Marc Aplin's Blog, page 122

The Shadow Soul by Kaitlyn Davis – SPFBO Review

The Shadow Soul is one of ten novels in the final round of Mark Lawrence’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO) 2016. Updates on the contest’s progress can be found here. When Jinji’s home is destroyed, she is left with nowhere to run and no one to run to–until she meets Rhen, a prince chasing rumors that […]

Putting Fantasy On The Map

A while ago, I came across a wonderful spoof map of the fantasy land of Clichéa. For those who haven’t seen it before, you can find it below (click the picture to see a larger version). It features all the places that no self-respecting fantasy world would be without, from the Northern Shire (the Village […]

Outpost by F. T. McKinstry – SPFBO Review

Outpost is one of ten novels in the final round of Mark Lawrence’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO) 2016. Updates on the contest’s progress can be found here. “Nine thousand suns ago, a race of immortal warriors came from the stars through a rare alignment and stepped onto the world of Math, a world much like […]

Shy Knives by Sam Sykes

Paizo is killing it these days. A deal with Tor for their Pathfinder Tales series, a new sci-fi campaign setting—Starfinder—in the offing. One video game in the can and another (maybe) on the way. Podcasts. Dedicated cons. And now—Sam Sykes. Good job, Paizo. More and more people are taking notice. Sam Sykes writing a Pathfinder […]

Why Aliens Look Like Octopuses

Have you ever noticed that extra-terrestrials in most “aliens-make-contact” science fiction usually resemble octopuses, squids, or other cephalopods? At least, when they don’t just look like humans in Halloween masks or cheap make up. Arrival, Independence Day, War of the Worlds, The Simpsons… the list goes on. The default non-humanoid aliens seem to always have […]

Hammers On Bone by Cassandra Khaw

Tor’s novella series was started in 2015, with the aim of promoting this shorter medium. The line includes both established authors and those just making their debut, and has included a number of authors from diverse backgrounds. The resulting line is full of interesting and different stories from authors both familiar and new. This column […]

Bigfootloose and Finn Fancy Free by Randy Henderson

The phrase “never judge a book by its cover” is one we should all live by, especially those of us who read fantasy in the 90s, when all covers required dragons regardless of the content of the book. No, I have always preferred to judge a book by the first paragraph. When buying a book, […]

Deep Wizardry by Diane Duane

The second book in Diane Duane’s Young Wizards series, Deep Wizardry, is just as good as the first, I’m happy to say. Nita and Kit, the young wizards who thwarted the Lone Power, reappear just as they were in the first book: young, brash, and in ever so slightly over their heads. They are also […]

Does Patrick Rothfuss Hate His Fans?

Not too long ago, Patrick Rothfuss wrote this: Just when I was growing fairly certain my readers were clever people who actually have the ability to read and comprehend text, a brave contingent of souls rush boldly forward with comments, eager to prove me wrong…. The vast majority of you: Thanks for being a delightfully […]

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

As a fantasy reader who makes his living in marketing and communications, I am perhaps more jaded than most when it comes to books that are compared to some of the greatest in the genre prior to their release date. How many times have we seen books touted as “the next Lord of the Rings,” […]