Marc Aplin's Blog, page 142

Monthly Short Story Winner: Fairy Tales

Some are funny and silly. Some are dark and strange. But all of them have a morale, a (more or less fixed) narrative, and rules. This month’s short story contest features fairy tales. In fairy tales, numbers are important. It’s always three sons and the youngest is the smartest. There may be seven princesses but […]

Fantasy and the Collector Mentality

Raise your hand if own more than one copy of Lord of the Rings. I own four: the ebooks, my first mass market paperbacks from when I was 7 or 8, a leather-bound omnibus version I got for my 11th birthday, and a 7-volume edition I bought in my late teens. They look great on […]

Diverse Fantasy Is Better Fantasy

I recently I submitted a story to my writing group for critique. It was a secondary-world fantasy set in a pre-industrial port city. Of all the comments I received, the one that stuck with me complained that it was unrealistic that the people of my world didn’t have a problem with my lesbian protagonist and […]

The Paper Menagerie And Other Stories by Ken Liu

“Time’s arrow is the loss of fidelity in compression. A sketch, not a photograph. A memory is a re-creation, precious because it is both more and less than the original.” Before moving to novel-length fiction with last year’s excellent The Grace of Kings, Ken Liu concentrated his writing on short stories. His moving and inventive […]

The Chronicles of Malus Darkblade – Volume I by Dan Abnett & Mike Lee

For Malus Darkblade a feat of heroism involves raiding a coastal village for plunder and slaves, butchering his enemies and successfully bringing back his spoils without being thwarted or assassinated by one of his siblings. It’s not your typical fantasy story. Born of the bloodthirsty Druchii race, Malus’ actions aren’t condemned, in fact they’re rather […]

Berserkers In Fantasy

In fantasy, we see a lot of magicians, shape-shifters, werewolves and all manner of humanoid characters with supernatural qualities. One type of powerful character that crops up more rarely, however, is the berserker. A “berserker” is someone liable to be overcome by rage – a rage that sends them into a violent, frenzied state, temporarily […]

Hereville: How Mirka Caught a Fish by Barry Deutsch

Mirka of Hereville has defeated a troll in a knitting contest and won her home back from a meteorite that tried to take her place in her family, but now she faces a challenge both potentially more familiar to her readers and more difficult: babysitting her bratty six-year-old half-sister Layele. Mirka, being Mirka, doesn’t take […]

The Silver Tide by Jen Williams

By now, I’m sure everyone knows how much I love Jen’s books. Last year I was raving about The Iron Ghost, which was one of my favourite titles of 2015, and I’m happy to say that The Silver Tide is firmly lodged in my favourites of 2016. Not only is it a great book, it’s […]

Body Work – Rivers of London Graphic Novel Review

I was raised on a diet of comic-book adaptations. Back when home video was in its infancy, they were the only way to ‘watch’ a film again, or in some cases even see it. I had a paperback version of The Empire Strikes Back from Marvel that literally dropped to bits from being read so […]

Fight Like A Girl Anthology: Launch, Review, and Readalong!

On the first Saturday in April, I learned something very important: if you’re going to get involved in a tavern brawl, always make sure you have Juliet McKenna on your side. This pearl of wisdom was imparted by the launch of Kristell Ink’s new anthology, Fight Like A Girl, which brings together new and established […]