Marc Aplin's Blog, page 123

The Wall of Storms by Ken Liu

“History is the long shadow cast by the past upon the future.” “Killing the emperor was easy. Building a world that is more just and persuading those in power to exercise it wisely have been far harder.” In The Grace of Kings (2015), the first book in the Dandelion Dynasty series, Ken Liu traced the […]

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence – US Cover Reveal

When Fantasy-Faction started out it was just a tiny review site with a forum full of readers and writers with too much free time on their hands. One of the writers who would hang out and chat fantasy with us was Mark Lawrence. We watched as his career took off and followed him fondly from […]

Fionn: Defence of Ráth Bládhma by Brian O’Sullivan – SPFBO Review

Fionn: Defence of Ráth Bládhma 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. Brian O’Sullivan’s SPFBO offering – Fionn: Defence of Ráth Bládhma – was something of a bumpy ride for me, at least at the beginning. […]

Fantasy-Faction Convention Survey

Fantasy-Faction is holding a convention in 2017. Please, please help us plan it by filling out the survey below

John Gwynne Interview – Wrath and The Faithful and the Fallen

Here at Fantasy-Faction we’re delighted to host John Gwynne, author of the epic fantasy quartet The Faithful and the Fallen. John’s books have been nominated within all three categories at the David Gemmell Legend Awards. Book one, Malice, won the Morningstar Award for Best Debut in 2013, and since then the series has received more […]

Larcout by K. A. Krantz – SPFBO Review

Larcout 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. I’m not sure what I was expecting when I chose K. A. Krantz’s novel to be the first SPFBO finalist I read and reviewed, but it certainly wasn’t […]

Path of Flames by Phil Tucker – SPFBO Review

We have entered round two of the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off. To avoid cruelly stretching things out, we’ll be posting individual book reviews as we eliminate them rather than waiting till we’ve finished them all. Please note that we’re not reading (or eliminating) these in any particular order. If you’re going to start a book, start […]

Veiled Intentions by Michael R. Miller – Cover Reveal

Today we are lucky enough to be hosting the cover reveal for Michael R. Miller’s next novel, Veiled Intentions, second book in The Dragon’s Blade series. If the author’s name and series title sounds familiar to you, there is a good reason. The first book in Miller’s series, The Reborn King, is was the winner […]

Conspiracy of Ravens by Lila Bowen

Spoiler Warning: This review contains mild spoilers for Wake of Vultures. Please read with caution if you have yet to finish the first book. Conspiracy of Ravens, by Lila Bowen (AKA Delilah S. Dawson), gives me exactly what I want in a sequel. Everything I loved in book one of the series, Wake of Vultures, […]

Arm of the Sphinx by Josiah Bancroft

Spoiler Warning: This review contains spoilers for Senlin Ascends. Please read with caution if you have yet to finish the first book. Having steadily accelerated in devouring Senlin Ascends (the first of the books of Babel), I fell with almost unseemly haste into its sequel, Arm of the Sphinx. I will try to avoid giving […]