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
Episode 355: He’s a Maneater - the Global Invasion of Ogres in Myth & Fiction, part two.
Episode 354: He’s a Maneater - the Global Invasion of Ogres in Myth & Fiction
Episode 353: High Fidelity and Historical Accuracy - Do Adaptations have a Duty to be Accurate
Episode 352: 2022 A Space Oddity - Sci-fi (& Fantasy) Tropes which Don’t Work
Episode 351: Picture This - Enhancing Scenes with the Right Frame in Speculative Fiction
Episode 350: When Pain Says No - Chronic Illness Representation in Speculative Fiction
Episode 349: The Stones Remember - Cursed Places of the UK
Episode 348: Written in Blood - Vampires of the UK and Ireland
Episode 347: Bat Beasts Kellas Cats and Wolf-men - Lesser Known Cryptids of Britain and Ireland Part 2
Episode 346: Wodewose, Owlman & Morag - Lesser Known Cryptids of Britain & Ireland
Episode 345: Once More with Feeling - The Successes and Failures of Musical Episodes in Genre TV Shows
Episode 344: Enough to Make a Cat Laugh - Tracing the Origins of Puss in Boots
Episode 343: Exiles, OutCasts and Outsiders - Solitary Villains and Isolated Heroes
Episode 342: Distant Fathers 2D Beefcakes and Tortured Villains - Sexist Tropes Against Men in Speculative Fiction
Episode 341: True Beauty is Found Within - Tracing the Origins of Beauty & the Beast
Episode 340: There is none so capable as Anne - Why we should celebrate gentle characters
Episode 339: You Can’t Take the Sky From Me - Weird Westerns and Why We love Them
Episode 338: There are Wolves in the Woods - What Folklore Can Teach Us About Storytelling
Episode 337: Relatable or Debateable - Avoiding Mediocre Main Characters in Speculative Fiction.
Episode 336: The Lesser of Two Evils - Creating Moral Dilemmas in Speculative Fiction
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