Marc Aplin's Blog, page 52
January 30, 2020
Sorcery Reborn by Steve McHugh
Sorcery Reborn is the first in a new series by Steve McHugh. At the same time, it’s sort of a direct sequel to the end of his first series, The Avalon Chronicles. If you are new to the author, I absolutely recommend starting with The Hellequin Chronicles, then The Avalon Chronicles, and only then start […]
January 28, 2020
The Cardboard Box: Women as Protagonists – Guest Blog by R.W.W. Greene
Gentle readers, I will be using wide strokes to paint the picture following. The end work could even be dubbed an abstraction. If you stand back from it and see some representation of truth and reality, great. If all you see are random colors, shapes, and gestures, none of which apply to you, I love […]
January 26, 2020
Talk Like A Man by Nisi Shawl
“She would have to do something. Something else besides living. Something more.” PM Press’s Outspoken Authors series, edited by Terry Bisson, is part of the radical indie press’s politically engaged mission, in which they publish some of speculative fiction’s most insightful voices. Each volume concentrates on some of the most provocative and politically engaged of […]
January 23, 2020
Asian Fantasy: SPFBO Edition
With Lunar New Year around the corner, I joined a group chat with SFPBO past and present finalists Rob J. Hayes (Never Die, 2019), Virginia McClain (Blade’s Edge, 2019), M. L. Wang (The Sword of Kaigen, 2019), and K. Bird Lincoln (Tiger Lily, 2017) to discuss English-original Asian fantasy. Due to time zones and deadlines, […]
January 22, 2020
Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko – Translated by Julia Meitov Hersey
Readers who enjoyed The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins must read Vita Nostra—the first book in the Metamorphosis series. If not, then they are missing out on this mind-bending, anti-Hogwarts, Russian import! We must show our appreciation to Julia Meitov Hersey as well, for translating the […]
January 14, 2020
Books to Read in Fantasy: A Look at Lists
Recently a question was asked in the Fantasy-Faction Facebook Group. This is that question and some of the reasons why its answer looks the same, every time the question is asked. Question: What are the books which you think are a great introduction to fantasy—the books which every fantasy should read throughout their journey? Now, […]
January 12, 2020
Fantasy-Faction’s Best Fantasy Books of 2019
Hello Factioners! I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season full of family, friends, food, and fantasy books! We spent a lot longer working on our Best Of list this year than we normally do, as there were so many amazing titles to choose from. Even after weeks of debate, we couldn’t fit […]
January 9, 2020
January 5, 2020
Mark Lawrence Interview – The Girl and the Stars
Today we are very happy to have back Mark Lawrence! Lawrence is the author of multiple bestselling series: The Broken Empire, The Red Queen’s War, The Book of the Ancestor, Impossible Times trilogy,and his new upcoming trilogy: Book of the Ice. Again, thank you Mr. Lawrence for agreeing to another interview with Fantasy-Faction. What influenced […]
January 2, 2020
Figures Unseen: Selected Stories by Steve Rasnic Tem
Figures Unseen by Steve Rasnic Tem is a collection of horror tales for grownups. Oh sure, if a reader really wants to find them, there are ghosts and werewolves and corpses and other staples of the commercial side of the genre to be found. But there is also a boy on a fishing trip in […]
