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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
This award-winning classic on the art and craft of writing science fiction and fantasy provides invaluable advice for every science fiction and fantasy writer interested in constructing stories about people, worlds and events that stretch the boundaries of the possible - and the magical. They'll learn:. What is and isn't science fiction and fantasy, and where their story fits in the mix. How to build, populate, and dramatize a credible, inviting world readers will want to explore. Where the markets are, how to reach them and get published There's no better source of information for writers working in these genres.
About the Author
Orson Scott Card is one of the biggest names in science fiction and fantasy. He won both the Hugo and Nebula science fiction awards for best novel for two consecutive years - something no other writer has done. In addition, he was the first writer to ever win a Nebula and a Hugo for both a book and its sequel.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Not all of this book was that useful to me, but all of it was interesting - enough so that I finished it in a single evening.
The parts that were less useful were the discussion of what SF&F is, and the discussions of concepts such as star drives, time travel, hyperspace, etc... presumably the intended audience for the book will have read plenty in this genre, so these sections might be superfluous. On the other hand, it's interesting (for example) to see the various ways of dealing with interstellar journey times set down and analysed, including their impact on the mind-set of the arriving travellers.
For me, the real meat of the book was the second half: the chapters on story construction and writing well. The MICE quotient (milieu, idea, character, event) gave me a new way to think about my book, and the section on controlling exposition was excellent.
I'm giving this book 5 stars because it was a very enjoyable read, and because I took several ideas from it that I think will be valuable. Don't get it as your only "Craft of Writing" book, though. That's not what it sets out to achieve.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I found this book browsing through the library catalogue, and was sufficiently intrigued to pick it up and bring it home, where I read it three or four times over the next few weeks. It's brilliant. It not only tells you how to keep your story balanced between imaginary world and characters(which is an exacerbated problem with these genres), but it also fires at your imagination, giving you ideas all the way. I particularly enjoyed the sentence by sentence review of a beginning, which helps you see how you can hook the reader. After reading it you simply have to put your ideas in a tidied-up form on the page. Read it, and write.
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an excellent read and a stimulating package of advice for anyone interested in writing science fiction or fantasy. Orson Scott Card makes an immediate point: no one can teach you how to write in these genres. What he sets out to do is deliver a superb exposition of the process of creativity and how it infests the imagination. He delivers a vision of creativity as a process, one you can stimulate and use, rather than something you sit back and wait for. Inspiration might be creative, but creativity is not limited to inspiration. Here we have an analysis of how ideas emerge and how they take root.
Card questions what is science fiction, what is fantasy? He offers advice and generates a score of absorbing ideas. But his advice takes a vital, practical direction. If you wish to write, then read, read, read!
To succeed as a writer, there is no magic formula. You need to learn the skills of your trade, you need to learn to free your imagination, and then you need discipline and the determination to work hard and improve and hone your skills.
An excellent, stimulating read, well worth the money, and a book you will treasure.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not as good as it seems
When I first purchased this book I thought that it would open up a world of creative ideas and information for Fantasy writing that I wouldn't be able to stop writing. Read more
Published 5 months ago by S. Wills
Very good for the novice Sci-fi & Fantasy writer
An extremely good book for someone wanting to write sci-fi &/or fantasy and those who are struggling, the more professional might it a little dull.
Published 14 months ago by Spottygelding
Great help for a science fiction and fantasy writer
If you want to write Sci-Fi or Fantasy, then this book will help you a great deal.
I recommend the book if only for it's revelations about space-travel. Read more
I recommend the book if only for it's revelations about space-travel. Read more
Published on 10 Sep 2009 by Mr. J. Glendenning
Good but not fantasy
Overall this is a good book. I bought it hopig to pick up a few tips and was pleased to do so. Orson Scott Card has obviously worked hard to make this readable and helpful. Read more
Published on 24 Jun 2008 by David
Very useful, but leaves a sour taste
This is an excellent reference to writing sci-fi and fantasy, with a huge amount of information and advice packed into a surprisingly concise and readable book. Read more
Published on 9 Dec 2007 by Andrew W. M. Perry
Fantasy! What Fantasy?
I bought this book as i am currently trying to write a fantasy story and believed this book may help. It would have if my book was science fiction. Read more
Published on 28 April 2006 by Mr. C. P. Emeny
Cas
This is a really good book for beginners, I've been writing for years, and I got this book out of interest. Read more
Published on 15 Aug 2004
Simply Brilliant!
This is the first "How to" book I've ever read that actually reads like a novel. No dry, rigid, mind-numbing lectures on how you "must" do this or "must" do that. Read more
Published on 18 Aug 2003
Contains great advice
I was wondering whether or not to buy this, as I already have a few books on novel writing. But this book has a lot of advice that I did not find in other books, such as the MICE... Read more
Published on 11 April 2003 by J. Hannan
Uncle Orson tells you how to write science fiction & fantasy
If you are familiar with Orson Scott Card's Hatrack River site, you know that there is nobody in the field of science fiction and fantasy who is more committed to helping new... Read more
Published on 26 Jan 2003
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