Marc Aplin's Blog, page 132
August 14, 2016
The Iron Ship by K. M. McKinley
I started off intending to simply review K. M. McKinley’s steampunk fantasy novel. I was surprised at its relatively low number of Goodreads and Amazon reviews despite being out for over a year. Perhaps it had not tickled the fancy of others in quite the same way that it worked for me. However, in setting […]
August 13, 2016
Fire by Sara B. Elfgren and Mats Strandberg
At the end of The Circle, the five surviving Chosen Ones had defeated Max, the (hot) new teacher who had been blessed by demons in their attempt to come to our world and destroy it. This wasn’t the last battle the Chosen Ones would have to face, but it was at least a step toward […]
August 12, 2016
Monthly Short Story Winner: Space Opera
“Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes space warfare and often romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space. It usually involves conflict between opponents possessing advanced abilities, futuristic weapons and other sophisticated technology.” – Wikipedia Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game, and George Lucas’ Star […]
August 11, 2016
Summerlong by Peter S. Beagle
Like a warm summer afternoon, Peter S. Beagle’s upcoming novel, Summerlong, is charmingly quiet yet deeply thoughtful, with an ambiance that will keep readers spellbound to the final page. Beagle’s first full-length novel since Tamsin published in 1999, Summerlong features an older couple, Abe and Joanna, who initially seem content with their lives. The pair […]
August 10, 2016
Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off #2: Our Final Seven
After much deliberation, the Fantasy-Faction reviewing team has narrowed down the entries in our group to seven. Our task now is to read and discuss these books more closely, with a view to picking a winner. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: the standard across all the books we’ve looked at was […]
Cover Reveal of Red Tide by Marc Turner
Over the last year or so, Marc Turner has proven himself as an author capable of writing fantastic novels within a variety of fantasy sub-genres. Whether it is the Malayan-Style epic he wrote with When The Heavens Fall or the gritty, nautical adventure that was Dragon Hunters, he has kept us thoroughly entertained. Naturally then, the […]
Cover Reveal of Red Tide by Mark Turner
Over the last year or so, Marc Turner has proven himself as an author capable of writing fantastic novels within a variety of fantasy sub-genres. Whether it is the Malayan-Style epic he wrote with When The Heavens Fall or the gritty, nautical adventure that was Dragon Hunters, he has kept us thoroughly entertained. Naturally then, the […]
August 9, 2016
Laura Lam Interview
We are excited to once again have the talented author Laura Lam with us today. Her most recent novel, False Hearts, was released this June and the conclusion to her Micah Grey series, Masquerade, is due out in January 2017. In the years since Pantomime and Shadowplay, the first two books in the Micah Grey series, […]
August 8, 2016
Suicide Squad – Movie Review
This review contains spoilers. Read with caution if you have yet to see the movie. I’m going to preface this by saying I don’t normally do movie reviews. Also I haven’t been into DC Comics since the Justice League was called the Super Friends. And then? I just watched the TV show because I couldn’t […]
August 7, 2016
Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off #2: Getting Close To The End…
The Fantasy-Faction SPFBO team are on the verge of announcing their top seven books! But first, here are a final set of five that didn’t quite make the cut. It was really hard to say goodbye to some of these; maybe on another day, with another set of reviewers, they would have made it through. […]
