Have you ever noticed how often a lynchpin character is not, in fact, 'the chosen one'? Or how many times a simple, mundane skill or a knack for being friendly and straight forward saves the day while high powered, flashy characters flounder? This week Jules and Madeleine look at why a 'kitchen hero' - someone who thinks about things like seeing to the horses' hooves or foraging for edible plants or sewing or organising - is an essential character in sci-fi and fantasy. These characters usually don't possess cool powers or above average ability with a sword. Often they're the ones every is surprised made it as far as they did. And yet, when you really pick apart their story arc, you discover that the entire mission would have failed without them. On the slab this week: Lord of the Rings, Heart's Blood - Juliet Marillier, Swordheart - T. Kingfisher and many more.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Ep 395: Weirdstones and Magic Keys - What makes a Children’s book a classic?
Ep 394: Divas Debutantes and Girls next door - the best and worst female main characters
Episode 393: Unlikely Rebels - the Moral Outlaw Trope
Episode 392: An Awful Lot of Walking - Mastering Pacing in Speculative Fiction
Episode 391: Lost in the Woods - Tracing the Origins of Hansel and Gretel
Episode 390: Let the Games Begin - Why the Competition Trope is so Popular in Speculative Fiction
Episode 389: Beautiful Misery - The Hunger for the Afflicted Woman in Fiction
Episode 388: A Conflagration of Authors - AI, Audiobooks and Infringement
Episode 387: Complicated Runes and Ineffable Power - Hard Versus Soft Magic Systems in Speculative Fiction
Episode 386: The Art of Not Fitting In - A collection of Not Like the Other Girls Trope Observations
Episode 385: Both is Good - Examining Bisexual Representation in Speculative Fiction
Episode 384: Appearances Can be Deceiving - The Hidden Power of Modern Fairytales
Episode 383: Gaslit Magic and Immortal Monsters Hunters - Incorporating Strong Historical Elements in UF
Episode 382: Part of Your World - Tracing the Origins of The Little Mermaid
Episode 381: Hard Times in Magic & Logic - Examining the Parameters of Hard Scifi and fantasy
Episode 380: Will He Escape those Dastardedly Clutches - Why Cliffhangers Are a Bad Idea
Episode 379: Exuding Menace 101 - How to Create Menacing Villains
Ep 378: Separated by a Common Language - Examining the Differences between UK and US Urban Fantasy
Episode 377: Bringing in Dessert - Serving Up Delicious Endings Against Desperate Odds
Episode 376: In that Time In that Place - the Monomyth and Other Storytelling Modes
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