Helen Lowe's Blog, page 117

5 Romantic Moments from “The Wall Of Night” Series — Plus a Fresh Fiction Interview

The first of every day being my “spot” on the Supernatural Underground, I have a new post featured there now:

Five Romantic Moments from “The Wall Of Night” Series

No, it is not an April Fool’s Day jest — there really are some. If you wish to find out more, hie thee thence and check out the post.

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I also have a new interview featured with US-based book site, Fresh Fiction:

Meet Helen Lowe

As you may recall from Thursday’s review update, Fresh Fiction have also reviewed Daughte...

“The Heir Of Night” Gets A New Review As Well

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Yesterday, I posted a look at reviews to date for Daughter of Blood, The Wall Of Night Book Three, since it was published on 26 January — having allowed a wee bit of time for the post-publication dust to settle.

But it’s not just Daughter Of Blood — The Heir of Night has just had a new review as well, on SFFWorld. A review in which the tale is likened to the storytelling of Katherine Kurtz (Dernyi) and the worldbuilding to Robert Jordan (Wheel Of Time), and also to David Gemmell...

Reviews To Date For “Daughter Of Blood”

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Although I’ve done some reader feedback posts with regards Daughter of Blood (The Wall Of Night Book Three) , so far I’ve been more reticent with regards reviews.

The reason for that is simply a decision to wait until the post-publication dust has settled a bit before wetting my finger and holding it up to see which direction the wind of opinion is blowing from/to.

Of course, holding up one finger could mean something en-tire-ly different, but you know I would never do that, righ...

Big Worlds On Small Screens & “Fantasy Films From the Eighties That Weren’t That Bad”—Rebecca Fisher Discusses “The Dark Crystal”

~ by Rebecca Fisher

There are a surprising number of films out there populated entirely by puppets: Strings, Team America, Peter Jackson’s Meet the Feebles; but The Dark Crystal may well be the most famous of them all.

Like many other fantasy films of the Eighties, it’s now considered a cult classic. But is it any good? Unlike the other movies explored in this column, The Dark Crystal was not something I watched in early childhood, instead only discovering it in my teens. In revisiting it tod...

Tuesday & Poetry: “Demolition & Rebuild” — Lines from “Leaving The Red Zone”

Currently, I’m sharing some of the wonderful lines and stanzas from Leaving the Red Zone —thepoetry anthology (edited by James Norcliffe and Joanna Preston, and published by Clerestory Press) that commemorates the fifth anniversary of the February 22, 2011, earthquake.

Today, I am sharing some lines and stanzas from the anthology’s “Demolition & Rebuild” section.

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from “Demolition & Rebuild”:

“Now the sound of broken
hammers my heart

This is how living here sounds.”

~ Tracey Peterson, “As Sa...

War and Power: Sources of Conflict in “The Wall Of Night” World

The Wall of Night Series map; design by Peter Fitzpatrick

Recently, I’ve talked about the armoury of epic fantasy, both mythic and real, and also about keepingmore to the realistic side with armour and weapons. All of which got me thinking about some of the specific conflicts in the Wall of Night series’ world of Haarth.

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In the first novel, The Heir of Night, the story sets up the classic epic backdrop of a world in peril and contending forces of “light” and “dark.”

The main focus th...

58 Eridani: The 15th & Final Episode

~ by Andrew Robins
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Our work here is done for the present time.

The initial results of our bombardment of Mission Target Three appear satisfactory. Our analysis of the EM spectrum shows a large reduction in the strength of the signals that are characteristically generated by functioning Vader colonies.

As a final step, we have also mated what is left of the NRRV Lepanto to an asteroid of appreciable mass. The ship’s i...

Speaking For The Trees: Last Day For The Give A Little

The Cooptown limes — which Council still won’t agree to reschedule, leaving their iconic value in the landscape unrecognised.

Today is the last day for the Give A Little to raise funds for the campaign I’ve been keenly supporting — to keep Christchurch’s Heritage and Notable trees protected on Council’s Replacement Plan:

Give A Little: Save Notable Trees In Christchurch Why?

Just so you know, I am not just putting my hand out — I am one of those the Give A Little video refers to who has given...

One A Penny, Two A Penny: Fun With Food — Good Friday Style

Preparing hot cross buns…

Holidays, festivals, and food are inextricably entwined throughout the world and this is certainly true of Easter.

In New Zealand, we follow the British and European tradition of Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday and chocolate Easter eggs on Easter Sunday.

When I lived in Sweden, semlor (plural), a cardamom (and often orange peel) bun filled with cream and marzipan filling was traditional between Shrove Tuesday (its alleged origin) and Easter. A rich chocolate cake was a...

A Haiku for the Equinox

nor’east change gusts
spattering rain in the eaves
— autumn equinox

Helen Lowe, 2016

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A poem for one of the seasonal turning points in the year, which I’ve endeavoured to capture with this haiku.

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