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Fantasy

Government in Sci Fi and Fantasy

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Today’s topic comes from QSF member Jerry Lewandowski: “forms of government as portrayed in sci-fi/fantasy and how it reflects reality (or predicts accurately).” There are many forms of government, but the big ones seem to be Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, Facism, and Monarchy – did I miss any? My favorite example of sci fi reflecting the current governmental scene has to be Piers Anthony’s Bio of a pace Tyrant, where he projects modern Earth onto the Solar System, with Jupiter playing the part of the US. Typically, Fantasy stories (at least High Fantasy) typically seem to involve Monarchies, or sometimes a … Read more

How Do You Like Your Fantasy?

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Today’s topic is from Tam Ames: “What exactly do you consider fantasy? What does it mean to you? How broad, how narrow?” It’s a good question. for me, “Fantasy” has always been defined by the “Lord of the Rings” – which I started reading in second grade. Others have built upon this in my world, including most notably Robert Jordan’s “The Wheel of Time” and Terry Brooks’ “Shannara” series. But over time, my understanding of what constitutes “Fantasy” has broadened to include urban fantasy, fantasy/sci fi hybrids, magical realism, and others. So my questions today: What does “Fantasy” mean to … Read more

Announcement: Kissing the Golem, by Danielle Summers

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QSF Member Danielle Summers has a new book out: Jacob and Marcus, an interracial interfaith couple, are fighting about everything: coming out, monogamy and marriage. Then one dark night, they encounter the Golem who has protected Jacob’s family for generations. The giant but handsome man made of clay and dirt saves their lives, and his kiss just may save their relationship. Q&A: Q: What was your inspiration for Kissing the Golem? A: We had been writing about new couples, and we decided to try our hand at a romance story featuring a long-standing couple that was in conflict. We wanted … Read more

Reimagining Traditional Tales

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First off, thank you to everyone who participated in yesterday’s exercise on the Queer Sci-Fi discussion group – coming up with some great new topics for the blog and the group. I’ll start using these topics going forward, and will credit whoever submitted the topic originally. Today’s topic comes from Angel Martinez – “Re-purposing/ re-imagining/ reinventing oral traditions as LGBTQ stories”. Angel has a bit of practice with this – I’ll let her discuss this on the group. But it seems to me this could fall under either fantasy or paranormal (or even Sci Fi – See Vassily the Beautiful). … Read more

Man Gets Pregnant in New Film

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A new indy film, “Paternity”, looks at the possibility of a man becoming pregnant, something we’ve discussed at the QSF discussion group before: Check out this first look at the upcoming Indiegogo-funded film Paternity Leave starring Chris Salvatore and The Cove’s Charlie David that filps the whole idea of gay parenting on its head in a heartwarming and funny way. Here’s the film synopsis: Greg (Jacob York) finds out that he’s pregnant with his partner Ken’s (Charlie David) baby. Dumbstruck by the news, their relationship takes twists and turns through hardship and hilarity, while we’re left wondering if they’re going … Read more

Ruin Release Party September 21st

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Our very own Alex Jones is set to release the fourth book in the Knights of Amaranth series: Ruin is coming! Join me 9/21 to celebrate Book IV in the Knights of Amaranth series. Giveaways include free copies of Ruin and the rest of the Knights of Amaranth books, along with a $5 Amazon gift card. So exciting! There’s a release party too – details here. Congrats, Alex!

Jupiter Ascending Trailer

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OK, so it’s not actually gay, but who doesn’t want to see Channing Tatum in pretty much anything? Non-disclaimer disclaimer – no one has asked us to post this or paid us to do so. I just really wanna see this film: From the makers of The Matrix trilogy comes another futuristic science fiction film – Jupiter Ascending. Jupiter Ascending has Channing Tatum (Caine) and Mila Kunis (Jupiter Jones) as its lead stars. The film will follow the life of Jupiter Jones, an ordinary cleaning lady who always dream of the stars. She is always wondering what is in store … Read more

Elves and Star Cruisers

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OK, so every morning, I sit down and figure out what I’m going to write about here. I try to do a bit of a round-robin – a post on sci fi, one about fantasy, and then one on paranormal… and then something about the writing process more generally. Today is Fantasy day. And a couple things have come together for me this morning to suggest a topic. Fantasy intruding into the sci fi world. I’m not talking about other worlds that blend a pastoral setting with a sci fi origin. I’m going a little more hard-core – I’m talking … Read more

How Magic Conquered Popular Culture

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Editor’s Note: After yesterday’s discussion on how we can use Fantasy to explore our own community and issues, this article from Lev Grossman at Time seemed particularly apropos: ———— hen I was a kid, in the 1980s, fantasy was not entirely OK. It had, let us say, some unpleasant associations. It was fringey and subcultural and uncool. In my suburban Massachusetts junior high, to be a fantasy fan was not to be a good, contented hobbit, working his sunny garden and smoking his fragrant pipeweed. It was to be Gollum, slimy and gross and hidden away, riddling in the dark. … Read more

Rewriting Our Own Fantastic Histories

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Fantasy novels, especially High Fantasy like Tad Williams “The Dragonbone Chair”, J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings”, Terry Brooks’ “Shanara” or Robert Jordan’s “The Wheel of Time” have a special place in my heart. Not so much “The Game of Thrones”. Not because it’s not well done. It is. It’s amazing, and well plotted. But damn, it’s so dark and violent. And shaded. I tend to be a bit of a round-robin reader, bouncing back and forth between science fiction and fantasy. I love science fiction for its speculation about what might be coming. But more and more, those … Read more