Stories about small furry animals

Over the years, fantasy has varied from stand-alone novels to trilogies, to 5 book trilogies, to 10 or more book series. Topics have varied even more so, including elves and dwarves; farmer's sons or daughters who are prophesied to save the world; young thieves who find themselves caught up in world changing events; telepathic companions; magic; mysteries ...

This genre has taken off in the last few years and swamped the romance section. From Anita Blake and her unnatural lovers, to Betsey, the high-maintenance monarch of the undead. How have representations of heroines and hero's changed?

Adult themes.

Join Michael Cogan over lunch to get together and discuss the books you read in order to meet the authors (authors are not invited). Bring your favourite books and share your thoughts then take them to the signing in the afternoon!

NB: Location: Hotel Restaurant

Expect at least 10 minutes of Twilight gender-role evisceration followed by passing mentions of Polidori, Stoker, Lee and Whedon, amazement at the greenlighting of Moonlight and rampant glee accompanied by mad mansqueeing over True Blood, Let the Right One In, Being Human and unwritten Lost Boys TV series pilots.

Have you explored 'The Starry Rift'? Taken part in 'The Hunger Games'? Had a look at 'Shiny?' If not, then this is the panel for you. Ranging from picture books for the youngest 'readers' to the most challenging young adult novels, our panellists will survey the new books scene, recommend some outstanding titles and offer suggestions about where to find more ...

A survey of the critical and scholarly literature on Neil Gaiman and his work.

Abstract: Neil Gaiman is the multi-award winning and best-selling of some of the most critically acclaimed fantasy fiction published during the past 20 years. What I will seek to do in this paper is to conduct a brief survey of the existing scholarly critical literature on a...

Robert Jordan is no more and book 12 is being written by Brandon Sanderson for publication in late 2009. HOW DO YOU THINK IT WILL END?

Show, tell and discuss a series of stand-out fight scenes.

Adult themes.

How do we read the text in ways Rowling didn't intend? How and why do some of these become 'fannon'? How often does 'fannon' pre-empt the author?

A panel where published fantasy authors provide an overview of their major "do's" and "don'ts" for writing in the genre along with various tips and techniques for crafting stories

Across their personal storyarcs, many of the characters in Heroes have undergone major shifts in their direction, experiencing significant changes in focus, personality, goals and morality which impact both the character in question and the show as a whole. Are these transitions plausible and elegant, and what do we, the viewers, think of the methods the ...

With so many publications folding, is there a point to writing short fiction any more? Is it a form for up and coming writers to hone their skills? Did the Internet kill short fiction or might it prove its saviour? Take a look back at the past year of SF/fantasy/horror/spec-fic and discuss the possible future in fiction.

The TV series Lost is scheduled to conclude in 2010, with just over twenty episodes remaining. This definite time-limit suggests that The Survivors and Others are finally headed towards some sort of climactic endgame. This panel will encourage open discussion on the current and previous seasons, as well as speculation on future events.

Join Trudi Canavan, National Guest of Honour, as she talks about her books and writing.

As an important part of many human lives, it is unsurprising that fantasy worlds often contain religions or spiritual belief structures. Whilst some of these are based quite closely on existing religions, many vary widely, with regularly incarnate deities, incredibly accurate prophecies or capricious deities playing board games with human souls. To what ...

The astonishing crossover between magic in fantasy fiction, and magic as practiced by real occult practitioners. Some modern magicians work spells from Lovecrafts Necronomicon (despite knowing it doesn't exist), or embrace the cosmology of Michael Moorcock. Gods and monsters from 20th century fiction are being used for the same magical purposes as ancient ...