Duncan M. Hamilton's Blog, page 18

Black Sails

I’ve just finished watching the second season of Black Sails, and enjoyed it enough to be motivated to write a post about it! I thought the first season was excellent, and this one was a solid step up, both in terms of the story and the characters.

The storyline is developing nicely and expanding to give the viewer a broader appreciation of the characters and the world they inhabit. A new character was brilliantly sinister, while others were developed to a much deeper level, Charles Vane in particular, who is threatening to knock Jack Rackham from his perch as my favourite character. Vane has been brought from a comparatively two dimensional psycho to a man with much more interesting dynamics, and I’m really looking forward to seeing where they take him in the next season. The sets are incredible, and the ship scenes brilliant. It captures the atmosphere of the period brilliantly, and shows the pirates as far more than plundering, rum swigging savages.

If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s well worth a look. A word of warning however – it’s definitely for a grown up audience. Lots of nudity, violence, and bad language. It’s certainly not Pirates of the Caribbean!

Updates and an announcement of sorts…

Ok,  time for an update I think!

First off, there’ve been a few minor visible changes to the website, but a fair bit more going on under the bonnet (hood!). There’s still a little more to come, so please bear with me! Between renovating my apartment, minor knee surgery, and finishing off drafts for the first part of my next trilogy, finding time for everything over the past little while has been a challenge!

There’ll be a couple of more interesting things coming down the pipeline pretty soon, one of which is a new novella, called The Marcher Lord. It’s the story of a young, rural swordsman making his first journey to his capital city. It explores a region in the west of the Middle Sea world, called Mirabaya, so it’s been a fun opportunity to roll back the covers from another little bit of the world and explore it. I’ll be posting more about The Marcher Lord over the next few days. Expect plenty of intrigue and swashbuckling!

That’s all for now, so I hope everyone is doing well!

Changes afoot…

Fairly significant changes on the way as I’ve just moved host with my website to increase the functionality. It’ll be a bit of a work in progress for the next few days, so I apologise for the mess!

There will be writing related updates in a few days. I hope everyone had a good Easter!

Duncan

The Swordsman of Tanosa Free on Amazon

The Swordsman of Tanosa, a short story set in the Middle Sea is available for free on Amazon for the next couple of days. For Bafion, there is no farther to fall. Once a banneret, officer, and gentleman, he is … Continue reading →

Where Next?

With the release of The First Blade of Ostia, I plan on moving to a different part of the Middle Sea World to explore for my next few books. The Empire didn’t swallow up the entire world, even at its … Continue reading →

Things I watched over Christmas

My Christmas viewing revolved around a few box sets and some stuff on Netflix. First off was an A/B session of ‘Borgia’ and ‘The Borgias’. Coming to the European-made Borgia from the US-made The Borgias was a bit jarring, and … Continue reading →

The First Blade of Ostia available in paperback!

The First Blade of Ostia is now available in paperback. I recently received my proofs and I have to say I’m pretty pleased with how it’s turned out. Of my covers so far, I think this one is my favourite. … Continue reading →

Get a signed copy of The Tattered Banner

I’m running a giveaway over on Goodreads for a signed copy of The Tattered Banner. You can enter the contest by clicking here. I hope everyone is well, and has done their Christmas shopping!

The First Blade of Ostia now available!

I’m happy to announce that The First Blade of Ostia went on sale last Friday. To be notified as soon as I release a new book, you can sign up for my New Release Newsletter. The First Blade of Ostia is set … Continue reading →

The First Blade of Ostia – Cover Reveal

  Here’s the cover for my impending release, The First Blade of Ostia. I hope you like it. I’m very pleased with how it’s turned out, and think it captures the atmosphere of the book perfectly. There will be more updates … Continue reading →