World Fantasy Convention 2025 - Brighton

Dates – 30/10 to 2/11

Location – Brighton Metropole

I like the odd trip to a convention. I’ve done them for a few years longer than being a blogger. I enjoy hearing people talking about books. I have gotten to meet people from the various online communities is I have/had become parts of and they also sometimes have books for purchasing (which I do on occasion). Becoming a blogger since I now find cons and panels help me think about the subjects I write about and help me find new authors to read. I also get the chance to discuss the hobby/second job of reviewing which proves we are no alone in the joys of scheduling. Each convention tends to have its unique flavour and pros and cons but each I find overall a rewarding experience.

Scarily chatting to someone at this convention I realised my blog is now over eight years old and my work for another site prior means I’ve now been doing reviews for something like ten years now! In which time I’ve never managed to get to a World Fantasy Convention. The last in the UK was 2013 with nearly all cons since in the USA bar one virtual due to Covid and one trip to Canada (‘World Fantasy’ is such an interesting term!) but this year it moved out of its homeland to our shores and amalgamated with the British Fantasy Society’s annual Fantasycon. This meant over a thousand people attending a stormy seafront. In many ways the strange design of the location has made me think it is also going to be an apt description of fandom itself. I enjoyed myself and do come away with lots of thoughts on the genre and beyond

I was unusually on a week off so had not done the usual finish all day job work late at night the previous day and I really liked my past self for doing that. I remember being very very very tired last year so this year I was keen to pace myself over four days so I’ll try and focus on the highlights but one area I need to discuss is the location.

The Eldritch Con Hotel

But I am going to say first the location was a bit weird. Apparently, there are key standards for World Fantasy which means only a few UK locations are judged capable of holding them. But I do slightly question if those standards quite make sense. The Metropole is sited on a steep hill so the con found itself weirdly spread over three levels with quite long corridors and stairs between them, it not easy to find or use the lifts and I saw concerns over accessibility were raised over doors being suitable for wheelchairs. The panels rooms were, I found very decent sized with no one turned away very often but the corridors around them meant the changeovers where a little tight space for getting around people.  The 2nd floor was where there was a huge main hall that felt a little over large even for a thousand guests but it had something I really liked a more social space i.e. not just a bar but actually despite some strange hours of operation a place you could grab food, tea, coffee and nibbles and have chats without the very tight or noisy bar area it also was next to the art exhibition which was well worth a visit. I’d like future UK cons to look at these as it is nice to have a non-alcoholic social space, and art is a key part of our community too from covers to fandom celebrating the genre.

The third floor largely via staircase could be deemed easy to miss but there were plenty of signs showing where it was for the Dealer’s Hall and the quiet zone. The Dealer’s Hall was definitely worth a look – plenty of books by the authors present but also a pleasing mix of bookshops, indie presses and assorted geek adjacent stalls. I did get the feeling from chatting to a few stallholders that it was quiet at times but for me it’s a great chance to look for books I’ve missed or ones I rarely get to see in my mainstream bookshops. I have seen some debate over people putting barcon (the chatting with people usually in bars) over book buying. I’m not sure to be honest. I do think we need to note that book prices have risen a lot the last fear years as have hotels, food and transport costs. The number of people who use the genre itself for sole income alone is very small and so I think this a reminder that ticket holder budgets are still tight for many and sadly I suspect will be for some time still to come. My general suspicion is Fantasy cons are a lot more visited by those involved in the genre as writers than simply readers (even I don lt quite fall into that category anymore). I was just lucky I had some early birthday presents to treat myself with, but I definitely saw quite a few people browse and enjoy things. This may need some wider thought and debate on what model a dealer’s hall could operate on to help dealers make a living, enjoy a con and help share their art with potential customers.

The location had little natural daylight, an in and out phone signal which made access to the online discord weas intermittent and the layout meant finding the information desks was a lot harder than usual, and add to the strange corridors and the walking around several people did feel it was a little eldritch!. The spread-out nature of tre building meant it never felt like a thousand people gathered very often. I found the staff at the hotel helpful (I was staying down the road but that seemed not an issue). Overall, I am not sure this location quite works for UK con audiences generally so perhaps World Fantasy if they are serious about getting out into the World need to look at this for future cons outside of the US which many international congoers were raising concerns about thanks to the troubling issues, we see daily on the news there. I’m struggling to believe that many of the larger UK sites and hotels can’t all have done a similar task even if not ticked every single box on the wishlist. US convention centres are a long-standing tradition but far less common in the rest of the world.

Thinking Time

That’s my biggest bugbear out of the way. But I put that to one side I think the organiser s did an excellent job managing a con in such a strange place. The good news is I did have a lot of fun with panels and here the con like the hotel put my brain down lots of interesting side passages

Friday – Nature Writing And Fantasy – EJ Swift, Cecile Cristofari, Lyndsay Croal and Kathleen Jennings (mod) – a really interesting look at how SF and fantasy writers use nature as inspiration, setting and a way to inspire and tell stories. I’m increasingly of the view science fiction is seeing something interesting develop in this space as climate change and what needs to be done about it requires stories to be told to warn and inspire. I also enjoyed how the wider landscape of using nature, personalising it and how t changed authors’ stories meant this was a really thought-provoking panel. My sense was a movement is really beginning in this ear – one t look out for

The Radical Politics of Grimdark – Beth Wagner, Adri Joy, Fabienne Schwitzer, Anna Smith Spark (mod) An all women panel on what is often mistakenly thought as a very male subgenre made for a refreshing change and an intriguing discussion on how this sub-genre has still something to say. One fascinating theme that I saw mentioned in multiple places is how the current mainstream trend of romantasy is looking a little small c conservative and could be seen as a reaction to the darker more cynical grimdark lens on power and relationships. The debate was just warming up when time was called but there is definitely something in this I want to see explored more in the community.

Epic Pooh and The Style of Fantasy Prose – Lisa Tuttle, Lee Murray, John Clute and Farah Mendlesohn (Mod) No not another Winnie the Pooh copyright discussion but taking the famous Moorcock article taking down Tolkein’s writing style and discussing if it continues to hold. I enjoyed the various historical lenses applied, how Moorcock is reacting as part of his time, how some of his 1930s choices all seemed to be children’s authors but the panel for me slightly drifted in discussing how the current scene applies beyond very general discussions on trends they did not like and very little as to who does this well now.

Reading Something New – Jonathan Strahan, Joy Sanchez-Taylor, Kayeigh Dobbs, Gary K Wolfe and Mary G Thompson (Mod) Just a lovely panel where a mix of writers, academics and reviewers talk about the books they would recommend.  I’m pleased to see I’m keeping up but a little list of some to look out for was made!

Spreadsheets and Spells – M H Ayinde, Sophia Vahdati, Annabel Campbell, Marve Michael Anson (Mod) This was my favourite of the panels I saw. Four great authors discussing a subject I too have strong views on magic systems and the many rules you need to keep track of. It was a really refreshing discussion with a number of approaches but a consensus slowly building that story matters more. I also really liked how the ways a system works can be used to underline the problems of the society they were writing about.

Marmite Characters – Phil Sloman , Joe Hill, Ryan Cahill, CL Clark, Samantha Lee Howe (Mod) – this panel I did enjoy as it did have a lovely mix of humour (apparently not everyone knows what boo to a goose means), but also got into how characters are formed and while there was a little ‘every character is their own hero’ there was also a more interesting discussion on what inspired authors to create some of their characters.

The Weird Fiction Panel – Steve Toase, Dan Coxon, JS Breukealaar, Joanna Corrance and Dave Jeffrey (Mod) – Another panel I loved getting into when is something weird fiction. There was discussion as to why the US tends to be more cosmic horror focused while the UK just goes weird for the feel of it, other countries approaches, why the Mr Men books can fit in the category and how the sense of the uncanny in some ways brings us back to being a child where we find the world no longer makes sense. Increasingly I find this the type of writing I enjoy the most so lots to ponder here.

Celebrating

I got to go to a variety of book launches – Angry Robot launched Stewart Hotston’s new SF novel Project Hanuman (review next week) and there was already a lot of buzz about this. Newcon press had a galaxy of authors to talk about as did Flame Tree Press. Solaris also had a early morning launch with a fun game show style approach for excellent books. Lovely to see col ajuthors and books respected!

We also had the BFS and World Fantasy Awards spaced out across the weekend. Really interesting shortlists and winners. Some of whom in this very odd year for me slipped me by but I definitely plan to catch up.

Final thoughts.

Like the hotel the con showed we operate our genre on many different levels. Romantasy was not the biggest theme at the con and indeed this slightly more to me interesting look at SF and nature plus weird fiction felt a slightly more exciting set of something bubbling in the water that perhaps the marketing teams at big publishers have not yet really appreciated. Its tempting to go down some corridors and find they lead to just a big dead end. I quite like my genre to have something to fight against and one worrying discussion held was how various US publishers are censoring authors and asking for queer characters to be reduced or removed to better fit with the requirements of the US. I do not feel my genre should be so compliant as we are the ones supposed to be the ones tackling Dark Lords. As with all these cons while physically tires you out for the rest of the week I do tend to come back with a recharged reading and reviewing battery. I want to get my teeth into all the books (including the big pile I brought home with me. Lots to do! Next year see you in Glasgow?