Marc Aplin's Blog, page 125
November 3, 2016
BristolCon 2016 – Convention Review
I went to Bristol. I’ve been before and usually get lost in the one way system. SatNav is no help, not for me and I speak as Geography graduate with many years’ experience at getting lost. More importantly, I went to BristolCon that the weekend. This is a small (ish) and friendly (very) convention held […]
November 1, 2016
Invisible Planets edited and translated by Ken Liu
Invisible Planets is superb anthology of short fiction that offers Westerners in particular a series of totally unique entry points and perspectives. There is plenty of impressive science fiction and fantasy but so many other genres are also touched upon that readers are bound to be swept away and will assuredly find a new author […]
October 31, 2016
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
This review contains spoilers for the first book, Six of Crows. Please read with caution if you have yet to finish the first book. “Ketterdam is made of monsters. I just happen to have the longest teeth.” With Crooked Kingdom, the sequel to her outstanding Six of Crows, Leigh Bardugo has taken on a nigh […]
October 30, 2016
Beyond Redemption by Michael R. Fletcher
Beyond Redemption is a classic Western adventure tale. Three cowboys, bound by beautiful friendship, return home to their ranch after a hard day’s work only to find— Wait! I’m kidding. Heh. Beyond Redemption is, in fact, a classic case of DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER. Surreal and bloody, this first instalment in Michael […]
October 28, 2016
SPFBO: Positivity & Professionalism in Self-Publishing
Unless you’ve been living on Mars with Matt Damon, you’ll know that Fantasy-Faction is one of ten blogs participating in the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO). Created and hosted by Mark Lawrence, the SPFBO is a contest that aims at increasing the discoverability of talented self-published fantasy authors. In March, more than 300 authors submitted manuscripts […]
October 26, 2016
The Rise of Io by Wesley Chu
The Tao books hold a very special place in my heart. I discovered them by accident and instantly fell in love with the characters and the adventures they had. I loved the concept of the Quasing and Chu’s light-hearted writing style. When the Tao series came to a close, I was very satisfied with the […]
October 25, 2016
Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne M. Valente
Simply put, I loved Six-Gun Snow White. Although many have adapted fairy tales across a variety of media, very few have done it this well. This isn’t a simple retelling or putting an old tale in new set dressing; Catherynne M. Valente transforms the story of Snow White and tells it beautifully, painfully well. She […]
October 24, 2016
Surviving NaNoWriMo 2016
Ah, National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo for short (or NaNo for shorter)). We meet again. For the…I don’t even know. How many times is it now? Five? Six? It’s hard to keep track after a while. Fortunately, NaNo is not my enemy. It’s something that I have willingly done every year for a while […]
October 23, 2016
Brent Weeks Interview 2016
Having met Brent Weeks and chatted with him a few times via e-mail, I can tell you that he is one of the nicest guys out there. Yes, he tortures us with his damned cliff hangers – which are not cliff hangers, as the interview explains – and he puts even the toughest, most loved characters through […]
October 22, 2016
The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence
Have you ever wanted to applaud upon reaching the end of the last book in a series – and not because you were glad it was over? In recent years there have been two outstanding books that have made me want to do just that. The first was Emperor of Thorns. The second is The […]
