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fantasy

Announcement: Twist of Wire, by James Comer

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QSFer James Comer has a new free story posted at PlanetaryStories.com: The monk Charthat was locked in a burning jail- and the trouble outside was worse! As the city of Gunkashar fell into madness, he had to find his partner. If he lived that long. Excerpt hree men crouched in a prison cell. The cell was dug-and-walled in a sunken courtyard. Ironwood bars were cemented into the floor and ceiling. A bar closed the cell, its handle beyond reach. Locked? How to get out? thought Charthat. Where was his partner? He could saw through the lignum vitae with true-steel; he … Read more

Announcement: Quinn’s Gambit, Bellora Quinn and Angel Martinez

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QSFer Angel Martinez and Bellora Quinn have a new fantasy book coming out: AURA – the Agency for Unnatural Resettlement and Assimilation It’s a weird job, but somebody’s got to do it. A magical catastrophe tears the fabric of reality, causing unpredictable holes between worlds through which anything might fall—elves, centaurs, trolls, yeti. The brave officers and employees of AURA struggle daily to help the lost and injured, and contain the irretrievably violent while their research staff scramble to find a way to reverse the effect. Anything can and does pop through into the human world, sometimes with disastrous and … Read more

Announcement and Giveaway: Iron Axe, by Steven Harper

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QSFer Steven Harper has a new fantasy book out – we’re giving away two copies, so comment on this post with your name and email, and we’ll pick the winners on 1/12: Although Danr’s mother was human, his father was one of the hated Stane, a troll from the mountains. Now Danr has nothing to look forward to but a life of disapproval and mistrust, answering to “Trollboy” and condemned to hard labor on a farm. Until, without warning, strange creatures come down from the mountains to attack the village. Spirits walk the land, terrifying the living. Trolls creep out … Read more

Announcement: Talasar’s Elixir, by Hurri Cosmo

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Amber Quill Press has a new fantasy book out from QSFer Hurri Cosmo: Relath Talasar is a wizard, not the scam artist Khat, the local sheriff, thinks he is. Mainly because Khat does not believe in wizards, or dragons, or magic of any kind. Belief in such things can put you in jail and practicing magic can actually get you executed. All Khat is trying to do is force Relath to leave town so he doesn’t have to deal with it. But after coming to LockShire on the heels—or should he say tentacles?—of an evil Angel Walker, Relath has fallen … Read more

Building Your Own Religion

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There’s an old story that goes something like this (via StackExchange): It is widely believed that L. Ron Hubbard and Robert A. Heinlein made a bet in a bar one night either than L. Ron could not create a religion, or to see who could create a religion first. (In the second case, Stranger in a Strange Land is often cited as Heinlein’s effort.) The story has been widely debunked, but it is a fact that sci fi author L. Ron Hubbard came up with Scientology. I often struggle with the role of religion in my sci fi stories – … Read more

5 Reasons We Need Openly-Gay Speculative Fiction Writers

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Note: This article was originally posted on Council of Peacocks, M. Joseph Murphy’s blog, and was written by him. Reposted with permission. My second book, A Fallen Hero Rises (available on Amazon, B&N or Smashwords) features a main character who just so happens to be gay. People I trusted and respected advised me against it. They said it would ruin sales and alienate fantasy readers. I said screw it. I’m telling the story I want to tell because I know there’s an audience for it. I just had to find it. So I decided to research openly-gay speculative fiction writers … Read more

Building a Magical (Gay) World

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QSF member Edmond Manning has graciously allowed us to cross-post this one, which originally appeared on RJ Scott’s blog: I have always loved fairy tales. I love stories sculpted out of ancient prophecy and malicious curses, magic healing tears and quests to recapture jewel-encrusted chalices. The problem is that I always wanted to believe in these stories but I had a hard time letting go of reality and explanations. What powers the spells? How does a 900 lb. unicorn fly through the sky on such delicate, prissy wings? How exactly do you make the jewel-encrusted chalice so that it doesn’t … Read more

Writing in Your Own Tongue

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Some very successful fantasy novels have flirted with inventing their own language or languages – among them the Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien was a professional philologist and Old English specialist) and George R. Martin’s Game of Thrones. But many writers just use a few choice words in their new lingua, to give their stories a bit of High Fantasy flavor. To be sure, a new language isn’t an absolute necessity in Fantasy – it really depends on the story you are telling. But it can add a bit of flair and flavor to your work, setting it apart … Read more

Blending Sci Fi and Fantasy

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Growing up, I read my first Fantasy books – the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, starting in second grade. Not long after, I read Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series. They were two very different experiences, and I loved them both. Ever since, I’ve found myself reading a little hard sci fi, and then bouncing over to the other pole and reading a great epic fantasy novel. It’s a little like eating a salty dinner and washing it down with wild cherry pepsi. But I’ve also learned to love that middle ground – the fusion of sci fi and fantasy. It’s fairly … Read more