Marc Aplin's Blog, page 181

The Skull Throne by Peter V. Brett

WARNING: REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR PREVIOUS BOOKS IN THE DEMON CYCLE AND SOME MINOR SPOILERS FOR THE SKULL THRONE. THE SKULL THRONE picks up immediately after THE DAYLIGHT WAR and its literal cliffhanger ending: Jardir and Arlen have tumbled over the edge and disappeared. And like that, Krasia and the Hollow are left without […]

The Soundtrack to Starborn

So this post is slightly embarrassing, as I’m about to reveal to you some of the music I enjoy listening to. There are lots of elements to cover in Starborn, from the grand destinies of individual characters to the relationships between them and the landscapes against which the story plays out. Generally my taste in […]

Fantastical Biology – Part Six: Fantasy Creatures & Urban Living

Wildlife isn’t the first thing that might come to mind when you think of the city, but lots of animals make their homes there. Things are no different in fantasy cities, and urban fantasy is a popular genre often featuring fantastical incursions into modern day life. Looking at how nature copes in real cities can […]

Wizard and Glass by Stephen King

Wizard and Glass is a reflection novel (no pun intended). We have now reached what could tentatively be referred to as the middle volume in this seven-book long series, and instead of driving the plot forward, this novel applies firm pressure to the brakes and moves the gear-stick into reverse. Really, without the bookends of […]

Does Size Really Matter? – Fantasy Shorts

We are used to fantasy being big – epicly big in many cases – running in countless volumes of increasing size, or the kind of thick tomes that take up far too much shelf space, doubling as doorstoppers and spider killers, rivalled only in bulk by the likes of The Yellow Pages and the Argos […]

Elvenquest Radio Comedy

In the third age of Lower Earth, called by some the Silver Age because it was not quite golden and platinum was too expensive, the questors sought the Sword of Asnagar. Should the Chosen One wield it in the name of good, the evil empire of Lord Darkness will be overthrown, but troubles beset them […]

The Month Ahead: Fantasy Book Releases in May

You know when you’re sat on a train or wandering around the park and you walk past someone reading ‘that book’ you’ve been really excited about? You do a double-take before glaring at them in shock and anger: how do they have ‘that book’ when it’s not even out yet!? Finally it dawns on you. […]

Sword of the North by Luke Scull

This is definitely some high quality grimdark, with a brilliant cast of flawed and complex protagonists that you cannot help but become invested in. The major story careens between Brodar Kayne, Davarus Cole, Sasha and Eremul the Halfmage whilst also flirting with the tale of how Brodar met Jerek, the Wolf and earned his name […]

Daredevil – TV Series Review

As far as comic book superheroes go, Daredevil is pretty damn cool, no matter what the ill-fitting Ben Affleck movie may have had to say on the matter. Whereas Captain America, Iron Man and the rest of the Avengers are about to take on Ultron with the fate of the world at stake in the […]

The Perilous Sea by Sherry Thomas

I think I have a love/hate relationship with this series. The story itself is riveting—if you can get past the telling of it. The characters grow on you so much so that you cannot bear to be done with them no matter how frustrating the book becomes. Like I mentioned before in my review of […]