiction are characterized, more than by anything else, by taking place in worlds that are significantly different from the world that the writer (and reader) lives in.
The characters who live in such a world need to make choices; that's how personality is shown. That's what personality is: The values, morals, preferences and inclinations, of an individual, as seen in the choices that he or she makes.
The reader must be able to appreciate and evaluate these choices, form an opinion of them, and one criterion for good fantasy or good science fiction is that the choices must be dependent upon at least some of the ways in which the world of the story is different from the world that the writer (and reader) lives in1. In order to make this evaluation of the character, the reader must therefore know how the world works, how the new or strange or otherwise different things in the world works. The reader has to know the rules.
How can the reader come to know the rules?
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Horror, the easy genre 1/2
It's Wednesday again...
People often use the term speculative fiction, or the acronym SF, about the genres of fantasy, science fiction and horror, but horror is the odd man out. It doesn't fit. It has relatively little in common with fantasy and science fiction, whether from the perspective of the writer (or worldbuilder or GM) or the reader (or player or other consumer), whereas fantasy and science fiction have a lot in common with each other.
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