Marc Aplin's Blog, page 42

The Kingdom of Liars by Nick Martell

2020 continues to present books by debut authors, which continues the expansion of speculative fiction canon. Several works by new authors remind readers the genre is influenced by more than just fantasy and science fiction. Nick Martell’s debut—The Kingdom of Liars, the first book in The Legacy of the Mercenary Kings—is part epic fantasy and […]

Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off #6: The Second Five Fall

Each SPFBO, Mark Lawrence makes a Wordle of the titles entered that year. The biggest words represent those used most often, and Fantasy-Faction got our share of the books with dragon and shadow in the title. Today we must cut two of our dragon titles, but two more dragons and all five shadows are still […]

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

Speculative fiction is a term used when the common themes found in fantasy, science fiction and horror overlap while incorporating at least one of the many subgenres into the narrative. Add themes of race, sex, religion, family, and revenge, and you have a story that reflects any era in human history. The Year of the […]

Peasprout Chen, Future Legend of Skate and Sword by Henry Lien

Mean Girls meets Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon…on ice! (or Tonya Harding meets Jin Yong) As an wuxia film aficionado, and the parent of two competitive ice skaters (word of caution to those of you with young kids: ice skating is expensive!), Henry Lien’s debut middle-grade (MG) fantasy, Peasprout Chen, Future Legend of Skate and Sword, […]

The Worth of Hair by A. A. Freeman – Cover Reveal & Interview

Good day Factioners! We have a treat for you! A cover made by one of my favorite artists, who also did the cover for the Fantasy-Faction Anthology! But I’m getting over excited. Let me start over. Today we are happy to reveal the cover of debut author A. A. Freeman’s soon to be released novella, […]

Psycho Killers in Love by C. T. Phipps

I like books that make me think, including those with layered storytelling and deep metaphors you can peel back like an onion to find more and more thought-provoking material. But sometimes, especially times like these, escaping into a page-turner of a light romp is exactly the break one needs. This is absolutely the case with […]

Black Void – Role-playing Game Review

Black Void describes itself as an esoteric RPG. That might set veteran roleplayers to thinking about Unknown Armies or Kult—games set in our world which explore occult symbolism and themes. A better comparison would be Call of Cthulhu by way of Conan the Barbarian and Stargate. Though even that description misses out the Arabian Nights […]

The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart – Spoiler Free Review

The Bone Shard Daughter is the first book in The Drowning Empire trilogy and marks Andrea Stewart’s debut into epic fantasy. It is a multi-perspective story set in a fictional empire made up of many islands. For decades, the extremely unpopular emperor has ruled, but now his rule is starting to crumble and there are […]

Dinosaurs and Darkness

Since the age of whenever it was that someone first uttered the word ‘Dinosaur’ to me and showed me a picture of a Stegosaurus, I’ve loved the very concept of those massive beasts.

Nightblade’s Vengeance by Ryan Kirk with Live Interview!

Shogun meets the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy. With over a thousand reviews on Amazon, Ryan Kirk’s Nightblade trilogy is perhaps the most popular Asian fantasy, with the exception of Will Wight’s Cradle series. I had listened to book one a couple of years ago, and while I enjoyed the characters, story, and worldbuilding, I didn’t […]