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You are viewing the most recent 20 entries March 16th, 200403:04 pm: Feminist fantasy rant.
Quote of the Day: “Feminism is the radical opinion that women are people.” –Seen on a bumper sticker; I haven’t been able to find the original. Yes, people, and not the Masters of the Universe. ( Feminist fantasy: Another genre I don’t hate, just wish would change )Another genre that drives me nuts. When it’s good, it’s very, very good, and when it’s bad, it’s horrid. Tags: didactic fantasy, fantasy rants winter 2004, rants on gender, rants on subgenres
March 9th, 200409:43 pm: Yet another list of grammar/spelling mistakes the world would be better off without.
Today I went to work and looked at student essays, and said, "AARGH!" Then I came home and looked at webpages, and said, "AARGH!" Then I picked up a professionally published book and looked at it and said, "AARGH!" ( Damn typos )If I see one more "discrete lover," or one more "flare for art," I am going to hurt someone. Tags: fantasy rants winter 2004, rants on style
March 2nd, 200403:36 pm: Name rant
This rant is based mostly on experience with amateur fantasy online, and some of my own writing. A professional author can usually succeed in making me accept the most ridiculous character names (although certainly not always). ( Name rant ) There’s no reason for most of this nonsense with names, except that authors get too close to their work and forget how Krystalynne sounds to someone who doesn’t know and love the character. Tags: fantasy rants winter 2004, idea rants
February 29th, 200407:27 pm: Other Species Equal-Time Day.
Apropos of nothing at all, I went to the library today and got lots of books. Books on Swinburne, including the best biography of him, and books on Shelley, because I like him, and The Oxford Book of Fantasy Stories, and a book called Feminism and Fantasy in the Golden Age, which for some reason I thought referred to the Golden Age of science fiction but instead is about feminism and fantasy in the Golden Age of Spain. But I was a Spanish minor, so this is still cool. ( Dragons and unicorns are nice, but... )I really ought to work on that wyvern culture. Tags: fantasy rants winter 2004, rants on nonhumans
February 24th, 200409:50 am: Sounds of the jungle.
If that brought "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" into your head, I'm doing my job. ( In the jungle, the quiet jungle... )For good, realistic descriptions of jungles in fantasy, read Glen Cook's Black Company series, which uses Indian and Vietnamese mythology and settings, or the Monarchies of God series by Paul Kearney, which features an alternate world where the characters are just starting to explore their version of America. Best description of the heat, insects, and jungle-traveling problems I've ever read. Tags: fantasy rants winter 2004, rants on settings
February 19th, 200410:46 am: Life in a northern town
Yep, stole the song title. Random Fact: Dante Gabriel Rossetti was so devoted to his wife Elizabeth Siddal that when she died, he buried a manuscript of his poems with her. However, several years later he wanted the poems back. He had to sneak into the graveyard at night, dig her up, and recover them. ( Life in the north )Study and research is necessary here, I think, if only because so many fantasy authors either don't live in cold environments or do so only in heated homes with modern facilities and no need to rely exclusively on hunting. Tags: fantasy rants winter 2004, rants on settings
February 18th, 200410:01 am: More misused words.
I see these more often in fantasy, since that's mostly what I read, but they also occur in student papers, in professional writing, and damn near everywhere else. ( Pick up a dictionary )A surprising part of that was about color adjectives. I'm not sure why it bothers me so much- other than that trying to picture a character with blue, azure, and cobalt eyes simultaneously gives me a headache. Tags: fantasy rants winter 2004, rants on style
February 17th, 200410:29 am: On animals and hunting.
Animal rant, part two? Random Fact: Ailurophobes are afraid of cats. Napoleon was an ailurophobe, and once broke into a sweat when he thought there was a kitten in the next room. ( On animals, hunting, and random stuff )It's ridiculous, the animals who apparently inhabit some fantasy worlds. I'm inclined to agree with Diana Wynne Jones's Tough Guide to Fantasyland, which notes gaping holes in Fantasyland's ecology. The few exceptions are mechanical-like horses, rabbits, crows, and sometimes deer and dogs. Tags: fantasy rants winter 2004, rants on nonhumans
February 15th, 200408:16 pm: On endings in series books.
The other rant was more about stand-alone novels and ending books that were the final ones of a series. This is more about ending books in the middle of a series. And maybe beginning them. Well, I think I’ve lost the ability to plan the course of these rants anyway, so it might as well be both. ( Books in the middle of a series ) No, didn’t get to beginnings after all. I suspect that will be next. Tags: fantasy rants winter 2004, rants on story structure
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