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 23: Genius Loci - Writing Real World Places in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 22: Once More Around the Sun - Celebrating Terrible Birthdays in Speculative Fictio
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 21: Down with the Empire - exploring political themes in YA Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 20: Clash of the Titans - Superheroes vs Superheroes
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 19: Was that REALLY necessary? The overuse of Sexual Violence in Speculative Media
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 18: Oh not another Zombie Movie - the Rise and Fall (and Rise) of the Living Dead
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 17: Magnus Bane to Jack Harkness - LGBTQA+ Representation and Diversity in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 16: Rattling Bones and Poltergeists - the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Ghost Stories
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 15: Moustache Twirling 101 - the Mechanics of writing a Villain
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 14: Main Mission - Gaming Narrative, the Future of Storytelling
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 13 - Man-Eating Monster to Flower-Toting Belle - the transition of Fairies in the Victorian Era
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 12: The Gender Bend - Does the Gender make the Story?
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 11: Teams, Trios and Fellowships - the importance of Friendship in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 10: Fight like a Girl - 'Strong' Female Characters in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 9: From West to East - translating Speculative Fiction into Anime and Manga
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 8: Bugbears of Battle - Inciting Violence in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 7: Tatooine to Tudor England - the trappings of Historical and Speculative World Building
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 6: Merlin, Mordred and Morgana - Magic in Arthurian Legend
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 5: Sci-Fi Westerns, Fantasy and Opera - Humankind's Conquest of Space
Dissecting Dragons - Episode 4 - Witches, Brooms and Spells: Enchanting and Entrapping Children in Fiction.
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