Marc Aplin's Blog, page 171
July 29, 2015
Fantastical Biology – Part Eight: Fantasy Diseases
When creating a believable fantasy world, we often focus on things like politics, religion, culture; but there’s a tiny (microscopic, in fact) detail that can flesh out a story world and be used to create tension and conflict. Protagonists in fantasy novels often get cuts and bruises, or spend a few nights camping in the […]
July 28, 2015
Gail Z. Martin & Larry N. Martin Interview
In honor of the launch of Iron & Blood, we thought we would ask bestselling author Gail Z. Martin and co-author Larry N. Martin to interview each other about their new steampunk adventure and the perils and possibilities of being a married author team. Gail: So Larry, what have you liked best about publishing, and […]
Jennifer Williams reveals cover for ‘The Silver Tide’
The recent British Fantasy Award nominee, Jennifer Williams, has released the cover of her upcoming novel, The Silver Tide. It is the third in a trilogy of books – The Copper Promise & The Iron Ghost coming before it – and the good news is we can confirm what you are all hoping: it, just […]
July 27, 2015
Magic Shifts by Ilona Andrews
Just when I think the series can’t get any better, I am proven wrong. Boy, was I wrong. One would expect book number eight in the series to be simply another entertaining read that one comes to expect from this husband and wife writing team. One would be wrong. As the title suggests, there is […]
July 26, 2015
Michael J. Martinez Interview
That last time we talked to author Michael J. Martinez he had just released his debut novel, The Daedalus Incident, which introduced us to a dual-universe story full of 18th Century sailing ships in space and ancient Martian warlords. Flash forward only two years and he’s completed the trilogy with The Venusian Gambit, as well […]
July 25, 2015
Exile: The First Book of Ever by James Cormier
I read this book as part of Mark Lawrence’s Self Published Challenge. James Cormier’s Exile pleasantly surprised me. I’ve never had any luck with reading self-published work, although I know there’s some good stuff out there, so my expectations were low. Fortunately, Cormier’s story grabbed my attention right away, and within a chapter I realized […]
July 24, 2015
The Clockwork Dagger by Beth Cato
I think it can safely be assumed that healers have a certain reputation in fantasy works: they’re good for saving people’s lives but not much else. If someone in a group needs to play the part of a damsel in distress, a healer is the easiest one to fill that role. After all, healers are […]
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 Official Trailer
The Hunger Games films have been ‘pretty good’. I wouldn’t say ‘Harry Potter Good’, but I’ve enjoyed them enough that I’m going to be amongst the first queuing outside the cinema to see the final part in the series. Jennifer Lawrence’s character, Katniss, has risen from a tribute puled from poverty to the leader of […]
Anthony Ryan’s New SteamPunk Trilogy Signed!
Yesterday we posted the excellent news that Adrian Tchaikovsky had signed a new book deal with Tor.com, well today we’ve heard of another of F-F’s friends, Anthony Ryan, who has landed a new major book deal too! Most fantasy fans will know of Anthony as a result of his hugely successful Raven’s Shadow trilogy. The […]
In The Beginning – Advice On Starting An Epic Fantasy Novel
I’ve known John Wordsworth for a number of years and in addition to being one of the nicest guys in publishing he is also one of the most talented. Formerly John ran, what I consider, one of my favourite genre labels in the UK: ‘Headline Science Fiction & Fantasy’. They weren’t around very long, but when […]
