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Secondary worlds are constructed from a wide range of building blocks. In this article, epigraphs that refer to fictional sources in secondary worlds are analyzed in terms of their world-building characteristics. The analysis starts from the (implied) paratextual and intertextual properties of epigraphs that are part of and refer to a secondary world. Four functions of such world-intrinsic epigraphs are explored: the way in which they (1) set a mood that indicate the world's dominant themes or ethos; (2) give details that extend, explain, and familiarize the fictional world; and (3) provide perspectives with complementary or conflicting worldviews. Finally, (4) how the double nature of fictional epigraphs, as fictional paratexts and as purported quotations from world-intrinsic sources, extends and solidifies the world is addressed. These four functions lead us to conclude that fictional epigraphs deserve thoughtful analysis in any critical world-building endeavor., GNOMIC UTTERANCES. These are traditional, and are set at the head of each section of the Guidebook. The reason for them is lost in the mists of HISTORY. They are [...]

London is one of the more popular settings for urban fantasy, standing out by offering both a great many famous locations and a history of two millennia. This article argues that the city's past is used to create a sense of 'Londonness' by examining ten urban fantasy versions of London. It identifies and analyzes the functions of four prominent elements of history in these texts: the city's origin and pre-origin, the Great Fire of 1666, the periods of building various subterranean tunnels, and the notion that London, at some point, has gone through an architectural Era of Uglification. Through these, London is portrayed as a literary place suitable to urban fantasy: it is a modern city but with a long history reaching back to a beginning where facts and legends mix. This long history gives rise to supernatural entities that hide in the underground tunnels constructed at various points in the city's history., Urban fantasy means, not surprisingly, fantastic stories about cities, and thus about our modern world. As the number of urban fantasy writers grows, so does the number of locations in [...]

This article analyzes the nature of urban fantasy by aggregating the claims, suggestions, and observations made by several different accounts of what urban fantasy is. These accounts comprise six scholarly sources and four sources written by people who are producers and purveyors of urban fantasy. An eleventh 'account' is made up of the impressions conveyed by a vast number of book covers identified through Google Image Search. These eleven accounts are analyzed with regard to their views on worlds and settings, cities and urbanity, central characters, and the sources of fantastic elements. Finally, the article presents how three major threads in the accounts reveal that urban fantasy has a central, thematic concern with the Unseen. This Unseen is largely related to a social Other that portrays unpleasant aspects of urban life, such as criminality, homelessness, addiction, prostitution, and physical and sexual abuse., What is urban fantasy? The genre is as popular among readers as it is unexplored by scholars. Yet, opinions about what urban fantasy is, or should be, are legion, offered [...]

Philosophy Goes Roleplaying. Jon Cogburn and Mark Silcox, eds. Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy: Raiding the Temple of Wisdom. Chicago and LaSalle, IL: Open Court, 2012. x + 383 pp. […]

North European epiphytic lichens are often genetically impoverished compared with their North American counterparts. This has been hypothesized to impede sexual reproduction due to reduced chances of finding compatible mating type partners. We compared genetic variation and reproductive mode in two threatened Scandinavian lichens, Evernia divaricata and Usnea longissima, with more viable populations in North America to see (i) if these species also show genetical depletion in northern Europe and (ii) if the occurrence of sexual propagules (ascospores in apothecia) is more prevalent in genetically diverse populations. Genetic variation of the fungal component was assessed by sequencing two nuclear rDNA gene regions (ITS andIGS) in 1005 and 1477 thalli, collected from 92 and 160 localities of E. divaricata and U. longissima, respectively. Scandinavian populations of both species were almost devoid of genetic variation compared with much higher genetic diversity in North America. We found no support for the proposed relationship between genetic diversity and fertility. Fertile thalli were found in several genetically invariable populations. Fertility increased with population size and regional abundance in E. divaricata, but not in U. longissima. In Scandinavia, E. divaricata was more fertile than previously recorded, whereas all sampled populations of U. longissima were sterile and possibly clonal. Key words: allelic richness, dispersal, epiphytic lichens, gene diversity, old-growth forests. Les lichens epiphytes europeens sont souvent appauvris genetiquement, comparativement a leurs contreparties americaines. On a formule l'hypothese que ceci nuirait a la reproduction sexuelle, du a la reduction des chances de trouver un partenaire de type de croisement compatible. Les auteurs ont compare la variation genetique et le mode reproducteur chez deux lichens scandinaves menaces, l'Evernia divaricata et l'Usnea longissima, avec des populations plus viables de l'Amerique du Nord afin de verifier (i) si ces especes montrent egalement un epuisement genetique dans le nord de l'Europe et (ii) si la presence de propagules sexuelles (ascospores dans des apotheces) prevaut plus fortement dans des populations genetiquement diverses. Les auteurs ont evalue la variation genetique de la composante fongique en sequencant deux regions du gene nucleique tADN (ITS et IGS) chez 1005 et 1477 thalles recoltes a partir de 92 et 160 localites, pour l'E. divaricata et l'U. longissima, respectivement. Les populations scandinaves des deux especes sont pratiquement depourvues de variation genetique comparativement a une diversite genetique tres fortement marquee en Amerique du Nord. Il n'ont trouve aucun support pour la proposition suggerant une relation entre la diversite genetique et la fertilite. On a retrouve des thalles fertiles dans plusieurs populations genetiquement invariables. La fertilite augmente avec la dimension de la population chez l'E. divaricate, mais non chez l'U. longisima.En Scandinavie, l'E. divaricata s'avere plus fertile que reconnu jusqu'ici, alors que toute les populations echantillonnees de l'U. longissima se sont averees steriles et possiblement clonales. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles: richesse allelique, dispersion, lichens epiphytes, diversite genetique, forets surannees., Introduction Lichens are symbiotic associations of heterotrophic fungi and photosynthetic green algae and (or) cyanobacteria. They represent an important part of the biodiversity in terrestrial arctic and boreal ecosystems, being [...]