fantasy – JenEric Designs

Aurora Awards Voting is Open

June 10, 2024 by Éric Desmarais

Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;

The Travelling TARDIS is nominated for the Aurora Awards.

The Voter’s Package is available for download! Make sure you’re logged in, and then go get your books.

Voting started June 8 and runs until July 13. Please consider The Travelling TARDIS, nominated in the Fan Writing and Publication category. Thank you to all who nominated us!

Happy reading!!!

What are the Aurora Awards?

The Aurora Awards are awards “for excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy works and activities.” They are administered by the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association.

It’s a fan-voted award with awesome people.

In Conclusion

So go to https://www.csffa.ca/ and click on the “Become a Member” button.

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

Aurora Awards Voter’s Package

May 27, 2024 by Éric Desmarais

Hello Friends, Family, and Fans;

As we’ve mentioned The Travelling TARDIS is nominated for the Aurora Awards.

Now the Voter’s Package is available for download! Make sure you’re logged in, and then go get your books.

Voting starts on June 8 and runs until July 13. Please consider The Travelling TARDIS, nominated in the Fan Writing and Publication category. Thank you to all who nominated us!

Happy reading!!!

What are the Aurora Awards?

The Aurora Awards are awards “for excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy works and activities.” They are administered by the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association.

It’s a fan-voted award with awesome people.

In Conclusion

So go to https://www.csffa.ca/ and click on the “Become a Member” button.

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

Speculating Canada interviewed Éric

May 13, 2024 by Éric Desmarais

Hello Friends, Fans, and Family,

Speculating Canada is an award winning podcast and interview series that interviews fantastic Canadian and genre personalities.

You may remember a few months ago that Jen was interviewed by the wonderful Derek Newman-Stille. You can see her interview on their website.

Well I (Éric) was interviewed last week. It was a lot of fun, and Derek is a fantastic interviewer, steering my hectic mind in a semi-coherent direction.

Go watch the interview on their website.

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

Travelling TARDIS Nominated for Aurora

April 29, 2024 by Éric Desmarais

Hello friends, family, and fans!

The nominations are up!!!

I’m so proud of Jen, this is her 7th nomination in seven years. It’s the TARDIS’s sixth.

The Travelling TARDIS

Thanks to all who nominated. You really made a difference.

Now, it’s onto the voting! You will receive an email on how to download the voters package sometime in mid-May. If not, check the website when you’re logged in, and follow the instructions.

The Travelling TARDIS isn’t part of the package because you can access it for free on this site.

Voting

If you think The Travelling TARDIS is worthy of your vote, voting for the Auroras will be open on June 8th.

Thank you to everyone who nominated and especially to everyone who reads and enjoys our content.

Thank you!

Éric

The Princess – JenEric Movie Review

April 6, 2024 by Éric Desmarais

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2022 film The Princess.

Story

A standard action movie with fantasy elements. It’s not complicated, but the story is mostly shown in quick flashbacks that gives the watcher a break from the action without getting bored.

Score: 0.5

Characters

Trope-ridden with an awkward hint of orientalism. These are the characters you’d find if this movie was made in the 80’s.

That being said, it’s fairly well acted and the fights are believable. I was impressed with the main character’s physical presence and believability considering she’s 5 foot 4. I do wish someone would have taught the main character to hold her breath underwater so that we didn’t get so much gasping and heavy breathing.

The villain was deliciously evil in a very unambiguous way and it worked.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

The dialogue is all sorts of action movie cheese. There’s a lot of repetition about fighting from the heart and other Mr. Miyagi-style lines.

The actors deliver the lines with charisma and really commit, which makes the lines less cringy.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The choreography, special effects, and cinematography are all excellent. With this much action, it’s sometimes hard to make it distinct and not get boring.

The music is modern and very rock. It fits really well with the tone. The score is also perfect.

Score: 1

Fun

This was a cheesy action movie with all the right moves. I was concerned about the main actress since she’s mostly done rom-coms, but she was convincing and kickass.

It’s a little bloody and way too violent for the kids though.

Score: 1

Overall

This is an action movie which doesn’t just embrace fantasy tropes, it revels in them. It’s not a thinking movie but it also doesn’t spoon-feed you the plot. If you like action fantasy movies and don’t mind some gore, this is a great choice.

Final Score: 3.5 Stars out of 5

Damsel – JenEric Movie Review

March 30, 2024 by Éric Desmarais

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2024 film Damsel.

Story

A touch of Epic Fantasy and a whole lot of survival horror. The movie tries too hard not to be confusing, and by doing that, it ruins any drama or empathy for the pseudo-twist. The entire first part of the movie, a prologue that over-explains, should have been cut. Everything after that would have flowed and had better emotional impact.

The story is bare-bones and could have pushed harder on the psychological horror. They also introduced the main character’s love of labyrinths which didn’t really lead anywhere.

Score: 0

Characters

The wet noodle prince, domineering queen, and weird cult like people were okay. Again, if you hadn’t been told what was coming, it could have been eerie.

The movie really survives on the charisma and acting ability of the lead, who is excellent. Special shout out to the step-mother who seriously rocks in her love for her step-daughters.

The dragon was brilliantly voiced.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

This was mostly generic fantasy language.

It really shines when the damsel and the dragon are talking at the end, when the damsel is on her own, or whenever the dragon talks.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The dragon design was impressive, a few obvious CGI moments but overall well done. The camera angles, and frantic cuts worked well for the horror style.

The music was good.

Score: 1

Fun

The actress did a great job and despite being predictable, it was fun. I was annoyed by how much the story structure was designed for the reveal that had been blatantly stated at the beginning.

Score: 0.5

Overall

The movie mixes fantasy and horror but tries too hard not offend fans of either. Because of that, the horror is tame and doesn’t get the chance to really sink in, and the fantasy is pretty bland. If it wasn’t for the quality of the acting, the movie would be bad. As it is, it’s an okay romp with a cool dragon.

Final Score: 2.5 Stars out of 5

Speculating Canada interviewed Jen

December 1, 2023 by Éric Desmarais

Hello Friends, Fans, and Family,

Speculating Canada is an award winning podcast and interview series that interviews fantastic Canadian and genre personalities.

Jen was interviewed by the wonderful Derek Newman-Stille. You can see the interview on their website.

It’s a great interview and gives you a great insight into how she works and does so many fantastic things.

Jen says:

I was interviewed for Speculating Canada yesterday!! It was so much fun.

We discuss Queer writing, the interrelationship between craft-making and writing, writing with a community, and writing with a partner (specifically my husband).

It’s a long interview, about 50 minutes, so get comfy!

It certainly made me blush from all the compliments.

Go listen to it.

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric

Nimona – JenEric Movie Review

July 5, 2023 by Éric Desmarais

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2023 film Nimona.

Story

The movie took a lot of traditional fantasy story elements and moved them around or flipped them upside down. It meant that everything felt familiar but was still suprising.

The not-so-subtle message of inclusiveness and not treating others like monsters is painfully current and needed.

Score: 1

Characters

I was so happy to see the queer relationships in this. It was a relief not to just have it hinted at. The characters were all very well fleshed out and distinct. Despite being in a massive city, the cast is actually quite small which gives us that personal time with the characters while keeping the feel of a rich world.

I liked Nimona’s chaos gremlin energy and was a huge fan of Ballister’s unyielding goodness.

Score: 1

Dialogue

There were a lot of quippy lines, lots of good jokes, but also lots of well used emotional words. The characters don’t outright answer every question, but they also don’t completely dodge every question and that leads to some excellent character moments and developement.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

I found some of the animation almost underdone and other parts absolutely gorgeous. It was probably the style of animation that threw me. Beyond the animation was the astounding use of colour, lighting, camera angles, and world design.

Score: 1

Fun

As a creator, you want to make your audience feel something and this movie delivers an emotional rollercoaster that felt personal while still being fun.

The entire family was glued to the screen.

Score: 1

Overall

This was a fantastic movie with great diversity and impressive writting. If you enjoy animation, science fiction, fantasy, or good stories; please watch it.

Final Score: 5 Stars out of 5*

*A 5 star review doesn’t mean the movie was perfect nor that it is perfect for everyone but it is a movie I believe is as close to perfect as possible.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves – JenEric Movie Review

June 7, 2023 by Éric Desmarais

How This Works – Read Other Reviews

Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2023 film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

Story

This story felt like every D&D campaign I’ve read from Wizard of the Coast without being derivative, bland, or predictable.

There was a lot of worldbuilding and character set up, and I loved every second of it.

Score: 1

Characters

The characters are well defined in their quick backstory introductions, but I’m not sure how well someone who doesn’t know the game would understand what they can do. (My father-in-law was as confused as Doric why Edgin was useful.) Having not played much of the system after 3.5 edition, I spent a long time trying to figure out what they could do and what their classes were.

The actors were perfect in their roles and the character development was better than most D&D sessions.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

This was the perfect balance between epic and cheesy. The dialogue was perfectly delivered.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The dedication to practical effects was a welcome change. They filmed a real volcano!? Everything was stunning and I liked that the spells weren’t too flashy or overdone. It gave the world a sort of grounding that made it feel more realistic.

The music was a great combination of epic fantasy (honouring scores like Lord of the Rings) and of action. I liked the slight Celtic flair to it.

Score: 1

Fun

This was fun from one end to the other. My daughter complained there were no dungeons or dragons at the beginning, but loved it once they got to the Underdark.

I enjoyed this immensely and can’t wait to re-watch it.

Score: 1

Overall

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves toes the line between catering to long time fans and being accessible to casual movie goers. It doesn’t always succeed, but it does a fantastic job overall. This is an excellent adventure movie with wonderful characters. More then worth watching several times.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5

10+ Books for $10 (Aurora Awards Voter Package)

June 17, 2022 by Éric Desmarais

Hello My Imaginary Friends,

I’ve talked about the Aurora Awards before.

Now all the nominating is over and it’s time for people to read the nominees and vote for their favourite.

Here’s a list of the nominated works

If you sign up for the Canadian Science Fiction & Fantasy Association and pay $10, you’ll have access to most of the nominated works. That’s 10+ novels, collections, short stories, and more. The voters package will be available until voting closes on July 23rd.

What are the Aurora Awards?

The Aurora Awards are awards “for excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy works and activities.” They are administered by the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association.

It’s a fan-voted award in the vein of the Hugo’s, but with way more awesome people.

In Conclusion

So go to https://prixaurorawards.ca/ and click on the “Become a Member” button.

Stay safe and be kind,

Éric