Helen Lowe's Blog, page 13

What I’m Reading: “To Say Nothing Of The Dog” by Connie Willis

I’ve definitely slipped again in posting on that Book Booty list from January, but I hope to have two more done and dusted very soon — starting with today’s candidate, To Say Nothing Of The Dog by US author, the famed Connie Willis.

To Say Nothing Of The Dog is the second in the Oxford Time Travel series by Connie Willis. To give you an idea of its credentials, it was first published in 1997 and won Hugo and Locus Awards in 1999. It’s now published as part of Gollancz’s SF Masterworks series.

O...

A Quick Look At Owls in Fantasy

August 4 was International Owl Awareness Day, which prompted reflection on the frequency with which owls feature in Fantasy literature. So in slightly belated recognition of the day, here are a few examples that sprang to mind — starting with Owl (or sometimes ‘Wol’) in AA Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh books.

The Owl Service by Alan Garner was published as Middle Grade fiction, but I believe this reworking of the Mabiniogion’s tale of Blodeuwedd, the woman of flowers, has crossover appeal. Needless t...

On Supernatural Underground Now: The Year of the Villain #7

Subtitled: “The Evilest of Them All” — and not only because I couldn’t not mention George RR Martin’s A Game of Thrones, in which the deeps of scum and villainy are plumbed.

In this case the subject of my post (#7 in the Year of the Villain in Fantasy — books, of course!) is Petyr Baelish, aka Littlefinger.

A Game of Thrones: Steven Youll cover

In order to find out why — as opposed to Gregor Clegane or the Night King, the Boltons or Cersei Lannister — click on:

The Year of the Villian # 7 — The...

ICYMI: Check Out “The Wall Of Night” Wiki on Fandom.Org

In case you missed it, I featured a post from Nicolas Fitzgerald a few weeks back, all about the The Wall Of Night wiki on Fandom.org

Nick’s full post is here:

Announcing “The Wall Of Night” wiki

And the wiki itself is here:

The Wall Of Night wiki

If you have not done so already, please do check it out — and if you’d like to get involved on and with the wiki yourself, I’m sure Nick would love to hear from you. You can contact him on his Fandom profile message wall or find him on Substack, Twit...

More on Fairytales — A Quote from Victoria M Adams

“In fantasy stories especially, magic is power … Dig down a bit, though, and magic is so much more. It has to do with what it means to be a human being, why the world is the way it is. That’s the question magic asks. It asks if there are hidden aspects to the world. If there are things that don’t appear on the surface but which are just as real as going down to the shop and buying a loaf of bread ... Fairy stories … are saying reality is so much bigger than the story told to you by your five se...

Extry “Supernatural Underground” Goodness

On 1 July I posted the latest in my Villains in Fantasy series on the Supernatural Underground, this one titled When The Author Messes With Your Mind.

But it’s also got some great companion posts for July:

KimFalconer

Friend and fellow author, Kim Falconer, has posted another great instalment in her Choose Your Weapon series, this one on spells and spellcasting:

Choose Your Weapon: Spells

In From The Backlist this month, the SU is refeaturing another two great posts:

Reasons Why You Never Want ...

More on Fairytales — A Quote from CS Lewis

“When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”

– C.S. Lewis, 1898 – 1963

I feel reasonably confident there’s no need to introduce CS Lewis, but I do think this quote on his love of fairy tales is a nice continuation from last week’s quote from Sara Maitland on the magic of “Once ...

About The Characters: Meet The Minor Players In “The Wall Of Night” Series — Meet the Old Earl

It’s Thursday — and time for another post in the About The Characters series, which focuses on the minor characters in The Wall Of Night series, in large part because:

“I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”

~ from my Legend Award Finalist’s Interview, 2013

Initially, the series focused exclusively on characters from The Heir of Night, but now I’m continuing on with minor characters from both The Gathering Of T...

“Once Upon A Time…” — A Quote from Sara Maitland

“Once upon a time is no particular time, fictional time, fairy-story time. This is a doorway; if you’re lucky, you go through it as a child, aurally, before you can read, and if you are very lucky, you become a free citizen … and can come and go as you please. ”

– Sara Maitland

Sara Maitland is a UK author, who has been describe as “writer, thinker, seeker, seer.”

This quote appealed, in part because of the reflections sparked by  Victoria M Adams’ recent posts on myth, magic, and fairy tales...

Announcing “The Wall of Night” Wiki!

And here it is, as promised last Thursday — an introduction to The Wall Of Night Fandom.org wiki, brought to you by Nicolas Fitzgerald. So without further ado, I’m handing over to Nick.

Announcing “The Wall of Night” Wiki

Dear fans,

I call for aid! A wiki has been found but it has fallen into disuse. Sliding almost out of time and memory until, by chance, it was found. A new age for The Wall of Night Wiki dawns, but it requires many hands to build, else all may be lost again.

While Googling ‘...