|
Masquerade (trope)
A masquerade is a trope found in speculative fiction, in which a group of supernatural or otherwise extraordinary people hide their existence from the mainstream society in the given setting. The term was first coined by Robert A. Heinlein, Robert A. Heinlein's ''Methuselah's Children'' in 1958. Those hidden groups may form a wainscot society, wherein they live adjacent to mainstream society in a covert manner, but overall remain their own distinct entity with their own culture. In a fantasy context, it means that magic is hidden, whether in secret locations, such as Places in Harry Potter#Diagon Alley, Diagon Alley in ''Harry Potter'', or by magical forces, such as the Mist in ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Percy Jackson'', or a Shapeshifting, glamour placed on individuals. That is typically done to avoid some type of mass panic that would result in the destruction of the magical world by far more numerous normal people fearing the unknown. Masquerade societies may seek to hide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Speculative Fiction
Speculative fiction is a term that has been used with a variety of (sometimes contradictory) meanings. The broadest interpretation is as a category of fiction encompassing genres with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, nature, or the present universe. Such fiction covers various themes in the context of supernatural, futuristic, and other imaginative realms. The genres under this umbrella category include, but are not limited to, science fiction, fantasy, horror, superhero fiction, alternate history, utopian and dystopian fiction, and supernatural fiction, as well as combinations thereof (for example, science fantasy). History Speculative fiction as a category ranges from ancient works to paradigm-changing and neotraditional works of the 21st century. Characteristics of speculative fiction have been recognized in older works whose authors' intentions, or in the social contexts of the stories they portray, are now known. For example, the ancient Greek ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secret Identity
A secret identity is a person's alter ego which is not known to the general populace, most often used in fiction. Brought into popular culture by the Scarlet Pimpernel in 1903, the concept was widespread in pulp heroes and is particularly prevalent in the American comic book genre, and is a trope of the masquerade. In American comic books, a character typically has dual identities, one public and one secret. The public identity being known to the general public as the "superhero persona" and the other being the secret identity. The private or secret identity is typically the superhero's legal name, true identity, and/or "civilian persona" when they are not actively assuming the superhero persona. It is kept hidden from their enemies and the general public to protect themselves from legal ramifications, pressure, or public scrutiny, as well as to protect their friends and loved ones from harm secondary to their actions as superheroes. Occasionally, this trope is inverted. Two prime ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jim Butcher
Jim Butcher (born October 26, 1971) is an American author., He has written the contemporary fantasy ''The Dresden Files'', ''Codex Alera'', and ''Cinder Spires'' book series. Personal life Butcher was born in Independence, Missouri, in 1971. He is the youngest of three children, having two older sisters. He has one son, James J. Butcher. Career While he was sick with strep throat as a child, Butcher's sisters introduced him to ''The Lord of the Rings'' and ''The Han Solo Adventures'' novels to pass the time, thus beginning his fascination with fantasy and science fiction. As a teenager, he completed his first novel and set out to become a writer. After many unsuccessful attempts to enter the traditional fantasy genre (he cites J. R. R. Tolkien, Lloyd Alexander, and C. S. Lewis, among others, as major influences), he wrote the first book in ''The Dresden Files''—about a professional wizard, named Harry Dresden, in modern-day Chicago—as an exercise for a writing course in 199 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Dresden Files
''The Dresden Files'' is a series of contemporary fantasy/mystery novels written by American author Jim Butcher. The first novel, '' Storm Front''—which was also Butcher's writing debut—was published in 2000 by Roc Books. The books are written as a first-person narrative from the perspective of private investigator and wizard Harry Dresden as he recounts investigations into supernatural disturbances in modern-day Chicago. Butcher's original proposed title for the first novel was ''Semiautomagic'', which sums up the series' balance of fantasy and hard-boiled detective fiction. As of 2021, Butcher has written 17 novels set in the ''Dresden Files'' universe, as well as a number of short stories (some of which are collected in the anthologies '' Side Jobs'' and ''Brief Cases''). The series has also been released in audiobook format, narrated by James Marsters. Other works set in the same fictional universe include graphic novels (several new stories in addition to adaptations o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Highlander (franchise)
''Highlander'' is a British film and television franchise created by American screenwriter Gregory Widen. The series began with a 1986 fantasy film starring Christopher Lambert, who played Connor MacLeod, the titular Highlander. Born in Glenfinnan in the Scottish Highlands in the 16th century, MacLeod is one of a number of immortals empowered by an energy called the Quickening and only able to die if beheaded. On television, '' Highlander: The Series'' aired for six seasons from 1992–1998, starring Adrian Paul as Connor's kinsman Duncan MacLeod, another immortal Highlander born decades later. Recurring characters in the series included the immortal thief Amanda (Elizabeth Gracen) and oldest immortal Methos (Peter Wingfield) who each had spin-off shows, '' Highlander: The Raven'' and '' The Methos Chronicles'' respectively, which each lasted one season. There have been four theatrical ''Highlander'' films, one made-for-TV film, two live-action television series, an animated t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tim Powers
Timothy Thomas Powers (born February 29, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy fiction, fantasy author. Powers has won the World Fantasy Award twice for his critically acclaimed novels ''Last Call (novel), Last Call'' and ''Declare''. His 1987 novel ''On Stranger Tides'' served as inspiration for the ''Monkey Island (series), Monkey Island'' franchise of video games and was optioned for adaptation into the Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, fourth ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' film. Most of Powers' novels are "secret history, secret histories". He uses actual, documented historical events featuring famous people, but shows another view of them in which occult or supernatural factors heavily influence the motivations and actions of the characters. Typically, Powers strictly adheres to established historical facts. He reads extensively on a given subject, and the plot develops as he notes inconsistencies, gaps and curious data; regarding his 2001 novel ''Decla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Crowley (author)
John Crowley (born December 1, 1942) is an American author of fantasy, science fiction and historical fiction. He has also written essays. Crowley studied at Indiana University and has a second career as a documentary film writer. Crowley is best known as the author of ''Little, Big'' (1981), a work which received World Fantasy Award for Best Novel and has been called "a neglected masterpiece" by Harold Bloom, and his ''Ægypt'' series of novels which revolve around the same themes of Hermeticism, memory, families and religion. Some of his nonfiction writing has appeared bimonthly in ''Harper's Magazine'' in the form of his "Easy Chair" column, which ended in 2016. Biography John Crowley was born in Presque Isle, Maine, in 1942; his father was then an officer in the US Army Air Corps. He grew up in Vermont, northeastern Kentucky and (for the longest stretch) Indiana, where he went to high school and college. He moved to New York City after college to make movies, and did fin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little, Big
''Little, Big: or, The Fairies' Parliament'' is a contemporary fantasy novel by John Crowley, published in 1981. It won the World Fantasy Award in 1982. Plot Turn-of-the-century American architect John Drinkwater begins to suspect that within this world there lies another (and within that, another and another ad infinitum, each larger than the world that contains it). Towards the center is the realm of the fairies, which his wife, the Englishwoman Violet Bramble, can see and talk with but he can′t. Drinkwater gathers his thoughts into an ever-evolving book entitled ''The Architecture of Country Houses'', which goes through at least six ever longer and more mystical editions. Somewhere around the start of the 20th century, Drinkwater designs and builds a house called Edgewood north of New York City. It is a composite of many styles, each built over and across the others, supposedly as a ″sampler″ for customers thinking about employing Drinkwater's firm. It has the effect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neil Gaiman
Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, nonfiction, audio theatre, and films. His works include the comic book series '' The Sandman'' and novels '' Stardust'', '' American Gods'', ''Coraline'', and '' The Graveyard Book''. He has won numerous awards, including the Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker awards, as well as the Newbery and Carnegie medals. He is the first author to win both the Newbery and the Carnegie medals for the same work, ''The Graveyard Book'' (2008). In 2013, ''The Ocean at the End of the Lane'' was voted Book of the Year in the British National Book Awards. It was later adapted into a critically acclaimed stage play at the Royal National Theatre in London, England that ''The Independent'' called "...theatre at its best". Early life Gaiman's f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neverwhere
''Neverwhere'' is an urban fantasy television miniseries by Neil Gaiman that first aired in 1996 on BBC 2. The series is set in "London Below", a magical realm coexisting with the more familiar London, referred to as "London Above". It was devised by Neil Gaiman and Lenny Henry and directed by Dewi Humphreys. Gaiman adapted the series into a novel, which was released in September 1996. The series and book were partially inspired by Gene Wolfe's novel '' Free Live Free''. "In a letter from the author included in the study guide, Gaiman revealed that he got the idea for Neverwhere after reading, "Free, Live Free", a Gene Wolfe book set in Chicago". Plot Richard Mayhew, a Scottish man living in London, encounters an injured girl named Door on the street one night. Despite his fiancée's protests he decides to help her; upon doing so he ceases to exist on Earth and becomes real only to the denizens of "London Below", whose inhabitants are generally invisible and non-existent to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mary Norton (author)
Kathleen Mary Norton (née Pearson; 10 December 1903 – 29 August 1992), known professionally as Mary Norton, was an English writer of children's books."Mary Norton." St. James Guide to Children's Writers, 5th ed. St. James Press, 1999. She is best known for ''The Borrowers'' series of low fantasy novels (1952 to 1982), which is named after its first book and, in turn, the tiny people who live secretly in the midst of contemporary human civilisation. Norton won the 1952 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising ''The Borrowers'' as the year's outstanding children's book by a British author. For the 70th anniversary of the Medal in 2007 it was named one of the top ten winning works, selected by a panel to compose the ballot for a public election of the all-time favourite. Norton's novels '' The Magic Bed Knob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons'' and ''Bonfires and Broomsticks'' were adapted into the 1971 Disney film ''Bedknobs and Broomsticks''. L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Borrowers
''The Borrowers'' is a children's fantasy novel by the English author Mary Norton, published by Dent in 1952. It features a family of tiny people who live secretly in the walls and floors of an English house and "borrow" from the big people in order to survive. ''The Borrowers'' also refers to the series of five novels including ''The Borrowers'' and four sequels that feature the same family after they leave "their" house. ''The Borrowers'' won the 1952 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's outstanding children's book by a British author. In the 70th anniversary celebration of the medal in 2007 it was named one of the top ten Medal-winning works, selected by a panel to compose the ballot for a public election of the all-time favourite. Harcourt, Brace and Company published it in the U.S. in 1953 with illustrations by Beth and Joe Krush. It was also published in four parts, with illustrations by Erik Blegvad, during the summer of 1953 (June, July ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
