Tag Archives: fantasy

A Practical Guide to Evil, most of the way through

Posted on by Henry

A Practical Guide to Evil is a YA-ish fantasy web serial set in a world with capitalized Good and Evil. The gods (which definitely exist) created this world to settle a wager about whether Good or Evil would triumph, but it is up to the world’s occupants to determine which way the contest will go. Of course, not every person is equal in this contest.

By a combination of exertion, will, strife, and trauma people can take on the mantle of a Name (an archetypal role) on either side of the conflict. Those Names are bound to tropes (varying by the person’s side in the conflict) which can entrap or empower. Some Names (Black Knight) are clearly on one side of the conflict (Evil), but others (Apprentice) can arise on either side. No two people can hold the full power of one name at a time; where there are multiple pretenders to a Name, those pretenders must settle whose vision of the Name and its purpose will win (Evil tends to do this with violence, Good rarely has multiple contenders).

I love all of that. This wholehearted embrace of archetypal story as a narrative toy and tool for a larger fantasy series is great. It’s what convinced me to read it in the first place.

Better yet, people in the series are aware of these Names and tropes. They embrace the study of Name-lore, learning the ways in which a Name may be caught by trope and pattern and story. They try to use that knowledge to their advantage. That’s a delight.

But it’s not all a bed of roses.

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Tristan Strong Punches A Hole In The Sky, by Kwame Mbalia

Posted on by Henry

I love a good middle grade adventure story. That’s precisely what this is. As you might expect from something published under Rick Riordan’s imprint, it’s full of mythology and folk tales and legends. Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, by Kwame Mbalia, is all about one young boy’s discovery that the stories he’s grown up with (African-American stories with American folk heroes like John Henry, African trickster figures like Anansi, and those who blur the lines like Brer Rabbit) are all far more real than he ever could have believed. It’s fun, it’s pretty fast, it’s (heh) punchy. This is a good book.

I admit, my appreciation for this book is influenced by my desire for more high quality middle grade adventure stories aimed at boys. There’s a lot more to unpack there, some of which can be better understood by reading Of Boys And Men by Richard V Reeves. Read on for some of those details, as well as my few quibbles with Tristan Strong.

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Love/Hate: Priming your game with NPCs & Groups

Posted on by Henry

In our own world, there are people we love and people we hate. Our feelings about others might be distant or dispassionate, or they might be personal and urgent. Sharing a love for the people of a neighborhood, a country, a sports team, or a gang is a quick and easy way to bond with someone else—as is sharing a hatred.

As storytellers, we can use this.

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Arisia 2025, 1/17-1/20/2025

Posted on by Henry

Today’s quick update brought to you by medical appointments. You can see me on panels at Arisia this year, where I’ll be moderating four and participating in two more. Those will be:

Um, Actually, Dropout is a Game Changer, So Make Some Noise – Friday, January 17, 2025, 9:15 PM EST

Safety Systems in TTRPG spaces – Saturday, January 18, 2025, 6:45 PM EST (mod)

Writing With The Rainbow – Sunday, January 19, 2025, 5:30 PM EST (mod)

Mental Health and TTRPGs – Sunday, January 19, 2025, 6:45 PM EST (mod)

Don’t Overprepare: Outlining a TTRPG campaign – Sunday, January 19, 2025, 9:15 PM EST

Video Essays Are Booming (And Here’s Why) – Sunday, January 19, 2025, 10:30 PM EST (mod)

Come and see me!

The Countdown Conspiracy, by Katie Slivensky (2017)

Posted on by Henry

Katie Slivensky’s The Countdown Conspiracy is an upper middle grade adventure story all about six young astronaut candidates preparing for an international mission to Mars. Set on a near-future Earth still recovering from a global war fought over asteroid-mining rights, the story begins with a captivating slow burn and piles of intrigue. The Countdown Conspiracy builds from there to high stakes thrills and a satisfying, ever-escalating race towards the conclusion. I really liked it. A lot.

I’ve fallen off the querying-wagon again, but this book has revived my excitement and renewed my hope. Surely if people enjoy this they’d enjoy Bury’em Deep.

Why do I like this book so much?

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Dandadan (2024)

Posted on by Henry

Dandadan is a lot. Episode one made me nervous. It also caught my attention. I stuck with the show, and now episode seven has made me cry big, heartfelt tears.

This show is not what I expected. It frequently has an extremely middle school-ish feel, yet it has also sent me on an emotional rollercoaster. It’s goofy and weird, with an upbeat and sometimes jarring energy. While it is written about (and presumably for) young teens, it feels less siloed in its gender appeal than many other shows I’ve seen aimed at a similar age range.

This show is definitely not for everyone, but… I really like it. Let me tell you why.

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Over the Woodward Wall, by A. Deborah Baker

Posted on by Henry

Over the Woodward Wall (written by Seanan McGuire under her pen name A. Deborah Baker) is the first in a series of middle grade adventure stories in a mixed up sometimes-lovely sometimes-scary fairytale land. In many ways, it evokes Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The setting’s surreality contrasts perfectly with the very real-feeling children who are this story’s stars, and the book does an excellent job of conveying earnestly true human experiences and life lessons while taking us on a dreamy-and-nightmarish impossible (sorry, I mean improbable) journey.

This should be a guaranteed home run for me. However, my fondness for this book ebbs and flows, a cycle driven by my mixed opinions about the narrator. It is my fondness that shifts though—I like it, I just like it by varying amounts depending on my mood. So what do I simultaneously admire and want to complain about?

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D&D 5e’s alignment trap

Posted on by Henry

The 5e alignment system is a useful shorthand and a misleading trap. The Outer Planes as presented in the 2014 Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master’s Guide only make the alignment system’s problems worse. The perfect overlap between alignments and planes—and the total lack of alternative Outer Planes—reinforces the alignment system’s worst inclinations: easy stereotyping, reductionist thinking, and a restriction of creative possibilities.

So what the heck are you supposed to do?

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Fog & Fireflies, by T.H. Lehnen

Posted on by Henry

I want to see this animated.

In so many ways this made me think of something from Hayao Miyazaki. There’s a certain blend of wonder and fright within a gradually accelerating story that feels so distinctively Miyazaki-esque to me. This story captures that.

It has the meditative pacing. It has the gentleness over slowly growing undertones of threat that I associate with Studio Ghibli’s work. And it has Ogma, a classic Miyazaki-heroine; as the pressure mounts and Ogma’s world slips out from under her feet, her understanding of the world is transformed while her stubborn and hopeful nature remains.

Like I said, Fog & Fireflies feels extremely Miyazaki. I think it would thrive as a Studio Ghibli creation.

This doesn’t surprise me, as I’ve known T.H. Lehnen for years. We’ve been friends since we were in college and have played many hours of roleplaying games together, particularly Call of Cthulhu. I can see some of the horror that I know T.H. Lehnen enjoys creeping around inside this story. It’s that horror which I think completes the Miyazaki comparison.

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Expectations and Avatar: The Last Airbender

Posted on by Henry

Last week I posted about expectations and Masters of the Air. I skirted around something similar in my previous live action Avatar: The Last Airbender post but, having now finished the first season of live action A:TLA, I’m going to say it directly.

This show suffers greatly from my expectations. If I’d never seen the animated show, I’d be more excited about this live action version. I also just rewatched some of the animated A:TLA because I feared that my memories of it might have been too fond, and…

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