Miscellaneous – Page 7 – Mythic Scribes Test Site

Fusion Fantasy – Reaching Beyond Genre

by Featured Author

This article is by Bets Davies.

I always felt straight jacketed by fantasy’s strict genre expectations.

Got a little too much romance or sex in your fantasy novel? Sacrilege. That is Romance.

Wait. What if I am talking about two guys? Gay and Lesbian, then. All the way.

Got frat boy zombies who want to play foosball all day? Hey. That’s Horror!

It seems that Fantasy, a genre whose very name suggests the ability to explore and expand, has become too confined. For me, this disillusionment is married to the fact that I like to explore a lot of different areas.

Is YA the Death of Epic Fantasy?

by Featured Author

This article is by Frank LaVoie.

For those of you not familiar with the YA moniker, it refers to the genre of Young Adult literature. In the realm of publishing, it is most often coupled with the word ‘fantasy’, thus denoting a fairly specific breed that has proven its popularity in the form of the Harry Potters and Percy Jacksons of the literary world. The growing scope of YA Fantasy has been wholly responsible for an entire generation taking to books. Even medical science has had to pay attention; they credited Rowling’s works with the highly contagious Hogwart’s headache, onset by nonstop reading of the author’s seven-hundred-word whoppers.

But does the rising fashion-ability of YA Fantasy come at a price?

Is Imitation Integral to Fantasy?

by Test Administrator

As a twelve year old boy I resolved to write my first fantasy epic. Through months of toil I hammered out a draft and set it aside. When I returned to it, I was surprised to discover just how unoriginal it was. The plot borrowed heavily from The Lord of the Rings, with strong shades of Star Wars. The dialogue and description sounded too much like C.S. Lewis. And worst of all, virtually every fantasy cliché surfaced at some point in the tale.

In other words, it stunk. But in retrospect, this was a necessary stage in my development as a writer. Without consciously realizing it, I was imitating the masters – albeit poorly. But by imitating them I was learning how to write. Then, and only then, was I able to move forward and find my own voice.

Who’s Killing Fantasy? You Are!

by At Dusk I Reign

Orlando Bloom as Legolas — Too many elves?

I recently took my daughter to buy some books in a rather large UK book chain and was dismayed to discover that the Fantasy section had all but disappeared.

Whereas a decade or more ago it took up an entire wall, it’s now reduced to shelf space maybe eight feet long, if that. What’s worse, it’s no longer Fantasy: each work of imaginative fiction strains beneath the banner of Sci-Fi so that Tolkien shares space with computer game tie-ins.

While I’m always happy to see genre distinctions eroded (though I don’t see why it’s not all under a Fantasy banner) it made me realise just how low the genre has fallen in the public’s affections.

The 10 Best Fantasy Movies – and Why They Rock

by Test Administrator

Ian McKellen as Gandalf the White in Peter Jac... — Sir Ian McKellan as Gandalf

Like many writers of my generation, my first exposure to the fantasy genre was through films. I’ve previously told the story of how my father took me to see Conan the Barbarian when I was underage, and how this brought about an epiphany in my life. Ever since that first encounter, fantasy movies have helped to shape my imagination. When reflecting on the major milestones of my life, I often remember them in relation to the films that captured my attention during those years.

I recently asked our community members to compile a list of their favorite fantasy films. And as usual, our members provided inspired and sometimes provocative responses. This prompted me to consider which fantasy films have had the greatest impact on my writing, and why they are so meaningful.

So without further ado, here is my personal list.

Harry Potter and the Cauldron of Expectations

by Test Administrator

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film) — Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

When the first Harry Potter books were published I didn’t bother to read them. I saw the films, but they didn’t strike me as especially significant. Yes, they were full of magic and wonder. But I failed to perceive anything of lasting substance. I dismissed Harry Potter as a fad.

Yet as the series progressed, so did the depth of storytelling. By the time that I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, I had become a believer.

But I didn’t begin reading the books until Deathly Hallows was released. Why? Because friends kept telling me that the books were superior to the films. That’s not unexpected, as fans of any series would make similar claims. But what struck me as unusual was that these friends had a decidedly different viewing experience of the films than I did.

Entertainment: The Eradication of Effort?

by KJJ Carpenter

A few weeks ago I went camping for a night with five of my mates. While there, they called over a trio of girls who were setting up tent in the plot next to ours. The entire time the girls were there I sat on my lonesome prodding the fire and only vaguely listening in on the conversation. It was mostly uninteresting. “What’s your favourite TV show?” or “What type of music are you in to?” or, sadly, “What foods do you like?”

Eventually, the topic of books was somehow brought up in the random array of subjects, although the only things I heard were derogatory to the art of reading and writing. “I don’t read,” or “I’ll never read a book,” or “Why would I read a book when I can watch a movie?” It disheartened me, and it made me understand how isolated I am in the 21st century as a literature enthusiast.