Marc Aplin's Blog, page 145
March 19, 2016
3 More Things Fantasy Can’t Get Right With Combat…
A few weeks ago I told you the story of Chet MacGuffin, a young man chosen by destiny to overthrow the evil that has oppressed the kingdom for years now and how, if you think about it, he tends to be a really, really bad Chosen One. You might think there could be nothing else […]
March 18, 2016
Snakewood by Adrian Selby
Snakewood is one of those books that will have plenty of fans and plenty of haters too. When an author tries to do something unique or far-reaching it will either impress you or turn you off. The ‘magic system’ in Snakewood means that there is a great deal of mind/body altering substances (potions) in use. […]
The Immortals by Jordanna Max Brodsky
I will never look at Greek myths the same way again, and I’m not sure if I am happy about that or not. Greek mythology was my childhood introduction to the world of fantasy literature. I read every story I could get my hands on and then their Roman counterparts. It continued to fascinate me […]
March 17, 2016
Interview with Brian Staveley
Brian Staveley is one of the breakout authors of the past few years. His ‘Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne’ series has a ton of admirers from all around the world and their consensus is that each book has been better and bolder than the last. Inevitably then, the third book in the series, The Last […]
March 16, 2016
City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett
The first question I expect you to ask about City of Blades is: ‘Does it live up to the Locus, World Fantasy, British Fantasy and GoodReads Choice Award nominated City of Stairs?’ Well, that’s a good question, my friends… Allow me to answer it with an emphatic YES and quickly follow it up with the promise that it truly is […]
March 15, 2016
Down Station by Simon Morden
I made the mistake of reading the first few chapters of Down Station on the Tube…which in Morden’s world is consumed by a terrible fire, along with the rest of London. Apart from regular, nervous checks on how many stops I had until Paddington, I was absolutely glued to the opening pages. The author paints […]
March 14, 2016
Trying Out Science Fiction: A Guide for Fantasy Purists
Are you a reader who sticks purely to fantasy and looks suspiciously at the science fiction side of the shelf in the bookstore? Perhaps you’ve thought about trying out some sci-fi, but the prospect of spaceships and alien races just doesn’t seem appealing. Or you have tried some and been turned off. You might still […]
March 12, 2016
Monthly Short Story Winner: Plot Twists
Plot twists are often a specialty of short stories and you find them there more often than in other forms of writing. The most famous examples I can think of aren’t in literature, though. I guess most of you have seen one or more of M. Night Shyamalan’s movies: The Sixth Sense, The Village, Signs, […]
March 11, 2016
Hidden Treasures: Los Nefilim by T. Frohock
Part of a series that reviews small press and digital first fantasy works. “Time stood still and soft, like the moments embedded in midnight’s silence.” Frohock’s trilogy of Los Nefilim novellas has gained a small but enthusiastic following that was enough to get the first volume, In Midnight’s Silence, voted onto Fantasy-Faction’s Best of 2015 […]
Chinese Mistborn Cover
We’ve featured work from Jian Guo before when we highlighted his incredible Chinese covers for Book of the New Sun and The Lord of The Rings. It seems China liked their dose of classic English-language fantasy and crave some more, this time something more modern in Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn. Yet again, Guo’s talents have been called […]
