September 17, 2019
The Journey thus far….. In our quest for urban fantasy, we have hitherto journeyed only through the realm of fairy and its migration into the cities of Minneapolis and Newford. But how did we arrive in St. Louis? Well, the master of the city, Jean-Claude, invited us, we gave consent, and followed him and his lover, Anita Blake down from…
August 20, 2019
Being a chronicle of the voyages through the realm of the fantastic, recording a summary of the journey through perilous islands to bohemian cities. As we take a brief tavern break, a welcome respite from the wilderness of words, let’s take a moment to reflect upon our journey through the year. This month marks the second year of our arduous,…
July 16, 2019
(This is part two of three on the genesis of Urban Fantasy and the colonization of the cities by the fantastic. Part 1 covered Emma Bull and her seminal novel, The War for the Oaks.) Urban fantasy is a melting pot of myths and mythology applied in a (mostly) modern, urban setting. The first main town to erupt on the…
June 18, 2019
Until the 1980’s, magic generally occurred in invented worlds, fantasy based itself on pastoral settings, or extrapolations of various time points in (generally) Western history. In the 1980’s though, with Charles de Lint’s Moonheart and Emma Bull’s War for the Oaks, fantasy moved into town, magic invaded cities and suburbs, and fairy oaks sprouted in urban sidewalk cracks. From its…
May 23, 2019
There’s a city that erupted on the map in January of 1975, a decrepit mid-western one, isolated and populated by the grotesque and strange, through which a wandering kid explores his sexuality and encounters the fantastic — Bellona, the stuff of suburban nightmares and concealed urges given volition and form. Bellona, the city of Samuel “Chip” Delaney’s Dhalgren, can be…
April 16, 2019
In the eighties, the era where I reached menarche (such a fancy word), there were few books that addressed the topic of menstruation in popular fiction. One of course, was by the unparalleled Judy Blume – Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret (1970) about a girl growing up in a mixed faith household. (And let’s face facts, we all…
March 19, 2019
There’s a long history of women using pseudonyms, initials, and the ever popular “Anonymous”. Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte were respectively Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. Mary Anne Evans was George Elliot and even today, Joanne Rowling became J. K. Rowling (and Robert Galbraith). Andrea Norton went for the ambiguous “Andre” and Alice Bradley Sheldon created the entire alter ego…
February 19, 2019
In the mid-80’s a remarkable first occurred – women “of a certain age” – not shrinking, virginal violets, but mature women, began to colonize the Fantasy map. First wave feminism of the 70’s in speculative fiction concerned itself with the problem of equality, (economic, sexual, and political) and their literature reflected those struggles with rebellion against conformist roles, seen in…
December 19, 2018
There are many things you probably already know about Mary Wollstonecraft (née Godwin) Shelley, author of Frankenstein, and the creator-mother of the Science Fiction genre. For example, you probably know that her mother was the noted radical and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft (author of A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1792) and that her father, William Godwin wrote what many…
November 20, 2018
For those who doubt that science fiction is rooted in the concepts of feminism, take at look at its primary parents: “Mama” Mary Shelley (Frankenstein) and “Papa” H.G. Wells. Mama, a noted feminist and radical thinker, started the genre with the publication of Frankenstein in January of 1818.