Marc Aplin's Blog, page 159
November 17, 2015
Fantasy-Faction T-Shirts and Hoodies Are Back!
Greetings fellow Factioners! I have exciting news! If you missed our first set of Fantasy-Faction hoodies and t-shirts you are in luck! We will be placing a US order just in time for the holidays! (If you are outside the US, please see the bottom of the page.***) The profits from these sales will go towards […]
Painting With Grey: The Development and Popularity of “Gritty Fantasy”
In the last ten years, the fantasy community has seen an upsurge in the popularity of so-called “gritty fantasy”. However, this sub-genre of fantasy is evident even earlier than this. George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series has been ongoing since the mid 90s. Glen Cook’s Black Company series arguably pioneered […]
November 15, 2015
The Builders by Daniel Polansky
Daniel Polansky is an interesting guy. I say this having never met the man and reading exactly 50% of his published output. He reminds me of Warren Ellis (the writer, not the Bad Seed) and that is a good thing. He knows the value of what has come before, and can create something new out […]
November 13, 2015
Lessons Learned from the Gollancz Festival for Writers
On Sunday, 18th of October, prolific SFF publisher Gollancz held the Gollancz Festival for Writers, as a sort of addendum to the already sold-out Gollancz Festival 2015. It had a smaller line-up of authors compared to the main festival itself, and focused solely on writing (obviously). I was gutted that the main festival sold out […]
November 12, 2015
Swords and Scoundrels by Julia Knight
Swords and Scoundrels is the first book of the Duellists Trilogy following the lives of siblings Kacha and Vocho, master duellists thrown out of the guild and into adventure. Think daring swordfights and witty banter, think nefarious plots and manipulative villains, think betrayal and love, there’s also a lot of clockwork powering the whole thing. […]
November 11, 2015
iPods in Narnia
Okay, so there weren’t iPods in Narnia…but there are in ancient Egypt. Sort of. If you read Rick Riordan’s Kane Chronicles. A lot of fantasy writers find it tricky to balance the more fantastical elements of their world with the myriad of cool, real-world gadgets their characters can access these days. Riordan is one of […]
November 10, 2015
The Traitor by Seth Dickinson
The Traitor is a great example of modern political fantasy – as such, it’s entirely new to me. I’ve not read A Song of Ice and Fire so cannot view Dickinson’s book in comparative terms, as other readers seem to be doing. Instead I came to it as someone who prefers to read the kind […]
November 9, 2015
A Look At Secondary Characters
It’s often said that characters are the heart of the story, and most of the time people are referring to the central protagonists when they say this. It’s only natural; the central figures are the most prominent in the novel, the ones that people remember. But this article is about the supporting players, the secondary […]
November 8, 2015
Song of Susannah by Stephen King
Wow, did this series get super weird. I don’t even know where to begin with Song of Susannah (SOS as I like to think of it). Considerably shorter than Wolves of the Calla, SOS is a fast-paced can of craziness with the main aim of setting up the climax of the series. It’s fun, it’s […]
November 7, 2015
The Iron Dragon’s Daughter by Michael Swanwick
The changeling’s decision to steal a dragon and escape was born, though she did not know it then, the night the children met to plot the death of their supervisor. I can remember vividly the feelings of wonder and amazement I had on reading The Iron Dragon’s Daughter for the first time. Here was a […]
