Tag: Fantasy

The Silver Metal Lover [Review]

The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee DAW, 1981 The Silver Metal Lover is perhaps Tanith Lee’s best known novel after her three Flat Earth books. It may be the most beloved. Though an abiding Lee fan I was immune to its charms for many years until finally deciding to read it last summer. The …

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Calligraphy

Calligraphy follows shapes and spirals. A shell (caracola) and a pear. A lively looking butterfly with personality. What does it mean?  

Worldbuilding Wednesday 9/25/19: Melniboné

British author Michael Moorcock created a series of stories, novels, and metanovels about albino warrior Elric of Melniboné, referenced by me here. In that series, the made-up language was surprisingly consistent. Sometimes ridiculous, sometimes grandiose, the words Yyrkoon, Imryyr, and Xiombarg conjure up a sort of Solomon’s Demons / Chinese never-never land beyond time and …

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Worldbuilding Wednesday 8/21/19: Let’s Talk About Elric

Elric of Melniboné, that is. Elric was a creation of SFF writer Michael Moorcock and made his first appearance in 1961, in a novella titled “The Dreaming City” in the pages of Science Fantasy magazine. More stories followed later in the 1960s and eventually they were compiled, with added material and edits, into a a …

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The Black Queen IX

Her hypnotic stare seared into my soul.

Worldbuilding Wednesday 7/24/19: The Best of
xxxxTwittersnips II (Characters)

Iconic female characters for SFF are hard to find… and by iconic I mean they will be easily known by any reader with a good knowledge of the field even if rendered by disparate illustrators. Elric of Melniboné, who was in last week’s post, is one: armored albino man with a sword. Molly Millions, who …

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Worldbuilding Wednesday 7/10/19: Arabian Nights Tales II

It’s not only the translations of One Thousand and One Arabian Nights that have changed over the years; illustrations of the classic have changed as well. The oil painting Alnaschar’s Fortune, by William Ewart Lockhart, embodies a realistic, dramatic Victorian style, but starting in the 20th century, children’s book illustrators  showed a move towards abstraction …

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Naughty Arabian Nights

Some kinky, Aubrey Beardsley-like  shenanigans are going on in this Arabian Nights illustration by early twentieth century book illustrator Kay Nielson. Not for kids.