The Fantasy of Fashion
The clothes make the fan. Is extreme fashion a form of fandom? I say yes, but hesitate to approve of it. Read More »
What’s Your Type?
Does fantasy fiction feed racism? An important distinction between literature and film is often elided. Arthur Conan Doyle on the classification of peoples and my thoughts on the Boston Marathon bombing. Read More »
All Aboard for Mars! A True Story
This is not fiction. Your mission, should you accept it, is to go to Mars and die there. I get a bit cynical about this sort of thing, Read More »
What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?
Why don't American kids dream of being astronauts anymore? In Japan, interest in space is at a historically high level. I get slightly snarky about AKB48. Read More »
Zero-Magic Fantasy
Zero-magic fantasy is a growing subgenre. But can it ever rise above the level of thought experiment? And what are the tradeoffs? Read More »
The Meteor That Never Fell
Just kidding! Putin didn't really ride that meteor! But it was an uneasy thing to watch, and it prompted uneasier thoughts about other things that fall, and why I crave stories with endings. Read More »
Writers Writing About Writers Writing About …
There’s something unseemly about writers who write about writers. Many of my beliefs about writing have changed since I was a pink-cheeked little colleen getting up early to write before school, but this is one that has not and on present showi... Read More »
Foxes, Cultural Appropriation, and Japonisme
Here's how to do cultural appropriation right. Look at the man and his fox bride; you can tell he loves her. Read More »
The Empty Art of Onmyodo
We're all living on borrowed time, but it can take a fox to remind you that what you should fear most may be the very thing you desire. What does moe culture have in common with black magic? A lot, actually. Read More »
Brother, Can You Spare Ten Copper Jots?
Ridiculously well-thought-out currencies not visible in this cover art. Fantasy money has got more realistic in recent years. But how realistic can a currency get before it starts killing people? Read More »
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