Tag: Fantasy
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INVINCIBLE Part One: Blood and Fire
Zhang Tianyou hated working with internal troops. The Shenwujun did all the hard work, while they claimed all the glory. Shenwujun like him. Zhang lowered to a knee, steadying himself against a hardy tree. By the light of the crescent moon, he saw the rebel encampment, two li away, situated by a burbling river. Defended…
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Signal Boost: WAR DEMONS by Russell Newquist
After five years of war in Afghanistan, Michael Alexander returns home a broken man, haunted by the ghosts of war. Returning to Georgia, he tries to start a new life. But something evil followed him from the mountains of Afghanistan, it’s tearing up everything in its path, and Michael is squarely in its sights. To…
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Dragon Awards 2017 Winners
The results of the Dragon Awards 2017 are in. The winners have my heartiest congratulations for producing such fine stories, and the voters have my thanks for making the Dragon Awards the premier fan awards in science fiction and fantasy. While my own novel, NO GODS, ONLY DAIMONS did not win the award, against a…
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When In Doubt, Go Epic
Whenever I plan a story, I occasionally run into hang-ups. The setting isn’t coherent, the technology and/or magic system isn’t evenly applied, the characters aren’t plausible, the plot lacks history or context, the stakes are too small. In every single instance, they are resolved by the use of a simple expedient: make everything bigger, brighter…
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Drama at the Dragon Awards
The Dragon Awards made a colossal mistake: it caved to the whims of writers who disrespected their fans. Alison Littlewood and N.K. Jemisin withdrew their novels from the Dragon Awards nomination. John Scalzi, who initially withdrew, decided to withdraw his withdrawal. The former two claimed they were being used as proxies in the culture war.…
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Anime Retrospective: Record of Lodoss War
Record of Lodoss War belongs to a different era of Japanese anime, and indeed of storytelling. There are no obligatory fanservice moments, no in-jokes aimed at the audience, no audience surrogates in the form of bland high school otaku protagonists, no injections of unnecessary modern political messaging. Record of Lodoss War does one thing, and one thing only:…