Marc Aplin's Blog, page 51
February 25, 2020
His Dark Materials – Season One Review
Back in 1999, it was announced that both The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter were becoming film franchises. There was both excitement and apprehension. Excitement because fans were going to get movies based on their favorite fantasy books, and apprehension because—at the time—so many movies based on fantasy or science fiction books had […]
February 23, 2020
Captain Moxley and the Embers of the Empire by Dan Hanks – Cover Reveal
Not long ago we announced that Angry Robot had acquired a new novel from our very own contributor, Dan Hanks! You can read the interview with him here, but first we have another announcement. Angry Robot has given us first dibs on revealing the awesome cover for said book, which has an equally awesome title: […]
February 20, 2020
A Sea of Broken Glass by Sonya M. Black – SPFBO #5 Finals Review
*Disclaimer* Writing and reading are subjective arts. What some folks will absolutely love, others will dislike. It is a bit like Marmite in the UK—normal people dislike it intensely, but some weird folks actually enjoy the taste of warm road surface and fresh roadkill on their tongue. To each their own, I suppose. These are […]
February 18, 2020
2019’s Best New Genre TV Shows
I still remember my childhood, when I wasn’t much interested in TV shows due to their being a pointed lack of sci-fi and fantasy adaptations. But these days not a week goes by when some new genre fiction gets adapted. Original material also keeps springing up left and right. So, it is almost criminal not […]
February 16, 2020
Luanne G. Smith Interview – The Vine Witch
The Vine Witch was an Amazon First Read last September and has since garnered over 3,500 reviews. I picked it up not because I was particularly interested in wine or witches, but rather because it was free with Amazon Prime. Going in with low expectations, I was blown away by the creativity and wordsmithing. In […]
February 12, 2020
Firefly Original Graphic Novel: The Sting by Delilah S. Dawson
If you don’t know anything about me, one thing you should know is that I am a big damn Firefly fan. I just got a Firefly cookbook for my birthday—which you KNOW I’ll be putting out a review once I try Book’s chicken noodle soup and Jayne’s mudder’s milk—and two action figurines—hello, Wash and Zoe, […]
February 10, 2020
G. R. Matthews Interview – Six Kingdoms
G. R. Matthews is a self-published writer with eleven books under his belt. He is also head mod on the Fantasy-Faction Facebook Group and the official Bureau Chief of Fantasy-Faction proper. Recently he signed with Jamie Cowen from Ampersand Agency and now has a manuscript out with an interested publisher! We can’t wait to say, […]
February 6, 2020
Spire – Role-playing Game Review Part One: Core Rulebook
What is Spire? Created by Rowan, Rook and Decard, it’s a weird, dark fantasy RPG about waging a morally grey war of resistance against an oppressive and demented regime. It’s a game of espionage, horror and impossible choices. It’s a bubbling stew of fantasy, steampunk, pulp and sci-fi. Most importantly, it’s bold, bloody and beautiful. […]
February 4, 2020
The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith
If Game of Thrones was isolated to the French wine country. I confess, the cover for The Vine Witch didn’t grab my attention, nor did the premise particularly interest me. A witch and a French vineyard? MEH. Besides the old TV show, Bewitched, witch stories have never particularly interested me. And wine? Well, remember the […]
February 2, 2020
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
Zachary Ezra Rawlins, the son of a fortune-teller, is studying for his Masters in Emerging Media (video games). His peaceful, semi-solitary, existence is thrown off course when he checks an old book out of the university library. The book clearly predates Zachary’s birth, but it describes an odd incident from his childhood—a time when he […]
