Goldeen’s stories all have some fantasy or speculative element, but they range from cozy detective mysteries (Bouragner Felpz) to wild and colorful action-adventures (Professor Odd) to dark, textured explorations of humanity (Driving Arcana). From 2013 to 2018 she published Apsis Fiction, a semiannual anthology of her short stories. In keeping with her initial goal of writing parts she would like to play, Goldeen’s work often centers around characters with mixed attributes, or those not typically seen in a leading role. Although her writing features characters of diverse backgrounds, body types, genders, religions and sexualities (and sometimes species), her stories are mostly concerned with exploring the similarities between different people, and finding ways forward through compassion, patience, mutual understanding and tolerance. Goldeen’s writing has been influenced by the work of Robert Graves, Astrid Lindgren, James Thurber, Susanna Clarke, Neal Stephenson, Ursula K. Le Guin and Terry Pratchett. She considers Diana Wynne Jones to be her biggest inspiration.
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Themes and Narrative Style
Goldeen’s stories feature around characters who are unusual in some way—whether or not they think of themselves as unusual. Although she was first spurred to write in order to place female characters at the center of the action, this purpose has widened to include putting male characters into roles traditionally assigned to women, and to include characters of fluid and variable genders—or no gender at all. Racial bias is another theme that recurs in her work, as she explores both the established racism of our world and the subverted or altered biases of her invented ones. While predominantly heroic tales, her stories have addressed issues such as the racist history of America (The Earth It Weeps), the terrible toll of misogyny (The Hand of Rishké) and ethical science (The Monster’s Daughter). At the same time, she also utilizes fantasy and science fiction as a means to explore better, brighter alternatives, like the multicultural crew of a space ship (Star Walkers) and worlds peacefully inhabited by people from different universes (Cerberus Retired). Goldeen feels very strongly that our ability to improve our own world is dependent on being able to envision a better one, and to see ourselves in it. To this end her stories have an optimistic core, and include characters if varying ages, races, genders, sexualities and body-types.
While some of Goldeen’s stories can be labeled fantasy—as they contain witches and wizards, magicians, dragons, griffins and all manner of original monsters—much of the magic is informed by real science. Conversely, her science-fiction is colorful and imaginative, exploring hyper-real situations and concepts. Goldeen considers her work to be like a rope threaded back and forth between the two genres, pulling them together. She enjoys creating settings where advanced technology and overt magic co-exist, upsetting expectations for both genres.
Above all her priority is writing stories she would like to read, and in keeping with this she is careful to give her books satisfying endings.
Goldeen’s books have been marketed as Young Adult but she recommends them to readers of all ages. To help readers make informed decisions, a list of comparable works can be found with each of her books on their respective pages at Heliopause Productions.
Worlds and Settings
Goldeen began developing an original organized fantasyland when she was eleven. It started as a single continent called Antellonia and has since expanded to include an entire stellar system with a long and varied history complete with fictional races, mythologies, languages, and species. Goldeen began work on Antellonia while reading Diana Wynne Jones’s authoritative Tough Guide to Fantasyland, and so drew heavily on established fantasy tropes—mainly in order to subvert them. Originally developed for her very first novel, Antellonia has since provided the setting for most of her fantasy stories. Rather than encompassing the whole of it, each story explores a small section of space and time within the universe. In this way, although different novels and serials can be considered separate, connections can be made to stitch together a view of a complex and intricate universe. Stories set in the Antellonian universe include her webcomics Angeldevil, The Iron Wizard and Year of the God-Fox, as well as The Adventures of Bouragner Felpz and Lucena in the House of Madgrin. Professor Odd visits the Antellonian universe in Episode 5 The Dragons of Geda and meets characters from it in Episode 9 Star Walkers. Goldeen has several fantasy novels in progress that will explore different areas and time periods and expects that, much like our own universe, Antellonia will continue to expand indefinitely.
For the multiverse of Professor Odd Goldeen has explored many speculative worlds including exo-planets and far-future or alternate Earths. She draws inspiration both from established science-fiction settings and from cutting edge research. She frequently uses classic science-fiction worlds as a base onto which she builds up in new and unexpected directions.
Notable worlds and settings include:
- Kyreland—a country in the Antellonian universe superficially similar to England, it is the setting of Angeldevil and Bouragner Felpz. Like all places in Antellonia, it is inherently magical.
- Niatano—the rocky satellite of a gas giant exo-planet orbiting a red dwarf star, it has an Earth-equivalent atmosphere with a fully developed ecosystem. By a chance of convergent social evolution, though the native inhabitants look like avian dinosaurs (sort of) they speak a language indistinguishable from modern Italian. It is a setting within The Peculiar Case of Professor Odd and The Slowly Dying Planet.
- Aquaria System—a stellar system in a multiplicity-aware universe. It includes several habitable planets which are connected by interplanetary exo-trains, and its residents include species from multiple universes. Professor Odd visits in “Amar and Desta’s Big Day Out,” “The Rats of Alnitak,” and Cerberus Retired.
- Valdelluna—a hidden magical valley of uncertain location. It is the eponymous setting for Goldeen’s Valdelluna project, which explores its curious inhabitants and environs. Frequently shrouded in mist, it rises to dragon-inhabited mountains at one end and lowers to a great lake in which grows a tree the size of a mountain at the other. One of its notable features are the glowing, crescent shaped rocks which protrude from its hills. Its name is a contraction of El Valle de la Luna—the Valley of the Moon.
- Driving Arcana universe—an alternate version of early 21st-century Earth in which magic is real, it is the setting for the Driving Arcana saga. Almost indistinguishable from the non-fiction world until 2016, it contains hidden magical history that includes attempted apocalypses, werewolves, vampires, and divine interventions. The saga takes place during rapid changes to the context of the universe as magical and supernatural phenomena become increasingly common. It is the home universe of Princess Die, a pop-music singer who features in The Thousand Songs (Professor Odd Episode 10) and whose songs appear in several Driving Arcana stories.
Recurring Characters
Some of Goldeen’s original characters make appearances outside their primary stories, either as cameos or in supporting roles. Notable examples include:
- Bouragner Felpz—a powerful magician and the protagonist of The Adventures of Bouragner Felpz, he also makes a guest appearance in The Promethean Predicament (Professor Odd Episode 3) and plays a supporting role in Lucena in the House of Madgrin.
- Professor Odd—a transversal traveler and the protagonist of the Professor Odd series, she guest stars in the final Bouragner Felpz novella, The Peculiar Case of Professor Odd. She also makes an uncredited cameo in God, or Aliens (Driving Arcana Wheel 1).
- Grimbald—the mythical Queen of Dreams, she has appeared in multiple short stories, guest starred in the Bouragner Felpz adventure The Goblin’s Fiddle and plays a small but pivotal role in Lucena in the House of Madgrin.
- Tobius Leander—a curious creature somewhere between a kangaroo, a rabbit, and a cat, he is the counterpart of Grimbald and has appeared in two eponymous comics, Lucena, and several short stories.
