#Hard Fantasy

Do you love dragons – or other mythical or fantastical creatures? Ever experienced that moment where, halfway through hotly debating whether the dragons in Harry Potter are in fact dragons or wyverns, you realise everyone is staring at you? Or while discussing the differences between hippogriffs and gryphons, everyone starts edging away?

I have. In fact, it was the Harry Potter debate that did me in. I still staunchly maintain those are not dragons. They’re wyverns – of the pterosaur variety. I see you nodding in agreement… We understand each other.

But ten years later, my friends still remember that incident. Don’t start on the dragons again, they say. Or the other objection I encounter is ‘You do know dragons aren’t real, right?’ So what? Why does that matter? The mythology, and even more recently, the fantasy classifications, do exist.

If you know what I’m talking about, you should check out Club Fantasci, a new video book club for speculative fiction. We’ll be discussing the literary merits of each selected book, but also the extent to which a book deviates from or meets genre expectations – anything and everything that impacts on a book’s effectiveness. The hosts meet monthly via Google+ Hangout to discuss the book, and you can tune in to watch. You get your say on the discussion boards for the group at Goodreads!

The first G+ Hangout is on 31 August at 7:00pm CST, and the Book of the Month for August is ‘The Night Circus’ by Erin Morgenstern. Feel free to drop by our Facebook Page or Goodreads group and make suggestions for future books. I’ll be revealing September’s Book of the Month at the August G+ Hangout.