"Putting the Fact in Fantasy: Expert Advice to Bring Authenticity to your Fantasy Writing" Edited by Dan Koboldt

 

Publisher: Writers' Digest Books

Copyright: 2022

ISBN: 9780593331996

"Putting the Fact in Fantasy" is a companion volume to Dan Koboldt's previous book "Putting the Science and Fiction", which I reviewed back on December 6, 2021.

Like its predecessor this book is chock-full of valuable information for any writer, but not necessarily those writing fantasy as it also deals with real world issues that might have bearing in his fantasy story but also do in a contemporary one.

The book contains 51 individual essays by authors, who are also experts in their field. These individual essays are divine into six broad categories: history as inspiration, languages and culture, world building, weapons and warfare, horses, and going on an adventure.

The topics within a given category are all related (as you would expect). In the history one for example we deal with the Spanish Inquisition, the American old west, female professions in mediaeval Europe, Feudal Nobility, African and Asian cultures and exchange, religious fundamentalism, and real-world magic to name but a few.

While a writer will not use all these things in a particular story the details within these short essays should for the most part be extremely helpful for anyone who is a writer, and especially those who are looking to get into writing. 

All of these topics could for the most part fall under the auspecies of world building, but this is something that is crucial to any well crafted story.

Highly recommended, especially for new writers and those who need inspiration.

"Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation!" by Lynn Truss

 

Publisher: New York : Gotham Books

Copyright: 2003

ISBN: 9781592400874 

This book gives the reader a very good overview of grammar and punctuation (you know that stuff you were supposed to have learned about in English class). Now, while this might sound like a fairly dull subject. It isn’t, as Lynne Truss does it with a great sense of humour, and wonderful examples that will keep you enthralled (and laughing) to the very end.

Some of the examples cited in the text are ones you will commonly see now-a-days. I’m not sure why this is, as to the best of my knowledge English is still a core subject in school. The rules for grammar and punctuation are basically quite simple, but can seem difficult if you aren’t properly trained in them.

So go ahead, read this book, it’ll open your eyes and definitely give you something to think about.

Enjoy, and watch your commas.

"World Building From the Inside Out" by Janeen Ippolito

Publisher: Independently Published

Copyright: 2018

ISBN: 9781983788321

This is the third book on world building that I’ll be reviewing, as I am currently doing research on the various methods authors use to do their work, and see if there are any major similarities and/or differences.

This book for the most part serves as a relatively handy reference on world building. Ms. Ippolito wrote this book because of a mistake she says in the introduction. She had a lot of experience in world building due to a background in anthropology and teaching, but neglected the plot and characters. She concluded that she was “missing the cultural worldview”. Which in my opinion is something that is very important, as that is what motivates characters, gives them a reason for what they do, etc.

The book is short at only 60 pages, and Ms. Ippolito describes it as “a quick primer to get you to the core of your story world’s cultures”.

She briefly talks about such things as religion, government, societal structure, technology, health medicine, the military and education to name a few. However, as of these topics are addressed within approximately five pages, the text resembles a list of semi-detailed definitions. But having said that the definitions are extremely useful, and likely not something most writers think about. The author’s experience in anthropology is quite evident, and this is where most of her sources seem to be based, which is a good plan as it is the study of humans, and until we meet some aliens that is what we have to base things on.

A very handy reference to get an author thinking outside of the box with regard to their world building activities.

"The A-Zs of Worldbuilding: Building a Fictional World From Scratch" by Rebekah Loper

Publisher: Tulsa, Oklahoma: Fantasia Hearth Press

Copyright: 2017

ISBN: 9780692850558

This is the second book on world building that I’ll be reviewing, as I am currently doing research on the various methods authors use to do their work, and see if there are any major similarities and/or differences.

As the title indicates this book deals with 26 topics on the subject of world building. I felt some of the choices of topics assigned to the various letters were a little odd, and some readers may not know what the terms she uses mean until they look them up, but the author does give very good information in all the sections.

Some of the topics covered include architecture, birth, clothing, death, economy, geography, and history. One nice feature about all these various topics is the author gives exercises composed of a series of questions / prompts at the end of each chapter as an assist for writers in building their worlds.

In some cases their are significant areas of crossover such as M is for Military, and W is for Weapons and Warfare, and I feel these two sections could easily have been combined. This also goes for A is for Architecture, and I is for Interior Design.

None of the chapters in this book are overly long, with the average being 3 to 4 pages, with generally more pages in the exercises section mentioned above (as it is laid out workbook style with room for writing). I believe it would have given potential authors more information if Ms. Loper had gone into more detail in the various sections, but for a quick reference guide, or for a novice author that is just getting into world building it is adequate.

I found this book to be quite helpful in my research, and would recommend it to anyone interested in world building.

"On Writing and Worldbuilding: Volume 1" by Timothy Hickson

Publisher: Independently Published

Copyright: 2019

ISBN: 9781798967652

The next three non-fiction reviews that I'll be doing are all going to be dealing with the subject of world building, which is something that all writers working in the various fiction genres have to deal with one extent or another (or at least they should). I am currently doing research on the various methods authors use to do their work, and see if there are any major similarities and/or differences.

Some readers and writers may disagree with the above statement, as world building has typically been defined as a staple of science fiction and fantasy. For other fiction genres it sometimes goes by such open-ended terms such as research, back story, plotting etc. rather than world building. However, I define world building very broadly and consider it to be anything an author has to do to make their story plausible to a reader, and allow the author to create consistent content for their stories.

In the first half of this book Mr. Hixson deals primarily with the techniques of writing rather than world building. In the second half he deals with the world building aspect of the title, and goes into some detail and discusses magic systems, polytheistic religions, hidden magical worlds, and then does three chapters on politics namely how empires rise, work, and fall.

I'm not going to deal much with the writing advice itself primarily because I picked this book up while I was researching world building techniques. However to give a fair review, I will say that the first part of the book gives the novice writer extremely good advice on writing in general, and especially character creation, exposition, character motivation and character interrelationships.

Moving on to world building, the first section is all about magic and he gives extremely good information on various types of magic systems, which are based on a system set up by Brandon Sanderson (author of the Elantis, and Mistborn series amongst others). In which magic is separated into two classes: hard and soft magic. He goes into a fair bit of detail concerning both these systems and gives good examples, as well as dealing with how magic should be written about.

When dealing with the polytheistic religions section he goes into detail here as well regarding the various religions themselves and how they might or should interact with the other parts of the society. Examples of this interaction would be variations in beliefs, the culture and its influences, economic influences, and how religions spread, to name a few.

He then tackles hidden magical worlds, which are a staple of the Percy Jackson series, Harry Potter series, Black Panther, and Wonder Woman, to name but a few of a large selection. He discusses things such as why is the world hidden? What technology is required to keep it hidden? How would the hidden society as well as the outside world deal with its discovery, as well as normal things such as economics, politics, and society in general.

Likely the best sections are with regard to how empires rise, work, and fall. And he goes into good detail with regard to these three topics.

All in all, I found this to be a very good book, but was a little disappointed in some of the examples he used, as a lot of them are very new and it seems as if he either ignored or didn't know about world building that had gone on in classic science fiction, and fantasy. One thing I did find useful was that in the section on empires he did use a history consultant to give it more accuracy.

"The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins

Publisher:Boston : Houghton Mifflin Co., 2006.

ISBN: 9780618680009 

Characteristics: 406 pages ;,24 cm

This is the first book of Richard Dawkins' that I've read, and I found it to be very well written, and informative. Dr. Dawkins poses his arguments logically, and follow them through to their logical conclusions. He does tend to goober things a number of times, but when you consider how ingrained some of the beliefs in religion are this is likely a good technique as not all people will see the relevance with only one example.

I have read other authors on the subject of atheism, and the vast majority follow the same general format, however Dr. Dawkins goes into much greater detail and gives more examples of why certain beliefs may have arisen, why they are regarded as unchallengeable truths, and what non-believers can do to attempt to understand where proponents of the beliefs in question come from.

I believe this is a good book for the general reader, and would also make a good addition to most anthropology, sociology and possibly even history courses.

"Armageddon 2419 A.D.: The Seminal 'Buck Rogers' Novel" by Philip Francis Nowlan (1888-1940)

Publisher: New York : Ace Books
No other Publication data available

This is an excellent book that has been in my collection for many years, and I've read it a few times. It's one of those books where every time you read it you tease out some new little gem.

The frontispiece of the book reads as follows:

"The relation between this book and the nationally syndicated comic strip Buck Rogers is worth noting. Armageddon 2419 was originally the title of a long novelette that appeared in Amazing Stories in 1928. A sequel, entitle The Airlords of Han, appeared in that magazine a year later. Both works have been integrated to make the book you hold here."

"When the original magazine story appeared it caught the eye of the John Dille Company, a newspaper feature syndicate. They hired the author, Phil Nowlan, to write the continuity of a comic strip based on it. Considering Buck to be a shorter and more marketable name that Anthony, it was under the name Buck Rogers 2429 A.D. that the strip first appeared in newspapers in 1929. Each year the strip's title was updated by one to keep the five hundred years difference, until eventually the strip was stabilized as Buck Rogers in the Twenty-Fifth Century."

"During th first two years of syndication, the plot of the strip followed the adventures in this book fairly closely, but as time went on new adventures and characters were introduced, until today''s strip bears virtually no resemblance to the novel now reprinted"

"The role of Buck Rogers in the rise and popularization of science-fiction can scarcely be overestimated."

This frontispiece is signed D.A.W. - but there is no indication who this is.

Because this book was originally written in the early part of the 20th Century there is a considerable amount of racism incorporated into the storyline. As unlike the television series in 1979 (starring Gil Gerard, Erin Gray) where the antagonists are extraterrestrials known as Draconians (now there's an original name for you), in the book the antagonists are Mongolians (referred to an Hans), and it is not until the epilogue that you find out that the Hans are the product of interbreeding with a human-like race that arrived on Earth when a small planet or large meteor hit in the interior of Asia.

The nice thing about this storyline is that outside of the fact Rogers was in suspended animation for close to five-hundred years (in a collapsed mine shift), and the introduction of two special elements (inertron and ultron) there is very little to take this story into the realm of the fantastic and unbelievable. So if you can overlook the racism, then you find that the story itself is very well written, and well worth the read.

"Let's Go Exploring" by Michael Hingston

Publisher:Toronto, Ontario : ECW Press, [2018]
Copyright Date:©2018
ISBN: 9781770414136
Characteristics: 131 pages.

Calvin & Hobbes was a comic strip staple for 10 years, then it suddenly ended its run on December 31, 1995 much to the dismay of thousands of loyal fans. At its height it appeared in more than 2400 newspapers. Since he shutdown the strip the creator Bill Watterson has essentially kept out of the public eye, also much to the dismay of thousands of loyal fans. But can you blame him for this?

This book is an examination of the phenomena of the Calvin & Hobbes story, Mr. Watterson, and some of the struggles he had to put up with when he created this enduring strip. There is a fair amount of background information given in this book that goes into Mr. Watterson's life prior to C & H and how he got started, his love of Charles Shultz's "Peanuts", but it mainly discusses the role C & H has played in American culture. It also delves into discussions of how Calvin might really perceive the world: Is it just daydreaming, a mental illness, or just a commentary on child & grown-up relations?

"Let's Go Exploring" is a well written book, that should be read by all C & H fans, as well as those who are fans of other strips. Michael Hingston is an Edmonton author.

"Magic Born" by Rayanne Haines

Publisher: Macedon, New York : Soul Mate Publishing, [2018]
Copyright Date: ©2018
ISBN: 9781682916759
Characteristics: 249 pages.

This is the second book of the Guardian Series (I reviewed the first - Magic Born last week). This novel is once again classified as romance, and I'm still no closer to figuring out what this really means, so I'll continue to call it a fantasy novel. This story was also well written, but I don't believe it is quite as good as the first, as the storyline is somewhat more confusing, and a number of additional characters are introduced that are both temporary and in my opinion not really crucial to the story.

This instalment revolves around the life of Maria Del Voscova who is a powerful witch, and during the story her past life is revealed to the others (Alex, Collum, Neeren and others) whether she likes it or not. Her life is quite messed up, as is her family, and her adventures reveal this throughout the book. In some ways though I felt that the strangeness of her family was a bit too much, and that this made the plot suffer a little in that it was presented too quickly.

The third book in the series "Air Born" has yet to be released.

"Fire Born" by Rayanne Haines

Publisher:Macedon, New York : Soul Mate Publishing, [2017]
Copyright Date:©2017
ISBN:9781682915387
Characteristics: 249 pages ;,21 cm

According to the book jacket this novel is classified as a romance, I'm not exactly sure how they came up with this as I would have put it squarely into the fantasy genre. But it doesn't really matter what you classify it as, as it is a very well written story that definitely keeps you turning the pages.

The story revolves around a young lady Alex Taleisin who as it turns out has the rather spectacular power of being able to control fire, in fact she is a fire elemental. In addition she is the long-lost daughter of a fierce female warrior, is protected by a dragon, and aided by a witch who dresses in clothes (from Holt Renfrew) that make all the men's heads turn.

There are quite a number of funny moments in this book when you consider the interactions between the various characters, but there is also a fair bit of stress as not only is Alex falling in love with her dragon guardian (he shape shifts in case you are wondering), but she also meets up with her grandfather who depending on how you look at things may be the wisest of them all, or a few cards short of a full deck.

All in all a very good story, and I'm looking forward to the second book in the series "Magic Born".

"Loot for the Taking" by Don Levers

Publisher:[Victoria, British Columbia] : Tellwell, [2017]
Copyright Date:©2017
ISBN: 9781773027142
Characteristics: 297 pages

"Loot for the Taking" revolves around the real life robbery in 1977 of the Vancouver Safety Deposit Vault in Vancouver, British Columbia. It tells the tale of four average friends who decide to rob the vault of a fortune in money, jewels, and bonds.

The author has produced a cohesive story that is extremely well written, and keeps you reading to the very end. The characters are intricately developed, and their motivations are believable. The explaination of how the robbery was carried out is very detailed, and gives the story a life of it own that keeps you turning the pages.

Historical fiction is a growing genre, that more authors should investigate, as the rewards are substantial. These include such a thing as a targeted audience, which is something very few other genres can boast. On the down side of this genre there is the research that the author has to do to support the story, which most authors are unwilling or unable to do. Mr. Levers has definitely succeeded in this and has produced a story that should delight all readers. In addition, his interweaving of the dream sequences was an interesting plot twist that definitely kept me interested.

The only thing I found missing in this novel - and it's a minor thing that likely only matters to very few readers - is the lack of a bibliography. As an author myself, when I read a historical fiction piece I frequently like to read more on the subject, and would have appreciated the reference material.

I'm very much looking forward to the next book by this author.

"Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold" by Stephen Fry

Publisher:[London] : Michael Joseph, 2017.
ISBN: 9780718188740
Characteristics: ix, 416 pages :,colour illustrations, maps

This book is an excellent retelling of the Greek myths, that mainly focuses on the ones that you typically don't hear too often. In his introduction Mr. Fry says:

"Mythos begins at the beginning, but does no end at the end. Had I included heroes like Oedipus, Perseus, Theseus, Jason and Herakles and the details of the Trojan War this book would have been too heavy for a Titan to pick up."

With numerous footnotes this book gives a fantastic overview of Greek mythology, and points out the numerous links to our current myths, and legends. In addition Mr. Fry's famous sense of humour comes shining through in his prose, and this makes this book a delight to read.

I sincerely hope that he will consider expanding this book into a second volume that includes some, if not all of the above mentioned tales that he purposely omitted. This is a book well worth reading, that would make a great addition to any collection that focuses on history, anthropology, and numerous other social sciences.

"Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow" by Yuval Noah Harari

Publisher:[Toronto, Ontario] : Signal, [2015]
Copyright Date:©2015
ISBN: 9780771038686
Characteristics: 440 pages :,illustrations

This is the second book from this author that I have reviewed recently. The first one was three weeks ago, and was called "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind". This book continues the narration with a look at what the future of humankind could possibly be like.

The author goes into a lot of detail by examining politics, technology, economics, sociology, anthropology, and a few other ologies that I'm not very familiar with. He gives a very in-depth examination of these various topics, and makes the case that the human species is due for a relatively drastic cultural and sociological evolution sometime in the next century or so that will make it almost unrecognizable when compared to what we currently have today.

I found this to be an extremely interesting and thought-provoking book, that was extremely difficult to put down when I got into it. I'm not sure whether I really want to see some of the changes that are being predicted happen, but then again it could be interesting to witness.

"The Adventure of English" hosted by Melvyn Bragg

Publisher:[Silver Spring, Md.] : Athena, [2009]
Edition:Widescreen edition.
Copyright Date:©2009
ISBN: 9781598282207
Characteristics: 4 videodiscs (405 min.) :,sound, black & white ;,4 3/4 in. +,1 booklet.

This is an absolutely fascinating look at the history of the English language and how it developed over the last 1500 years from its roots into the language as we hear and use it today. The host Melvyn Bragg asks and answered questions such as where did English start, how did it grow, what were it's influences, and what hampered its development.

A unique feature of this series is actually hearing scholars speaking Old English, and other versions of the language as it developed and changed over the centuries.

Mr. Bragg has written a book under a similar title "The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language" which while not listed as a companion to the video series sounds like it would make an excellent read, and if I can obtain a copy of it I will review it here as well.

"Lagoon" by Nnedi Okorafor

Publisher:London : Hodder & Stoughton, 2014.

ISBN:9781444762761

Characteristics:301 pages :,illustrations

Lagoon tells the story of the arrival of extraterrestrials on Earth in Lagos, Nigeria. It is interesting to note that unlike a lot of books and primarily all movies these aliens arrived in peace. In addition, it was nice to see another place on the Earth be featured as the primary location for contact (as opposed to the United States). 
According to the author of this book was written in response to her having seen the movie "District 9" and I assume her anger at how the aftermath of contact was portrayed:
"Thanks to the South African science-fiction film District 9 for both intriguing and pissing me off so much that I started daydreaming about what aliens would do in Nigeria. This novel was birthed from my anger at District 9, but it quickly became something else entirely."
This is an understandable reaction, because this movie was in my opinion essentially a commentary on the practise of Apartheid and the after effects which I'm sure are still being felt in Africa.
The author's take on what an alien first contact would be like is extremely refreshing, and unique. But it is unique not just because it is set in Lagos,  but also because of the realistic way in which the people react. Some panic, some turn to religion, the military gets involved, as well as celebrities, gangs, etc. All these facets are explored, and all are well considered.
The only minor issue I had with this book was the authors use of dialect when certain characters spoke. However, this was easily overcome after reading only one or two chapters, and in the end proved to be a great addition to the story as it gave it an authentic flavour.

"Being A Scot" by Sir Sean Connery & Murray Grigor

Publisher:London [England] : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2008.
ISBN: 9780297855408
Characteristics: 311 pages :,illustrations (chiefly color), portraits (some color) ;,27 cm

This was an extremely interesting book to read, that takes the reader on a journey through the life of Sir Sean Connery, from his beginning in Edinburgh where he delivered milk door-to-door to world wide fame as a celebrity.

With 93 films to his credit,  most people would recognize him as the original James Bond, but his acting credits are far more wide ranging than that.

But this book is much more than an autobiography "Being A Scot" is a portrait of what Scotland is really like, and looks at some of the famous achievements (and failures) that have graced it's history. In addition, Sir Sean Connery looks into the history of the country and examines why the Scottish people are the way they are. The history lesson itself was extremely interesting, and well written.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Scottish history.

"Adulting: How to Become A Grown-up in 468 Easy(ish) Lessons" by Kelly Williams Brown

Publisher:New York : Grand Central Pub., 2013.
ISBN: 9781455516902
Characteristics: viii, 273 pages :,illustrations

I was extremely impressed by the wisdom of the advice given in this book. While it is intended primarily to be read by young women and girls, the vast majority of it is applicable to young men and boys as well. Come to think of it I know quite a few older women and men that could benefit from this advice as well.

The 468 steps Ms. Brown lists are all well thought out and very pertinent to today's society. I'm over twice Ms. Browns age, and I wish someone had written a book like this for when I was starting out as I made some blunders, and I'm sure I would have handled things much differently if I'd had access to what should be considered basic information.

In Alberta's high school curriculum a course known as Career And Life Management (CALM) is taught. This book would make a great resource for any teacher preparing lesson plans for this course. Of course minor changes would need to be made, as it is an American book and certain things that are applicable south of the 49th Parallel are different than up here, but they are minor changes.

The book takes you o a journey through such topics such as cooking, getting a job, dealing with money, getting along with people, love, families, and much more. This is definitely a book I'll be recommending to quite a few people.

Enjoy

"Colossus and the Crab" by D. F. Jones (1915-1981)

Published: New York: Berkley Pub. Corp
Year: 1977
ISBN: 0425034674
Other Physical Details: 219 p. ; 18 cm

The third and final book in the Colossus trilogy follows the events of the second book directly (whereas there was a multi-year gap between the events of the first and second). Dr. Charles Forbin is in contact with two representatives from Mars who are not as friendly as they seem. The character of Dr. Blake features quite prominantly in this book but oddly Cleo Forbin is barely mentioned at all, which I found to be a bit of a let down as her part figured highly in "The Fall of Colossus" and was what motivated Forbin to act the way he did.

The title of the book is somewhat misleading, until you get about halfway through and figure out what "the crab" is - no I won't tell you! I half expected the Martian visitors to be crab-like or something, but that was not the case.

Overall this book was an enjoyable read, and the storyline comes to a logical conclusion with no loose ends that I came across. I found Forbin's capitulation to the Martian visitors somewhat odd, as well as his change of heart and revolt as somewhat out of character as the solution that is presented at the end of the book should easily have been thought of earlier, and this would therefore have solved numerous problems.

"Space Doctor" by Lee Correy (G. Harry Stine 1928-1997)

ISBN: 9780345292636
Edition Language: English
Mass Market Paperback, 245 pages
Published June 1981 by Del Rey

I'm partway through a rather large book right now so I dipped into my library to give this week's review. "Space Doctor" was written 38 years ago by Lee Correy, a pseudonym of G. Harry Steine, and is a great novel in the same vein as the early works of Robert Heinlein (who was a good friend with Steine) & Arthur Clarke. It tells of an energy hungry Earth, and the design and construction of the first of a series of Solar Powered Satellites in geosynchronous orbit.

The book's main character Dr. Tom Noels is hired on to design and operate an orbital hospital which is one of many stipulations that the government insists on before the project can go ahead. But, there has never been a hospital in orbit before so Noels has to reinvent virtually every medical technique that he has been trained in because it all depended on gravity, which he was soon to be without.

The author examines a number of different aspects of both engineering and medicine (G. Harry Steine was an engineer, and model rocket pioneer) and forces the reader to rethink how relatively mundane tasks might have to be redesigned to work in orbit, and eventually on long term missions to other planets. As the title suggests the main focus is on orbital medicine, but a few other aspects of engineering creep in as well along with a good dose of humour.

The blurb on the book jacket was one of the things that originally drew me to the novel as I had never heard of Lee Correy, and I was not disappointed as the story is well written, with believable characters. The plot itself is well thought out and overall is an extremely good read. I had hoped that a sequel to this novel was forthcoming but none was ever written.

"Everyone is African: How Science Explodes the Myth of Race" by Daniel J. Fairbanks

Publisher:Amherst, New York : Prometheus Books, 2015.
ISBN: 9781633880184
Characteristics: 191 pages : ,illustrations ;,23 cm

Having taken quite a number of anthropology and biology courses during my university training, I already knew that racism as a constructed concept that was based on the supposed superiority of certain groups of people. Dr. Fairbanks however was not writing his book for me, but was doing so for the rather large percentage of the population that hasn't already grasped this concept.

Dr. Fairbanks goes into great detail, but in a very readable way that explores the genetic, historical, and various other aspects of racism and hopefully puts them to bed for good. His discussion of topics such as: What is Race, African Origins, Ancestry versus Race, Skin Colour, Diversity and Health and Intelligence, and finally the Perception of Race covers this topic in a thorough manner that really should convince even the diehards, and leave everyone more enlightened.

Unfortunately, as is typically the case when dealing with humans there will always be certain factions (primarily religious, or other insular group) that will refute his explanations. There is likely nothing that intelligent individuals can do about these types of people except pity them in their ignorance, and help them as best we can in doing simple tasks like wiping their noses.

Yes, I know the above sounds very condescending - it was meant to be. I have no tolerance for racism, and even though I was exposed to it rather frequently as a child, I try to combat it as best I can in my daily life. Hopefully I'm succeeding.