45. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin – Crafting a Slow-Burning Narrative

February 4, 2020February 3, 2020 ~ Jed Herne ~ Leave a comment

The left hand of darkness analysis and book review by Jed Herne

The Left Hand of Darkness is a visionary sci-fi story about a lone human ambassador to Winter, an alien world whose inhabitants’ biology allows them to choose—and change—their gender. His goal is to facilitate Winter’s inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the completely different culture that he encounters. Exploring psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness is as a landmark achievement – especially considering that it came out in 1969!

In this episode, I examined how despite being very slow-paced (or, perhaps, because of this), Le Guin’s novel is incredibly engaging. Enjoy!

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Show Notes:

Read my latest space fantasy novel, Across the Broken Stars (out today!): https://jedherne.com/broken

Got thoughts? Email me at jed.herne1 (at) gmail.com – I love hearing from you and I respond to as many messages as I can.

39. Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey – Grounding Stories With Characters

October 29, 2019October 28, 2019 ~ Jed Herne ~ Leave a comment

Science fiction space operas are stories told at an epic scale. How can you make such a vast world accessible to readers? How can you ground these fantastical and strange new worlds in a sense of realism?

Balancing the epic with the human is perhaps the greatest strength of Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey (first book in The Expanse). Today’s show dives deep into analysing how characters are they key to guiding readers through epic stories.

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Show Notes:

jedherne.com/fires – get a free short story and join my email newsletter to hear about future book giveaways!

jedherne.com/question – submit your questions for the show!

anchor.fm – what I use to make my podcast for free (note: I am not sponsored by them and I make no money for this – just recommending a useful tool that I use)

37 – Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling – Disguising Exposition

October 1, 2019September 25, 2019 ~ Jed Herne ~ Leave a comment

Subtly conveying information to readers is a delicate skill. It’s one that Rowling mastered in the Harry Potter series, where all the information is available to readers well before it’s needed, but only coalesces at the required moment. In today’s episode, I describe the 4 M’s of subtle foreshadowing, in relation to the Potter saga. Enjoy!

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Read my debut fantasy novella, Fires of the Dead.

“The perfect read for someone looking to be quickly immersed in a magic system unlike anything else.” – Nicole Wallace, editor of Synopses by Sarge.

Available in ebook, paperback, hardback, and audio book.

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22 – The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald – Finding your Perfect Prose

April 2, 2019February 19, 2019 ~ Jed Herne ~ Leave a comment

Fitzgerald’s classic chronicle of the Jazz age is often praised for its wonderful prose. In this episode, I examine what makes his prose so stylistically appealing – and we look at how you can write better prose. Keep beating on, boats against the current!

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Shownotes:

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13 – The Martian by Andy Weir – Problem and Response Story Structure

December 11, 2018November 30, 2018 ~ Jed Herne ~ Leave a comment

I’ve read this book multiple times and love it more with each re-read. In this episode, I try to figure out why it’s so engaging, and end up categorising problems/conflict into 6 distinctive archetypes which can benefit any story.

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***

Get my free short story! A Clockwork Prison

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Episode 2 – The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie – Characterisation through Contradiction

August 7, 2018August 7, 2018 ~ Jed Herne ~ 1 Comment

Joe Abercrombie writes some of the most realistic, fleshed-out, and interesting characters in modern fantasy. Today, I’ll analyse what makes his characters so complex.

http://novelanalyst.libsyn.com/2-the-blade-itself-by-joe-abercrombie-characterisation-through-contradiction

Links:

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

Story by Robert McKee

Episode 1 – The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss – Making Every Scene Interesting

August 7, 2018August 7, 2018 ~ Jed Herne ~ 2 Comments

Pat Rothfuss’ fantasy novel blew me away. In this episode, I analyse how he made every scene interesting – no mean feat given that this novel is over 600 pages long!

http://novelanalyst.libsyn.com/1-the-name-of-the-wind-by-patrick-rothfuss-making-every-scene-interesting

Links:

Story by Robert McKee