A trope which regularly crops up in speculative fiction is that of the hero or protagonist being forced to confront the temptation to use power which has been designated as 'bad'. Whether the author likes to test their main character to destruction or whether it's the reader enjoying watching a protagonist examine their own morality and how flexible or rigid their sense of ethics is, the trope appears in everything from children's fiction to sci-fi to horror to epic fantasy. This week the dragons delve into why it's so appealing to have the good guy flirt with bad magic. How does this enrich a story? Where can it go wrong? And can power ever be described as truly good or bad?
On the slab this week - Star Wars, The Whitby Witches by Robin Jarvis, The Untamed, The Moon of Gomrath by Alan Garner and many more.
Title Music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 43: Standalones to Series - the pros and cons of one-offs and neverending series
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 41: Let us make Men - From Golems to Androids
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 41: Balancing the Real and the Fantastical - Writing Relatable Epic Fantasy
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 40: Strange, Horrible and Who - the Egotism of Genius
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 39: Saints, Souls and Samhain - the Celtic Day of the Dead
Dissecting Dragons:Episode 38: Monsters and Men - Gothic Classics and the Origin of Horror - A Halloween Special
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 37:Breaking Out the F-jar - Our Favourite Swears in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 36: Horcruxs and Heartbreak - of Books, Souls and Killing your Darlings
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 35: Three Goblins Walk into a Bar - Writing Humour in Speculative Fiction and How to Avoid the Accidental Funny.
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 34: The Unveiled Series Reborn - Books, Judgement, Heaven & Hell, and PTSD
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 33: Not so Charming - Male Stereotypes in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 32: Escape to the Country - of Editing and Writing Weekends
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 31: The Devil in the Details - Lucifer on Modern Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 30: Bucky Barnes to the Winter Soldier - the Evolution of the Side-kick
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 29: The Frankenstein Complex - Why is 'Fan Fiction' such a dirty word?
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 28: Gobblefunk and Glyphs - creating words in Children's Fantasy
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 27: Harnessing Demons - How Writers use their own faults and insecurities in Writing
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 26: A Touch of Faust - Changing Goals on your Protagonist and when this works
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 25: Death and All His Friends - Themes of Death, Dying and Grief in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 24: Cognoggins and Clockwork - What makes good Steampunk?
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