Scarred Lands Player’s Guide – Role-playing Game Review
The Scarred Lands, Player’s Guide was originally created at White Wolf before Onyx Path Publishing and Nocturnal Media took it over. In a 2016 Kickstarter campaign, Onyx and Nocturnal successfully funded both the Pathfinder and the 5th Edition version, raising over $60,000 to make this book a reality. Thanks to Matt, from Onyx Publishing for […]
Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off #5: Fifth Seven to Fall
* Disclaimer * Writing and reading are subjective arts. What some folks will absolutely love, others will dislike. It is a bit like Marmite in the UK—normal people dislike it intensely, but some weird folks actually enjoy the taste of warm road surface with fresh roadkill upon their tongue. To each their own, I suppose. […]
Paternus: Rise of Gods – Hardbacks Kickstarter – Ends Today!
What can you say about Dyrk Ashton that others haven’t already said? I am frankly at a loss, however I will say that his first book, Paternus, has place on my shelf of books that must be read. It takes so many myths and legends, weaves them into each other so smoothly you come to […]
NaNoWriMo 2019: My Personal Experience – Part One
As I am writing this, I am feeling completely burned out. My hair is a mess (is that another silver strand sprouting up?!), my eyes are puffy and twitchy, dark circles nestle beneath and I am desperately trying to hold back a yawn…aaaaand the yawn wins out. I managed to force out 400 words this […]
Smoke and Stone by Michael R. Fletcher
Smoke and Stone is a grimdark story about two young people who live at opposite ends of their caste system. Both believe one of the gods has chosen them to carry out their desires to improve life in their city. What ensues is not only the beginning of rebellion amongst each caste, but also the […]
Scion RPG 2nd Edition Review – Part Two – Scion: Hero
Okay, round two of my review of Scion—the RPG from the good folks at Onyx Path that lets you play the children of mythological gods in a modern world. Check out part one of this review (Scion: Origin), for more context and a description of the core rules of Scion as a whole. (I’ll also […]
An Introduction to Xianxia: LitRPG’s Redheaded Stepsister
The most widely read fantasy story in history is not George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, nor even JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. That honor belongs to Jin Yong’s Condor Trilogy, which fits into the Wuxia (pronounced ooo-shyah, literally Martial Knight-Errant) genre. If you’ve seen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, or old […]
Help Us Pick 2019’s Best Fantasy Books
Hello Factioners! It’s time to start making our Best Fantasy Books of 2019 list! You can nominate as many books as you like. They must be full length novels, and they have to be new for 2019. Trad, small press, self-pub all qualify. The list won’t be published until New Year’s so if something is […]
On the Importance of Critique Groups
Writing can be—and often is—a solitary journey. The stereotypical and sometimes romantic notion of a writer alone in a room penning the next great novel does stem from truth. Most of the time, writers do their work alone, whether that be in a coffee shop surrounded by people or in their one-bedroom apartment surrounded by […]
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
From the listless repose of the place, and the peculiar character of its inhabitants, who are descendants from the original Dutch settlers, this sequestered glen has long been known by the name of Sleepy Hollow… Halloween is my favorite holiday, probably due to the many fond memories of my mom putting up decorations and trick-or-treating […]
Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off #5: Next Five Fall
* Disclaimer * Writing and reading are subjective arts. What some folks will absolutely love, others will dislike. It is a bit like Marmite in the UK—normal people dislike it intensely, but some weird folks actually enjoy the taste of warm road surface with fresh roadkill upon their tongue. To each their own, I suppose. […]
‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King
Novelist Ben Mears returns to his hometown of ‘Salem’s Lot after the death of his wife. He becomes part of local life and begins a new relationship, but things are not going well in the town. An antiques shop has just opened, run by two suspicious men, and a spate of deaths and disappearances plagues […]
