Category Archives: Fiction

Fisking a Heroism-Bashing Comment

Posted on May 31, 2018 by Rawle Nyanzi

A while back, I made a post critiquing a common modern view of heroism — namely, that there is no heroism, only differing definitions of what is right. I argued against this notion, and received a large number of comments … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction | Tagged | 8 Comments

Why Critics Bash Virtuous Heroes

Posted on April 27, 2018 by Rawle Nyanzi

UPDATE: Yakov Merkin responds. UPDATE: Benjamin Cheah responds. I like the Youtuber Super Eyepatch Wolf. His analyses on The Simpsons’ rise and fall as well as the archetypes of shonen manga are quite informative, going in-depth while keeping the content … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction | Tagged , | 22 Comments

My NaNoWriMo Rebellion

Posted on November 2, 2017 by Rawle Nyanzi

Revolutioooooooooooon! In a flash of inspiration over the weekend, I have decided to take up pencil and keyboard, I have decided to take up the literary struggle of National Novel Writing Month — NaNoWriMo! As I gathered my plan in … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction | Tagged | 9 Comments

The Importance of Delta-V

Posted on October 10, 2017 by Rawle Nyanzi

I first read about delta-v as it relates to space travel on Winchell Chung’s Atomic Rockets website. At first, I dismissed it as just another boring limitation on fun space opera adventure, a bit like his descriptions of why gigantic … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction | Tagged | 2 Comments

Justifying Space Fighters

Posted on October 3, 2017 by Rawle Nyanzi

Winchell Chung, owner of the stupendously awesome Atomic Rockets website (check out his Boom Table) hates space fighters with the fury of a billion burning suns. He cites numerous writers on the infeasibility of such weapons, pointing out that drones … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction | Tagged | 12 Comments

I Heard Light Novels Were Good, but I Read Some and Was Disappointed!

Posted on September 11, 2017 by Rawle Nyanzi

Light novels: a form of popular literature in Japan, comparable to the pulps of yesteryear. They eschew high literary aspirations in favor of violence and sex. Lovely dames easy on the eyes, not mannish harpies drawn ugly, grace the covers … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Constant Adventure vs. Constant Worldbuilding

Posted on September 9, 2017 by Rawle Nyanzi

A day before this posting, I finished reading Jon Mollison’s new novel, Adventure Constant, about an astronaut who gets stranded on an alternate Earth where battles are fought with swords and modern tech is nowhere to be found, but counterparts … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction | Tagged , | 16 Comments

Troping Sword & Flower

Posted on September 4, 2017 by Rawle Nyanzi

At the end of January, I published a novella called Sword & Flower, where a Puritan and a J-Pop singer team up to fight demons in purgatory. However, after I had released the work, I neglected one very important thing. … Continue reading →

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Why There Are So Many Fighting Females

Posted on August 19, 2017 by Rawle Nyanzi

The Action Girl — a female hero or villain who physically fights — is a common and beloved trope throughout all of popular culture. However, it is also somewhat unrealistic, for the average man is stronger than the average woman. … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction | Tagged | 3 Comments

The Kevyn Winkless Master Formula

Posted on August 18, 2017 by Rawle Nyanzi

NOTE: To see the formula image more clearly, open it in a new tab. A social media buddy of mine named Kevyn Winkless had come up with a handy formula (pictured above) for writing flash fiction, a formula I’ve taken … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction | Tagged , | 2 Comments