Friday Five - Random Shizzle

1) Blooming heck, I haven't done of these in ages. So lets start as I mean to go on with some interesting articles. First one is one I found on a twitter thread on The Rise of Skywalker and that is Chuck Wendig's review. Its an entertaining read in its own right, part love letter and part critique, but the best part of it and what makes it highly recommended is the very thoughtful and incisive look at what makes high action, entertainment first stories really sing. I can't list everything he says that makes total sense to me but here's a couple of snippets of the real best bits:

"Small stories are why we care about stories" - the entirety of the story exist as the framework for all the little stories about kids who want off planets and gamblers who learn to care.

"Stories like Star Wars thrive on moments of quiet contemplation" - because action movies need quiet moments in which to build tension and attachment to the characters, or it doesn't mean shit.

2) Interesting article number two - Lyta Gold's history of feminist manless utopias, a subject I knew absolutely nothing about before clicking on the link and now know all too little. Too little, in fact, to pass any further comment other than to say it ranges far and wide with great clarity.

3) I would love to leave an insightful little note about some of the fantasy books that people keep talking about on my Twitter but I can't. Out of date I am. What I can talk about is Bravo Jubilee by Charlie Owen, a 70s cop story where the blurb's description of riotous is the best one I can think of. It's funny, touching, and unhinged; I'd give a lot to know how many of the various asides are lifted straight from his own experience as a copper. Even if somebody didn't enjoy the book (weirdo) it'd be great research in its own right. It's slightly odd to me that, given how popular 70s policing is in the British psyche and how much fantasy-crime we're seeing, that nobody has yet sought to do something riffing off it. Hopefully someone will.

4) The book of the month at the Fantasy Faction forum is Prince of Cats by Daniel E Olesen, a fact that reminds me a) that I have the book and have yet to read it and b) that his most recent book The Raven's Cry was released recently and I haven't said anything about it. The first book was a slow burn intrigue with a heavy emphasis on historically faithful elements over fantasy, similar to Katherine Kurtz. Well worth a look if that's your sort of thing.

5) Finally, a short story. And one I haven't even read yet. But I enjoyed the last one I saw from L Chan, so I'm confident I'll like Seven Scraps Unwritten too. And I have another even shorter story for people to read too! This one is a microfiction written from the point of view of an abstract concept as written by Magnus Heden from the FF forum - I Am Doubt.