Marc Aplin's Blog, page 145

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 […]

Small Press Fantasy Titles On Our Radar: April 2016 Edition

Welcome to the second edition of the Small Press version of Fantasy-Faction’s popular ON OUR RADAR feature. This is the post in which we show readers all the Small Press books they should be looking out for during the course of the coming month. Savvy readers will notice this post is running a little bit […]

Javelin Rain by Myke Cole

This review contains spoilers for Gemini Cell. Please read with caution if you have yet to finish the first book. You can find Fantasy-Faction’s review for Gemini Cell here. Javelin Rain, Myke Cole’s sequel to Gemini Cell, may be the least hopeful book I’ve ever read. It wasn’t until the final pages, when protagonist Jim […]

Mythology in Urban Fantasy

I’ve talked before about creating a mythology using fantasy, and I’ve delved a little into world mythology and folklore through various articles on dragons, demons, fae, and magic, but this time I want a different spin. Mythology is all about the past: legend, folklore and tales that were somehow brought into being by our ancestors […]

Worldbuilding: The Nihilistic Architect and the Negligent Gardener

George RR Martin’s now famous analogy of the architect and the gardener distilled the craft of novel-writing into two distinct creative approaches. I would suggest that this is a particularly useful analogy when thinking specifically about worldbuilding – the manner in which writers go about creating a fictional universe for their story to live within. […]