Customer Reviews

Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy (Self-Counsel Writing)

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After having read almost every available book on writing science fiction and fantasy specifically, I think that the combination of this volume and Orson Scott Card's "How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy" constitutes the most complete, practical and useful source of advice and information for any writer interested in stepping into or perfecting the craft of writing in either genre, in any form, any length or any language.
This concise, well-organized, excellent reference is written in a warm, enthusiastic and conversational style that's as pleasing to the mind as the voice of a dear friend is to the ears, and you will be drawn to read it cover to cover in just one sitting. But with its highly detailed table of contents and easy-to-use format, it's also perfect if you only want to do a quick check-up or consultation on a specific topic or idea.
The author begins by offering a detailed description of what the genres and subgenres of science fiction and fantasy are, and a general summary of the elements considered to be essential to each - ideas that although seemingly obvious as a starting point for this type of book are surprisingly either just barely touched or completely overlooked on most other titles. He expands on this topic by carefully detailing the relevance and influence that diverse areas of knowledge like mythology, history, sociology, philosophy, science, have on both genres.
Then, he examines a wide variety of subjects on each genre in particular as well as on the craft of writing in general, from idea generation to organization to researching, from character development to point of view to voice, style and tone, from structure to editing to English grammar and punctuation, from word processors and manuscript formatting to work habits. He masterfully uses many excellent examples to illustrate each point being made, and while most are taken from well-known classic and contemporary titles, some are from the author's own works, allowing us a glimpse at the quality of his storytelling abilities.
The section on marketing and publishing is especially helpful to beginners and unpublished writers as it discusses topics like choosing the right market, editor, publisher, and agent, and understanding contracts and copyrights. In the appendix, the lists of related readings and websites are truly an added bonus for those seeking a deeper treatment of any area discussed by the author, and the multiple exercises present throughout the book are a stimulating way to introduce us to some new creative methods for generating story ideas.
While you can't really learn how to write by reading any one reference or any one guide - only lots and lots of writing practice and lots and lots of reading from the genre you want to write in will make you an effective writer - there are a few books that can actually help you polish your craft and fine-tune your ideas, and this is one of those. From reading this book you can expect three basic things: a) to get a clear picture of the craft, business and life of writers; b) to acquire a thorough understanding of the essential elements of the genres and subgenres in both fantasy and science fiction; and c) to discover invaluable, time-tested advice, tips and techniques from a published author on how to improve your craft and avoid some common pitfalls that could hinder your development as a writer.
If you are serious about creating science fiction and fantasy stories fit to print, then get this nifty resource and follow its advice, and you'll stay on the right track, guaranteed.
Also recommended: "How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy" by Orson Scott Card.
--Reviewed by M. E. Volmar

This book includes not only strategies for generating your own worlds, characters, plots, etc. but has practical advice on grammar, manuscript mechanics and how to approach publishers with the finished product. It also includes a cold splash-in-the-face look at one scenario you might go through on the road to publication.

Given that every writing style is a process subjectively arrived at, he still does a great job of making some helpful, objective observations of what good story writing entails. There is the further advantage of being able to track down his fiction to see his approach in action, since he is a published author in the genre.

This book is laced with humor and wisdom. Kilian is experienced in fantasy, hard science fiction, education and children's literature. He explores the mythological basis of fantasy novels, explaining the importance of Greek, Roman, Celtic, Norse, Egyptian--world mythology, as well as acquiring a strong knowledge of history and philosophies of the world. Equally important to success is a fascination with the genre in which you write. Gaining the information may seem to be an intimidating task; it is necessary.

Kilian includes exercises to help generate writing. I followed these exercises, and wrote with the excitement I had greatly missed. He also explains each step of the creative process from the ideas to the finished product with a brief grammar refresher that is easy to read. The examples are humorous. The importance of proper grammar cannot be overstated if you want your book published.

Kilian expresses a sense of anger, but when tempered by the humor throughout the book, this becomes righteous indignation directed toward those who try to write in the genre without the seriousness to make it believable. Ultimately his anger

Killian starts out by telling readers how hard it is to make a living at writing novels. I emailed with Tad Williams (fantasy author) and he told me that something like only 1% of fiction writers make six figure salaries or greater.

Truth is, if you want to learn how to make money while you write, read something like RICH DAD, POOR DAD. Banking on your writing to turn you into a bestseller has low odds and can be painful if you don't fall into that number. Be sure to enjoy it, too. Yes, silly but you'd be surprised how many people

Anyway, here's the highlights of his book:

(1) realize the genres of fantasy and sci if; (2) understand the types of general readers attracted to the genres; (3) create your fictional world; (4) get good writing habits; (5) work on your story; (6) learn plotting; thicken the plot; (7) narrative voice; (8) symbolism; (9) know your publishers; query letters; manuscript form; (10) royalties; residuals; understand the contracts.

After you've read this, check out HOLLYLISLE.COM . . . a fantasy author who freely gives out advice and makes her living at it fulltime.

Best of luck!

This book is much better than some people may think. Crawford Kilian organizes ideas in a very coherent manner that is easy to read and understand. In fact, most of the tips/steps in this book don't necessarily follow the sci-fi or fantasy genre and can be applied to any type of book genre... This includes storyboarding, outlining, and the character resume. If you're writing any kind of fiction, this book has content that can help you and I highly reccommend it.

This could have been a good book. However, the author failed to explain his ideas well enough, and thus came off sounding pretentious and dictatorial when he probably meant to sound friendly. However, the reason I ended up pitching this book across the room in disgust is that the author never failed to take an opportunity to slam another author or to play up his own works. In particular, he liked to put down Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels in such a way that made it painfully clear he had never read one. Don't bother buying this book. You can get the same advice elsewhere, without the attacks on other authors and thinly-disguised advertisements for his own books.

I've read several books aimed at writers of science fiction and fantasy. This one has proven to be the most useful to me.

Kilian covers a lot of information in his book--beginning with the elementary teachings of the Knowing Your Genre section--without going into tedious detail. The parts at the end of the book on actually getting published were fine, although this information can be found in countless other books and on many websites.

The part of the book I found the most helpful and illuminating was the middle part, entitled The Craft of Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy. It includes the following sections:
Developing Efficient Work Habits
Research and Soul Search
Elements of a Successful Story
Developing Characters
Plotting
Constructing a Scene
Narrative Voice
Exposition and Dialogue
Symbolism and All That

I found the last section on symbolism and the hero's quest especially interesting.

If you want to write sci-fi or fantasy but aren't really sure where you should begin, this would be a great book to pick up. I highly recommend it.

This book is really basic. It doesn't have anything outstanding in it that other books on the subject have. Be original when you write, make up your own world, don't use cliche races and ideas. You just read the book.

I use this book constantly when trying to write my fantasy stories. It's full of suggestions, hints, flat-out explanations, and a fun read. I recommend it highly.

I decided to take up writing as a hobby and had a great idea for a fantasy. I began then realized I didn't know what I was doing. The book helped point me in the right direction.