Monthly Archives: November 2011
Earning/Maintaining a Reader’s Trust: Starting a Story with Cultural Touchstones, Narrative Voice, and Precision (part 1 of 3)
I mentioned last week about how I’ve been on a spy fiction kick recently, and all of the deceptions and double-crosses have left me thinking quite a bit about trust in fiction. Because really, every piece of fiction is a … Continue reading
Science Fiction Techniques in Spy Novels: James Bond and George Smiley
One of the upsides of spending two weeks traveling on business in Eastern Europe is that it really adds some perspective to spy fiction. For years I’ve meant to read more of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels and to pick … Continue reading
INTERVIEW: Jonathan Case and Steven Padnick
A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of reviewing Dear Creature by Jonathan Case, a new graphic novel out from Tor Books. As the review probably made clear, I love this book – both as a story, and … Continue reading
REVIEW: Lightbringer by K.D. McEntire
Title: Lightbringer Author: K.D. McEntire Pub Date: November 15th, 2011 Chris’ Rating (5 possible): An Attempt at Categorization If You Like… / You Might Like… Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale Graceling The Forest of Hands and Teeth Shiver Once a … Continue reading
Leaping the Chasm of Imagination: Verisimilitude, Historical Fiction, and Speculative Fiction
The borders of genre are famously porous. Devices that start in one genre will get adopted, subsumed, and then modified in another. Then the cycle starts again, with the “new” device trickling back to its original progenitor. This tendency is … Continue reading
