Marc Aplin's Blog, page 53

Year in Anime 2019

2019 is coming to its end. Anime has reached new heights in popularity in the Western Hemisphere and now even popular streaming services like Netflix have taken up producing original animes. And despite the volume of anime there is content that is quite good and deserves to be watched and enjoyed. So, I stand here […]

God of Gnomes by Demi Harper

I first heard of LitRPG a little over a year ago—and my understanding extended only so far as it was a genre that in some way combined novelisation with role playing games. However, this was not in the R. A. Salvatore way where Crystal Shards and Halfling’s Gems guide characters through a world totally recognisable […]

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

Have you heard of Becky Chambers? If you’re a regular reader of Fantasy-Faction, then perhaps you remember an article about her back in August 2018. Jessica Juby reviewed Record of a Spaceborn Few, where she chatted about Chambers’ Wayfarer series, how she was able to go meet Chambers (be still my heart), and sang the […]

Cover Reveal: The Girl and the Stars

I first got my hands on work from Mark Lawrence back in 2011. He was pitched as the next George R.R. Martin (most authors are!). What I read wasn’t that. It was something much different, but at least as good… a book I described at the time as “Disturbing, Beautiful, Chaotic, Poetic, Haunting, Exhilarating…” and […]

The War of the Worlds – 2019 BBC Adaptation Review

Imagine you go to a concert to see a classic band perform their greatest hits. However, the band only performs some of their best-known songs, and many of those are in unusual arrangements. How many songs does the band have leave out, and how strangely do the familiar songs have to be performed, before you […]

On Character Agency

What will a character do next? What can they do next? These are the questions that drive the narrative of a story forward and determine what direction it will follow. While they may follow a greater plot arc, the best characters have agency of their own that directs their narrative. Character agency is usually defined […]

The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Hanrahan

Every once in a while, a book is released and it’s all everyone talks about. How great the story is, how rich the characters are, how the worldbuilding matched the dark tones and the originality of the story, etc. And, it was the author’s debut book! When I finally read (or, more accurately, listened) to […]

NaNoWriMo 2019: My Personal Experience – Part Two: I WON!

This is part two of my experience participating in NaNoWriMo 2019, a writing exercise where one attempts to write a novel (50,000 words) in a month’s time. If you haven’t done so already, be sure to read part one first. Huzzah, I did it! I won! I am very much relieved I survived the grueling […]

Blood of Heirs by Alicia Wanstall-Burke – SPFBO Review

Lidan Tolak is the fiercest of her father’s daughters; more than capable of one day leading her clan. But caught between her warring parents, Lidan’s world begins to unravel when another of her father’s wives falls pregnant. Before she has time to consider the threat of a brother, a bloody swathe is cut through the […]

Guns of Liberty by Jamie Mauchline – SPFBO Review

“First rule of piracy: be in the wrong place at the right time.” Guns of Liberty is an age of sail fantasy where airships rule the skies, pirates stalk the misty main, and occultists dabble in profane magics left behind by dispossessed gods. Join Rachel Masters, Inquisitor of the Liberty Empire and the Holy Church […]