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Authors J.A. Ironside and M.E. Vaughan talk about books, films and all aspects of speculative fiction, from the nuts and bolts of writing it, to its (occasionally) obscure origins.
Episodes
Friday Aug 30, 2019
Friday Aug 30, 2019
Episode 185: This is Not Forgiveness - Redemption Arcs in Speculative Fiction
SPOILERS!
Who doesn't love a good villain or anti hero? Sometimes we find ourselves more drawn to a well crafted bad guy than to the protagonist we're meant to be identifying with, and when those characters are forced into an uneasy alliance it results in some of the most satisfying stories. The answer to this slightly uncomfortable tendency to find the villain engaging is the redemptive character arc. A good redemption arc can often enrich or even trump the main plot. But what exactly qualifies as redemption? What's the difference in narrative terms between reader forgiveness, suffering and atonement? This week the dragons take a look at anti heroes who try to make amends. Under the microscope in this episode - Harry Potter, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Boys and many more.
Please be aware that as Jules and Madeleine are looking at complete character arcs, this episode will include spoilers for Unveiled, The Boys and The Harmatia Cycle.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Friday Aug 23, 2019
Friday Aug 23, 2019
Episode 184: Auguries and Omens - Bird Symbolism in Myth and Speculative Fiction
Birds of many different species show up in mythological pantheons from all over the world, not to mention folklore and folksongs. It's become so much a part of our subconscious appreciation of storytelling, that writers often include birds in books and films as part of scene setting, without realising that they have picked a bird based on an unacknowledged and very large body of lore that dates back centuries. An additional branch of this lore is the use of birds and flight patterns in divination. This week the dragons take a look at this phenomenon. From wrens to buzzards, Jules and Madeleine are talking bird lore and mythology.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Friday Aug 16, 2019
Friday Aug 16, 2019
Episode 183: The Future We Deserve? - Learning Hope From Science Fiction
While all good fiction should give the reader something to think about, Science Fiction has long been at the forefront of the 'what if?' expedition. Much science fiction focuses on thought experiments - which would explain why a large body of it can be rather bleak and even chilling. However certain sci-fi, most notably space opera, takes typical thought experiments and turns them on their heads resulting in a far more hopeful message. This week the dragons boldly go into the massive universe of Star Trek, in search of hope as well as thought provoking story in science fiction. Taking a look at how characterisation, setting and the very unusual starting point of almost all Star Trek story, Jules and Madeleine discuss how a show that has some pretty headache inducing scenarios and gritty situations, still manages to convey a future as it ought to be, rising head and shoulders over mere entertainment.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Friday Aug 09, 2019
Friday Aug 09, 2019
Episode 182: Full Immersion Fantasy - the Appeal of RPG
While books, films and TV are the most common delivery methods for fantasy, some prefer more immediate ways of engaging with the genre. Role playing games, LARPing, historical reenactment and open world video games have all been rising in popularity and even achieving their own cult status in the last decade or so. This week Jules and Madeleine take a look at the origins of tabletop Dungeons and Dragons, as well as various permutations, in search of what drives us to connect so intensely with fantasy in such a way. From Vampire, The Masquerade to the comedie de l'arte, the dragons take a walk on the wilder side of the genre.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Friday Aug 02, 2019
Friday Aug 02, 2019
Episode 181: Of Their Time - the Changing Faces of Diversity and Prejudice in Speculative Fiction
When head canon clashes with casting decisions in film and TV adaptations, there's always trouble. And such has been the case with a number of the Disney live action versions of their old animated classics. However, the need to separate the context surrounding a piece of art from the film or book itself, is hardly a new requirement, as the dragons discuss in this week's episode. While Jules and Madeleine don't believe that a piece of work 'being of its time' prevents it from being offensive or even harmful, neither of the dragons like the prescriptive attitude as regards what is acceptable to read or watch either. In a fairly light and very lively discussion, they take a trip through literature and film, culminating in the newest adaptation of Disney's Little Mermaid - how has diverse representation and attitudes to prejudice in literature changed in the last century?
Title Music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Friday Jul 26, 2019
Friday Jul 26, 2019
Episode 180: 10,000 - A Celebration of Dissecting Dragons
The dragons are delighted to announce that they've hit a huge mile stone with their podcast! In celebration, Jules and Madeleine take a look at their 'origin story' - as writers, as published authors and as podcast hosts. As well as dipping into what to expect once you've signed your first publishing contract, this is a reflection on their own journeys as writers. There may have been cloaks involved...
Title Music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Friday Jul 19, 2019
Friday Jul 19, 2019
Episode 179: Truth, Lies & the Big Misunderstanding - Honesty and Deception Tropes in Speculative Fiction
A common plot device for keeping characters in conflict with each other, and incidentally not solving the main plot arc, is to add a sprinkling of dishonesty. This might take the form of a withheld truth, a deliberate lie for good or ill intentions, or even the dreading 'big misunderstanding'. This week the dragons take a look at how each of these tropes work and where they fail. On the slab this week The Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon, Piano of the Forest and many more, including Jules' and Madeleine's own work. Join them as they look at the art of deception in fiction.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Friday Jul 12, 2019
Friday Jul 12, 2019
Episode 178: Of Course, This Means War - Narrative Conflict in Speculative Fiction
Most of us would prefer a quiet life with little in the way of quarrels, fights and arguments. While it might be desirable in real life, this is the complete opposite of what your novel should be like! Narrative conflict drives the plot and keeps the reader or viewer interested. But what exactly do we mean by narrative conflict? This week Jules and Madeleine discuss how you can introduce conflict into your work as well as looking at the different types of conflict you may wish to include. On the slab this week the Unveiled series, the Harmatia Cycle and many more.
Title Music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Friday Jul 05, 2019
Friday Jul 05, 2019
Episode 177: Of Good and Evil - Depictions of Morality in Speculative Fiction
This week, the dragons disappear down a philosophical rabbit hole as they chase a workable definition of morality and ethics. SFF has long concerned itself with big questions such as good and evil, or whether relativism or emotivism or some other construct is best for day to day existence. This is never more true than when the authors of such books manage to combine the grittiness of such puzzles with humour. So how exactly is morality depicted in speculative fiction? What makes it work, or not? Join Jules and Madeleine as they take a jaunt through moral philosophy and a side trip through DnD alignment theory. On the slab this week - John Milton's Paradise Lost, Netflix series The Good Place, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials and, of course, Pratchett and Gaiman's Good Omens.
Title Music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Friday Jun 28, 2019
Friday Jun 28, 2019
Episode 176: Fact vs Fiction - Blending the Real with the Fantastical in Historical Fiction
In many ways, good historical fiction ticks a lot of the boxes of good SFF. Readers become invested in richly imagined worlds which are unfamiliar enough to escapism but contain the seeds of their own experiences. Historical fiction also offers a number of other attractive benefits. This week, Jules and Madeleine take a look at what draws both readers and writers to hist fic. How can you make time periods that might as well be set on other worlds because they are so different to modern times, both authentic and accessible to modern audiences? How can you blend in meticulous research without info dumping? And how do you mingle historical fact with fantasy elements to enter one of the historical fiction sub genres? Drawing on their own work as well as examples by Phillipa Gregory, Hilary Mantel and Juliet Marillier, the dragons will lead you down the rabbit hole and back in time in this week's episode.
Title Music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic