high fantasy Archives - Nicholas Kotar

The Rosetta Stone for Old Rus Was… a Piece of Birch Bark?

Have you read Evgenii Vodolazkin’s excellent novel Laurus? If you haven’t, you’ve deprived yourselves of a rare experience of …

The end of the 19th and turn of the 20th century was a period of rich cultural growth for Russia. As the empire expanded, the …

This week has been even more distressing than usual. And it’s been a pretty distressing year. Frequent terrorist attacks, a …

You know that scene in Godfather II where young Vito is given the last name “Corleone” by the American border guard, only because …

One of the early readers of my first novel complained that I had too many adjectives in my writing. He was absolutely right; I was …

Something a little less serious this week for your reading pleasure. I found a rather absurd little article about the historical …

Many people have an allergic reaction to the word "conventional." Or, worse yet, "traditional." They immediately sense the bonds …

These days, Tolkien isn’t particularly popular among certain readers and publishers of fantasy. To be called “Tolkien-esque” can …

Those of you who’ve been following me, especially on Pinterest, know that I love traditional Russian village windows, which …