This week the dragons are delighted to welcome Olivia Atwater - author of Half a Soul and Small Miracles - to the show. Olivia's fantasy novels cross several genre lines and magic systems play a strong role in the stories, which makes her the perfect person to join this episode's discussion.
Magic systems in fantasy have evolved a long way since the advent of recording traditional folk tales in writing and the dawn of modern epic fantasy. There are now a variety of different types of systems which broadly fall within the hard (defined) and soft (nebulous) categories. In fact many fantasy novels employ a combination or even both at once, so does it matter which you use? What does the magic system add to the story and how do you shape it for best effect?
Under the microscope this week: The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien, The Old Kingdom series - Garth Nix, Small Miracles - Olivia Atwater and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 127: Crime & Culpability - Should Characters get what they Really Deserve
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 126: The Slow Death of Literature - What Readers Really Want
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 125: From a Certain Point of View - Multiple POVs, Dual Timelines and Reader Sympathies in Speculative Fiction.
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 124: Visitations and Forebodings - How Nightmares are used in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 123: From the Deep - Mystery, Suspense and Sea Monsters in Historical Fantasy
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 122: Baby Doom - The Stork Visits in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 121: If We Were Villains - What Shakespeare has to say to a Modern Audience
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 120: Bards, Troubadours and Skalds - The Musician Archetype in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 119: Love Conquers All - Power Couples who destroyed the Story
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 118: You Fancy Me Mad - Renfield, Lear & Ophelia: Madness in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 117: Dinosaurs and Mega Cryptids - Man-made Monsters in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 116: Cliches are Cliche for a Reason - Why Tropes aren't bad, but Some Tropes need to Die
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 115: Clothes Make the Man - Cross-dressing in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 114: Queer Eye for the Straight Story - Reading Speculative Fiction through a Queer Filter
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 113: Decoy Ducks & Red Herrings - Sayings, Urban Legends and Aphorisms
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 112: Spies, Traitors & Turncoats - Informants in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 111: Larger than Life - The Fictional World of Giants
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 110: Saying What You Really Mean - The Importance of Theme in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 109: Into the East - Fantasy Settings Tolkien Never Used
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 108: It Must be the Weather - How Nature Reflects Art in Speculative Fiction
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