The rumors of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie — without any input from Joss Whedon — are true. A press release says writer Whit Anderson has an exciting new take on the character. Be very scared.
Rest of the post here at io9...
And with that, a brightly light has been smothered in our universe...
Back in day, when I was a wee young ‘un just discovering the wonders of the written word (that golden age known as the 90’s…) Y/A fiction was basically Sweet Vally High and other stuff general shoved in a shelve at the back of the book store. For hardcore geeks, fantasy was a genre generally seen as being for adults, or at least for all ages. There was never the assumption that any of it was being specifically targeted towards young readers – generally speaking, if you were into fantasy, you started one on the more accessible stuff (Dragonlance Chronicles being the gateway of choice for a whole generation…RIP, TSR!) and moved on up as your tates matured (Robert Jordan, GRRM, Gaiman….) A big help was that a lot of the stuff being written back then was really accessible and didn’t take itself too seriously. Ad that was true of all speculative genres…scifi, horror and so on.
Now, it seems like a lot of the creative energy is coming from books that, technically speaking, are written for teen and tween readers…except that a large part of the audience are adults looking for a good read. While it seems like a lot of “adult” fantasy, scifi and so on come across as stale…which begs the question…why? How did Y/A get the genre-fic mojo?
Here’s an article from the LA Times that might shed a little light on the subject….
What are the roots of fantasy?
The standard response has been to point to Tolkien, mutter some stuff about Western folklore and Arthurian romance, throw in some educated remarks about Greek and Roman mythology and the Kalevala, and then declare the Lord of the Rings the foundational text, full stop. But it seems to me, at least, that fantasy is a genre with many fathers. Tolkien casts a long shadow, to be sure – anyone writing epic fantasy for the last few decades has basically been following in the path laid by LOTR, despite many heroic efforts to the contrary. But that shortchanges other authors as well, who have had just as much of an impact on the development of the genre.
If there were such a thing as an ancestral
Anyone else care to venture a thought?
FIELD OF FIRE has been added to Fantasy Book Critics Noteworthy Releases! A full review will be coming soon! Can’t wait to read it!
Character of the Happy WarriorBy William Wordsworth WHO is the happy Warrior? Who is heThat every man in arms should wish to be?--It is the generous Spirit, who, when broughtAmong the tasks of real life, hath wroughtUpon the plan that pleased his boyish thought:Whose high endeavours are an inward lightThat makes the path before him always bright:Who, with a natural instinct to discernWhat knowledge can perform, is diligent to learn;Abides by this resolve, and stops not there, But makes his moral being his prime care;Who, doomed to go in company with Pain,And Fear, and Bloodshed, miserable train!Turns his necessity to glorious gain;In face of these doth exercise a powerWhich is our human nature's highest dower;Controls them and subdues, transmutes, bereavesOf their bad influence, and their good receives:By objects, which might force the soul to abateHer feeling, rendered more compassionate; Is placable--because occasions riseSo often that demand such sacrifice;More skilful in self-knowledge, even more pure,As tempted more; more able to endure,As more exposed to suffering and distress;Thence, also, more alive to tenderness.--'Tis he whose law is reason; who dependsUpon that law as on the best of friends;Whence, in a state where men are tempted stillTo evil for a guard against worse ill, And what in quality or act is bestDoth seldom on a right foundation rest,He labours good on good to fix, and owesTo virtue every triumph that he knows:--Who, if he rise to station of command,Rises by open means; and there will standOn honourable terms, or else retire,And in himself possess his own desire;Who comprehends his trust, and to the sameKeeps faithful with a singleness of aim; And therefore does not stoop, nor lie in waitFor wealth, or honours, or for worldly state;Whom they must follow; on whose head must fall,Like showers of manna, if they come at all:Whose powers shed round him in the common strife,Or mild concerns of ordinary life,A constant influence, a peculiar grace;But who, if he be called upon to faceSome awful moment to which Heaven has joinedGreat issues, good or bad for human kind, Is happy as a Lover; and attiredWith sudden brightness, like a Man inspired;And, through the heat of conflict, keeps the lawIn calmness made, and sees what he foresaw;Or if an unexpected call succeed,Come when it will, is equal to the need:--He who, though thus endued as with a senseAnd faculty for storm and turbulence,Is yet a Soul whose master-bias leansTo homefelt pleasures and to gentle scenes; Sweet images! which, wheresoe'er he be,Are at his heart; and such fidelityIt is his darling passion to approve;More brave for this, that he hath much to love:--'Tis, finally, the Man, who, lifted high,Conspicuous object in a Nation's eye,Or left unthought-of in obscurity,--Who, with a toward or untoward lot,Prosperous or adverse, to his wish or not--Plays, in the many games of life, that one Where what he most doth value must be won:Whom neither shape of danger can dismay,Nor thought of tender happiness betray;Who, not content that former worth stand fast,Looks forward, persevering to the last,From well to better, daily self-surpast:Who, whether praise of him must walk the earthFor ever, and to noble deeds give birth,Or he must fall, to sleep without his fame,And leave a dead unprofitable name-- Finds comfort in himself and in his cause;And, while the mortal mist is gathering, drawsHis breath in confidence of Heaven's applause:This is the happy Warrior; this is HeThat every Man in arms should wish to be.