Marc Aplin's Blog, page 237
April 17, 2014
Dunk and Egg Collection Announced
Today, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who hadn’t seen, read or at very least heard of A Game of Thrones… However, the stories of ‘Dunk & Egg’ – The Hedge Knight (1998), The Sworn Sword (2003) and The Mystery Knight (2010) – are far less well-known – mainly because they’ve been buried in genre […]
April 16, 2014
“Silver Linings” by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris
Last month the newest edition to Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris’ Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series was released. The latest installment, Dawn’s Early Light, features Braun and Books on their next assignment, which brings them to the United States to investigate a series of nautical and aerial disasters. If you’ve not gotten a chance to […]
April 15, 2014
The Shadow’s Curse Cover Reveal
I’m hoping that many of you have had the opportunity to read and enjoy one of 2013′s very dest debuts, The OathBreaker’s Shadow by Canadian fantasy author Amy McCulloch. If you didn’t, the story is set in a world where you tie a knot to secure any promises that you make. Should you break these promises you […]
Survey of Fantasy Subgenres – Part One: High and Low Fantasy
A big hello to Fantasy-Faction readers! I’m happy to be a new member of the Fantasy-Faction staff and would say thanks for the great opportunity. As my first series of articles, I’d like to present and discuss subgenres of fantasy. The definitions and boundaries are subject to opinion. I’ll present what seems correct to me, […]
Michael J. Sullivan on why he is jumping from Fantasy to Sci-Fi
Some of the most fun I’ve had reading novels over the last few years have come as a result of Michael J. Sullivan. His novels aren’t huge, epic, Game of Thrones type novels – but rather a throwback to when fantasy didn’t take itself so seriously and the primary aim of the book was simply […]
April 13, 2014
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: What it Means to be a Female Hero
It’s been nearly eleven years since the end of the cult TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer but after all this time it remains a significant contributor to fantasy history. The show is lauded as ground-breaking, not necessarily for its overly original speculative fiction elements but ultimately because the development of character, combined with a […]
James Cameron will produce 3 more Avatar movies
‘Avatar’ director James Cameron held a Reddit AMA this weekend and although it was essentially to discuss and promote his Years of Living Dangerously, there was a lot about Avatar that will delight Fantasy fans who enjoyed the first movie. Probably the biggest piece of ‘news’ was that the scripts for all three movies will be ready in […]
Have we made Dragons and Demons too cute and cuddly?
To celebrate the release of Stephen Deas’s The Dragon Queen coming to paperback, we have for you today a very cool article on the emasculation of dragons in contemporary fantasy writing and why – in Stephen’s opinion – this is a bad thing, taking away from the ‘formidable or dangerous’ beasts that have featured in stories over […]
April 12, 2014
Fantasy Book Club – April 2014: Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts
This month we are reading Daughter of the Empire by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts as our selection for an Asian inspired SFF. Magic and murder engulf the realm of Kelewan. Fierce warlords ignite a bitter blood feud to enslave the empire of Tsuranuanni. While in the opulent Imperial courts, assassins and spymasters plot […]
April 10, 2014
Worldbuilding: Using The Creation Story To Help Design A Belief System
Is a faith system vital to any fantasy story? Definitely. Even in a fictional setting, people need a raison d’être and comforting explanations for the mysteries of life. Religion is an excellent way to enrich a world. It provides it with clerics, shamans, priestesses, temples, oracles and prophesies. Religion is one of five main components […]
