Page 3 - Moon Called News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

I started reading Moon Called in a somewhat cranky frame of mind, after the disappointments of Yurth Burden. Oh no, I thought. Another paint-by-numbers plot. Still more rigid dualistic determinism. Much of it, of course, in ancient underground installations full of Evil Rat Things. Most of that is in fact true. Protagonist Thora is a Chosen One of the Moon Goddess, referred to as HER (sic) and The Lady. She was born with a special birthmark and destined for divine service. She wears a special jewel that serves as a magical weapon, and of course her home and family and apparently her entire ...

Hello SciFiNow, thank you for inviting me to write about my favorite genre, Fantasy, specifically Urban Fantasy. What first drew me into this genre and what fuels my love for it, is the blend of the mundane with the fantastical. How you can go about your everyday life and not know if that cute barista at your local coffee shop is actually mortal like you or a millenia-year-old vampire who saw the pyramids being constructed and could tell you if aliens really had something to do with it or not. A lot of authors have inspired my love for this genre that culminated in my debut novel

I have said before that plotting was Andre Norton’s strength, and characterization one of her notable weaknesses. Yurth Burden reads like an object lesson in what happens when the plot completely dominates the characters. By plot in this context I mean “things that happen in the course of the novel,” without reference to what or whom they happen to. These things are determined by the author. They may be constructed according to an outline, or they may be developed freehand—the writer writes, and the story evolves as it goes. Either way, it’s the writer who drives the plot, and the...