Marc Aplin's Blog, page 74
October 10, 2018
Terry Pratchett and the Fantastical Power of Similes
Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series is celebrated by fantasy readers around the world for its wit, humour, and worldbuilding. Those who enjoy the series, myself included, cannot deny the vividness of Pratchett’s imaginary world, so magically crafted with words and so carefully balanced on the back of a turtle in space. An entire essay could be […]
October 9, 2018
The Stone Road by G. R. Matthews
Spoiler Warning: This review contains minor spoilers. Content Warning: This review contains excerpts from the book which briefly depict child murder and rape. A note is posted before and after the excerpt. – – – News would spread like the plague, everyone it touched would be changed. Fear would infect every heart, no one would […]
October 7, 2018
Curse by Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguié
Spoiler Warning: This review contains spoilers. Please read with caution if you have yet to finish book one. This book, as I might say to my friends, is a trip. (Actually, it’s nowhere near as intense as I remember the next two books being. Of course, as I remembered the first book being better than […]
October 5, 2018
James Jakins – Author Spotlight
I discovered James Jakins and his work when I read an article about last year’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO). I’m always on the lookout for great indie and self-published authors to add to my massive TBR mountain. In this case, one book caught my attention above all. I know they say you should never judge […]
October 3, 2018
Self-Publishing Fantasy Blog-Off #4: Fall of the Second Five
* 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, […]
October 1, 2018
The Books of Pellinor by Alison Croggon – Spoiler Free Series Review
The Books of Pellinor is a four books epic fantasy series written by the Australian author, Alison Croggon. Here in the UK the first book is called The Gift, but in other parts of the world it is also called The Naming. The series is a retelling of “Naraudh Lar-Chanë”, “Riddle of the Treesong”, which […]
September 30, 2018
El Ministerio del Tiempo (Ministry of Time) – TV Series Review
I am a sucker for costume dramas. If a show involves somebody wearing farthingales, I will give it a try, and I’ll usually hang in there even if it’s not that great. Usually on the stationary bike, I’ll pedal along, admiring fashions, upholstery, and candelabras. I’ve watched my share of mediocre historical dramas and fantasies, […]
September 26, 2018
The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander
It seems that I have a thing for sentient elephants. My first experience was the excellent Downward to the Earth by Robert Silverberg. But, The Only Harmless Great Thing is much more than just sentient elephants, it’s an emotional piece of work creating a quite plausible alternate reality that makes us think about the morality […]
September 25, 2018
Draigon Weather by Paige L. Christie
In Adfen, men fear the coming of Draigon Weather – the oppressive heat, the lasting droughts, the slow death of everything that can only be appeased by sacrifice. And women fear the coming of the Draigon – because it is always a woman who is sacrificed. Only nine-years-old, Leiel Sower has already lost her mother […]
September 24, 2018
It’s Agent Week!
UPDATE: It’s agent week! Head over to our Facebook group to ask our featured agents your burning publishing questions! If you’re an aspiring writer, dreaming of a publishing deal and one sacred day of seeing your hard work on the shelf at your local bookstore, then you’ll likely need an agent. These mysterious beings, hidden […]
