The Lure Of Urban Fantasy
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Urban Fantasy is a loosely defined term to describe fantasy novels that take place in modern, often urban settings rather than imaginary realms. Some of the more popular authors of this genre are Charles de Lint, Neil Gaiman and Emma Bull. It is, however, a quickly growing field, so there are many newer and lesser known books and authors out there.
In some ways, Urban Fantasy overlaps with horror and tales of the supernatural, which are also usually set in modern times. Fantasy, however, while it can be dark, usually focuses on creatures and circumstances that are very different from the everyday, but does not indulge in fright, gore or mayhem for its own sake.
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Black Man (Thirteen) Impressions
I just have to share something with you with “something” being my fascination with Richard Morgan’s Black Man (or Thirteen in US). This is NOT a review, just to point out, I haven’t even read it all but I got so excited while reading that I had to speak about it to someone. Since nobody wanted to listen…here we are 
I am just amazed how easy this guy traps me in his worlds ever since Altered Carbon. There was an article on Morgan’s site where he said that fans of Takeshi Kovacs may not like this book but I beg the differ.
Black man is not Altered Carbon but I started to read it just yesterday on English (Croatian is my first language, just to point out) and I’m already on page 127 so believe me when I say that this book is excellent. Interesting story and cool character although he sometimes resembles Kovacs too much.
What holds me when reading Morgan’s novels is that I can almost see his worlds in our own future. All that technology and stuff, is something that I see becoming reality in the (maybe even not so distant) future.
I hope the book continues to ravish me even more. I’ll keep you posted 
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What The Hell Made Me Into A Science Fiction Fan?
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I was just thinking to myself why, in the name of all sacred, did I become a fan of science fiction? Really, what makes us different from all those fantasy, horror, thriller-loving people? You know, popular ones! When did it all begin?
That was me thinking aloud. But it got me thinking. It turns out there was just a couple of things in my past that directed me on my sci-fi path. First contact with it was bacouse of my uncle. He had a VCR at home (my parents didn’t want to buy one in fear I would be in fron of TV constantly) and some tapes of Star Wars movies. Ta-dam! My first science fiction experience. Who would’ve thought, right? ;). Later, he brought Star Trek movies on our family gathering so we could watch them together. They all loved Star Trek so that feeling crossed onto me. I was hooked. Two gratest sci-fi franchizes ever got their hands on me and didn’t plan to let go.
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The Ender Saga: A Noteworthy Science Fiction series
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January 1985 marks the beginning of America’s love affair with Ender Wiggin. It was that month that Ender’s Game was published, becoming an instant blockbuster, and “probably the most popular science fiction novel published in the last twenty years” (John Kessel). The child prodigy and ultimate savior of the earth, Ender Wiggin, had appeared seven years earlier in a short story published in the science fiction magazine Analog. Writer Orson Scott Card had spent much of his young life working in print, but had only set to writing science fiction when his meager salary as copy editor at a small press failed to pay a debt incurred from a failed business attempt. His magazine article won instant attention, and Orson Scott Card won the 1978 John C. Campbell Award for best new writer at the World Science Fiction Convention. But little Ender was destined for bigger things.
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Fantasy Writing - Six Cliches to Avoid
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Article by: William Meikle
Fantasy fiction is doing good business at the moment, but there are certain situations that have been overplayed. So much so, that they have become genre clichés, and everybody knows what to expect next. If
you’re a writer in the fantasy genre, here are 6 clichés you should try to avoid in your stories.
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Sci-fi Vs Fantasy. Why is fantasy outselling sci-fi?
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There is an article on SF Novelists, written by Lyda Morehouse, that caught my interest and got me thinking. It’s called Darkness Defined (SF Vs. Fantasy Redux) and it’s dealing with the question: “why is majority of people prefering fantasy to science fiction”?
It turns out that is no definite answer to that question. They didn’t answered it definitely in SF Novelists and they didn’t answer it on Minicon where they had Shawna McCarthy (editor of Realms of Fantasy) asking her readers why they read fantasy rather than sci-fi.
I did a little research myself and asked around on Facebook groups and friends I know are die hard sci-fi fans what they think. Matt Moore had an interesting reply, blaming it all on Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movies. He said:
I think there are a few factors. Not one thing, but many elements that result in the decline of sci-fi:
*A boy named Harry Potter. If kids are getting into reading via the
Potter series, kids may continue in the fantasty genre. Seeing as how
the first Potter book came out in ‘97, teens who got into Potter would
now be adults.
*We live in a sci-fi world. One of the attractions
(for me at least) is the new ideas in sci-fi and the potential for a
future world. But, things are moving so fast now, something in a sci-fi
novel being written now could be reality by the time it is published.
*The Lords of the Rings movies may have whet the appetite of people for
fantasy. Conversely, the sucky Star Wars prequels may have turned
people off of sci-fi (granted, SW is space opera more than sci-fi).
*Female empowerment / Girl Power is a major movement, but it is hard to
do in sci fi other than the captain of the ship is a woman, or the
scientist is a woman, etc. In fantasy, she can be a powerful sorceress,
or the dragonslayer’s daughter who is forbidden from wielding a sword
but defies the rules anyway, or the Queen fighting against corruption
in her kingdom, or something that amps up the girl-power.
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An evening with Richard Morgan
Isn’t this the happiest face you’ve seen?
Yesterday, I posted that Richard Morgan is visiting Croatia and that he is coming to my home town to do a little presentation of Altered Carbon (it is his only book translated to Croatian) and book signing. I also promised you a report for today’s post. Unfortunately, all the pictures from yesterday’s evening were at my friend’s mobile phone so that’s the reason why I’m publishing this article this late.
I wrote some parts of this article right away when I came back home while my impressions were still fresh. First thing to write down was a feeling I had all night long - if he wasn’t my favorite sci-fi author until now, he would be from now on. I mean, really, this guy amazed me with his openness, easygoingness and will to talk to his fans even when there were just like 10 of us there (I feel ashamed about this but that’s just the way it is out here).
Evening started out by a little lecture, or maybe better to say discussion, between Richard and the host, guy named Neven, about his work, books, characters, about the way he writes and stuff like that. Special emphasis was on Takeshi Kovacs, of course, and how did this character originated. Richard’s answer amused me, to say the least, when he said that Takeshi is actually his demon, his dark side that he had to repress back in the day when he worked as an English teacher. I don’t remember his words exactly but he said something like “every time some asshole student mixed up my gentleness with weakness and gave me a hard time a piece of Kovacs was born.” He than demonstrated how Kovacs would react on the shit that kids gave him with a hand stretched before him in a pistol-like shape and a loud noise of “boom” backed up by microphone cacophony. And the crowd goes wild…all 10 of them…
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Richard Morgan in Croatia
My favorite science fiction author of all time, Richard Morgan is doing a book signing tour in Croatia and today, he will be in Osijek, my home town. I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am. Just a couple of months ago we had the same thing with Tad Williams but that wasn’t so exciting as this :). I’m already preparing some questions to ask him if I get the opportunity and my camera will work non-stop so come back here tomorrow for a report article
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The future of reading
Amazon’s Kindle could easily be the very future of reading! Ever since I watched Deep Space 9, when Sisko’s kid wrote and read books on a similar device, I knew that that is the future of books. I mean, it happened with mobile phones, right? Why not books too? Star Trek always had a gift for forsaking the future.Now, I’m not saying that because I’m being paid to (although it would be nice of them to do so, hehe), that is something I really believe to be true.
I must admit I’m a huge fan of normal books. I love the way they smell, the way they feel when I flip through the pages, the book markers, weight of it on my arms, folded pages etc… It all ties into the complete experience of what reading a book is all about. But we are in the 21st century, where “thinking green” is not something extremists and tree lovers do but a necessity. If my feelings of comfort are all I have to sacrifice for the benefit of out planet than so be it.
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Bestsellers on Amazon
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