One of the most common tropes in YA fiction, is that of a first real romance. Even non-contemporary YA fiction or SFF YA fiction tends to have a romantic sub-plot. But what exactly are those plot strands saying about who you should be as a young adult? What myths are they continuing? And is it at the expense of providing better understanding? This week the dragons delve straight into that most ubiquitous of YA tropes, comparing the fiction with the reality. (Fair warning, this is probably Jules and Madeleine's rantiest episode yet and they do overshoot the normal episode length by about half an hour...)
On the slab this week Twilight - Stephanie Meyer, A Court of Thorns and Roses - Sarah J. Maas, The Continent - Keira Drake and many more.
Title music - Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Episode 263: The Blade Itself - the Genesis of the Sword in History, Mythology and Speculative Fiction
Episode 262: Of Liking and Loathing - How to Hook Readers on your Characters
Episode 261: Reading the Classics - Hidden Meaning and Censorship in Stoker, Bronte and Shelley
Episode 260: Links and Linguistics - Why Word Choice Matters in Writing
Episode 259: Taking a Toxicity Reading - Criticism and Compromise in Speculative Fiction
Episode 258: Frills and Flirtations - What Clothing brings to Speculative Fiction
Episode 257: Peacekeepers to Punishers - The Police Force in Speculative Fiction
Episode 256: Assembling the Skeleton - Showing, Telling and Cutting Out Scenes in Speculative Fiction
Episode 255: The Trials and Triumphs of 2020
Episode 254: Blood on the Snow - The Darker Christmas Stories
Episode 253: The Good Neighbours - Festive Faeries and Winter Elves
Episode 252: Why is There Never a Happy Ending? - and Other Questions Writers Get Asked
Episode 251 To Queer or not to Queer - Including LGBTQ+ Characters in Speculative Fiction
Episode 250: The Usual Suspects - Cast Calling for your Novel
Episode 249 - The Goddess' Chariot - Myths and Folktales of the Moon
Episode 248: All the Feels - Emotion and Characterisation in Speculative Fiction
Episode 247: Sweet, Awkward and Tongue-tied - The Unromantic Hero in Speculative Fiction
Episode 246 - Casting Long Shadows - How Horror Influences Other Genres
Episode 245: Old Gods & Ancient Stones - What Folk Horror has to say to a Modern Audience
Ep 244 - Of Fates and Phantoms - The Anatomy of the Ghost Story
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