Marc Aplin's Blog, page 30

Mythological Creatures of Alaska: Fantasy Close to Home

Last year I wrote a blogpost about house spirits to keep you company, highlighting creatures from all kinds of regions and folklores. This time, I want to showcase fantasy creatures that are much closer to home—my home, Alaska! Here are my top six favorite mythological creatures from the Land of the Midnight Sun. Amikuk Yupik […]

The 1st Annual Self-Published Science Fiction Contest – Introductions & Book List

Hello Factioners! We have an exciting announcement! This year we are one of the judging teams in the 1st Annual Self-Published Science Fiction Contest! If that sounds familiar then you are correct! Fantasy-Faction has been judging the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO) since its inception way back in 2015. Along the way we have discovered some amazing […]

Mermicide by Mina Rose

Elevator Pitch: Mermicide is the story of a queer romance between an innocent, psychologically damaged young woman, and a seemingly ageless, predatory mermaid. Also featuring wicked science, brutal violence, and piratical smugglers. Content Warnings: Mental, physical, and sexual abuse. Eating human flesh. Mind control and brainwashing through drugs. The Review Something is rotten in the […]

Swords of Legends Online – MMO Review

I’ve bought two new MMOs recently. I found myself with a little free time and needed something to occupy myself outside of writing book three. First was Crowfall and second was Swords of Legend Online and that’s the one I’m going to waffle on about today. If you’ve played any MMO you’ll know there tends […]

Horns of the Hunter by Frank Dorrian

Great books sometimes have unlikeable protagonists. Take Madame Bovary, for example. I have to give props to Gustave Flaubert for crafting such a beautifully brutal examination of shallow, status-chasing jackasses about whom I cared not a whit. Yet I couldn’t put Flaubert’s masterpiece down even though I despised everyone in it. You’re probably wondering, why […]

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

Mulan meets Swordsman 2. As a mostly-audiobook consumer with little time to actually read, it had taken me two weeks to finish Nghi Vo’s short novella, Empress of Salt and Fortune (though only two hours on the re-read); and a week and a half to complete Aliette de Bodard’s short novella, Fireheart Tiger, both of […]

Big List of Julia’s Favourite Amazing Female SFF Authors

If you know me, then you know Women in SFF is a topic I am rather passionate about.  Some years back, I was prompted to look closely at my SFF shelves. Always preferring little to no romance, aside from very few exceptions, I found the ratio was quite a bit horrendous, with about 80 male […]

Glass Rhapsody by Sarah Chorn

There are words you know and use all the time, but you’ve never thought about their actual dictionary definitions. Rhapsody was one of those words for me. I frequently waxed rhapsodic while describing the first chocolate pecan pie I ever ate. I knew “Rhapsody in Blue” by George Gershwin is the United Airlines corporate theme. […]

Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off #7: The First Five Fall

* Disclaimer * Everyone is different and likes and dislikes different things. Reading is no exception. One person’s all time favorite might seem to bland or too high stakes for another. That being said, the opinions of our judges in this contest are just that, opinions. Just because we let a book go, doesn’t mean […]

How to Create Fantasy Villains

Fantasy villains. Either you love them or you hate them, but good villains are memorable either way. But writing good villains is hard! I know. I’ve written two fantasy books out through Desert Palm Press and the whole time I was writing, I kept going back to the villains. Why was the big bad, the […]