MetaFilter posts tagged with fantasy

The Fabled Pyramid

EatTheWeak — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 07:06:44 -0800

Jesse van Dijk paints fantasy and science-fiction scenes. Some of these paintings include a little shot of narrative about the astonishing imagined worlds they depict. His work has appeared in a mediocre PSP game and won a Gnoman Workshop challenge. Mr. van Dijik does his thing with Photoshop, and this is how he does it.

# The thunder of his own guns filled him with stupid wonder.

kbanas — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 08:56:40 -0800

Stephen King has described The Dark Tower as his "Jupiter." The epic series, inspired in part by Robert Browning's poem, "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came", has spanned 22 years, 7 books and nearly 4000 pages. The first book in the series, The Gunslinger, begins with a simple, memorable declaration, "The Man in Black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed." The Dark Tower tells the story of Roland Deschain, the last Gunslinger in a world that has "moved on", and his ka-tet as they quest to find the Dark Tower - a tower of obsidian in a field of red roses - where all space and time is bound together by a powerful energy. This is a world where the forces of the Red battle the forces of the White across the plains of existence, where there are countless worlds beyond our own, and where things don't look so great for the good guys. On April 15th, StephenKing.com launched a newly redesigned Dark Tower website, with all sorts of goodies. When King calls the series "his life's work", he is not exaggerating. The Dark Tower, ka and ka-tet, gunslingers and Gilead - these things, and Roland's struggle to set things right - provide the overarching backdrop to dozens of King's other stories. And, like any great fantasy book, it's steeped in its own set of words and terminology. The series also features some great illustration by artists like Dave McKean, Michael Whelan, Darrel Anderson and Phil Hale (my personal favorite). Although the last book of the series, The Dark Tower, was published in 2004, that has not marked the end of Roland's saga. Recently, The Dark Tower has found new life. Robin Furth was a PhD student in English at the University of Maine in 2000 when she heard from her advisor, Burt Hatlen, that Stephen King was looking for someone to do some part-time work. That part-time work turned into something more when King asked Furth to create a concordance for the first four books of the Dark Tower. After all, a series which had spanned, at that point, 18 years and 4 books, could prove hard to keep straight for even the most seasoned writer. "Never ask a frustrated folklorist to map out your imaginary world," Furth said of the thick tome that was the result of her effort. That effort (and another for the last 3 books) eventually turned into Stephen King's The Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance, one of two major books that have been published about the Dark Tower (the other being Bev Vincent's The Road to the Dark Tower). Stephen King and Marvel Comics have also recently come together to publish a 5 arc, 31 issue series of comic books set in The Dark Tower universe, plotted and written by now-Dark-Tower-guru Robin Furth and comic legend Peter David, and illustrated by Jae Lee. The first story arc, The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born, was released last year. The second arc, The Dark Tower: The Long Road Home, launched last month. And if that weren't enough, Stephen King recently sold the move rights to the Dark Tower saga to the creative team of J. J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof for the bargain price of $19. King and Abrams have long confessed mutual-admiration for one another. Those who have read the series (or much recent King at all), will recognize the number 19 as having an unusual power in the universe The Dark Tower. And no wonder.

Database of free speculative fiction online

Kattullus — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 13:52:07 -0800

Free Speculative Fiction Online is a database of free science fiction and fantasy stories online by published authors (no fan-fiction or stories by unpublished writers). Among the authors that FSFO links to are Paul Di Filippo (14 stories), James Tiptree, Jr. (4 stories), Connie Willis (3 stories), Eleanor Arnason (3 stories), Bruce Sterling (5 stories), Robert Heinlein (7 stories), Ursula K. LeGuin (3 stories), Jonathan Lethem (5 stories), Michael Moorcock (6 stories), Chine Miéville (2 stories), Samuel R. Delany (3 stories), Robert Sheckley (8 stories), MeFite Charles Stross (33 stories) and hundreds of other authors. If you don't know where to start, there's a list of recommended stories.

Again to see the Wiz(ard)?

baylink — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:41:43 -0800

Rick Cook, the author of the 5 novels in the "Wizard's Bane" series of computer-infused light fantasy from the early 90s (the first two are available, free, and legally, courtesy of the Baen Books Free Library) was in the middle of writing a sixth in Spring 2000, when he underwent emergency heart surgery. The result of that, and the meds that followed — he says in his blog — is that he has the sixth book (The Wizard Recapitalized) about 90% complete, but can't finish it, and he wants to know if he should release it anyway. Not all that much I vote yes; I loved the books — as well as his off-series Mall Purchase Night — but the 7 yes votes he has so far, plus mine, probably don't constitute a quorum. If you, too, got a laugh out of a demon named Toth Set-Ra, then this would be a good time to go tell the man so.

Adventures in Balrog Math

homunculus — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 22:38:02 -0800

Some Thoughts On Balrogs.

Terry Pratchett diagnosed with a very rare form of early onset Alzheimer's

robocop is bleeding — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 05:05:32 -0800

Terry Pratchett diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. Turns out last month's stroke was a symptom of a greater illness. While there's still some time to go before we have to worry about Discworld substitutions, it has been a pretty tough year for fantasy authors. The instances of rare diseases showing up in otherwise healthy fantasy authors who should hopefully still have years and years of stories in them is distressing. If these things come in threes, who's next?

Two interviews for 'Blade Runner' fans

Rajamadan — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 13:59:30 -0800

This link goes to an discussion with 'Future Noir' author Paul Sammon... then this one goes to a Q&A with 'BR' director Ridley Scott, talking about the upcoming re-release.

You got gun in my blade! You got blade in my gun!

cmgonzalez — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 18:17:18 -0800

Imagine a world without lightsabers—where, instead, every big Star Wars finale consists of a 10-minute slap fight. Thank the maker we’ll never have to witness such a spectacle, because magical and impossibly high-tech weapons are staples of nearly all of our favorite entertainments! ToyFare Magazine presents the 50 Greatest Fictional Weapons of All Time.

JMW Turner - Broadening the landscape

kliuless — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 11:11:30 -0800

If you like 'fantasy' art (as opposed to comics :) and you're in DC I'd highly recommend checking out the JMW Turner exhibit at the NGA! I know very little (next to nothing) about art history but to me he's like the godfather of fantasy/SF art (if not impressionism); pre-Crystal Palace.¹

Dream Home Builder

Mitheral — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 22:03:21 -0800

Build your dream home. Answer a page of questions and real fortune-tellers on a steady diet of tea leaves and tarot cards will show you the house of your dreams.