Marc Aplin's Blog, page 67

Between the Shade and the Shadow by Coleman Alexander

Between the Shade and the Shadow has a haunting, fast paced narrative that kept me enchanted from beginning to end. A gripping coming-of-age story about a rebellious adolescent girl and her wolf companion, it’s Island of the Blue Dolphins meets The Golden Compass meets The Hunger Games, except in this case, the heroine isn’t human. […]

Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off #4: The Final Five and Our Finalist

* 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 with fresh roadkill upon their tongue. To each their own, […]

Petra McDonald and the Queen of the Fae by Shona Kinsella

Petra McDonald is a bisexual, pagan artist who lives and works on a small Scottish island. While in a trance, she paints a young girl who has been abducted by the Queen of the Fae and it falls to Petra to save her. She must travel to the Faery, collect three items for the Queen, […]

Peter Haynes Interview – The Willow by Your Side

Peter Haynes’ debut novel The Willow by Your Side has just been published by Unsung Stories. It is a haunting exploration of British folklore, mythology and landscape set after World War I, and follows the journey of a boy into the magical woods to find his missing sister. Peter Haynes was kind enough to speak […]

Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen by Garth Nix – Series Review

Five Great Charters knit the land. Together linked, hand in hand. One in the people who wear the Crown. Two in the folk who keep the Dead down. Three and Five became stone and mortar. Four sees all in frozen water. Written by Australian author Garth Nix, the Abhorsen trilogy is set in the fictional […]

Blade & Rose by Miranda Honfleur

An R-Rated Kushiel’s Dart. For Miranda Honfleur’s fantasy romance, Blade & Rose, I originally considered using the tagline, Versailles meets Empire Strikes Back. Set in a second world French royal court, with plenty of intrigue, it initially appears as if the bad guys are using the heroine’s best friend as bait—just like Darth Vader tortures […]

5 Supernatural Tales to Scare Away the Christmas Cheer

What’s better than roasting chestnuts on an open fire? How about reading a novel to send shivers up your spine? The holiday season is almost upon us, and it’s high time we fought back the good cheer and colour with ghosts, goblins, and creatures of the night. The following novels are ideal stories for a […]

Chasing Graves by Ben Galley

Spoiler Warning: This review contains minor spoilers. Read with caution if you have yet to finish the book. “They must die in turmoil. They shall be bound with copper and water of the Nyx. They must be bound within forty days. They shall be bound to whomever holds their coin. They are slaved to their […]

Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

The Dragonlance books were published between 1984 and 2011, and are a group of connected fantasy novels set in the world of Krynn. Krynn was an official setting for Dungeons & Dragons, so it’s fair to say that Dragonlance was an “official” D&D product. Most of the novels were set in Krynn’s “present day”, but […]

Elizabeth Haydon – The Cauldron Interview

Spoiler Warning: This interview contains spoilers for The Symphony of Ages and The Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme series. Please read with caution if you have yet to finish the books. Editor’s Note: This interview was originally published on The Cauldron fan forum, hosted at the time by freeforums.org, which has sadly passed into internet […]