Marc Aplin's Blog, page 111
May 8, 2017
Within the Sanctuary of Wings by Marie Brennan
The fifth – and final – of Lady Trent’s memoirs is a difficult beast to review without lurching firmly into spoiler territory, both for the preceding books and for the plot of this one. So, in order to set the scene for this review, the next paragraph will contain brief spoilers from the previous entry. […]
May 7, 2017
Urskuul’s Reading Circle: The Bear & the Serpent
Hello, and welcome to the second official Urskuul’s Reading Circle Newsletter! Read on for brand new details of the discussions that occurred at the latest meeting (wherein we reviewed the book of the month), and of the thoughts and insights that were raised during the meet. Hello lovely, paying members of Urskuul’s Reading Circle and […]
The Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off 3: So It Begins . . .
Last week saw the exciting kick-off of the THIRD Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (#SPFBO), with nearly 250 novels submitted in the first four days of the announcement. As of May 7th, there are still around 50 spots left in the SPFBO3. If you’re planning on entering – HURRY! Here’s the list of bloggers who’ll be taking […]
May 5, 2017
Small Press, Big Stories: Luna Press & A.J. Dalton Cover Reveal
Small Press, Big Stories is a monthly column focusing on small and independent presses from around the world. This month’s featured publisher is Luna Press. Back in March I popped up to the York Pubmeet (find them on Twitter @YorkPubmeet) for AJ Dalton’s talk on his PhD thesis, The Sub-Genres of British Fantasy Literature. Not only […]
May 4, 2017
Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel
Warning: this review contains spoilers for Sleeping Giants! Waking Gods is the sequel to Sleeping Giants, which established a world where a gigantic robot named Themis had been found, put together and stocked with two special pilots under the guidance of the person who discovered her – Dr Rose Franklin. (Our Overlord Marc Aplin wrote […]
Star Wars: Thrawn by Timothy Zahn
Timothy Zahn’s first foray into the New Star Wars EU sees him return to his most beloved character, the enigmatic and sorely missed Grand Admiral Thrawn. In a pseudo-origin story that both pulls back the veil on the origins of the Chiss mastermind and deepens the mystery of his service to the Empire, Zahn proves […]
Cover Reveal for THE EMERALD BLADE by Steven Kelliher
Back in August 2016, Steven Kelliher surprised the indie scene with his self-published debut novel, Valley of Embers. Introducing readers to the LANDKIST universe (where flame-wielding warriors known as Embers struggle in dwindling numbers to defend their homes from the Darkness), Valley of Embers was widely regarded as a solid and highly competent debut. Though Fantasy-Faction didn’t find it […]
May 3, 2017
What’s the Deal with Interactive Storytelling?
What’s the deal with interactive storytelling? Glad you asked. If you know me, you’ll know that I’ve been making video games since I was a kid, banging away at the keyboard of my dad’s Commodore 64. If you don’t know me, well . . . surprise! One of my other favorite things since I was […]
May 2, 2017
Cover Reveal for PRINCESS OF BLOOD by TOM LLOYD
So here it is: the cover of Princess of Blood in all its monstery goodness. After the brilliant Stranger of Tempest cover we of course went back to Jon McCoy to do this one too and I think you’ll agree it’s a cracker – artwork to grab you by the throat! Before the throat grabbing […]
Cruising the Cosmere: Visit Magical Arelon!
Buckle in, dear readers – we’re taking a tour of the Cosmere! Over the course of a truly ridiculous number of months, Sonia Grace will be reading her way through every book, novella, and short story set in Brandon Sanderson‘s Cosmere. Read all about it here, follow along on the forum, and be sure to […]
