Marc Aplin's Blog, page 86
February 21, 2018
We’re Back!
Hello Factioners! If you’re a regular you may have noticed a lack of updates in the past couple weeks. Well I am happy to say we’re back! Where were we? Well the cool answer is we were fighting a hoard of evil script demons intent on garnering more clicks for their bitcoin mining empire! And […]
February 13, 2018
Reaching Outside the Genre
The fantasy genre is a curious beast, its wide reach covering a range of topics and themes. It has stories about growing up, stories about overcoming problems, stories about slaying dragons and monsters. It’s not limited by location, ideas, character types, or any of the other criteria we normally use to define a genre. In […]
February 12, 2018
Blood of Assassins by R. J. Barker
Age of Assassins was my favorite fantasy novel. It was close to being my favorite novel of any genre. The reason I write in the past tense is because the sequel has improved upon its predecessor in multiple facets. While Age of Assassins was a dark coming of age story about a 14-year-old assassin and […]
J. P. Ashman Interview – Black Guild
Today we have with us J. P. Ashman, fellow Factioner and author of the Black Powder Wars series. The second book in the series, Black Guild is out now! Now some of you may not have heard of Ashman and his dark fantasy series. But that is about to change. However before we get to […]
The Reborn King by Michael Miller
I’m an impulsive book buyer, usually drawn to a shiny cover and 99c sales like my wife is to shoes and handbags. If my one-click finger itched any more, you would think I was Wyatt Earp at the O.K. Corral. It has led to an insurmountable TBR list (and an angry wife who wonders where […]
February 7, 2018
The Problem with Abandoning the “Strong Female Character”
Yet another descriptor has been caught in the verboten term net. Recently, several essays have appeared arguing that people should stop using the term “strong female character” (SFC) or “strong female protagonist” because a) The SFC has become just another trope in speculative fiction, providing authors with another cardboard token with which to people their […]
February 6, 2018
Small Press, Big Stories – The Expo!
Today on Small Press, Big Stories – an announcement! On Saturday 24th February, the Forbidden Planet London Megastore will be hosting a small press expo! Authors and editors from four of the UK’s leading SFF small presses will be on hand in one of Forbidden Planet’s trademark “open-plan” events to chat, sign books, and answer […]
February 5, 2018
Borne by Jeff VanderMeer
Looking at the list of genres above, it’s clear that I had difficulties categorizing Jeff VanderMeer’s Borne. But I suppose that is what the New Weird is all about. Although there is some disagreement over the precise nature of the genre, it seems to be a sort of mashing together of speculative elements to produce […]
February 4, 2018
Jamie Davis Interview
Today we have the absolute pleasure of interviewing Jamie Davis. Jamie is a nurse, paramedic, podcaster, and author of three series: Extreme Medical Services, Broken Throne, and Accidental Traveller, which explore both urban and epic Fantasy. Jamie, Can you talk a little about your relationship and experience with EMS and nursing as well as non-fiction […]
February 2, 2018
Monthly Short Stories Winner: Water
This month we asked for stories, where water of any kind was a key element. It didn’t matter if it was a stormy sea, a misty lake, a polluted river, a frozen waterfall, a terrible flash flood, or a sentient geyser – water is incredibly diverse and we expected the stories to mirror this. And […]
