Sweeping pandemics turn up often in fantasy and sci-fi, whether they form part of the back drop or the main thrust of the plot. There is something about a plague that captures the imagination and short cuts our survival circuits in a way that other natural disasters - Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Volcanic eruptions - just doesn't touch. So what is it about a good pandemic that grips us? From post apocalyptic fiction discussing the dual nature of morality, such as Stephen King's The Stand or Kirkman, Moore and Adlard's The Walking Dead, to epic fantasy looking at the creation of anti heroes, such as Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastard series or Give the Dark My Love by Beth Revis, a deadly plague hits our deepest fears where other acts of god just don't reach. This week the dragons take a tour through pandemics in speculative fiction, starting with the history and epidemiology of The Black Death and The Great Plague in Europe, following the scars that exist on our racial memories even today and following the trail to its conclusion in SFF. A wild ride and not for the squeamish!
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Episode 383: Gaslit Magic and Immortal Monsters Hunters - Incorporating Strong Historical Elements in UF
Episode 382: Part of Your World - Tracing the Origins of The Little Mermaid
Episode 381: Hard Times in Magic & Logic - Examining the Parameters of Hard Scifi and fantasy
Episode 380: Will He Escape those Dastardedly Clutches - Why Cliffhangers Are a Bad Idea
Episode 379: Exuding Menace 101 - How to Create Menacing Villains
Ep 378: Separated by a Common Language - Examining the Differences between UK and US Urban Fantasy
Episode 377: Bringing in Dessert - Serving Up Delicious Endings Against Desperate Odds
Episode 376: In that Time In that Place - the Monomyth and Other Storytelling Modes
Episode 375: The Batcherlorette - Bookish Edition
Ep 374: Her Fatal Curiosity - Tracing the Origins of Bluebeard
Ep 373: Circe Morgana and Rosaline - The Problem with Feminist Retellings
Episode 372: Truth Fiction and Outright Absurdity - More Strange Author Mysteries
Episode 371: Breaking the Stained Glass Window - Language Storytelling Absolutism and Censorship
Episode 370: Running with th Wolves - Werewolves in Folklore and Speculative Fiction Part 2
Episode 369: Running with the Wolves - Werewolves in Folklore and Speculative Fiction Part 1
Episode 368: Help I’ve Written a Book - What to do next when you want to get published
Episode 367: To Like or Not to Like - Writing Likeable Characters in Speculative Fiction
Episode 366: The Deserving and the Undeserving - Avoiding Classism in Speculative Fiction
Episode 365: Amazing Pets and Fantasy Coffee - How to Incorporate Wish Fulfilment Fantasies in Speculative Fiction
Episode 364: There can be only one, no seven - Writing Ensemble Casts in Speculative Fiction
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