Marc Aplin's Blog, page 90
December 23, 2017
Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi – Spoiler Free Movie Review
“Let the past die. Kill it if you have to. That’s the only way to become what you were meant to be.” And with those words, The Last Jedi’s writer/director Rian Johnson’s intentions are laid bare. With a palpable sense of glee that never once veers into parody or mockery, Johnson delivers a bold, polarizing […]
December 21, 2017
SPFBO Review: Clearwater Dawn by Scott Fitzgerald Gray
Clearwater Dawn is a tightly-woven, almost claustrophobic mystery-adventure tale, focusing on the role of one pivotal minor player in major affairs. It features a lot of traditional tropes (a princess, a stable-boy, political intrigue, assassins) but is definitely a grown-up rather than YA story (in theme – I don’t want to imply it’s X- or […]
Help Us Choose The Best Fantasy Books of 2017!
2017 was a heck of a year wasn’t it? Unforgettable! One that we’ll remember for a long- No, no. Please don’t cry. We know this year has tried to beat us all to hell, but there must have been some good in it right? Right?? Of course we’re right. But it was certainly not thanks […]
Smoke Eaters by Sean Grigsby – Cover Reveal + Excerpt
If you read Fantasy-Faction there is a high chance you like dragons. We sure do! We even made our mascot a dragon (her name is Scarlette btw). <3 So, we’re sure you’ll- What? You say dragons in fantasy are overplayed? While we heartily disagree, this is not the first time we’ve heard this particular complaint. […]
December 20, 2017
SPFBO Review: The Tale of Gurion Thricebound by Angela Holder
Gurion is a long book. I need to get that out there right now. Definitely one of the longest I have ever read for the SPFBO, and I’ve been at this three years. That’s … erm… 90 books or so. I probably also need to say that the writing, the sentence structure, is smooth and […]
Red Sister by Mark Lawrence – Paperback Cover Reveal
Mark Lawrence’s Red Sister has already had a number of awesome covers. If you’re in the US you’ve been able to enjoy the Hunger Games inspired one with Nona holding a sword in a DBZ like stance; If you’re in the UK then you’ve had the more elegant, snowy cover that seems to draw inspiration […]
December 19, 2017
A Fantasy Romance Lover’s Most-Anticipated Releases of 2018
When people say fantasy, most tend to think of titles like The Hobbit or Harry Potter. Likewise, when people say romance, most think of titles like Pride and Prejudice or Fifty Shades of Grey. And if you ask people what books are in the middle, in that sweet spot where fantasy meets romance, they’ll almost […]
Urskuul’s Reading Circle: It Devours! by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor
Hello all, and welcome to the latest newsletter from Urskuul’s Reading Circle. It has been a while since the last one was issued, and I’d like to extend my apologies for that. While we had a meeting last month, it was sadly cut short and we didn’t have a chance to do much discussing. See, […]
December 18, 2017
Small Press, Big Stories – Skyhorse Publishing
We’ve been quiet for a while – blame the day job and an inexplicable desire to hibernate until February – but you can’t stop the signal, so we’ve been having a chat with Cory Allyn, senior editor at Skyhorse Publishing, over the waves there in the US. Skyhorse is probably the biggest independent “small press” […]
December 17, 2017
The Siege of Abythos by Phil Tucker
Spoiler Warning: This review contains spoilers for books one and two of the Chronicles of the Black Gate series. Please read with caution if you’ve yet to finish the first two. But, you HAVE read them, right?!? I took pages of copious notes while listening to and reading The Siege of Abythos, book three of […]
