Alex Epstein's Blog, page 6
July 23, 2011
My Library
Fragments of Life interviews me about my favorite books from 2011, and what I've been reading, and what's in my library. 
July 22, 2011
Highly Recommended
The Midwest Book Review sez:
The Sorceress Morgan Le Fay is often painted as a villain in Arthurian legend, but what painted her in this role? "The Circle Cast: The Lost Years of Morgan LeFay" follows the young woman after she swears vengeance on Uther Pendragon who killed her father. With vengeance in mind, she masters sorcery and makes her own way, only to have her plans for revenge derailed by what may be love. "The Circle Cast" is an excellent work of Arthurian fantasy, highly...
July 21, 2011
Roof Beam Reader
Roof Beam Reader reviews TCC:
One of the most interesting aspects of the book is not just that it is about Morgan Le Fay, which is a fascinating subject; in fact, one of the most interesting elements was the conflict between the budding Christian culture and the well-established but threatened pagan religions. Added with the various nationalities – the British, the Irish, the Saxons, and (in some relative respect) the Romans- the book becomes a fascinating culture study. It also tackles...
Ironclad
Saw IRONCLAD last night at Fantasia. It's essentially a samurai movie, but set in England under the reign of King John. After signing Magna Carta, John treacherously hires Danish mercenaries to retake control of his kingdom and murder all the barons who forced him to sign it. A small group of knights seize Rochester Castle and must hold it against the Danish mercs and King John's siege weapons to give time for the French (!) to come to the rescue.
It's a very good, grade-A samurai movie. Lots ...
It's a very good, grade-A samurai movie. Lots ...
July 20, 2011
This or That
My Reading Room has me answering This or That today...
July 19, 2011
The Wicker Tree
I'm off in a few hours to see THE WICKER TREE at Fantasia. It's the long-awaited sequel to THE WICKER MAN. Tell you all about it when I'm back.
Into the Past
The Fiction Enthusiast asked me what books I would recommend to 5 year old me, 11 year old me, 16 year old me, and 20 year old me. What do you think of my answers?
July 18, 2011
Blog Tour - Tweets
As part of my blog tour, Anime Girl interviews me. The catch -- I have to answer in tweets. Check it out.
July 14, 2011
No Kindle in Canada
Strangely, there is no Kindle Store on Amazon.ca. So if you want to buy The Circle Cast on Kindle from Canada, you have to go to Amazon.com
. (See link at right.)
June 30, 2011
Three Days to Never
In the past few days (and especially since my computer died), I've been reading Tim Powers books. I really enjoy his mix of history and fantasy. The historical bits give a sense that he's done a tremendous amount of research into the times he's writing about, whether it's 1529 (THE DRAWING OF THE DARK) or 1987 (THREE DAYS TO NEVER). The fantasy bits feel right, too. Of course getting the history right helps the fantasy too. As he says in an interview in the Guardian:
One advantage of rooting h...
