Science Fiction

Unpronounceable Character Names in Fantasy and Science Fiction

Leave a Comment
unpronounceable character names in science fiction and fantasy novels

One of the cliches of science fiction, fantasy, and horror writing is the tradition of unpronounceable character names.  You know the kind I mean: a string of consonants and, instead of vowels, various punctuation marks.  Examples are Lord K’lghn, Gy-v’nly from the planet Y’jhtrg, and the awful Q’vintg from beyond the black depths (okay, I made … [Read more…]

Realism When Writing Fantasy and SciFi

8 Comments
realism in fight scenes writing fantasy writing science fiction

One problem with writing fantasy novels in which heroes and heroines wield swords, shields and sundry other objets d’mayhem, is that most of us have no idea what using those things is actually like. Luckily, it’s almost a moot point–most of our readers have little experience in this area as well, and so don’t know … [Read more…]