MFA 2019
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Browsing MFA 2019 by Subject "Speculative fiction"
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Item Bastion of Rome(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2019-06-13) Morrison, ThomasA dying Rome needs heroes, lest invading barbarians sweep aside civilization and plunge the world into a thousand-year Dark Age. Five flawed members of a knightly religious order answer the call and enter Goth-occupied Belgica to save the oppressed. Along the way, they must contend with a dead wizard, an undead cat, an alcoholic talking dog, a cryptic death cult, an army of nihilist berserkers, a clan of thieves, hordes of barbarians, a collaborationist bard, a demonic mystic, a monstrous assassin squad, a fanatic but desperate Legion commander, an ultra-orthodox bishop, their own mortal shortcomings, and their trust in each other. Will Rome’s ruthless spymasters sacrifice them as pawns in a shadow war, or will their faith and unity enable them to master their own fates and save civilization? And who will recover the missing provincial treasury? In this debut novel, T. A. Morrison applies twenty years of real-world military experience to the realms of swords and sorcery and alternate history. This is not the story of the powerful decision-makers safe in their palaces, but the gritty realism of front-line combatants who volunteer to go into harm’s way for the sake of others, not always knowing their superiors’ ultimate goals. In a chaotic, multipolar world on the brink of ultimate collapse, this is a soldier’s tale of love and sacrifice, violence and morality, crudity and poignancy, sin and faith, family and brotherhood, victory and defeat.Item Salt, Sand and Blood(MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa, 2019-06-13) Liddle, MarQueseSalt, Sand, and Blood, as presented in this thesis, is the first fragment of a fantasy epic following a vast cast of characters across country and continent. Protagonists Adam, Adnihilo, Jael, and Trey struggle to find their sense of autonomy and to align their moral paradigms with corrupted institutions and fabricated histories. It is this struggle which is narrated by the prophet Kashim, told in verse to his audience, the reader. Tying these characters and stories together is a single theme, the journey--or in other words, pilgrimage and the spiritual transformation which occurs when one is made to “leave his father’s tent”. The life paths inherited by each of the characters rapidly come into question or are otherwise destroyed, and all are tempted to embrace sublimation to ethnic ties, religious strictures, or vengeful plots. In these first twenty two chapters, the focus is this question: to sacrifice for the will of others, or to sacrifice for one’s potential self? In matters of craft, Salt, Sand, and Blood was born of such writing found in Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire and McCarthy’s Blood Meridian. That is, the manuscript combines the richness of worldbuilding and dramatic action with rhythm, rhyme, and alliteration to create the feel of a song or poem. It is an attempt to approximate the experience of an oral story or an epic poem, or something in between.