Marc Aplin's Blog, page 152
February 12, 2016
Monthly Short Story Winner: The Seven Tenets of Roguishness
Each month in our forum we run a short story contest. The winning stories are then posted here on our main site. If you are interested in entering our contest this month, you can do so here. Rogues. Most of us have a soft spot for them. But why? Because they steal from the rich […]
February 11, 2016
Richard A. Knaak Interview
Who doesn’t know Richard A. Knaak? You know what, don’t answer. You all should. This is the author who has written more books than you realise, in more worlds that should really be possible, and created the truly epic Dragonrealm – which I’ve written about before. Now, he branched out once more and written an […]
February 10, 2016
Getting Started In Scrivener
You’ve probably heard your fellow writers rave about the writing software, Scrivener. You may have even downloaded it and used a free trial. But if you are coming fresh to it from a piece of software like Microsoft Word it can sometimes feel a little confusing as to what’s so special about it. When you […]
February 9, 2016
Evelyn Skye Interview
Evelyn Skye’s hotly-anticipated debut, The Crown’s Game, is due out in the spring. Vika Andreyeva can summon the snow and turn ash into gold. Nikolai Karimov can see through walls and conjure bridges out of thin air. They are enchanters—the only two in Russia—and with the Ottoman Empire and the Kazakhs threatening, the Tsar needs […]
The Last Exodus by Paul Tassi
I don’t read much Science-Fiction, but: “What would happen if you threw Independence Day, The Walking Dead, and Guardians of the Galaxy into a blender? I can’t say for sure, but it’d probably look something like The Last Exodus.“ How could I not check it out, right? Things kick of with a grim view of […]
February 7, 2016
Sun Wukong, AKA The Monkey King
It’s Chinese New Year, and in honour of the Year of the Monkey, I’ve gathered some my favourite adaptations of the Monkey King stories. The Monkey King is one of the most famous characters in Chinese literature, from one of its classic novels, Journey to the West. Published in the 16th century during the Ming […]
February 5, 2016
Kingfisher by Patricia A. McKillip
This is the first McKillip book I’ve ever read and proves to be very different from my usual fantasy selections. I want to say it is like a cross between historic fantasy and magical realism. A bit paradoxical perhaps? Set in modern times, we have a wyvern-descended king, Arden Wyvernbourne, who is sending his knights […]
Expecto Patronum named best Harry Potter spell
What!? You didn’t know that it was Harry Potter Book Night last night? You didn’t make it to one of the 10,500+ parties scattered across the UK? Missed out on the Butterbeer, cake and various wizarding activities? Well, as part of the celebrations, Bloomsbury Books invited readers to use Social Media to vote on their favourite spell from […]
February 4, 2016
The Builders by Daniel Polansky
“Is it true you killed High-Hand Lawrence and Hotpants the squirrel during the same card game?” Nothing from Cinnabar. No words, no change in his demeanor, no breathing, only the absolute stillness of which only a cold-blooded creature is capable. “I wonder if you’re as fast as they say,” Bessie Weasel chirruped, her hand slowly […]
February 3, 2016
Bloodmage by Stephen Aryan – Cover Reveal
It seems this is cover reveal week on Fantasy-Faction! Today with have the pleasure of revealing the second book in Stephen Aryan’s Age of Darkness series: Bloodmage. The first book, Battlemage, featured a fireball slinging wizard. Bloodmage’s cover follows the theme of battle with a more traditional weapon. But before we reveal the main attraction, […]
