The secret society trope in speculative fiction draws its inspiration from both historical and current real life counterparts. While on the surface these societies may be harmless or even benevolent, the route agenda of a secret society is always power - whether that's power to live in accordance with personal beliefs or power used for far less altruistic reasons. Potentially, this makes your average shadowy organisation somewhat dangerous and provide rich fodder for the the writers imagination. But why is this trope so widely used in fantasy and sci-fi? How does the reality compare to the fantasy? And what makes secret societies so unnerving? This week the dragons take a look beyond the secret handshake. On the slab - Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, The Order of the Phoenix by J K Rowling and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 121: If We Were Villains - What Shakespeare has to say to a Modern Audience
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 120: Bards, Troubadours and Skalds - The Musician Archetype in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 119: Love Conquers All - Power Couples who destroyed the Story
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 118: You Fancy Me Mad - Renfield, Lear & Ophelia: Madness in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 117: Dinosaurs and Mega Cryptids - Man-made Monsters in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 116: Cliches are Cliche for a Reason - Why Tropes aren't bad, but Some Tropes need to Die
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 115: Clothes Make the Man - Cross-dressing in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 114: Queer Eye for the Straight Story - Reading Speculative Fiction through a Queer Filter
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 113: Decoy Ducks & Red Herrings - Sayings, Urban Legends and Aphorisms
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 112: Spies, Traitors & Turncoats - Informants in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 111: Larger than Life - The Fictional World of Giants
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 110: Saying What You Really Mean - The Importance of Theme in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 109: Into the East - Fantasy Settings Tolkien Never Used
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 108: It Must be the Weather - How Nature Reflects Art in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 107: The Balance of Power - Sexism and Sexual Harassment in the Publishing Industry
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 106: Kali-ma, Inanna & Anath - The Creator-Destroyer in Myth and Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 105: The Book Hangover - Fictional Worlds that won't Let You Go
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 104: Bones, Boyd and Cottle - The Physician Archetype in Speculative fICTION
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 103: Best Served Cold - Revenge Arcs in Speculative Fiction
Dissecting Dragons: Episode 102: Squibs and Mundanes - Representation of Disability in Speculative Fiction
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