Marc Aplin's Blog, page 247

Words of Radiance is a BIG Book!

We got an e-mail yesterday saying that the proof versions of Brandon Sanderson’s second book in the Stormlight Archive, Words of Radiance, series have hit and we should soon be expecting one in the mail – obviously pretty damned exciting! Anyone who has read the first book will undoubtedly be dying to get their hands […]

Procrastination (Or Why You Can’t Trust A Version Of You From The Future)

Procrastination – it is the bane of all writers, something we all struggle with. How many times have we sat there ready to write and then find ourselves distracted by social media or cat memes on the internet? How many times have we said we’ll start work on that new chapter right after we’ve baked […]

American Gods to TV… No… Really!

I know, I know… you’ve heard it before, right? But, Neil Gaiman himself has said that American Gods is now REALLY in development for television. The company who now own the rights and are set to produce the series is FremantleMedia, best known for reality television like Amercian Idol, The X Factor, America’s Got Talent and game shows like The Price […]

Overlord on SFSignal’s MIND MELD: What’s “Wrong” with Epic Fantasy?

A couple of days ago, SFSignal e-mailed me to ask whether I’d be willing to lend my voice and thoughts to the opinion that ‘something is wrong with epic fantasy‘. This all came about following a podcast, where one of SFSignal’s podcasters, Sarah, said: ‘I think a lot of the problem with epic fantasy, especially […]

Video Montage: Best Visual Effects Oscar Winners

Very cool montage of clips from the winning films in the ‘Best Visual Effects’ category of The Oscars. All credit to Nelson Carvajal who put the video together. This year’s Best Visual Effects nominees are as follows: Gravity (Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk, Neil Corbould) The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Joe Letteri, Eric […]

Moth by Daniel Arenson

In 2014, I’ll be wading into the river of indie sci-fi and fantasy, panning for gold. If you’ve read a great indie book, one that’s every bit as good as mainstream titles, and you think I should cover it, let us know in the comments. Moth is the story of a world of light and […]

New ‘Cover Art’ Direction for Paul Cornell’s Shadow Police series…

If you live in the UK and are involved in the SFF Community, you’ve no-doubt come across Paul Cornell at a convention or two. If you’re a reader of Comic Books or watcher of television series like Doctor Who, Robin Hood or Primeval then you’re certain to have enjoyed something by this diverse writer. And, […]

Are You Alice? by Ai Ninomiya and Ikumi Katagiri

“In another moment down went Alice after it, never once considering how in the world she was to get out again.” Let’s be honest, Alice in Wonderland adaptations and spin-offs are hardly rare nowadays. I can name at least five manga related to the classic tale (though there are a lot more), there is the […]

JK: ‘Harry Potter should have ended up with Hermione’

It has been a good few years since the final Harry Potter book was released, but J.K. Rowling has rekindled interest in the series by revealing that she feels she made a mistake with the ending and that she now feels the books would have worked better if Harry Potter ended up with Hermione instead […]

Fearie Tales: Stories of the Grimm and Gruesome edited by Stephen Jones

Reading fairy tales can be more thrilling than visiting haunted houses and dungeon attractions. So how scary are fairy tales? Fairy tales and legends had a very long oral history before they began appearing in print. Although all countries have their own tales and legends, reflecting their beliefs and character, many of them have a […]