Guest Post: “Living Larger with Animism” by Arianne “Tex” Thompson

January 11, 2017January 11, 2017 Civilian Reader Guest Post Animism, Arianne Tex Thompson, Children of the Drought, Dreams of the Eaten, Medicine for the Dead, One Night in Sixes, Philosophy, Post-Apocalypse, Rebellion Publishing, Solaris Books

ThompsonAT-AuthorPic You know, one of the coolest things about SFF is how it invites us to mothball our skepticism and explore just about any metaphysical concept. Avatar Aang lives in a world where reincarnation is inarguably real. So does Rand Al-Thor. Just so, Narnia is a world with a concrete moral order, and the Marvel universe is absolutely lousy with gods. Fate, karma, magic, ghosts – you name it; we’ve got a franchise for it.

But here’s one big idea that I’d like to see getting more air-time: animism. It’s one of the oldest belief systems in the world, and put simply, it’s the idea that non-human creatures and things have souls, and therefore should be treated with awareness. In sci-fi and fantasy, animism usually comes to the fore whenever a creator wants to craft a culture that’s all about living in harmony with nature – your wood-elves, blue cat-people, et al. The problem is usually that they are so dang harmonious that they would never be worth writing about if they didn’t get bulldozed by the plot. (Literally, if we’re talking Ferngully and its like.) Continue reading →

Guest Post: “Don’t Hold the Horses” by Arianne “Tex” Thompson

May 20, 2015May 19, 2015 Civilian Reader Guest Post Arianne Tex Thompson, Children of the Drought, Dystopian, Fantasy, Horses, Medicine for the Dead, One Night in Sixes, Post-Apocalyptic, Sci-Fi, Solaris

You know how there’s this one genre that we call “swords and horses” fantasy? It’s a heck of a thing. They’re kind of the PB&J of old-school fantasy: tasty, familiar, and they go so well together. But it’s not exactly an even relationship, is it?

I mean, the swords – let’s be real, The Sword – gets all kinds of literary limelight. It’s got a name, a big ol’ backstory, some awesomesweet epic powers, and probably a good chunk of the hero’s destiny riding around in its carbon-steel interior. More often than not, that sucker actually drives the plot.

So why no love for the horses? Size, sex, color, and that’s it. Maybe a name, if it’s going to be a long-term fixture, and not stolen by goblins or eaten by were-possums at the end of the first act. But unless the horse is some kind of magical creature (with a big tip o’ the hat to Misty Lackey’s Heralds of Valdemar series!), you can almost guarantee that it’s just a half-ton inventory item – as if only the fantasy elements of a fantasy story are allowed to be interesting or important.

I vote we change that. And I think a lot of writers would be up for trying – it’s just that we’re not really sure how. After all, most of us don’t live within thirty miles of a horse, nevermind own or ride one. The only time pop culture shows them to us as characters in their own right is either when they’re the focal point of the story (Black Beauty, Seabiscuit, etc.) or else when someone’s following the “basically furry humans with speech impediments” Disney sidekick model. Continue reading →

New Books: March #1

March 16, 2015August 23, 2018 Civilian Reader New Books Alastair Reynolds, Angus Watson, Arianne Tex Thompson, Col Buchanan, Dave Gross, David Wingrove, Edan Lepucki, Faber & Faber, Farrar Straus & Giroux, Gardener Dozois, Genevieve Valentine, George RR Martin, Harvill Secker, John Connolly, John Joseph Adams, Joshua Gaylord, Kazuo Ishiguro, Kim Stanley Robinson, Knopf, Kristen Painter, Lavie Tidhar, Little Brown, Marc Turner, Mulholland, Orbit, Pathfinder, Patricia Briggs, Paul Beatty, Richard Beard, Rjurik Davidson, Robert Levy, St Martin's Press, Stephen Metcalfe, Tachyon Publications, Titan Books, Tom Lloyd, Tor Books, VE Schwab

Or, “Lordy, 2015 is shaping up to be an incredible year for books…”

Featuring: John Joseph Adams, Richard Beard, Paul Beatty, Patricia Briggs, Col Buchanan, John Connelly, Rjurik Davidson, Joshua Gaylord, Dave Gross, Kazuo Ishiguro, Edan Lepucki, Robert Levy, Tom Lloyd, George R.R. Martin & Gardener Dozois, Stephen Metcalfe, Kristen Painter, Alastair Reynolds, Kim Stanley Robinson, V.E. Schwab, Lavie Tidhar, Marc Turner Continue reading →