Crowvus Book Blog

 Happy Monday! This week, we'll be sticking with the Science Fiction theme from last week. If you'd like to read up on my top tips for writing Science Fiction, they can be found here . At school this week, we have the Caithness Science Festival show all sorts of great things for the children. Kids love it! Talented presenters come and share cool facts in fun ways, and the classes can have a go at some really awesome experiments, or meet some funky animals. I love science, and I get a buzz from seeing the children enjoy science too. This can link into fiction, too, where science fiction can ignite children's imaginations of possible futures and new inventions. Today, I'll be sharing some top tips for writing stories on other planets. This is not something I've done much, partly because I know I will get drawn into a rabbit hole of research because it's just so fun. When I'm not being an author, or a primary teacher, I am a student at the Open University, stud...

  Happy Monday and welcome back to our Middle Grade Monday series: genres! Today, I'll be sharing a couple of hints and tips for writing science fiction for children. I'm not a sci-fi author, so I'll be addressing this mostly in terms of being a primary teacher. When teaching about genres to children, it is often a struggle to explain the difference between fantasy and science fiction and, in fact, these two genres often get muddled together in awards and libraries etc. The explanation I landed on was to say that fantasy was things that cannot happen. Science fiction, on the other hand, is things that cannot happen... yet! That all important word at the end leads to my first tip. 1) Science fiction needs to be believable. You need to convince your middle grade reader that it could actually happen, perhaps to them! You do this by explaining anything that may seem magical or far fetched. This, in turn, leads onto the next tip... 2) A knowledge of science really helps! When do...

The Gathering Storm ~ the galloping advancement of technology is nothing new  I am privileged enough to be the editor for the Crowvus Hooded journal, which is now advancing into the realms of being a genre-specific anthology. This season's genre is Science Fiction. What does this have to do with Historical Fiction..? Let me explain. A small number of years ago, I read one publisher's definition of science fiction as being about as yet unobtained scientific knowledge set in the future . This, I decided, was rather more restrictive than Science Fiction should be. In fact, I love the premise of having Science Fiction set in the past, like Doctor Who or Chris de Burgh's classic A Spaceman Came Travelling . If time travel became a reality, I suspect most of us would chose a point in history to visit rather than a time in the future. After all, that's why we wrap ourselves up in the historical tales anyway! Inserting a scientific advancement, something we have as yet not dis...

I'm sure it's no surprise to anyone that I took the title for this short story from a poem! If you are unfamiliar with the poem, I've included it at the bottom of this post rather than here since it gives away a significant part of the plot. So here is a little piece of historical sci-fi because, as fans of Doctor Who know, sci-fi is not limited to the future! Girolamo Fabrizio (from Wikipedia) Invention, Nature's Child Candlelight flickered in the small office, the pale stone walls alive with dancing shadows. They were monstrous, not in size but in shape. Deformed oddities and dissected organs in jars which refracted the flame’s glow. “Sir?” Harvey asked. There was no sign of his teacher. “Doctor Fabrizio?” “You’re returning to your language already?” came an amused voice from behind an amphora. It spoke in Italian, but Harvey had heard almost no other language in three years, making it easy to understand. Adjusting his own speech accordingly, he replied. “I am to leav...

This is a lovely story about Norman, a little bat who is perfectly happy with his “particularly average life” until he accidentally ends up going on a series of amazing adventures. He is kidnapped, he goes into space, he is trained to save the world! It’s a great thing to teach children about how exciting things can happen despite modest beginnings! Throughout the book, he meets friends like him and others who are very different, a fantastic thing to encourage children to embrace friendships with others from various backgrounds. The story is enhanced by exciting illustrations which show the variety of characters as they undertake their adventures. I absolutely fell in love with the Overwatchers, and the villains were wonderfully dastardly! The tone is perfect for 5-7 year olds, but the language used in the story is really advanced for a child to read themselves. It is somewhere between a picture book and a chapter book. I would recommend it as a book for an adult to read  to  ...

"Vincent" by Jonathan G. Meyer "On a remote Caribbean island, far from the eyes of the world, a battle will be waged. A small group of ordinary people fight to prevent the destruction of our planet, from a device meant to be the savior of another. Used on Earth, in a methodical way, the alien machine will cause irreversible harm. Four unlikely heroes: a homeless man, a museum guide, a refugee, and an alien spacecraft will battle against the powerful forces of money, politics, and nature. If the ship's recruits fail the mission, two worlds will face unnecessary hardship -- and an accelerated loss of life. The future of both worlds rests in their hands." This book is available here . 3 Stars! I've not read much Science Fiction. I don't know why because, whenever I delve into the genre, I really quite enjoy it. I love watching Sci-fi films and, when I read any book, I enjoy watching it as a movie in my head. I'm sure most people do this ...

"Aaru" by David Meredith 4 stars (very good!) When Rose dies, her younger sister (Koren) is angry and upset. Actually, that's an understatement. It's angry/upset on steroids! Some authors shy away from dealing with bereavement but David Meredith couldn't do this as "Aaru" wouldn't exist if there was no 'death'. It's such a tricky thing to portray fierce emotions in an imaginary character. It can be draining on both the author and the reader. But I have to say that David Meredith NAILS IT! The emotions are so raw, so real. I would be surprised if the author has never had a close bereavement. The reader really feels Koren's pain. That's not to say I sympathised with her. Alongside the emotions was a large amount of teenage angst. (What can I expect - she's 13 and 1/2 years old!) I can't say I actually liked her personality. I didn't like her attitude towards her parents. I found it chokingly inconsiderate...