Marc Aplin's Blog, page 238
March 29, 2014
A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin – Review Part Two
This is part two of this review. If you missed it, you can read part one here. Earlier this month, I spoke of my rekindling love for G.R.R.M.’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. I know that many might or might not be like me, but A Dance With Dragons is what I would term […]
RealmShift by Alan Baxter
I’ve been following British/Australian author Alan Baxter online for a while now. He’s one of a group of very passionate and talented writers in the land down under doing great things. So when he put the word out for reviewers for his two earliest novels—his first being self-published back in 2006, then picked up by […]
March 28, 2014
Fans Celebrate Words of Radiance
Brandon Sanderson has, since taking over from Robert Jordan, developed somewhat of a cult-following in the world of fantasy fandom. Peter V. Brett, Patrick Rothfuss and Mark Lawrence are all authors whose fans seem to go that extra mile to impress them (fan art, cosplay, tattoos), but Sanderson’s fans seem to go just that little […]
Half A King gets a UK Cover & Abercrombie fans get 12,000 words
OK, so I’m in the fortunate position that I’ve been able to talk Joe Abercrombie’s publishers into sending me a review copy of Half A King. However, I know that the vast majority of you haven’t yet been able to get your hands on a copy and are dying to hear as much about it as […]
“House of Dreams” by Michael Swanwick
I would often sit with my friends and argue over which were the best or worst superpowers. The worst superpowers regarded were having the ability to see three seconds into the future, but your reflexes are three seconds slower or simply being able to control condensation but nothing else. But when it came to the […]
March 27, 2014
Recap: “The State of Short Fiction” Roundtable
Recently, the Baltimore Science Fiction Society (BSFS) hosted “The State of Short Fiction” Roundtable featuring editors Neil Clarke (Clarkesworld), Scott H. Andrews (Beneath Ceaseless Skies), Jonathan Landen (Daily Science Fiction), and Norm Sherman (The Drabblecast and Escape Pod); anthologist Bill Campbell (Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond); writer and short fiction fan Erica Satifka (website), […]
March 26, 2014
Historical Research with Miles Cameron and Anthony Ryan
The fantasy genre has always been happily aware of its deep connection to history. Pull a book at random from the fantasy section of your bookstore and you’re sure to find something that jogs your high school memories of Scandinavian Vikings (The Blade Itself), the Napoleonic Wars (The Thousand Names), The Wars of the Roses […]
March 25, 2014
The Girl With All The Gifts by M. R. Carey
If you’ve always wanted your zombie hordes flavored with fungus, then The Girl With All The Gifts by M.R. Carey was written for you. Those who devour science articles will be well versed in the fungus that turns ants into zombies. The infected ants will stumble back to the colony, die, then bloom a terrifyingly […]
March 24, 2014
Game of Thrones Movie?
Last week we brought to your attention the fact that there was a battle of words and intentions going on between George R.R. Martin and HBO. To give you the short version: HBO said that although they didn’t want to they would write their own conclusion to Game of Thrones if George doesn’t finish book […]
Brandon Sanderson Stormlight Interview
A couple of weeks back our good friends at Gollancz got in contact and asked if we’d like to interview one of our favourite authors, Brandon Sanderson. Of course, we said ‘YES!’, but because Brandon is busy we knew we’d only have a very limited amount of questions we’d be able to ask, so we […]
