Marc Aplin's Blog, page 82
April 15, 2018
Small Press, Big Stories: Shadow Alley Press
Today on #smallpressbigstories, Michael Gruneir gives us a look at James A. Hunter’s publishing company: Shadow Alley Press. I am a huge fan of James Hunter’s work. He was also my very first interview at Fantasy-Faction. I talked to him recently about his publishing company Shadow Alley Press, its beginnings, its projects, and its mission statement. […]
April 12, 2018
Tree of Ages by Sara Roethle
Some books grab you from the get go with breakneck action. Others, with a lovable character in a difficult situation. In many, we are immersed in new, fascinating worlds which don’t follow expected rules. Oftentimes, we get a combination, such as Pee Wee’s Playhouse. In Tree of Ages, by Sara Roethle, we get: a tree. […]
April 10, 2018
An Echo of Thing to Come by James Islington
An Echo of Thing to Come is the second book in The Licanius Trilogy, the first being The Shadow of What Was Lost. The trilogy is an epic fantasy set in the fictional world of Andarra. Book two picks up roughly a month after the events of the first book. It starts with a refresher […]
April 9, 2018
The Sons of Heaven by Kage Baker
Whew. Eight books and several hundred years later (or several hundred thousand years, depending on whether you’re counting from the Spanish Inquisition or Options Research and Back Way Back… time travel is a rather messy business to write about), here we are. 2355. The Silence. All the pieces are going to come together, and after […]
April 8, 2018
The A-Zs of Worldbuilding: Building a Fictional World From Scratch by Rebekah Loper
Though I usually don’t confess what I am about to tell you in polite circles, I imagine it will be a badge of honor on Fantasy-Faction: Once upon a time, when Advanced Dungeons & Dragons was still in its first edition, I was a Dungeon Master. One of the greatest joys of being Dungeon Master, […]
April 5, 2018
The War of Undoing by Alex Perry – SPFBO Review
“My name is Tay Raining, and this is my brother Ellstone. I wonder if you’ve heard of us . . . I have a birthmark shaped like a question mark on my hand, I think it might mean something but I’m not sure what. My brother is probably important too, though I can’t imagine how. […]
April 4, 2018
A Streak of White Hair: Fantasy or Reality?
I was recently reading a fantasy romance novel where the main character pushed himself to the limits of his magical abilities and nearly died. Afterward, he was left with a streak of white in his long black hair (if you don’t mind spoilers, this is the book). I’ve seen this before many times in fantasy, […]
April 2, 2018
Malice of Crows by Lila Bowen
Spoiler Warning: This review contains spoilers for earlier books in the series, but nothing beyond what you’d see on the back covers of the books. Malice of Crows, book three of The Shadow series, by Lila Bowen (a.k.a. Delilah S. Dawson) was ranked among Fantasy-Faction’s Best Books of 2017 but somehow, we didn’t review it when […]
April 1, 2018
A Fantasy Geek’s Guide to YouTube: Mythology
YouTube is an app, a website and a cultural phenomenon. It’s also a vast and only partially explored wilderness full of content that ranges from dynamic to dire. Whatever your interests are, there’s probably at least one channel out there for you. But managing to dig out the channels that cater to your own SFF […]
March 29, 2018
Pilgrimage to Skara & Devil’s Night Dawning – Double SPFBO Reviews
Pilgrimage to Skara by Jonathan Pembroke Self-Published – July 28, 2016 Fantasy Ebook 3.5/10 stars It has been nearly two decades since Pell Wendt abandoned the power and prestige of Collum. Ruled by the semi-divine Ajudicar, the city had been his home all his life, but no longer. Spurned by the woman he loved, […]
