Jul 25, 2015 | On Books, Past Notes
THE RITUAL by Adam Nevill is an astonishingly well-written contemporary horror novel. It is my new favorite horror novel. The story is so solidly grounded in the reality of four friends lost in a Boreal forest, that by the time weird things start happening, you are...
Jul 20, 2015 | Fantasy, On Writing, Past Notes
How to Write & Read Great Fantastical Fiction: Techniques & Tools in Fantasy & Science Fiction Literature Working Magic by Implication Magic contains acts that supersede our reality, and thus are known as “supernatural.” As...
Jul 13, 2015 | Fantasy, On Writing, Past Notes
How to Write & Read Great Fantastical Fiction: Techniques & Tools in Fantasy & Science Fiction Literature The Sorcery of Withholding The best stories feel as if you have simply stepped inside them and that the events of the story are...
Jul 7, 2015 | Past Notes, Reviews
“A considerable achievement… powerful and elegant… morally complex and challenging.” Wilderness of Mirrors is “about the events of 9-11 and the War on Terror, but of course it’s also generally about many other topics—religion, history, international politics, the...
Jul 6, 2015 | Fantasy, On Writing, Past Notes
How to Write & Read Great Fantastical Fiction: Techniques & Tools in Fantasy & Science Fiction Literature Grounding Magic in Reality One of the keys to multivalent use of magic in a novel is the author’s refusal to characterize the...