Eeep, things have been up and down at FanLit the last week or so thanks to various server shenanigans. Hopefully it is getting back to normal now 11 and, as such, I bring you the top ten items brought to my attention over the last week. Enjoy!

1) Robert Rhodes is a winner!

Our very own Robert Rhodes (who writes our 25 Heroes in 2010 stories) came 2nd in Pyr’s essay writing competition to celebrate their five year anniversary! We are thrilled for him and have a link here to his winning entry: Why Fantasy and Science Fiction Matter.

2) Tor.com is two years old

And, as such, they have produced a post highlighting the top moments at Tor.com over the last two years. At the moment Tor.com are hosting the Malazan Re-read (conducted by me and Bill) and so I have had more reason than most to hop over there on a daily basis, but I would urge y’all to bookmark it as well — the community is vibrant and there are daily posts on interesting matters.fantasy and science fiction book reviews

3) Bella and Edward: Romantic or Dysfunctional?

Okay, I confess outright: this is one of mine. I’ve been perplexed about the vitriol directed towards Bella and Edward’s relationship when I’ve seen other examples of dysfunctional relationships in both literature and TV/film. Do you feel the same?

4) What Sword and Sorcery Means

The latest Mind Meld brought to us by SF Signal asks various prominent authors in the fantasy genre what sword and sorcery means to them — some very interesting comments!

5) Wizard’s Tower Press

We have a new science fiction and fantasy publisher! Wizard’s Tower Press opened for business on July 17th 2010. They aim principally to focus on bringing out of print genre novels to eReaders, and they also have a magazine forthcoming. I have no doubt we’ll hear plenty more from these guys.fantasy and science fiction book reviews

6) 100 YA Books

The amount of YA books that have a genre bent is truly incredible, which is why I’m bringing you Persnickety Snark’s first two posts showing a countdown of the top 100 YA books. It will be interesting to follow this series as the countdown continues. You can find our FanLit YA reviews here.

7) For Jessica

This is not my usual fare for you, but I was linked this through Twitter and found myself stunned by the strength of the writing and the heartbreak of the tale. I give you: “For Jessica” — I hope it moves you as much as it did me.

8) Leaving the Kitchen

This is another interesting article that found its way to me through Twitter — seriously, I follow so many great people who drop these gems into my lap. Here we have William Kostakis trashing Alexandra Adornetto’s article which compares Edward Cullen to actual boyfriends (yeah, yeah, we are a little Twilight heavy this week…)

9) Fictional animals being maltreated

Intriguing title for an article where Vincent of Un:Bound talks over the nature of conflict in literature — budding writers will enjoy this one.

Sam Sykes

10) Worldbuilding

Well, it looks as though Sam Sykes has taken over from Mark Charan Newton as “author with stuff to say on the Internet” — this week Sam brings us an entertaining article about worldbuilding in fantasy fiction.

And there you have it! Do let me know which of these articles intrigued you enough to click through this week!

Author

  • Amanda Rutter (guest)

    AMANDA RUTTER, one of our guest reviewers, used to be an accountant in the UK but she escaped the world of numbers and is now living in a fantasy world she creates. She runs Angry Robot's YA imprint, Strange Chemistry. And we knew her when....