Dissecting Dragons
Detajet e Kanalit
Dissecting Dragons
Authors J.A. Ironside and M.E. Vaughan talk about books, films and all aspects of speculative fiction, from the nuts and bolts of writing it, to its (occasionally) obscure origins.
Episode të Fundit
102 episode
Episode 544: The Uninvited Guest - Unseen Entities and Invisible Fear in Myth and Modern Horror
Continuing their spooky season, this week the dragons pose a question: what's more frightening? The object of terror can see or the entity you can't?<...
Episode 453: The Outsider - When the Gothic meets the Contemporary
The dragons are back just in time for spooky season. They are naturally kicking off their favourite season with a new slant on and old favourite subje...
Episode 452: A Bull on the Tongue - 10 years of Writing
Approximately ten years ago, both dragons signed their first publishing contracts. Since then it's been a riotous series of highs and lows and new adv...
Episode 451: The Work place dystopia - The soul crushing reality of the modern workplace in SFF - part 2
Part Two of a Two Part Episode
Continuing on from last week's examination of how depictions of the work place in fiction have transition...
Episode 450: The Work place dystopia - The soul crushing reality of the modern workplace in SFF
Part one of a two part episode
Sci-fi and fantasy have portrayed many workplace settings over the decades - engineers and pilots on space craft,...
Episode 449: The Crumbling Castle - Disney's Downward Spiral
Disney, purveyors and creators of magical family friendly (mostly) entertainment have existed through an interesting and checquered 9 decades. The com...
Episode 448: Unbelievably Popular - why do bad books become best sellers?
Have you ever picked up a book, full of anticipation, only to quit 100 pages in? Or maybe you read the whole thing and were left annoyed and baffled w...
Episode 447: Wit & Readability - 250 years of Jane Austen
If you've noticed all the celebrations, new editions of Austen's work, new adaptations and not a few arguments over issues which seem to amount to 'wh...
Episode 446: Getting Your House in Order - Writing as a Career or a Serious Side Gig
Making a living from writing comes with practical considerations which the actual creative process doesn't prepare you for (probably). This week Jules...
Episode 445: No More Mr Nice Guy - the Geek Misogynist in Speculative Fiction Part 2
Part 2 of a 2 part episode.
Title music: Ecstasy by Smiling Cynic
Episode 444: No More Mr Nice Guy - the Geek Misogynist in Speculative Fiction part 1
The dragons are back! Join us for an exciting season delving into new writing topics and speculative fiction takes.
This week, Jules and...
Episode 443: 2024, the Real Life Experience - A Year in Review
As we bid adieu to 2024, the dragons are once again looking back on a year of news. There have been some definite low points, however there has also b...
Episode 442: The Witches of Midwinter - Following the Wild Dance and Furious Hosts of Christmas
It's that time of year again: frantic last minute shopping, swearing at rolls of Sellotape, covering fir trees with bling....and the dragons emerge wi...
Episode 441: Remaking the 80s - Rewriting Classic Films for a Modern Audience
There are few phrases as bedight with dubious associations as 'for a modern audience'. In terms of storytelling, are we saying that the original story...
Episode 440: The Devil's Music - the Occult, Rock'n'Roll and Storytelling
Music has a peculiar relationship with the supernatural, and no branch more so than the occult. Certain musical genres have a long association with th...
Episode 439: It Grows in Darkness - Mushrooms in Horror and SFF
From devices of comedy to alien antagonists to symbols of deep seated corruption, mushrooms and fungi make strangely appropriate side characters. They...
Episode 438: Jeeves Blackadder and Puss - Canny Domestics and Sneaky smart servants
On a lighter note this week, the dragons delve into a well loved trope which has its origins in folk and fairy tales, shifting and adapting for audien...
Episode 437: Popular, you're gonna be popular - or are you? - Why Stage Production Musicals Often Fail on the Big Screen
It's no secret that the dragons are fans of musicals, so they should be delighted by all the film adaptations of popular stage shows, right? Well, tha...
DD 436: The Tiffany Problem - When Reality is too real for Speculative Fiction
It's pretty well established that truth is stranger than fiction, but what do you do when the facts are literally too unlikely for a reader to swallow...
Episode 435: Snatchers surfers and Hitchers - Bodysnatching in Speculative Fiction
Possession is a regular trope in horror and sci-fi. The idea that a physical body could be taken over by an external entity is as disturbing as it is...
Episode 434 -The Allure of the Curse - Speculative Fictions Oldest Trope
Generations of a family punished for the ill-advised actions or an ancestor? Crossed paths with the sidhe and worded an answer impolitely? Fallen foul...
Episode 433: The Woods, the Mountains and Emptiness - an Examination of Survival Horror
Continuing with the spooky season, this week the dragons delve into the popular sub genre of survival horror. While you could argue that the point of...
Episode 432: Haunt Sweet Home - How to Write a Haunted a House
The dragons kick off spooky season with a look at one of the staples of horror - the haunted house. It's so ubiquitous now that haunted house stories...
Episode 431: This is Fine - Writing Trauma in Scifi and Fantasy part two
Part two of a two part episode
Most speculative fiction will involve traumatising your main character at som...
Episode 430: This is Fine - Writing Trauma in Sci-fi & Fantasy
Part one of a two part episode
Most speculative fiction will involve traumatising your main character at some point but how do you make...
Episode 429: All in the Details - How to Use Description in Speculative Fiction part 2
Part 2 of a 2 part episode
Following on from last week's over view episode, this week Jules and Madeleine get, appropriately, into the details o...
Episode 428: All in the Details - How to Use Description in Speculative Fiction part 1
Part 1 of a 2 part episode
The dragons are back and gearing up for spooky season. This week, Jules and Madeleine take a look at the thorny issue...
Episode 427: The Boys are Back in Town - the Dark Heart of the Superhero Genre
Please note this episode contains spoilers for all the shows and books mentioned!
It's the human in superhuman which is the interesting aspect o...
Episode 426: Change, Uncertainty and Unhappiness - making low stakes compelling
Not every story can be or needs to be high octane intensity. In fact some of the best books are objectively quiet affairs. Low stakes does not mean lo...
Episode 425: A Thousand Ships - The Awkward Side of Retelling Greek Myths
Myths and stories from the classical world have always been popular inspiring works of art, poetry, books and plays across centuries. Lately, Greek my...
Episode 424: Starving Artists and Worshipped Writers - unrealistic depictions of creatives in Film and TV
Every profession has at some point suffered from misrepresentation in fiction, however the inaccurate way writers are often depicted in screenplays is...
Episode 423: Memory became legend legend became myth - the dawn of the fantasy genre part 2
If you're a long term listener, you'll already be aware that the concept of 'genre' is mostly just a tool to aid categorisation, especially when it co...
Episode 422: Memory became legend legend became myth - the dawn of the fantasy genre part 1
If you're a long term listener, you'll already be aware that the concept of 'genre' is mostly just a tool to aid categorisation, especially when it co...
Episode 421: Impossible Monsters - Dinosaurs and Megafauna in Speculative Fiction
Dinosaurs and prehistoric megafauna have been capturing human imagination for centuries. Certain myths may well have been partially shaped by the disc...
Episode 420: Never Coming Home - The Moving Beyond Bereavement and Death is a Sad Thing Tropes
Storytelling is a powerful tool for exploring difficult issues - both in terms of catharsis and also at a distance. This is especially true for death...
Episode 419: The Sun, the Moon & the Spindle - Tracing the Origins of Sleeping Beauty
It's time for another episode in the fairytales in focus series and this week the dragons are delving into one of the best known and (inexplicably?) b...
Episode 418: the Dark Decent - Transforming a Hero into a Villain in SFF
The villain who redeems themself is a highly popular trope, but so is it's mirror and sister trope - the hero who becomes the villain. Operating on th...
Episode 417: An Abundance of Janes and Cathys - Retellings of the classics and why they usually suck pt 2
Nineteenth century novels remain rich fodder both for adaptation and complete reimagining. However, it is rarely as easy as writers and screenwriters...
Episode 416: An Abundance of Janes and Cathys - Retellings of the classics and why they usually suck part 1
Nineteenth century novels remain rich fodder both for adaptation and complete reimagining. However, it is rarely as easy as writers and screenwriters...
Episode 415: Seafarers, Swashbucklers and Chaotic Archaeologists - the evolution of Adventure Fiction
From unlikely and surprisingly hardy explorers to accidental time travellers, adventure fiction combines the best of wonder and thrilling pace. Unders...