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Fantasy
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Fantasy is a fiction genre set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Most fantasy uses magic or other elements as a main plot element, theme. Magic and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds, in popular culture, the fantasy genre is predominantly of the medievalist form. In its broadest sense, however, fantasy works by many writers, artists, filmmakers. Fantasy is studied in a number of disciplines including English and other studies, cultural studies, comparative literature, history. The identifying trait of fantasy is the reliance on imagination to create narrative elements that do not have to rely on history or nature to be coherent. This differs from realistic fiction in that whereas realistic fiction has to attend to the history and natural laws of reality, an author applies his or her imagination to come up with characters, plots, and settings that are impossible in reality. Fantasy has often compared with science fiction and horror because they are the major categories of speculative fiction. Fantasy is distinguished from science fiction by the plausibility of the narrative elements, a science fiction narrative is unlikely, though seeming possible through logical scientific and/or technological extrapolation, whereas fantasy narratives do not need to be scientifically possible. The imagined elements of fantasy do not need an explanation to be narratively functional. Authors have to rely on the suspension of disbelief, an acceptance of the unbelievable or impossible for the sake of enjoyment. Despite both genres heavy reliance on the supernatural, fantasy and horror are distinguishable, horror primarily evokes fear through the protagonists weaknesses or inability to deal with the antagonists. Beginning perhaps with the earliest written documents, mythic and other elements that would come to define fantasy. MacDonald was an influence on both J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. The other major fantasy author of this era was William Morris, lord Dunsany established the genres popularity in both the novel and the short story form. Many popular mainstream authors also began to write fantasy at this time, including H. Rider Haggard, Rudyard Kipling and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Indeed, juvenile fantasy was considered more acceptable than fantasy intended for adults, nathaniel Hawthorne wrote fantasy in A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys, intended for children, though works for adults only verged on fantasy. Political and social trends can affect a societys reception towards fantasy, in the early 20th century, the New Culture Movements enthusiasm for Westernization and science in China compelled them to condemn the fantastical shenmo genre of traditional Chinese literature
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Fantastic art
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Fantastic art is a broad and loosely defined art genre. It is not restricted to a school of artists, geographical location or historical period. Fantasy has been a part of art since its beginnings. In French, the genre is called le fantastique, in English it is referred to as visionary art. It has had a deep and circular interaction with fantasy literature, the subject matter of Fantastic Art may resemble the product of hallucinations, and Fantastic artist Richard Dadd spent much of his life in mental institutions. Salvador Dalí famously said, the difference between me and a madman is that I am not mad. Some recent Fantastic Art draws on the experience, or purported experience. The term Fantasy Art is closely related, and is applied primarily to recent art inspired by, or illustrating, the term has acquired some pejorative overtones. Fantastic art has traditionally been confined to painting and illustration. Fantastic art explores fantasy, imagination, the state, the grotesque, visions. Genres which may also be considered as Fantastic Art include the Symbolism of the Victorian era, religious art also depicts supernatural or miraculous subjects in a naturalistic way, but is not generally regarded as Fantastic Art. Many artists have produced works which fit the definition of fantastic art, others again such as René Magritte are usually classed as Surrealists but use fantastic elements in their work. It is therefore impossible to give an exhaustive list of fantastic artists and this led to a movement of science fiction and fantasy artists prior to and during the Great Depression, as anthologised by Vincent Di Fate, himself a prolific SF and space artist. In the United States in the 1930s, a group of Wisconsin artists inspired by the Surrealist movement of Europe created their own brand of fantastic art. They included Madison, Wisconsin-based artists Marshall Glasier, Dudley Huppler and John Wilde, Karl Priebe of Milwaukee and their art combined macabre humor, mystery and irony which was in direct and pointed contradiction to the American Regionalism then in vogue. Major imagists include Roger Brown, Gladys Nilsson, Jim Nutt, Ed Paschke, non-European art may contain fantastic elements, although it is not necessarily easy to separate them from religious elements involving supernatural beings and miraculous events. Sculptor Bunleua Sulilat is a notable contemporary Asian Fantastic artist, dream art Outsider art Society for the Art of Imagination Surrealism Vienna School of Fantastic Realism Gruyères Castle Coleman, A. D. Fantastic illustration and design in Britain, 1850-1930, day, Holliday T. & Sturges, Hollister
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Fantasy comics
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Fantasy comics have been around as long as the medium itself. Fredric Werthams book Seduction of the Innocent which directly led to a Senate hearing of the influence of comics on juvenile violence, though fantasy comics were able to survive in this new atmosphere though in a diminished capacity compared to its much stronger output in these early years. In the 1970s, Conan the Barbarian, created by Robert E. Howard, after some changes of publishers, it continued to be published in the 2010s. In the 1990s, The Sandman, created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, the Seven Deadly Sins, Trinity Seven and Akatsuki no Yona
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Fantasy film
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Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered a form of speculative fiction alongside science fiction films and horror films, Fantasy films often have an element of magic, myth, wonder, escapism, and the extraordinary. Several sub-categories of fantasy films can be identified, although the delineations between these subgenres, much as in literature, are somewhat fluid. The most common fantasy subgenres depicted in movies are High Fantasy and Sword, both categories typically employ quasi-medieval settings, wizards, magical creatures and other elements commonly associated with fantasy stories. High Fantasy films tend to feature a more richly developed fantasy world, often, they feature a hero of humble origins and a clear distinction between good and evil set against each other in an epic struggle. Many scholars cite J. R. R, to some, the term Sword and Sandal has pejorative connotations, designating a film with a low-quality script, bad acting and poor production values. Another important subgenre of films that has become more popular in recent years is contemporary fantasy. Such films feature magical effects or supernatural occurrences happening in the world of today. Fantasy films set in the afterlife, called Bangsian Fantasy, are less common, other uncommon subgenres include Historical Fantasy and Romantic Fantasy, although 2003s Pirates of the Caribbean, The Curse of the Black Pearl successfully incorporated elements of both. As noted above, superhero movies and fairy tale films might each be considered subgenres of fantasy films, as a cinematic genre, fantasy has traditionally not been regarded as highly as the related genre of science fiction film. Since the late 1990s, however, the genre has gained new respectability in a way, tolkiens The Lord of the Rings and J. K. Jacksons The Lord of the Rings trilogy is due to its ambitious scope, serious tone. These pictures achieved phenomenal commercial and critical success, and the installment of the trilogy became the first fantasy film ever to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Harry Potter series has been a financial success, has achieved critical acclaim. Following the success of ventures, Hollywood studios have greenlighted additional big-budget productions in the genre. These have included adaptations of the first, second, and third books in C. S and this is in contrast to science fiction films, which are often released during the northern hemisphere summer. The huge commercial success of these pictures may indicate a change in Hollywoods approach to fantasy film releases. Fantasy films have a history almost as old as the medium itself, however, fantasy films were relatively few and far between until the 1980s, when high-tech filmmaking techniques and increased audience interest caused the genre to flourish
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Fantasy literature
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Fantasy literature is the body of written works that employ the motifs, themes, and stylistic approaches expected in the fantasy genre. Historically, most works of fantasy were written pieces of literature, since the 1960s, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music and painting. Stories involving paranormal magic and terrible monsters have existed in spoken forms before the advent of printed literature, homers Odyssey satisfies the definition of the fantasy genre with its magic, gods, heroes, adventures and monsters. Fantasy literature as a distinct type emerged in Victorian times, with the works of such as Mary Shelley, William Morris. J. R. R. Tolkien played a role in the popularization and accessibility of the fantasy genre with his highly successful publications The Hobbit. Rarely does one consider modern fantasy without conjuring the memory and image of Tolkien, Tolkien was largely influenced by an ancient body of Anglo-Saxon myths, particularly Beowulf, as well as modern works such as The Worm Ouroboros by E. R. Eddison. Tolkiens close friend C. S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia, the tradition established by these predecessors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has continued to thrive and be adapted by new authors. Tolkiens fiction has—particularly over the genre of high fantasy—prompted backlash, at the turn of the millennium, the Harry Potter novels of J. K. Rowling achieved widespread popularity. R. Martin in 2005, and 2011, Neil Gaiman in 2005, authors often engage in worldbuilding, constructing a framework or entire world against which the narrative plays out. Symbolism often plays a significant role in literature, often through the use of archetypal figures inspired by earlier texts or folklore. Some argue that fantasy literature and its archetypes fulfill a function for individuals and society, le Guin, in her essay From Elfland to Poughkeepsie, presented the idea that language is the most crucial element of high fantasy, because it creates a sense of place. She analyzed the misuse of a formal, olden-day style, saying that it was a trap for fantasy writers because it was ridiculous when done wrong. Brian Peters writes that in various forms of fantasy, even the villains language might be inappropriate if vulgar. The fantastical details of the series fade away by the installment, revealing that the wizarding community of the Harry Potter books is just as bad, if not worse. Farah Mendlesohn argues the world of literature is broken up into four categories, the portal quest, the immersive, the intrusive. How the fantastic enters the world is what determines how a story fits into these categories. In a portal quest such as C. S. Lewis The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, The Witch, in the intrusion fantasies like Bram Stokers Dracula, the fantastic invades the fictional world. With liminal fantasy, for example Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, The Subtle Knife, tolkiens The Hobbit for example, allows the reader no escape from the fantastic
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Fantasy fiction magazine
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A fantasy fiction magazine or fantasy magazine is a magazine which publishes primarily fantasy fiction. Not generally included in the category are magazines for children with stories about characters as Santa Claus. Also not included are adult magazines about sexual fantasy, many fantasy magazines, in addition to fiction, have other features such as art, cartoons, reviews, or letters from readers. Some fantasy magazines also publish fiction and horror fiction, so that here is not always a clear distinction between a fantasy magazine and a science fiction magazine. For example, Fantastic magazine published almost exclusively science fiction for much of its run
7.
Fantasy television
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Fantasy television is a genre of television programming featuring elements of the fantastic, often including magic, supernatural forces, or exotic fantasy worlds. Fantasy television programs are based on tales from mythology and folklore. The boundaries of fantasy television overlap with Science Fiction and Horror, similar to the difficulty faced by scholars of fantasy film, classifying a television program as fantasy can be somewhat problematic given the fluid boundaries of the genre. Not all programs with fantastic elements may qualify as fantasy, childrens programs in particular often feature fantastic elements that do not qualify the program as fantasy, such as the giant talking avian Big Bird of the popular PBS series Sesame Street. Nevertheless, some critics classify certain childrens programs that feature traditional fantasy elements such as characters, wizards. See, for example, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, programs for general audiences may also be difficult to classify. The program The Twilight Zone presented a series of unrelated stories, some of which were works of science fiction, the more generic term speculative fiction might be appropriate for such shows. Other series blend the fantasy and horror genres, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and still other programs feature dream sequences or other surreal elements, yet would not be considered fantasy shows by most fans or critics. In the United Kingdom, the term telefantasy is used as a term to collectively describe all types of programs that feature elements of the fantastic. Some critics consider Superhero programs to be works of fantasy, but others classify them as science fiction, see, for example Wonder Woman and Lois & Clark. Proper classification is ambiguous for the Tokusatsu superhero programs from Japan. A wide variety of subgenres have been represented on television
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Contemporary fantasy
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Contemporary fantasy, also known as modern fantasy or indigenous fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy, set in the present day or, more accurately, the time period of the maker. It is perhaps most popular for its subgenre, urban fantasy, novels in which modern characters travel into alternate worlds, and all the magical action takes place there, are not considered contemporary fantasy. In his preface to That Hideous Strength, one of the earlier works falling within this subgenre, but they were not remote at all to the men who first made and enjoyed the tales. When the story takes place in a city, the work is called urban fantasy. The contemporary fantasy and low fantasy genres can overlap as both are defined as being set in the real world, low fantasies are set in the real world but not necessarily in the modern age, in which case they would not be contemporary fantasy. Contemporary fantasies are set in the world but may also include distinct fantasy settings within it, such as the Harry Potter series. Robert Louis Stevenson, The Bottle Imp H. G. Cox, Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods Charles Williams, the Borrowers series by Mary Norton. Virtually the entire oeuvre of Charles de Lint Most of the novels of Tim Powers Various works by Mercedes Lackey, isaac Asimovs The Two-Centimeter Demon and other stories involving the tiny demon Azazel. Boris and Arkady Strugatskys Monday Begins on Saturday, where magic, rowlings Harry Potter series - set in the United Kingdom during the 1990s. Sergei Lukyanenkos Night Watch, set in Moscow and it has three sequels that form a tetralogy, Day Watch, Twilight Watch and Final Watch. Philip Pullmans His Dark Materials trilogy - The trilogy takes place across several universes including ours. I. T. C. H, a comic series by Elisabetta Gnone, Alessandro Barbucci, and Barbara Canepa. A number of works by Neil Gaiman, among them American Gods and Neverwhere, kelley Armstrongs Women of the Otherworld series Hazel Butlers Deathly Insanity series. Susan Coopers The Dark Is Rising Sequence Peter S. Beagles A Fine and Private Place, elrods Vampire Files series following Jack Fleming a vampire P. I. Freda Warringtons Aetherial Tales series Richelle Meads Georgina Kincaid series Derek Landys Skulduggery Pleasant Raymond E, examples include Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman, The Antelope Wife by Louise Erdrich, and Mistress of Spices by Chitra Bannerjee Divakaruni. The Mighty Thor of Marvel Comics can also be considered to belong to this subgenre, the same can be said of Hellboy. The Longest Journey is a game in which the protagonist discovers that an alternate magical reality exists in parallel with her contemporary urban reality. Once Upon a Time is a series that are based on fairy tales. The teenage witch Sabrina Spellman, living in contemporary America, clearly belongs to genre, as do the characters of the sitcom Bewitched
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Legendary creature
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A legendary creature is an animal or part human described in non-historical stories that sometimes involve the supernatural. In the classical era, monstrous creatures such as the Cyclops, other creatures, such as the unicorn, were claimed in accounts of natural history by various scholars of antiquity. Some legendary creatures have their origin in traditional mythology and were believed to be creatures, for example dragons, griffins. Others were based on real encounters, originating in garbled accounts of travelers tales, such as the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary, a variety of mythical animals appear in the art and stories of the Classical era. For example in the Odyssey, monstrous creatures include the Cyclops, Scylla, in other tales there appear the Medusa to be defeated by Perseus, the Minotaur to be destroyed by Theseus, and the Hydra to be killed by Heracles, while Aeneas battles with the harpies. These monsters thus have the function of emphasising the greatness of the heroes involved. Some classical era creatures, such as the centaur, chimaera, Triton, similarly, sphinxes appear as winged lions in Indian art. In Medieval art, animals, both real and mythical, played important roles and these included decorative forms as in Medieval jewellery, sometimes with their limbs intricately interlaced. Animal forms were used to add humour or majesty to objects, in Christian art, animals carried symbolic meanings, where for example the lamb symbolised Christ, a dove indicated the Holy Spirit, and the classical griffin represented a guardian of the dead. Medieval bestiaries included animals regardless of reality, the basilisk represented the devil. One function of animals in the Middle Ages was allegory. Unicorns, for example, were described as swift and unable to be caught by traditional methods. It was believed that the way for one to catch this beast was to lead a virgin to its dwelling. Then, the unicorn was supposed to leap into her lap and go to sleep, in terms of symbolism, the unicorn was a metaphor for Christ. Unicorns represented the idea of innocence and purity, in the King James Bible, Psalm 92,10 states, My horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn. This is because the translators of the King James erroneously translated the Hebrew word reem as unicorn, later versions translate this as wild ox. The unicorn’s small size signifies the humility of Christ, another common legendary creature which served allegorical functions within the Middle Ages was the dragon. Dragons were identified with serpents, though their attributes were greatly intensified, the dragon was supposed to have been larger than all other animals
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Fantastic
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The fantastic is a subgenre of literary works characterized by the ambiguous presentation of seemingly supernatural forces. He also points out that the ending always drives the hesitation towards one of two decisions, The fantastic requires the fulfillment of three conditions. First, the text must oblige the reader to consider the world of the characters as a world of living persons, third, the reader must adopt a certain attitude with regard to the text, he will reject allegorical as well as poetic interpretations. The Fantastic can also represent dreams and wakefulness where the character or reader hesitates as to what is reality or what is a dream, again the Fantastic is found in this hesitation - once it is decided the Fantastic ends. There is no truly typical fantastic story, as the term encompasses both works of the horror and gothic genres. Edgar Allan Poes story The Black Cat, where a murderer is haunted by a black cat, there is no clear distinction between the fantastic and magic realism as neither privilege either realistic or supernatural elements. In Russian literature, the fantastic encompasses science fiction, fantasy, Fantastic Literature, A Critical Reader Siebers, Tobin, The Romantic Fantastic Traill, Nancy, Possible Worlds of the Fantastic, The Rise of the Paranormal in Fiction
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Fantastique
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Fantastique is a French term for a literary and cinematic genre that overlaps with science fiction, horror, and fantasy. The fantastique is a genre within French literature. What is distinctive about the fantastique is the intrusion of supernatural phenomena into an otherwise realist narrative and it evokes phenomena which are not only left unexplained but which are inexplicable from the readers point of view. Instead, characters in a work of fantastique are, just like the readers and this refusal may be mixed with doubt, disbelief, fear, or some combination of those reactions. Fantastique literature is considered close to science fiction. The Fantastique is often linked to a particular ambiance, a sort of tension in the face of the impossible, a good deal of fear is often involved, either because the characters are afraid or because the author wants to provoke fright in the reader. However, fear is not a component of fantastique. In that case, the fantastique is nothing more than an area on a spectrum from magic realism to fantasy. Fantastique is a term that has also used to describe many television series. The fantastique began to become defined in the Middle Ages, the old Celtic, Frankish and Germanic myths were translated from religion into popular folklore. The root of thought about and artistic depiction of many things which are today often termed supernatural has its beginnings in this period. Concepts and characters such as Melusine, Harlequin, Oberon, Morgan Le Fay, the Fabliaux, satirical fables which relied on the tradition established by Aesop of using anthropomorphic animals such as Le Roman de Renart, generally attributed to poet Pierre de Saint-Cloud. The 16th century was marked by the emergence of new ideas and literary trends, the Renaissance bloomed in France during the reign of King Francis I who created a favorable environment for the development of letters, arts and sciences. It was during the French Renaissance that proto-science fiction first split from the fantastique, then, at the peak of his literary fame, he devoted several of his more famous Hymnes to supernatural subjects such as Daimons and astrology. Famous playwright Pierre Corneilles lesser-known but classic tragedies, Médée and Circé, popularized warlocks, the Malleus Maleficarum spawned a number of French imitations, among which were Jean Bodins La Démonomanie des Sorciers and Le Fléau des Démons et ses Sorciers. The 18th century was known as the Siècle des Lumières, or Age of Enlightenment, baroque was the link between the Merveilleux of the Renaissance and the more formalized fairy tales of the Enlightenment period. The precursor in the genre was Madame dAulnoy who, in 1690, introduced in her rambling novel Histoire dHyppolite, Comte de Douglas, in it, Perrault had carefully collected a number of popular folk tales and legends, such as Cendrillon a. k. a. Cinderella, La Belle au Bois Dormant a. k. a, donkey Skin, Le Petit Chaperon Rouge, Barbe-Bleue, Le Chat Botté, etc
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History of fantasy
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Elements of the supernatural and the fantastic were an element of literature from its beginning. Such authors as George MacDonald created explicitly fantastic works, in addition, the rules, geography, history, etc. of this world tend to be defined, even if they are not described outright. Traditional fantastic tales take place in our world, often in the past or in far off and it seldom describes the place or the time with any precision, often saying simply that it happened long ago and far away. The second difference is that the supernatural in fantasy is by design fictitious, by one standard, no work created before the fantasy genre was defined can be considered to belong to it, no matter how many fantastic elements it includes. But even by the more limited definition a full examination of the history of the fantastic in literature is necessary to show the origins of the modern genre, traditional works contain significant elements which modern fantasy authors have drawn upon extensively for inspiration in their own works. The history of French fantastique literature is covered in detail under Fantastique. With increases in learning in the medieval European era, literary fiction joined earlier myths, among the first genres to appear was romance. This genre embraced fantasy, and not only simply followed traditional myths and fables, during the Renaissance, romance continued to be popular. The trend was to more fantastic fiction, the English Le Morte dArthur by Sir Thomas Malory, was written in prose, this work dominates the Arthurian literature, often being regarded as the canonical form of the legend. Arthurian motifs have appeared steadily in literature from its publication, though the works have been a mix of fantasy and non-fantasy works, ariostos tale, with its endlessly wandering characters, many marvels, and adventures, was a source text for many fantasies of adventure. With such works as Amadis of Gaul and Palmerin of England, one English romance is The Faerie Queene of Edmund Spenser. The poem is allegorical and allusive. Leaving allegory aside, however, the action is that of a knightly romance, involving knightly duels. That is probably the first work in which most of the characters are not men, there are mentioned also the wars between goblins and elf, which were destined to have a great future in fantastic fiction. The tale of Don Quixote deeply satirized the conventions of the romance, nevertheless, large subgenres of the field of fantasy have sprung from the romance genre, either directly or through their imitation by latter fantasy writer William Morris. Literary fairy tales, such as were written by Charles Perrault, many of Perraults tales became fairy tale staples, and influenced latter fantasy as such. Indeed, when Madame dAulnoy termed her works contes de fée, she invented the term that is now used for the genre. This would influence later writers, who took up the folk tales in the same manner
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Historical fantasy
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Historical fantasy is a category of fantasy and genre of historical fiction that incorporates fantastic elements into the narrative. There is much crossover with other subgenres of fantasy, those classes as Arthurian, Celtic, stories fitting this classification generally take place prior to the 20th century. In this, it has a similarity to contemporary fantasy. This commonly overlaps with the secret history trope, alternatively, the authors narrative shows or implies that by the present day, magic will have retreated from the world so as to allow history to revert to the familiar version we know. It also can include a history where the past or present has been significantly changed when an actual historical event turned out differently. However, many if not most, works by fantasy authors derive ideas and inspiration from real events, Historical Fantasy may also be set in a fictional world which resembles a period from history but is not that actual history. All four approaches have overlapped with the subgenre of steampunk commonly associated with science fiction literature, however, not all steampunk fantasy belongs to the historical fantasy subgenre. After Antoine Gallands translation of One Thousand and One Nights became enormously popular in Europe, many writers wrote fantasy based on Gallands romantic image of the Middle East, early examples included the satirical tales of Anthony Hamilton, and Zadig by Voltaire. Marion Crawford, and James Elroy Fleckers Hassan, in the late 1970s, interest in the subgenre revived with Hasan by Piers Anthony. Baghdad by Ian Dennis Nights of the Crusades by MJ Alishah Celtic fantasy has links to historical fantasy, Celtic historical fantasy includes such works as Katharine Kerrs Deverry series, or Teresa Edgertons Green Lion trilogy. These works are based on Ancient Celtic cultures, the Welsh tradition has been particularly influential, which has its connection to King Arthur and its collection in a single work, the epic Mabinogion. One influential retelling of this was the work of Evangeline Walton, The Island of the Mighty, The Children of Llyr, The Song of Rhiannon. Fantasy based on the Breton folklore branch of Celtic mythology does not often appear in the English language, however, several noted writers have utilized such material, Robert W. Chambers The Demoiselle dYs and A. Both drew on the Breton legend of the lost city of Ys, while The Lay of Aotrou, wǔxiá figures prominently in the popular culture of Chinese-speaking areas, and the most important writers have devoted followings. The wǔxiá genre is a blend of the philosophy of xiá, a martial artist who follows the code of xiá is called a swordsman, or xiákè. Japans samurai bushidō traditions, Englands knight chivalry traditions, and Americas gunslinger Western traditions all share some aspects with Chinas swordsman xiá traditions, the swordsman, however, need not serve a lord or hold any military power and they are not required to be from an aristocratic class. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Ang Lee Classical Fantasy is a fantasy based on the Greek. Symbolism from classical mythology is enormously influential on Western culture, richard Garnett and John Kendrick Bangs used the Greek myths for satirical purposes
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Lovecraftian horror
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Lovecraftian horror is a subgenre of horror fiction that emphasizes the cosmic horror of the unknown more than gore or other elements of shock, though these may still be present. It is named after American author H. P. Lovecraft, Lovecraft refined this style of storytelling into his own mythos that involved a set of supernatural, pre-human, and extraterrestrial elements. His work was inspired by, and similar to previous authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Algernon Blackwood, however, Lovecraftian horror is not restricted to the countryside, The Horror at Red Hook, for instance, is set in a crowded ethnic ghetto. Several themes found in Lovecrafts writings are considered to be components of a Lovecraftian work, Anti-anthropocentrism, the horror features of Lovecrafts stories tend to involve protean semi-gelatinous substances, such as slime, as opposed to standard horror elements such as blood, bones, or corpses. Even when dealing with technology, Lovecraft tended to use anachronisms as well as old-fashioned words when dealing with such things. For example, he used the term man of rather than the modern word, scientist and often spelled show as shew. Lovecraftian heroes tend to be isolated individuals, usually with an academic or scholarly intent, although Lovecraftian heroes may occasionally deal a setback to malignant forces, their victories are temporary, and they usually pay a price for it. Otherwise, subjects often find themselves unable to simply run away. Characters in Lovecrafts stories rarely if ever fully understand what is happening to them, characters in many of Lovecrafts stories are unable to cope mentally with the extraordinary and almost incomprehensible truths they witness or hear. The strain of trying to cope, as Lovecraft often illustrates, is impossible to bear, relatives of characters are typically depicted as paranormal or abnormal, whereas intimate relations in general are often represented as foreboding and sinister. Much of Lovecrafts influence is secondary, as he was a friend, inspiration, many of these writers also worked with Lovecraft on jointly-written stories. His more famous friends and collaborators include Robert Bloch, author of Psycho, Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Barbarian, and August Derleth, subsequent horror writers also heavily drew on Lovecrafts work. Some have said that Lovecraft, along with Edgar Allan Poe, is the most influential author on modern horror, by the late 20th century, Lovecraft had become something of a pop-culture icon, resulting in countless reinterpretations of and references to his work. Many of these fall outside the sphere of Lovecraftian horror, Lovecrafts work, mostly published in pulp magazines, never had the same sort of influence on literature as his high-modernist literary contemporaries such as Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. However, his impact is still broadly and deeply felt in some of the most celebrated authors of contemporary fiction, the fantasias of Jorge Luis Borges display a marked resemblance to some of Lovecrafts more dream influenced work. Borges also dedicated his story, There Are More Things to Lovecraft, Lovecrafts penchant for dreamscapes and for the biologically macabre has also profoundly influenced visual artists such as Jean Moebius Giraud and H. R. Giger. Gigers book of paintings which led directly to many of the designs for the film Alien was named Necronomicon, Dan OBannon, the original writer of the Alien screenplay, has also mentioned Lovecraft as a major influence on the film. With Ronald Shusett, he would later write Dead & Buried and Hemoglobin, Lovecraft has cast a long shadow across the comic world
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Magician (fantasy)
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A magician, mage, sorcerer, sorceress, warlock, witch, wizard, or wizardess is someone who uses or practices magic derived from supernatural or occult sources. Magicians are common figures in works of fantasy, such as literature and role-playing games, and enjoy a rich history in mythology, legends, fiction. In medieval chivalric romance, the wizard often appears as an old man and acts as a mentor. Other magicians, such as Saruman, from The Lord of the Rings series, villainous sorcerers were so crucial to pulp fantasy that the genre in which they appeared was dubbed sword and sorcery. Le Guins A Wizard of Earthsea explored the question of how wizards learned their art and this theme has been further developed in modern fantasy, often leading to wizards as heroes on their own quests. Such heroes may have their own mentor, a wizard as well, wizards can be cast similarly to the absent-minded professor, being foolish and prone to misconjuring. They can also be capable of magic, both good or evil. Even comical wizards are often capable of feats, such as those of Miracle Max in The Princess Bride, although he is a washed-up wizard fired by the villain. Wizards are often depicted as old, white-haired, and with white beards majestic enough to occasionally host lurking woodland creatures. This depiction predates the modern fantasy genre, being derived from the image of wizards such as Merlin. In the Dragonlance Dungeons and Dragons setting, wizards show their moral alignment by their robes, terry Pratchett described robes as a magicians way of establishing to those they meet that they are capable of practicing magic. To introduce conflict, writers of fiction often place limits on the magical abilities of wizards to prevent them from solving problems too easily. In Larry Nivens The Magic Goes Away, once an areas mana is exhausted, a common limit used in role-playing games is that a person can only cast a specific number of spells in a day. Magic can also require various sacrifices or the use of materials, such as gemstones, blood. Even if the magician lacks scruples, obtaining the material may be difficult, a. K. Moonfire combines these limits in his book The Aubrey Stalking Portal. The magician expends power to fuel his spells, but does not replenish that power naturally, therefore, the extent of a wizards knowledge is limited to which spells a wizard knows and can cast. Magic may also be limited by its danger, if a powerful spell can cause harm if miscast. Other forms of magic are limited by consequences that, while not inherently dangerous, are at least undesirable
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Fantasy tropes
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Fantasy tropes are a specific type of literary tropes that occur in fantasy fiction. Worldbuilding, in particular, has many common conventions, as do plot and characterization, to a lesser extent. Many works of fantasy operate using these tropes, while others use them in a revisionist manner, making the tropes over for reasons such as for comic effect. The conflict of good against evil is a theme in the popular forms of fantasy, normally, evil characters erupt from their lands to invade. In some works, mostly notably in sword and sorcery, evil is not opposed by the unambiguously good, heroic characters are a mainstay of fantasy, particularly high fantasy and sword and sorcery. Such characters are capable of more than ordinary behavior, physically, morally, sometimes they might have to grow into the role ordained for them. This may take the form of maturation, which is often through Coming of Age, many protagonists are, unknown to themselves, of royal blood. Even in so fanciful a tale as Through the Looking-Glass, Alice is made a queen in the end, commonly, these tales revolve around the maltreated hero coming into his or her own. This can reflect a wish-fulfillment dream, or symbolically embody a profound transformation, the forces of evil are often personified in a Dark Lord. Besides possessing vast magical abilities, a Dark Lord often controls great armies, the villain of the Demon Sword video game is also literally called Dark Lord. In the Lone Wolf gamebooks, the Dark Lords are a race of powerful evil beings. The protagonists of the Overlord video game franchise are classic Dark Lords in the vein of Sauron, the Dark Lord is usually seen as unmarried, though there has been occasion when one has attempted to claim a bride. Quests, a trope in literature, are common in fantasy. They can be anything from a quest to locate the MacGuffins necessary to save the world, in fantasy, magic often has an overwhelming presence, although its precise nature is delineated in the book in which it appears. It can appear in a world, or in a fantasy land that is part of reality but insulated from the mundane lands. A common trope is that the ability to work magic is innate, as a consequence the person who uses it, usually called a magician, wizard, sorcerer, warlock, mage, or magus, is a common figure in fantasy. Another feature is the item, which can endow characters with magical abilities that are not innate. Among the most common are magic swords and magic rings, self-fulfilling prophecies are amongst the most common forms of magic because they are an often used plot device
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Early history of fantasy
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Though the fantasy genre in its modern sense is less than two centuries old, its sources have a long and distinguished history. Elements of the supernatural and the fantastic were an element of literature from its beginning, in The Encyclopedia of Fantasy, John Clute and John Grant separated the concept of fantasy as such from that of taproot texts, works that are sources for fantasy, but not themselves fantasy. The Epic of Gilgamesh was written over generations following the reign of King Gilgamesh. This figure is sometimes an influence and, more rarely, a figure in modern fantasy, some scholars believe The Epic of Gilgamesh is a source used by the authors of the Bible, specifically the story of Noah and the flood. India has a tradition of fantastical stories and characters, dating back to Vedic mythology. Several modern fantasy works such as RG Veda draw on the Rig-Veda as a source, the Panchatantra was influential in Europe and the Middle East. It used various animal fables and magical tales to illustrate the central Indian principles of political science, talking animals endowed with human qualities have now become a staple of modern fantasy. The Baital Pachisi is a collection of fantasy tales set within a frame story about an encounter between King Vikramāditya and a Vetala, an early mythical creature resembling a vampire. Classical mythology is replete with stories and characters, the best known being the works of Homer. The philosophy of Plato has had influence on the fantasy genre. In the Christian Platonic tradition, the reality of other worlds, chinese traditions have been particularly influential in the vein of fantasy known as Chinoiserie, including such writers as Ernest Bramah and Barry Hughart. The most well known fiction from the Islamic world was The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, the epic took form in the tenth century and reached its final form by the fourteenth century, the number and type of tales have varied from one manuscript to another. This epic has been influential in the West since it was translated in the 18th century, many imitations were written, especially in France. Various characters from this epic have themselves become cultural icons in Western culture, such as Aladdin, Sinbad, a number of elements from Persian and Arabian mythology are now common in modern fantasy, such as genies, bahamuts, magic carpets, magic lamps, etc. When L. Frank Baum proposed writing a fairy tale that banished stereotypical elements, he included the genie as well as the dwarf. The Shahnameh, the epic of Iran, is a mythical. Amir Arsalan was also a popular mythical Persian story, which has influenced some modern works of fantasy fiction, medieval European sources of fantasy occurred primarily in epic poetry and in the Fornaldarsagas, Norse and Icelandic sagas, both of which are based on ancient oral tradition. The influence of works on the German Romantics, as well as William Morris
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Fantasy world
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A fantasy world is a fictional universe created in fiction media, such as literature, film or games. Typical fantasy worlds involve magic or magical abilities, nonexistent technology and sometimes, many fantasy worlds draw heavily on real world history, geography and sociology, and also on mythology and folklore. The setting of a work is often of great importance to the plot. The setting itself can be imperiled by the evil of the story, suffer a calamity, stories that use the setting as merely a backdrop for the story have been criticized for their failure to use it fully. Even when the land itself is not in danger, it is used symbolically, for thematic purposes. Early fantasy worlds appeared as fantasy lands, part of the same planet, for example, Oz, though a fantasy world in every way, is described as part of this world. Even within the span of decades, Oz, which had been situated in a desert in the United States when first written about in 1900, was relocated to a spot in the Pacific Ocean. This is a process that continues, and finally culminates in the world having little connection, if any. A more recent example of a land with definite connections to the actual world is Austin Tappan Wrights Islandia. Islandias remoteness and aura of mystery, as well as its preservation of a society, are explained by means of a law which allows only limited contact with foreigners. Dream frames were also common for encasing the fantasy world with an explanation of its marvels. Such a dream frame was added to the story of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz for the version, in the book. Lovecraft made active use of the frame, creating elaborate geographies accessible to humans only when they were asleep. These dream-settings have been criticized, and are far less frequent today and this change is part of a general trend toward more self-consistent and substantive fantasy worlds. Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings, when these worlds are copied not so much from history as from other fantasy works, there is a heavy tendency to uniformity and lack of realism. The full width and breadth of the era is seldom drawn upon. Governments, for instance, tend to be uncompromisingly feudal-based, or evil empires or oligarchies, usually corrupt, Fantasy worlds also tend to be medieval in economy, and disproportionately pastoral. Careful world-building plus meticulous attention to detail is cited as the reason why certain fantasy works are deeply convincing
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Harry Potter fandom
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By the fourth Harry Potter book, the legions of fans had grown so large that considerable security measures were taken to ensure that no book was purchased before the official release date. Harry Potter is considered one of the few four-quadrant, multi-generation spanning franchises that exist today, pottermania is an informal term first used around 1999 describing the craze Harry Potter fans have had over the series. Fans held midnight parties to celebrate the release of the four books at bookstores which stayed open on the night leading into the date of the release. In 2005, Entertainment Weekly listed the release of Harry Potter. Diehard fans of the series are called Potterheads, some even theme their weddings around Harry Potter. A Bridal Guide featured two real weddings soon before the release of the movie, which quickly spread through the fandom via Facebook, Twitter. The craze over the series was referenced in Lauren Weisbergers 2003 novel The Devil Wears Prada as well as its 2006 film adaptation, there are many fan web sites about Harry Potter on the Internet, the oldest ones dating to about 1997 or 1998. J. K. Rowling has a relationship with her fan base. In 2004, after Immeritus, Rowling bestowed the honour upon four sites, the next site was the Harry Potter Lexicon, an online encyclopedia Rowling has admitted to visiting while writing away from home rather than buying a copy of her books in a store. She called it for the obsessive, my natural home. The third site of 2004 was MuggleNet, a web site featuring the latest news in the Potter world, among editorials, forums, and a podcast. The last site was HPANA, the first fan site Rowling ever visited, faster off the mark with Harry Potter news than any other site Rowling knows, in 2005, only The Leaky Cauldron was honored. On another occasion, Rowling has called the Leaky Cauldron her favourite fan site, in 2006, the Brazilian website Potterish was the only site honoured, in recognition of its style, Potter-expertise and responsible reporting. In May 2007, Harry Potter Fan Zone received the award, Rowling recognized the insightful editorials as well as praised the site for its young and dedicated staff. Rowling called the extraordinary and most inspirational, and paralleled its mission to the values for which Dumbledores Army fought in the books. In an article about her in Time, Rowling expressed her gratefulness at the successful work raising awareness. At one time, Warner Bros. which owns the rights to Harry Potter and its affiliates, tried to shut down the sites. The unsuccessful attempt led to their inviting the webmasters of the top sites to premieres of the films and tours of the film sets
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Tolkien fandom
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Fandom is a term used to describe a specific type of fan subculture. Tolkien fandom in this sense sprang up in the United States in the 1960s, in the context of the movement, to the dismay of the author. A Tolkienist is someone who studies the work of J. R. R. Tolkien, the term Ringer refers to a fan of The Lord of the Rings in general, and of Peter Jacksons live-action film trilogy in particular. Other terms describing Tolkien fans include Tolkienite or Tolkiendil, Tolkiens The Hobbit, a childrens book, was first published in 1937, and it proved popular. However, The Lord of the Rings, first published in 1954 through 1955, serious admirers and fans of Tolkien came into existence within science fiction fandom soon after the publication of The Fellowship of the Ring. Tolkien-inspired costumes were worn at Worldcons as early as 1958, some enthusiastic Los Angeles fans had been discussing creating a Tolkien-specific society as early as 1959. Those people who provided accepted research papers to the fanzine, I Palantir. Non-members could purchase the magazine, of which Ted Johnstone was elected editor, england’s first Tolkien fanzine was Nazgul’s Bane, produced by Cheslin. It was a newszine for those British members of The Fellowship, as Worldcon art shows started, The Fellowship Ring provided prizes for Tolkien-inspired artwork. Since most of the contributors to fanzines at the time out of science fiction fandom. Attempts to add a flavor of lofty writing style in many pieces resulted in stilted phrasing, major articles on Tolkien’s literary sources appeared through multiple issues of Xero. Lin Carter later used this as a basis for his 1969 book, Tolkien, a major defender and advocate of Tolkien in this era was Marion Zimmer Bradley, with such articles as her 1962 “Men, Halflings, and Hero Worship” in Astra’s Tower. She wrote two Tolkien pastiches and one story with Aragorn entering her own created world of Darkover. She published what would be an issue of her own Tolkien fanzine. Others had more meaningful Tolkien content, Ed Meskys’ apazine Niekas turned into a full-fledged fanzine during this era, with heavy Tolkien content as well as discussion of Gilbert & Sullivan, science fiction conventions and other topics. Pete Mansfield’s Sword & Sorcery fanzine, Eldritch Dream Quest, included many Tolkien items, science fiction fandom produced many high quality examples of Tolkien writing in their fanzines during these years. Even the nose of a very modest idol cannot remain entirely untickled by the smell of incense. Fan attention became so intense that Tolkien had to take his phone out of the public directory
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Alternate history
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Alternate history or alternative history, sometimes abbreviated as AH, is a genre of fiction consisting of stories in which one or more historical events occur differently. These stories usually contain what if scenarios at crucial points in history, the stories are conjectural, but are sometimes based on scientific fact. Alternate history can be seen as a subgenre of fiction, science fiction, or historical fiction. Another term occasionally used for the genre is allohistory, cross-time, time-splitting, and alternate history themes have become so closely interwoven that it is impossible to discuss them fully apart from one another. In French, Italian, Spanish, Catalan and German, the genre of history is called uchronie / ucronia / ucronía / Uchronie. This neologism is based on the prefix ου- and the Greek χρόνος, a uchronia means literally no time. This term apparently also inspired the name of the history book list. Several genres of fiction have been misidentified as alternate history, Science fiction set in what was the future but is now the past, like Arthur C. Clarkes 2001, A Space Odyssey or George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four, is not alternate history because the author did not make the choice to change the past at the time of writing, Alternate history is related to, but distinct from, counterfactual history. The earliest example of history is found in Livys Ab Urbe Condita Libri. Livy concluded that the Romans would likely have defeated Alexander, another example is Joanot Martorells 1490 epic romance Tirant lo Blanch, which was written when the loss of Constantinople to the Turks was still a recent and traumatic memory for Christian Europe. It tells the story of the knight Tirant the White from Brittany who travels to the remnants of the Byzantine Empire. He becomes a Megaduke and commander of its armies and manages to fight off the invading Ottoman armies of Mehmet II and he saves the city from Islamic conquest, and even chases the Turks deeper into lands they had previously conquered. In the English language, the first known complete alternate history is Nathaniel Hawthornes short story P. s Correspondence, the first novel-length alternate history in English would seem to be Castello Holfords Aristopia. While not as nationalistic as Louis Geoffroys Napoléon et la conquête du monde, 1812–1823, in Aristopia, the earliest settlers in Virginia discover a reef made of solid gold and are able to build a Utopian society in North America. A number of alternate history stories and novels appeared in the late 19th, in 1931, British historian Sir John Squire collected a series of essays from some of the leading historians of the period for his anthology If It Had Happened Otherwise. In this work, scholars from major universities turned their attention to questions as If the Moors in Spain Had Won. The essays range from serious scholarly efforts to Hendrik Willem van Loons fanciful, among the authors included were Hilaire Belloc, André Maurois, and Winston Churchill
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Retrofuturism
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Retrofuturism is a trend in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced in an earlier era. If futurism is sometimes called a bent on anticipating what will come. Primarily reflected in artistic creations and modified technologies that realize the imagined artifacts of its parallel reality, but it has also manifested in the worlds of fashion, architecture, design, music, literature, film, and video games. The word retrofuturism, combines more recent ideas of nostalgia and retro with older traditions of futurism, an early use of the term was in the title of T. R. Hinchcliffes Pelican book Retro-futurism - Penguin,1967. A recent neologism, the actual term retrofuturism was used by American Lloyd Dunn in 1983, according to fringe art magazine Retrofuturism, Retrofuturism builds on ideas of futurism, but the latter term functions differently in several different contexts. In avant-garde artistic, literary and design circles, Futurism is a long-standing, in his 1967 book T. R. Retrofuturism is first and foremost based on modern but changing notions of the future. It took its current shape in the 1970s, a time when technology was rapidly changing, from the advent of the personal computer to the birth of the first test tube baby, this period was characterized by intense and rapid technological change. But many in the public began to question whether applied science would achieve its earlier promise—that life would inevitably improve through technological progress. In the wake of the Vietnam War, environmental depredations, but they also wondered, sometimes in awe, sometimes in confusion, at the scientific positivism evinced by earlier generations. Retrofuturism seeped into academic and popular culture in the 1960s and 1970s, inflecting George Lucas’ Star Wars and the paintings of pop artist Kenny Scharf alike. Surveying the optimistic futurism of the twentieth century, the historians Joe Corn and Brian Horrigan remind us that retrofuturism is a history of an idea. The future, or course, does not exist except as an act of belief or imagination, Retrofuturism incorporates two overlapping trends which may be summarized as the future as seen from the past and the past as seen from the future. Such futuristic visions are refurbished and updated for the present, and offer a nostalgic, counterfactual image of what the future might have been, the second trend is the inverse of the first, futuristic retro. It starts with the appeal of old styles of art, clothing, mores, and then grafts modern or futuristic technologies onto it, creating a mélange of past, present. In the movie Space Station 76, mankind has reached the stars, in practice, the two trends cannot be sharply distinguished, as they mutually contribute to similar visions. In the same way, futuristic retro owes much of its flavor to early science fiction, both retrofuturistic trends in themselves refer to no specific time. Examples include the film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, set in an imaginary 1939, adam Reeds animated comedy series Archer is also set in a retrofuture aesthetic world. The import of retrofuturism has, in recent years, come under considerable discussion, some, like the German architecture critic Niklas Maak, see retrofuturism as nothing more than an aesthetic feedback loop recalling a lost belief in progress, the old images of the once radically new
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Sidewise Award for Alternate History
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The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were established in 1995 to recognize the best alternative history stories and novels of the year. The awards take their name from the 1934 short story Sidewise in Time by Murray Leinster, the awards were created by Steven H Silver, Evelyn C. Over the years, the number of judges has fluctuated between three and eight, including judges in the UK and South Africa, each year, two awards are presented, usually at the World Science Fiction Convention. The Short-Form award is presented to a work under 60,000 words in length, the Long-Form award may be presented to a work longer than 60,000 words, including both novels and complete series. At their discretion, the judges may elect to recognize an individual or work with a Special Achievement Award in recognition of works that were published prior to the awards inception. Taylor, The Windsor Faction & Bryce Zabel, Surrounded by Enemies, sprague de Camp, lifetime achievement 1997 – Robert Sobel, For Want of a Nail 1999 – Randall Garrett, The Lord Darcy Series The Sidewise Award website
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Quest
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A quest serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction, a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of every nation, in literature, the object of a quest requires great exertion on the part of the hero, who must overcome many obstacles, typically including much travel. The aspect of travel allows the storyteller to showcase exotic locations, the object of a quest may also have supernatural properties, often leading the protagonist into other worlds and dimensions. The moral of a quest tale often centers on the character of the hero. The hero normally aims to obtain something or someone by the quest, the object can be something new, that fulfills a lack in his life, or something that was stolen away from him or someone with authority to dispatch him. Sometimes the hero has no desire to return, Sir Galahads quest for the Holy Grail is to find it, not return with it. A return may, indeed, be impossible, Aeneas quests for a homeland, having lost Troy at the beginning of Virgils Aeneid, the quest object may, indeed, function only as a convenient reason for the heros journey. When a hero is on a quest for several objects that are only a convenient reason for his journey, they are termed plot coupons, most times in a quest, the knight in shining armor wins the heart of a beautiful maiden/ princess. An early quest story tells the tale of Gilgamesh, who seeks a secret to life after the death of Enkidu. Another ancient quest tale, Homers Odyssey, tells of Odysseus, recovering the Golden Fleece is the object of the travels of Jason and the Argonauts in the Argonautica. Psyche, having lost Cupid, hunted through the world for him, other characters can also set forth on quests — the heros older brothers commonly do — but the hero is distinguished by his success. Many medieval romances sent knights out on quests, the term Knight-errant sprang from this, as errant meant roving or wandering. Sir Thomas Malory included many in Le Morte dArthur, the most famous—perhaps in all of western literature—centers on the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend. This story cycle recounts multiple quests, in variants, telling stories both of the heroes who succeed, like Percival or Sir Galahad, and also the heroes who fail. This often sent them into a bewildering forest, despite many references to its pathlessness, the forest repeatedly confronts knights with forks and crossroads, of a labyrinthine complexity. The significiance of their encounters is explained to the knights—particularly those searching for the Holy Grail—by hermits acting as wise old men -- or women. So consistently did knights quest that Miguel de Cervantes set his Don Quixote on mock quests in a parody of chivalric tales, nevertheless, while Don Quixote was a fool, he was and remains a hero of chivalry. Analysis can interpret many stories as a quest in which the character is seeking something that he desires
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Superhero fiction
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Superhero fiction is a genre mainly originating in and most common to American comic books, though it has expanded into other media through adaptations and original works. A superhero is most often the protagonist of superhero fiction, although some titles, such as Marvels by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross, a superhero is a type of stock character possessing extraordinary or superhuman powers and dedicated to protecting the public. The word itself dates to at least 1917, a female superhero is sometimes called a superheroine. SUPER HEROES is a trademark co-owned by DC Comics and Marvel Comics, such characters were generally referred to as mystery men in the so-called Golden Age of Comic Books to distinguish them from characters with super-powers. Normally, superheroes use their powers to counter day-to-day crime while also combating threats against humanity by their criminal counterparts, long-running superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and Iron Man have a rogues gallery of such enemies. One of these supervillains might be the superheros archenemy, Superheroes will sometimes combat other threats such as aliens, magical/fantasy entities, natural disasters, political ideologies such as Nazism or communism, and godlike or demonic creatures. A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies. They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other heroes, whereas superheroes often wield fantastic powers, the supervillain possesses commensurate powers and abilities so that he can present a daunting challenge to the hero. Even without actual physical, mystical, superhuman or superalien powers, another common trait is possession of considerable resources to help further his aims. Many supervillains share some characteristics of real world dictators, mobsters. Superheroes and supervillains often mirror each other in their powers, abilities, in some cases, the only difference between the two is that the hero uses his extraordinary powers to help others, while the villain uses his powers for selfish, destructive or ruthless purposes. Both superheroes and supervillains often use alter egos while in action, while sometimes the characters real name is publicly known, alter egos are most often used to hide the characters secret identity from their enemies and the public. Fans have termed the practice of bringing back dead comic book death. Another common trait of superhero fiction is the killing off of a significant other by a supervillain to advance the plot. Comic book writer Gail Simone has coined the term Women in Refrigerators to refer to this practice, often, many works superhero fiction occur in the a shared fictional universe, sometimes establishing a fictional continuity of thousands of works spread over many decades. Changes to continuity are also common, ranging from changes to established continuity, commonly called retcons, to full reboots. It is also common for works of superhero fiction to contain established characters. Crossovers often occur between characters of different works of superhero fiction, in comic books, highly publicized events are published featuring crossovers between many characters
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Science fiction
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Science fiction often explores the potential consequences of scientific and other innovations, and has been called a literature of ideas. Science fiction is difficult to define, as it includes a range of subgenres and themes. Author and editor Damon Knight summed up the difficulty, saying science fiction is what we point to when we say it, a definition echoed by author Mark C. Glassy, who argues that the definition of science fiction is like the definition of pornography, you do not know what it is, in 1970 or 1971William Atheling Jr. According to science fiction writer Robert A, rod Serlings definition is fantasy is the impossible made probable. Science fiction is the improbable made possible, Science fiction is largely based on writing rationally about alternative possible worlds or futures. Science fiction elements include, A time setting in the future, in alternative timelines, a spatial setting or scenes in outer space, on other worlds, or on subterranean earth. Characters that include aliens, mutants, androids, or humanoid robots, futuristic or plausible technology such as ray guns, teleportation machines, and humanoid computers. Scientific principles that are new or that contradict accepted physical laws, for time travel, wormholes. New and different political or social systems, e. g. utopian, dystopian, post-scarcity, paranormal abilities such as mind control, telepathy, telekinesis Other universes or dimensions and travel between them. A product of the budding Age of Reason and the development of science itself. Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan considered Keplers work the first science fiction story and it depicts a journey to the Moon and how the Earths motion is seen from there. Later, Edgar Allan Poe wrote a story about a flight to the moon, more examples appeared throughout the 19th century. Wells The War of the Worlds describes an invasion of late Victorian England by Martians using tripod fighting machines equipped with advanced weaponry and it is a seminal depiction of an alien invasion of Earth. In the late 19th century, the scientific romance was used in Britain to describe much of this fiction. This produced additional offshoots, such as the 1884 novella Flatland, the term would continue to be used into the early 20th century for writers such as Olaf Stapledon. In the early 20th century, pulp magazines helped develop a new generation of mainly American SF writers, influenced by Hugo Gernsback, the founder of Amazing Stories magazine. In 1912 Edgar Rice Burroughs published A Princess of Mars, the first of his series of Barsoom novels, situated on Mars
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Climate fiction
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Climate fiction, or climate change fiction, popularly abbreviated as cli-fi is literature that deals with climate change and global warming. Not necessarily speculative in nature, works of cli-fi may take place in the world as we know it or in the near future, university courses on literature and environmental issues may include climate change fiction in their syllabi. This body of literature has been discussed by a variety of publications, including The New York Times, The Guardian, one example is Jules Vernes 1889 novel The Purchase of the North Pole, which imagines a climate change due to tilting of Earths axis. In his posthumous Paris in the Twentieth Century, written in 1883 and set during the 1960s, the city experiences a sudden drop in temperature. Several well-known dystopian works by British author J. G, in The Burning World his climate catastrophe is human-made, a drought due to disruption of the precipitation cycle by industrial pollution. Susan M. Margaret Atwood explored the subject in her dystopian trilogy Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood, in Oryx and Crake Attwood presents a world where social inequality, genetic technology and catastrophic climate change, has finally culminated in some apocalyptic event. Robert K. J. Robinsons latest climate-themed novel, titled New York 2140, was published in March 2017, ian McEwans Solar follows the story of a physicist who discovers a way to fight climate change after managing to derive power from artificial photosynthesis. The Stone Gods by Jeanette Winterson is set on the fictional planet Orbus, inhabitants of Orbus hope to take advantage of possibilities offered by a newly discovered planet, Planet Blue, which appears perfect for human life. Barbara Kingsolvers novel, Flight Behavior, employs environmental themes and highlights the effects of global warming on the monarch butterfly. Other authors who have used this subject matter include Liz Jensen, Tony White, cli-fi recommendations page on Goodreads The Cli-Fi Report A portal for news related to cli-fi
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Science-fiction fandom
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Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people actively interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization, Science fiction fandom started through the letter column of Hugo Gernsbacks fiction magazines. Not only did fans write comments about the stories—they sent their addresses, soon, fans were writing letters directly to each other, and meeting in person when they lived close together, or when one of them could manage a trip. In New York City, David Lasser, Gernsbacks managing editor, nurtured the birth of a local club called the Scienceers. Almost all the members were adolescent boys, around this time a few other small local groups began to spring up in metropolitan areas around the United States, many of them connecting with fellow enthusiasts via the Science Correspondence Club. In May 1930 the first science fiction fan magazine, The Comet, was produced by the Chicago branch of the Science Correspondence Club under the editorship of Raymond A. Palmer and Walter Dennis. In 1934, Gernsback established a club for fans called the Science Fiction League. Local groups across the nation could join by filling out an application, a number of clubs came into being around this time. LASFS was founded at this time as a branch of the SFL, while several competing local branches sprang up in New York City. Soon after the fans started to communicate directly with each other came the creation of science fiction fanzines and these amateur publications might or might not discuss science fiction and were generally traded rather than sold. They ranged from the utilitarian or inept to professional-quality printing and editing, science-fiction fans have been among the first users of computers, email, personal computers and the Internet. Many professional science fiction authors started their interest in fiction as fans. A widely regarded history of fandom in the 1930s can be found in Sam Moskowitzs The Immortal Storm, Moskowitz was himself involved in some of the incidents chronicled and has his own point of view, which has often been criticized. Organized fandom in Sweden emerged during the early-1950s, the first Swedish science fiction fanzine was started in the early 1950s. The oldest still existing club, Club Cosmos in Gothenburg, was formed in 1954, today, there are a number of science fiction clubs in the country, including Skandinavisk Förening för Science Fiction, Linköpings Science Fiction-Förening and Sigma Terra Corps. Between one and four science fiction conventions are held each year in Sweden, among them Swecon, an annual prize is awarded to someone that has contributed to the national fandom by the Alvar Appeltofft Memorial Fund. Since the late 1930s, SF fans have organized conventions, non-profit gatherings where the meet to discuss SF. The 1st World Science Fiction Convention or Worldcon was held in conjunction with the 1939 New York Worlds Fair, and has been held annually since the end of World War II
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Science-fiction convention
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Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expression as movies, television, comics, animation, the precise time and place of the first science fiction convention is a matter of some dispute. Sometime in 1936, a group of British fans made plans to have an organized gathering and they subsequently declared that event to be the first science fiction convention. This small get-together set the stage for an event held in New York, in February,1937. Attendees at this event included James Blish, Charles D. Hornig, Julius Schwartz and it was at this event that a committee was named to arrange the first World Science Fiction Convention in New York in 1939, formalizing planning that had begun at the Third Eastern. On January 3,1937, the British fans held their long-planned event at the Theosophical Hall in Leeds, around twenty fans, including Eric Frank Russell and Arthur C. Nevertheless, by 1939, American fans had organized sufficiently to hold, in conjunction with the 1939 Worlds Fair, subsequent conventions were held in Chicago in 1940 and Denver in 1941. Like many cultural events, it was suspended during World War II, Conventions resumed in 1946 with the hosting of the World Science Fiction Convention in Los Angeles, California. At these conventions, fans of science fiction together with the professional writers, artists. Some cities have a number of science fiction conventions, as well as a number of special interest conventions for anime, media, some conventions move from city to city, serving a particular country, region, or special interest. Nearly every weekend of the now has at least one convention somewhere. Worldcon, or more formally The World Science Fiction Convention, is a science fiction convention that has held each year since 1939. These members of WSFS vote both to select the site of the Worldcon two years in advance and to select the winners of the Hugo Awards, which are presented at the convention. The rules for selection are deliberately drafted to ensure the convention occurs in a different city each year. Fantasy is usually considered alongside science fiction at conventions, Conventions that are nominally science fiction conventions such as Worldcon, are also fantasy conventions in all but name. World Fantasy Convention was begun in 1975, and has since held on an annual basis. The World Fantasy Convention, however, is oriented toward the fan community. Many of those who attend World Fantasy also attend Worldcon, the World Horror Convention is an annual gathering of professionals of the World Horror Society and other interested parties
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Science fiction magazine
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A science fiction magazine is a publication that offers primarily science fiction, either in a hard copy periodical format or on the Internet. Science fiction magazines traditionally featured speculative fiction in short story, novelette, novella or novel form, many also contain editorials, book reviews or articles, and some also include stories in the fantasy and horror genres. The most influential British science fiction magazine was New Worlds, newer British SF magazines include Interzone, many science fiction magazines have been published in languages other than English, but none has gained worldwide recognition or influence in the world of anglophone science fiction. There is a trend toward important work being published first on the Internet. A web-only publication can cost as little as one-tenth of the cost of publishing a print magazine, moreover, the magazine is internationally accessible, and distribution is not an issue – though obscurity may be. Web-based magazines tend to favor shorter stories and articles that are read on a screen. From 1926 until the early 1950s, American science fiction magazines were the sources of written science fiction. Today, there are relatively few paper-based science fiction magazines, the first science fiction magazine, Amazing Stories, was published in a format known as bedsheet, roughly the size of Life but with a square spine. Later, most magazines changed to the magazine format, roughly the size of comic books or National Geographic. Science fiction magazines in this format often feature non-fiction media coverage in addition to the fiction, knowledge of these formats is an asset when locating magazines in libraries and collections where magazines are usually shelved according to size. The premiere issue of Amazing Stories, edited and published by Hugo Gernsback, after many minor changes in title and major changes in format, policy and publisher, Amazing Stories ended January 2005 after 607 issues. Before that consolidation, it ran 128 issues, much fiction published in these bedsheet magazines, except for classic reprints by writers such as H. G. Wells, Jules Verne and Edgar Allan Poe, is only of antiquarian interest. Some of it was written by science fiction fans, who were paid little or nothing for their efforts. Jack Williamson for example, was 19 when he sold his first story to Amazing Stories and his writing improved greatly over time, and until his death in 2006, he was still a publishing writer at age 98. Some of the stories in the issues were by scientists or doctors who knew little or nothing about writing fiction. The Gostak and the Doshes is one of the few stories from that era still widely read today, other stories of interest from the bedsheet magazines include the first Buck Rogers story. Armageddon 2419 A. D, by Philip Francis Nowlan and The Skylark of Space by E. E. Smith and Mrs. Lee Hawkins Garby, both in Amazing Stories in 1928. There have been a few attempts to revive the bedsheet size using better quality paper
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History of science fiction
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The literary genre of science fiction is diverse, and its exact definition remains a contested question among both scholars and devotees. This lack of consensus is reflected in debates about the genres history, there are two broad camps of thought, one that identifies the genres roots in early fantastical works such as the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh. Scholar Robert Scholes calls the history of fiction the history of humanitys changing attitudes toward space. The history of our understanding of the universe and the position of our species in that universe. In recent decades, the genre has diversified and become established as a major influence on global culture. These texts often include elements such as a voyage to the moon or the use of imagined advanced technology. American science fiction author Lester del Rey was one supporter of using Gilgamesh as an origin point. That is the Epic of Gilgamesh, French science fiction writer Pierre Versins also argued that Gilgamesh was the first science fiction work due to its treatment of human reason and the quest for immortality. In addition, Gilgamesh features a scene that in some ways resembles work of apocalyptic science fiction. However, the lack of science or technology in the work has led some to argue that it is better categorized as fantastic literature. Ancient Indian poetry such as the Hindu epic Ramayana includes Vimana flying machines able to travel into space or under water, and destroy entire cities using advanced weapons. In the first book of the Rigveda collection of Sanskrit hymns, there is a description of birds that are seen jumping into space speedily with a craft using fire. Containing twelve stamghas, one wheel, three machines,300 pivots, and 60 instruments, ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes has several works that include elements often associated with the fantastic voyage, including air travel to another world. Examples include his The Clouds, The Birds and The Peace, the Bible has also been cited as a science-fiction work. L. Sprague de Camp and a number of other authors argue this to be one of the earliest if not the earliest example of fiction or proto-science fiction. However, since the text was intended to be satirical and hyperbolic. Lucian translator Bryan Reardon is more explicit, describing the work as an account of a fantastic journey - to the moon, the underworld, the belly of a whale, and so forth. It is not really science fiction, although it has sometimes called that
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Science fiction film
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Science fiction films have often been used to focus on political or social issues, and to explore philosophical issues like the human condition. The genre has existed since the years of silent cinema. The next major example in the genre was the film Metropolis - being the first feature length science fiction movie, from the 1930s to the 1950s, the genre consisted mainly of low-budget B movies. After Stanley Kubricks landmark 2001, A Space Odyssey, the fiction film genre was taken more seriously. This definition suggests a continuum between empiricism and transcendentalism, with science fiction film on the side of empiricism, and horror film, however, there are numerous well-known examples of science fiction horror films, epitomized by such pictures as Frankenstein and Alien. The visual style of fiction film can be characterized by a clash between alien and familiar images. This clash is implemented when alien images become familiar, as in A Clockwork Orange, as well, familiar images become alien, as in the films Repo Man and Liquid Sky. For example, in Dr. Strangelove, the, distortion of the make the familiar images seem more alien. Finally, alien and familiar images are juxtaposed, as in The Deadly Mantis, Science fiction films appeared early in the silent film era, typically as short films shot in black and white, sometimes with colour tinting. They usually had a theme and were often intended to be humorous. In 1902, Georges Méliès released Le Voyage dans la Lune, generally considered the first science fiction film, several early films merged the science fiction and horror genres. Examples of this are Frankenstein, a adaptation of Mary Shelleys novel. Taking a more adventurous tack,20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a based on Jules Verne’s famous novel of a wondrous submarine. In the 1920s, European filmmakers tended to use science fiction for prediction and social commentary, as can be seen in German films such as Metropolis and Frau im Mond. In the 1930s, there were big budget science fiction films, notably Just Imagine, King Kong, Things to Come. Starting in 1936, a number of science fiction comic strips were adapted as serials, notably Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers and these serials, and the comic strips they were based on, were very popular with the general public. Other notable science fiction films of the 1930s include Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, Doctor X, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, F. P. The 1940s brought us Before I Hang, Black Friday, Dr. Cyclops, The Devil Commands, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Man Made Monster, It Happened Tomorrow, It Happens Every Spring and The Perfect Woman
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Science fiction on television
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Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality. The combination of initial cost and lower maintenance cost pushed producers into building these techniques into the basic concept of a series. The broad term special effects includes all the techniques here, visual effects involve photographic or digital manipulation of the onscreen image, usually done in post-production. Mechanical or physical effects involve props, pyrotechnics, and other methods used during principal photography itself. Some effects involved a combination of techniques, a ray gun might require a pyrotechnic during filming, stunts are another important category of physical effects. In general, all kinds of special effects must be planned during pre-production. Babylon 5 was the first series to use computer-generated imagery, or CGI, for all exterior space scenes, the technology has made this more practical, so that today models are rarely used. In the 1990s, CGI required expensive processors and customized applications, models have been an essential tool in science fiction television since the beginning, when Buck Rogers took flight in spark-scattering spaceships wheeling across a matte backdrop sky. The original Star Trek required an array of models, the USS Enterprise had to be built in several different scales for different needs. Gerry Anderson created a series of using puppets living in a universe of models and miniature sets. ALF depicted an alien living in a family, while Farscape included two puppets as regular characters, in Stargate SG-1, the Asgard characters are puppets in scenes where they are sitting, standing, or lying down. As animation is completely free of the constraints of gravity, momentum, in general, science fiction series are subject to the same financial constraints as other television shows. However, high production costs increase the risk, while limited audiences further complicate the business case for continuing production. Star Trek was the first television series to cost more than $100,000 per episode, while Star Trek and this enabled merchandising such as toy lines, animated cartoon adaptations, and other licensing. Creative settings also often call for broader story arcs than is found in mainstream television. Science fiction television producers will sometimes end a season with a cliffhanger episode to attract viewer interest. Dark Angel is one of many shows ending with a scene that left critical questions open when the series was cancelled
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Horror fiction
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Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten, scare, disgust, or startle their readers or viewers by inducing feelings of horror and terror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon has defined the horror story as a piece of fiction in prose of variable length, which shocks or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing. It creates an eerie and frightening atmosphere, Horror is frequently supernatural, though it can be non-supernatural. Often the central menace of a work of fiction can be interpreted as a metaphor for the larger fears of a society. The genre of horror has ancient origins with roots in folklore and religious traditions, focusing on death, the afterlife, evil, the demonic and these were manifested in stories of beings such as witches, vampires, werewolves and ghosts. 18th century Gothic horror drew on these sources with the seminal and controversial The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole and this marked the first incorporated elements of the supernatural instead of pure realism. In fact, the first edition was published disguised as a medieval romance from Italy discovered and republished by a fictitious translator. Once revealed as contemporary, many found it anachronistic, reactionary, or simply in poor taste — but it proved to be immediately popular. That first novel of Gothic horror inspired such works as Vathek by William Beckford, A Sicilian Romance, The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Italian by Ann Radcliffe and The Monk by Matthew Lewis. A significant amount of fiction of this era was written by women and marketed at a female audience. The Gothic tradition blossomed into the modern readers call horror literature in the 19th century. Each of these novels and novellas created an icon of horror seen in modern re-imaginings on the stage. The proliferation of periodicals, as early as the turn of the century. One writer who specialized in fiction for mainstream pulps such as All-Story Magazine was Tod Robbins, whose fiction dealt with themes of madness. Later, specialist publications emerged to give horror writers an outlet, including Weird Tales, influential horror writers of the early 20th century made inroads in these mediums. Early cinema was inspired by aspects of horror literature, and early horror cinema started a strong tradition of horror films. This imagery made these comics controversial, and as a consequence they were frequently censored, many modern novels claim an early description of the living dead in a precursor to the modern zombie tale, including Dennis Wheatleys Strange Conflict, H. P. Lovecraft stories such as Cool Air, In The Vault, richard Mathesons novel I Am Legend would also influence an entire genre of apocalyptic zombie fiction emblematic of the films of George A. Romero
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Horror film
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Horror film is a film genre that seeks to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on their fears. Inspired by literature from authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, the macabre and the supernatural are frequent themes. Horror may also overlap with the fantasy, supernatural fiction and thriller genres, Horror films often deal with viewers nightmares, fears, revulsions and terror of the unknown. Plots within the genre often involve the intrusion of an evil force, event. Another of his projects was 1898s La Caverne maudite. Japan made early forays into the genre with Bake Jizo and Shinin no Sosei. The era featured a slew of literary adaptations, with the works of Poe and Dante, in 1908, Selig Polyscope Company produced Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In 1910, Edison Studios produced the first filmed version of Frankenstein, the macabre nature of the source materials used made the films synonymous with the horror film genre. Before and during the Weimar Republic era, German Expressionist filmmakers would significantly influence later productions, the first vampire-themed movie, Nosferatu, was made during this period, though it was an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stokers Dracula. Other European countries also, contributed to the genre during this period, though the word horror to describe the film genre would not be used until the 1930s, earlier American productions often relied on horror themes. Some notable examples include The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Phantom of the Opera, The Cat and the Canary, The Unknown, and The Man Who Laughs. Many of these films were considered dark melodramas because of their stock characters and emotion-heavy plots that focused on romance, violence, suspense. The trend of inserting an element of macabre into American pre-horror melodramas continued into the 1920s, directors known for relying on macabre in their films during the 1920s were Maurice Tourneur, Rex Ingram, and Tod Browning. Ingrams The Magician contains one of the first examples of a mad doctor and is said to have had a influence on James Whales version of Frankenstein. The Unholy Three is an example of Brownings use of macabre and unique style of morbidity, he remade the film in 1930 as a talkie, during the early period of talking pictures, Universal Pictures began a successful Gothic horror film series. Tod Brownings Dracula was quickly followed by James Whales Frankenstein and The Old Dark House, some of these films blended science fiction with Gothic horror, such as Whales The Invisible Man and featured a mad scientist, mirroring earlier German films. Frankenstein was the first in a series of remakes which lasted for years, the Mummy introduced Egyptology as a theme, Make-up artist Jack Pierce was responsible for the iconic image of the monster, and others in the series. Universals horror cycle continued into the 1940s with B-movies including The Wolf Man, the once controversial Freaks, based on the short story Spurs, was made by MGM, though the studio disowned the completed film, and it remained banned, in the UK, for thirty years
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Fictional universe
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A fictional universe is a self-consistent imaginary setting with events, and often other elements, that differ from the real world. It may also be called an imagined, constructed or fictional realm, fictional universes may appear in novels, comics, films, television shows, video games and other creative works. What distinguishes a fictional universe from a setting is the level of detail. A fictional universe has a continuity and internal logic that must be adhered to throughout the work. So, for instance, many books may be set in conflicting fictional versions of Victorian London, however, the various film series based on Sherlock Holmes follow their own separate continuities, and so do not take place in the same fictional universe. The history and geography of a universe are well-defined, and maps. When subsequent works are written within the universe, care is usually taken to ensure that established facts of the canon are not violated. Even if the fictional universe involves concepts such as magic that dont exist in the real world, a famous example of a detailed fictional universe is Arda, of J. R. R. Tolkiens books The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion. He created first its languages and then the world itself, which he states was primarily linguistic in inspiration and was begun in order to provide the history for the Elvish tongues. Another, more recent, famous fictional universe is that of the Avatar film series, as James Cameron has invented an entire ecosystem, also, he commissioned a linguistics expert to invent the Navi language. Virtually every successful fictional TV series or comic book develops its own universe to keep track of the episodes or issues. Writers for that series must follow the story bible, which becomes the series canon. This creates a universe that future authors can write about. These stories about the universe or universes that existed before the retcon are usually not canonical, Crisis on Infinite Earths was an especially sweeping example. Some writers choose to introduce elements or characters from one work into another, for example, the character of Ursula Buffay from American sitcom Mad About You was also a recurring guest star in Friends, despite the two series having little else in common. Fellow NBC series Seinfeld also contained references to Mad About You. L. Frank Baum introduced the characters of Capn Bill and Trot, the two characters made a number of subsequent appearances in later Oz books. Sir Thomas Mores Utopia is one of the earliest examples of a fictional world with its own rules and functional concepts
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The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
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The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. In October 2011, the edition was made available for free online. The first edition, edited by Peter Nicholls with John Clute, was published by Granada in 1979 and it was retitled The Science Fiction Encyclopedia when published by Doubleday in the United States. Accompanying its text were numerous black and white photographs illustrating authors, book and magazine covers, film and TV stills, a second edition, jointly edited by Nicholls and Clute, was published in 1993 by Orbit in the UK and St. Martins Press in the US. The second edition contained 1.3 million words, almost twice the 700,000 words of the 1979 edition, the paperback edition included an addendum. Unlike the first edition, the print versions did not contain illustrations, there was also a CD-ROM version in 1995, styled variously as The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Grolier Science Fiction. This contained text updates through 1995, hundreds of covers and author photos, a small number of old film trailers. The companion volume, published after the print edition and following its format closely, is The Encyclopedia of Fantasy edited by John Clute. All print and CD-ROM editions are out of print. The beta text of the third edition launched online on 2 October 2011, with editors John Clute, David Langford, Peter Nicholls, the encyclopedia is updated regularly by the editorial team with material written by themselves and contributed by science fiction academics and experts. It received the Hugo Award for Best Related Work in 2012, the online edition of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction was released in October 2011 with 12,230 entries, totaling 3,200,000 words. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, An Illustrated A to Z, St Albans, Herts, UK, Granada Publishing Ltd. p.672. The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Clute, John, Langford, David, Nicholls, Peter, Sleight, Graham
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Magic (paranormal)
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Magic or sorcery is the use of rituals, symbols, actions, gestures, and language with the aim of exploiting supernatural forces. The term magic has a variety of meanings, and there is no agreed upon definition of what it is or how it can be used. Religious scholars have defined magic in many different ways, one approach, associated with the anthropologists Edward Tylor and James G. Frazer, has magic and science be opposites. Many scholars of religion have rejected the utility of the term magic, the term magic comes from the Old Persian magu, a word that applied to a form of religious functionary about which little is known. This meaning of the term was adopted by Latin in the first century BCE. The concept was incorporated into Christian theology during the first century CE. This concept was pervasive throughout the Middle Ages, although in the modern period Italian humanists reinterpreted the term in a positive sense to establish the idea of natural magic. Both negative and positive understandings of the term were retained in Western culture over the following centuries, throughout Western history, there have been examples of individuals claiming to be practitioners of magic and referring to themselves as magicians. This trend has proliferated in the period, with a growing number of magicians appearing within the esoteric milieu. Scholars of religion have failed to agree on a definition of magic is. The subject has one of intense dispute, with some scholars criticizing the validity of the term in the first place. Even among those throughout history who have described themselves as magicians, there has been some debate among scholars as to whether to use the term magic at all. The scholar of religion Jonathan Z. Smith for example argued that it had no utility as a term that scholars should use. Religious historian Wouter Hanegraaff agreed, stating that the magic is an important object of historical research. Since the 1990s its usage among scholars has declined, within Western culture, magic has been linked to the idea of the Other. Using the term magic when discussing non-Western cultures or pre-modern forms of Western society raises problems, alternately, this term implies that all categories of magic are ethnocentric and that such Western preconceptions are an unavoidable component of scholarly research. Magic is one of the most heavily theorized concepts in the study of religion, the intellectualist approach to defining magic is associated with two prominent British anthropologists, Edward Tylor and James G. Frazer. This was an approach that viewed magic as being the theoretical opposite of science, in his 1871 book Primitive Culture, Tylor characterized magic as beliefs based on the error of mistaking ideal analogy for real analogy
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Fiction
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Fiction is the classification for any story or similar work derived from imagination—in other words, not based strictly on history or fact. Fiction does not refer to a mode or genre, unless used in its narrowest sense to mean a literary narrative. Instead, the context of fiction is generally open to interpretation, characters and events within a fictional work may even be openly set in their own context entirely separate from the known universe, a fictional universe. Science fiction, for example, predicts or supposes technologies that are not realities at the time of the works creation, for example, Jules Vernes novel From the Earth to the Moon was published in 1865 and only in 1969 did astronaut Neil Armstrong first land on the moon. Historical fiction places imaginary characters into real historical events, in the early historical novel Waverley, Sir Walter Scotts fictional character Edward Waverley meets a figure from history, Bonnie Prince Charlie, and takes part in the Battle of Prestonpans. Some works of fiction are slightly or greatly re-imagined based on some originally true story, often, even when the author claims the fictional story is basically true, there may be artificial additions and subtractions from the true story to make it more interesting. One such example would be Tim OBriens The Things They Carried, creators of fantasy sometimes introduce entire imaginary creatures or beings such as dragons and fairies. In terms of the separation between fiction and non-fiction, the lines are now commonly understood as blurred, showing more overlap than mutual exclusion. Even fiction usually has elements of, or grounding in, truth, also, infinite fictional possibilities themselves signal the impossibility of fully knowing reality, provocatively demonstrating that there is no criterion to measure constructs of reality. The Internet has had a impact on the creation and distribution of fiction. Also, digital libraries such as Project Gutenberg make public domain texts more readily available, the combination of inexpensive home computers, the Internet and the creativity of its users has also led to new forms of fiction, such as interactive computer games or computer-generated comics. Countless forums for fan fiction can be online, where loyal followers of specific fictional realms create and distribute derivative stories. Types of literary fiction in prose, Short story, A work of at least 2,000 words, the boundary between a long short story and a novella is vague. Novella, A work of at least 17,500 words, joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness is an example of a novella. Novel, A work of 50,000 words or more, cartoonist Character Fiction writing Legend Mythology Non-fiction Pseudohistory Eco, Umberto 2009. On the ontology of fictional characters, A semiotic approach
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