Helen Lowe's Blog, page 15

On Supernatural Underground Now: The Year of the Villain #5 — Plus More!

Happy King’s Birthday to everyone oot thar celebrating the holiday.

Saturday being June 1, I posted #5 in the Year of the Villain series on Supernatural Underground.

This month I’m focusing on Fantasy where the protagonist is pretty much a straight-out villain, using Joe Abercrombie’s Shattered Sea series and RF Kuang’s The Poppy War trilogy as examples.

Read all about it here:

The Year of the Villain #5: Where the Hero Is Really a Villain

 

While you’re there, you could also check out Kim Fal...

The Compleat List of “Daughter of Blood” Q&A Posts

Last Thursday, I reposted the very last of the Daughter of Blood Q&As from several years back. A key reason for reposting is that I’ve always felt the questions were not only fun but also insightful, and so merited a refeature, rather than being consigned to blog history.

We have it on good authority, after all, that “the old that is strong does not wither” and I think the reposts have not only proven the truth of Frodo’s rhyme for Aragorn (chiefly known as Strider, at that point in The Lord of...

“Taking Tea” — More Thoughts on Festivals & Feasts

Last Thursday, when posting the 18th (yes 18! I know, isn’t it quite frabjously wonderful?! :D) and final (alas!) Q&A on matters pertaining to Daughter of Blood, I included a number of related posts on festivals, food, and their relevance to fantasy worldbuilding.

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While preparing that post, I also spotted Taking Tea With Kim Falconer, a very on-theme post from a few years back. So on-theme, that I’m refeaturing it today — with the ‘advisory’ that the title should probably refer to “Ritual an...

Q&A Thursdays #18: Adrian’s Question

For some time now, I’ve been reprising a Daughter of Blood Q&A series that featured in 2019 — and today we’ve finally reached the 18th(!) and final question.

The original post series ran over November 2019, which probably throws some light on why Adrian used Thanksgiving as the festival example in his question.

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Adrian: Is there a festival like Thanksgiving in your book?

Helen: There are festivals in Daughter of Blood, but not so many as in the second book, The Gathering Of The Lost. Most of...

What I’m Reading: “The Wren, The Wren” by Anne Enright

As implied on May 6, when I posted on reading Mur Lafferty’s Station Eternity, I’m racing to catch up on the book booty list posted in January. The posting part, that is, since I have now read four of the six titles.

The second book off the posting block is The Wren, The Wren by Irish author, Anne Enright.

Published last year, The Wren, The Wren is a novel about family relationships. The primary protagonist is Nell, the granddaughter of a moderately successful poet, Phil, who abandoned his fam...

About The Characters: Meet The Minor Players In “The Wall Of Night” Series — Meet Nuithe

And it’s time — for another post in the About The Characters series, which focuses on the minor characters in The Wall Of Night series, in large part because:

“I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”

~ from my Legend Award Finalist’s Interview, 2013

Initially, the series focused exclusively on characters from The Heir of Night, but now I’m continuing on with the more minor players from both The Gathering Of The ...

Two Quotes on Space Opera for Your Monday — from Iain M Banks & Gareth L Powell

Last week, I posted on reading Station Eternity, the first in Mur Lafferty’s Midsolar Murders series — which as noted, is space opera with plenty of whodunnit thrown in.

I also think it more than meets this quote from the great Iain M Banks on space opera:

“I think space opera in general celebrates a certain manic wildness and vivacity of vision, a refusal to be constrained.”

To which Gareth L Powell added:

“Space opera affords us the chance to indulge our imaginations, giving us the twin infi...

And It’s Out: “The House At The End of The Sea”

May 2 was a red letter date, being publication day for The House At The End of the Sea, by my friend and fellow author, Victoria M Adams.

I first mentioned The House At The End of the Sea in February, when I received an advance copy and shared that I had read an even earlier proof copy and provided a quote for the inside cover:

“The House at the End of the Sea has it all: characters to cheer for, worldbuilding that weaves together the fantastical and the everyday, and magic that is curious, dou...

What I’m Reading: “Station Eternity” by Mur Lafferty

Welp, I did that Book Booty for 2024 post way back of 22 January and so far haven’t posted a single reading report: O-o!

I’ve been pretty busy, of course, mostly with the Great Revision, but I have sneaked in a bit of reading along the way. So today is that report-back day for Station Eternity, penned by the (mighty) Mur Lafferty.

Station Eternity is subtitled The Midsolar Murders (how cool is that?), which provides quite a nice “key” into the tale, which is space opera that features several hu...

New on Supernatural Underground Now: The Year of the Villain #4

Yesterday was May 1 and you know what that means —

OK, OK, I know it means May Day in the Northern Hemisphere, with morris dancing in the UK and similar festivities elsewhere, as well as May Day parades celebrating the labour movement. When I lived in Sweden, bonfires were always lit on the preceding evening, celebrating Valborgsmassafton (aka Valpurgis Night) with the big labour and related marches the next day. Definitely a time of festivity.

Somewhere, I hope many-wheres, daffodils are flowe...