Marc Aplin's Blog, page 106
June 23, 2017
Monthly Short Story Winner: Story Generator
This month’s theme has many fathers and mothers. Lady_Ty who posted the Shakespeare Adaptation Generator in the Ideas Topic on the Fantasy-Faction forum, Raptori who modified it (we kept some of their choices!), ClintACK who provided the online dice roller we used, and last but not least ScarletBea and yours truly who put it together. […]
June 22, 2017
Tyrant’s Throne by Sebastien de Castell
Sebastien de Castell’s four-book Greatcoats series feels like a direct rebuttal to the term “grimdark,” and I mean that in the best way possible. That’s not to say that I dislike grimdark novels (I don’t), or to say that terrible things don’t happen in de Castell’s novels (they do). But at the end of the […]
SPFBO3: Cover Contest!
The Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (#SPFBO) 3 is set to begin on July 1! Read all about it on Mark Lawrence’s blog, or check out our rundown of how Fantasy-Faction will be handling Round One! Last year’s cover contest was a huge success. Each of the ten bloggers nominated the top three covers from their batch […]
The Mummy (2017)
Say, did you guys know that the Marvel Cinematic Universe made a lot of money? Like, a lot? Enough to make other production companies turn their heads, lick their lips and start planning ridiculous ideas for their own cash dispensers Cinematic Universes? The only issue is that… well… most of the ideas being flung around are kind […]
June 21, 2017
The Legion of Flame by Anthony Ryan
Spoiler Warning: This review contains spoilers for The Waking Fire, the first book in Anthony Ryan’s Draconis Memoria series. There is a scene in the second chapter of Anthony Ryan’s second novel in the Draconis Memoria, The Legion of Flame, in which Lizanne Lethridge, spy for the Ironship Trading Syndicate, is called before the board […]
June 20, 2017
Anna Stephens Interview
Today we are talking with Anna Stephens, a UK-based writer of epic-y, gritty, grimdark-y fantasy. Her debut novel, Godblind, was released by Harper Voyager on June 15, 2017, with the sequels penciled in for 2018 and 2019. Hello Anna, thanks for joining me here today. I always start my interviews differently, sometimes with easy questions, […]
Cover Reveal for Under the Pendulum Sun by Jeannette Ng
Fantasy-Faction is excited to host the cover reveal for Jeannette Ng’s Under the Pendulum Sun! Due out in October 2017 from our friends at Angry Robot, Under the Pendulum Sun is a creepy, dark gothic fantasy in which missionaries visit fairyland to spread the word of the Lord. What they don’t bank on however, is […]
June 19, 2017
A Gathering of Ravens by Scott Oden
A Gathering of Ravens was my introduction to Scott Oden’s work, and after completing the mytho-historical story, I am now scouring his backlist for another appealing tale. The story is imposing and dark, deftly woven by Oden to mix legend and history, telling of the last Orc and his quest for revenge. If you like […]
June 18, 2017
The Blood-Tainted Winter by T. L. Greylock
“Dark are the hearts of men, and easily tempted.” Raef Skallagrim is not a happy bunny. All he wants to do is go on a sea trip with his mates. He’s been looking forward to all it entails for ages: drinking, raiding, pillaging, ‘boys will be boys’ fun and games. Making memories, y’know? But Raef […]
June 16, 2017
Monthly Short Story Winner: Potions and Elixirs
Outside of RPGs and adventure games, potions hadn’t been very popular until a certain professor humiliated a little wizard student lesson after lesson in his potion class. This month our entrants were to show us there is more to potions than Severus Snape, Felix Felices and Polyjuice Potion. Rules: 1. This must be prose or […]
