Now, I’ve had a lot of thoughts on genre fiction in the past, and this list is going to be more useful for people interested in writing a secondary world story, with a particular (but not exclusive) eye towards fantasy fiction. As a result of a number of factors, there are going to be several works that I often make use of in my political thoughts, but this list isn’t primarily or solely focused on that.
Read MoreWorld builders can diverge from reality quite a bit, and for fantastical stories, this is compulsory, whether something as restrained as Hav by Jan Morris or as outre and surreal as the work of Leonora Carrington. However, not all divergences from reality are created equal, and they should all be to roughly the same degree in the same work — most importantly, the writer should understand what the big asks from their work is and implies.
Read MoreIt may be possible, within these universes to measure the direct amount of power that is generated by an act of devotion: one orison, one tiny miracle; do the rosary, get something bigger. This looks like an exchange between the person and the deity. Moreover, it is one that would necessarily have a magnitudinal component to it. Where does this lead?
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