Marc Aplin's Blog, page 183
April 9, 2015
Writing Fight Scenes
Writing fight scenes is often an important task for a fantasy author. Some writers find they come naturally. Others find them daunting, and can’t think of anything worse. Whichever category you fall into, it’s an important skill to master because audiences love to read them. Here are some techniques that I’ve learned over the years […]
April 8, 2015
New vision for Hobb’s Lord Golden / ‘Fool’
Robin Hobb has had an incredible amount of cover re-issues over the years (and why not? Her books are timeless and deserve to reach as many readers as possible!). This latest one by artist Alejandro Colucci is one of the most interesting in though. I say that because it shows a full, closeup version of […]
Game of Thrones + Zelda = ?
Zelda fans all over the world have reason to be annoyed: the Wii U game has been delayed and Netflix has cancelled the show set to be based on the world of Hyrule (the kingdom that serves as the iconic setting for most of the Zelda games). However, Canadian effects genius Kial Natale has given […]
Joe Abercrombie’s Best & Worst Feedback
We know some of you guys can’t make our Grim Gathering this Friday (April 10th 2015) in Waterstones, Bristol Galleries; and we know others of you are still on the fence whether or not to phone in sick. Well, because we feel bad for you guys missing out, and we want to tempt the rest […]
April 7, 2015
Apotheon – Video Game Review
Apotheon is an indie platform sidescroller, an action game set in the world of Ancient Greek mythology with a focus on combat and puzzle solving. It’s available for PlayStation 4 on PlayStation Plus, and for the PC on Steam. I absolutely love anything to do with Greek mythology and the ancient world, so I was […]
Ben Aaronovitch on London
To celebrate this year’s London Book and Screen Week, five top authors will be revealing their favourite books about London on seven top blogs over seven days, as part of the first ever ‘London Book & Screen Week Blog Tour’ . Fantasy-Faction is delighted to say that the the amazing Ben Aaronovitch has chosen Fantasy-Faction as his […]
April 5, 2015
Rhythm and Time – Part 1: Give Your Writing a Beat of Its Own
I took seven years of piano lessons growing up. I have a terrible ear, and I never practiced enough to become technically adept, but I was always pretty good at sight-reading and keeping time. My sense of meter and rhyme is pretty instinctive when it comes to music. Like music, writing has meter and timing […]
April 4, 2015
Sirens
Sirens were created by the Greek goddess, Demeter. A group of maidens failed to protect Demeter’s daughter, Kore who was the younger version of Persephone, from being kidnapped by Hades. To give the negligent maidens the ability to fly in search of Kore everywhere in the world, Demeter transformed half of their voluptuous figures into […]
Sir Terry Pratchett Graffiti appears in London & Bristol
Graffiti artists in Bristol and London have paid tribute to Terry Pratchett who passed away last month. The Bristol piece in Stokes Croft is by artist Fiver and features 2 of Pratchett’s most memorable characters in a cartoon-y style with Pratchett’s living chest from The Colour of Magic at the centre of the artist’s tag. Fiver […]
April 3, 2015
A Genre for the Ages
Think back to the first time you picked up a fantasy book. What was it? How old were you? For most of us, the answer is probably pretty young. I remember Sherwood Smith’s Wren To The Rescue and Madeleine L’Engle’s Wrinkle In Time series were some of my earliest favorites. Some of the other middle […]
