Marc Aplin's Blog, page 122
January 30, 2017
Metronome by Oliver Langmead
Metronome is an engaging high concept fantasy, incredibly readable and beautifully written. Its unusual hero is William Manderlay, an old sailor who lives in a care home, crippled by arthritis and his memories of happier times. An erstwhile musician, he can no longer play the violin, but one night, while asleep, he discovers that his […]
January 28, 2017
Romance in Fantasy – Part One
I’ve said it before: I write romantic fantasy. I never start out a story intending to write romance, but somehow, romantic threads always show up. I used to fight this phenomenon, but I’ve grown to realize that I just like romantic storylines. Not romances, mind—I don’t read much romance that’s just romance for romance’s sake. […]
January 25, 2017
The Cold Eye by Laura Anne Gilman
The Cold Eye by Laura Anne Gilman is the sequel to Silver on the Road. Isobel, along with her mentor Gabriel, rides the Territory as the Devil’s Left Hand, serving as his eyes and ears, helping those who live by the Devil’s rules and punishing those who would violate those rules. Like the first book, […]
Most Anticipated Fantasy Novels of 2017: Publishers’ Choice
We like to think we know a lot about Fantasy here at Fantasy-Faction. However, our knowledge and foresight lacks in comparison to the hugely experienced, highly intelligent Editors who sit behind the desks of the Fantasy Departments of big Publishing Houses. For that reason, each and every year we hand Fantasy-Faction over to them for a day, […]
January 23, 2017
Is Violence In Fantasy Less Confronting?
The fantasy genre is no stranger to violence. High fantasies are known for their epic battles, sword fights, warrior heroes, merciless villains and clashing forces of good and evil. Many low fantasies are populated by supernatural beings hungry for blood or conquest. While not all stories involve a multitude of violent scenes, it’s a rare […]
January 19, 2017
They Mostly Come Out At Night by Benedict Patrick
You may recognise this book. You should recognise this book. At least, you should if you’ve been following the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off and/or are part of Fantasy-Faction’s social media circles. I myself have been desperately enamoured with Benedict Patrick’s debut novel since I first laid eyes on its cover last year. Jenny Zemanek did such […]
January 18, 2017
Fantasy-Faction’s Best Fantasy Books of 2016
2016 was a great year for fans of Fantasy fiction, my friends! The burden of choice weighed heavily on us and we’ll be catching up on 2016 titles for years to come. It says a lot about the authors writing today, the joyous direction that readers have pushed the genre in and the people working behind […]
January 17, 2017
Why I Don’t Like Dragons
First, a confession: the title of this article is a little bit sensationalist. The truth is, I don’t actively dislike dragons. I don’t go around hating them and huffing and puffing at books with dragons on the cover, and films with dragons in the trailers. My feelings towards dragons is closer to an indifference. They […]
January 16, 2017
Top Ten Books To Improve Your Writing
A likely first stop on the journey of any aspiring writer is the purchase of a writing book to teach them about the subject. Often they’re drawn to titles like “Write a Bestseller in Six Months,” or “Making Money from Kindle Publishing.” First and foremost though, the goal should be to master your craft, from […]
Promoting Your Personality, A.K.A. Marketing For Authors In 2017
I stumbled across a Facebook status by an author friend who posted that he was about to start work on the ‘0.01% of being a writer’ that was building his personal brand (the other 99.99%, to his mind, being writing). Now, I hate to disagree with good friends. However, based on my experience, I’d say […]
