A heron the colour of sea-foam raised its eyes, and launched into the sky. Its voice, when it spoke to the air and the earth was the mingling of ghost-songs and distant memories of herons that had been alive a thousand years ago. It circled over remnants and ruins: places that had once teemed with…
On Nature and Fantasy
Hi everyone. This is another of my little micro-essays, put out into the wild. Not sure how many more I’ll do. This is really just me pontificating with the hope of stoking some discussion. There is also an audio version, if you’d rather listen to that. ON NATURE AND FANTASY For me personally, nature has…
A Charm for the Nameless Child #74
They talked for a while, bit not about anything in particular. What to cook for dinner from their meagre supplies. Whether the path they were on might traverse the mountains, or whether it might end abruptly, and what to do in either case. As the darkness flowed down over the mountains, and crept across the…
A Charm for the Nameless Child #73
The boy watched for a while. The wind was whistling high and sharp, and it tore the words from Caewen’s lips as she spoke. Although the boy’s hearing had retained most of its sharpness since the poisoning, he still couldn’t make out much of the conversation. But stranger than this, he could make out none…
The Liminal Fantasy
Audio for those who’d rather listen I think most people can agree that there is a usually a dividing line between fiction and non-fiction, and that this line is mostly to do with the perspective of the writer. Does the writer believe what they are writing is real in a tangible and epistemological sense? Yes:…
A Charm for the Nameless Child #72
The path did not go by a straight route at all. It switched back and forth, and dove in and out of buttresses of rock that jutted from the cliffs like outthrust bows of ships, or walls, or the askew bones of giants. The way had clearly been cut and carved to make progress easier,…
On Colours and Evil
Audio for those who’d prefer to listen. DARKNESS, BLACKNESS, COLOUR & EVIL: A DISCUSSION This little essay came about because of an earlier reddit post, where a redditor asked the not unreasonable question: why is darkness and blackness so often associated with evil in fantasy? There were some thoughtful and interesting answers in the post,…
A Charm for the Nameless Child #71
“Could it be an encamped army?” Dapplegrim shook his head. “No. I don’t think so. It smells too lived-in, if that makes sense. There’s something nearer too. Over this way.” Dapplegrim strolled off through the thistles, crushing them down to white fibrous stalks under his hooves and seemingly not noticing the finger-length spikes. The others…
Possibly the world’s worst immune system?
I’m only just recovering from being sick again. It seems like any small preschool bug the children bring home just knocks me out. I am very much looking forward to them getting old enough to get past the ‘constantly sick’ phase. Hopefully, hopefully, I’ll be able to get back into a bit of a run…
A Charm for the Nameless Child #70
Fleat returned after about a half-hour. “What news?” said Caewen getting up and stretching her arms. As soon as he was done shedding his fathers, he said, “There is a way through the mountains. It’s overgrown, but I think there’s a road under the ivy and tangles. It looks disused. I saw no signs of…