Hive Monkey by Gareth L. Powell
The attack macaque is back! Fresh (well, ish) from saving the world from nuclear meltdown in Ack-Ack Macaque, our titular monkey is having a bit of a meltdown of his own. Struggling with the sudden fame that has been thrust upon him, he is having a hard time dealing with a world in which he […]
‘Shannara’ Pilot in Development
It seems logical that following the success of A Game of Thrones television studios would be jumping on the multi-book series of the fantasy genre, but none have been confirmed to be in development… until now. MTV have revealed that a pilot based on The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks, 22-time New York Times […]
Government Open Consultation on PLR: My Idea
In an article I wrote yesterday I spoke about how British authors are entitled to just over 6 pence (10 cents) per book loaned from local authority run libraries through PLR Payments. Interestingly, a public consultation has opened up where the Government is inviting opinions from people (primarily authors and interested parties) on the proposed […]
Shadow of the Colossus – Video Game Review
Thanks to Sony’s marvelous PSN Plus service, I recently got the chance to play Shadow of the Colossus, one of the great classics of the Playstation 2 era that, in my humble opinion, stands marvelously to the test of time. Everything in the game is extremely minimalistic. The opening scene shows us the hero riding […]
She Who Waits by Daniel Polansky
Welcome back to Low Town and the world of the Warden, a disgraced secret police enforcer turned drug dealer. It’s not a place for the faint-hearted but for anyone who likes things just a little on the dangerous side, it’s well worth the trip–as anyone who’s read Polansky’s previous two novels, The Straight Razor Cure […]
Subgenre Bingo – Steampunk
For a lot of people, steampunk is less a speculative fiction variant and more a fashion and decorating aesthetic. That’s okay (far be it for me to say it isn’t) but the roots of the aesthetic are pretty much in literature. Specifically, Victorian era science fiction. Why am I naming it a subgenre of fantasy […]
Fantasy & Ebooks: Big in China!
When you think of China it’s likely that images of dragons, spirits, magic, combat, swords and alternative states of consciousness come to mind; all the ingredients of a successful fantasy novel. This is likely to contrast heavily with the second image you’re likely to get, the birthing place of the majority of our affordable electronics […]
Happy Hour in Hell by Tad Williams
Happy Hour in Hell sees angel Doloriel–AKA Bobby Dollar–make a welcome return, following on from his adventures in The Dirty Streets of Heaven. If you haven’t already pounded those pavements with Bobby, you’d best look away now to avoid any spoilers. Bobby’s as down on his luck as any man can be, even one with […]
NaNoWriMo Type Along with Stephen Deas – The Finish
Follow along as Stephen Daes shares his week by week experience doing NaNoWriMo. If you missed Stephen’s intro article, you can read it here. If you missed any of the previous weeks you can read them here: week one, week two, week three, and week four. November 30th Wordcount target: 100,000 Words written: 75,664 Completion anxiety […]
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Are you ready for adventure, magic and drug fuelled dragons? Come sit down with Kvothe and get consumed in his world. The blurb alone is enough to convince anyone to read this book; it pulls you in with the promise of all these great adventures yet at the opening of the book this legendary Kvothe […]
Alamut by Vladimir Bartol (Translated by Michael Biggins)
‘Nothing is true, everything is permitted.’ – The Supreme Ismaili Motto Alamut is an impenetrable fortress which houses a small Ismaili army ruled by the enigmatic Hasan ibn Sabbah. He is a charismatic yet elusive master. The subjects of Hasan ibn Sabbah, also called Sayyiduna, are in awe of their master on many different levels–some […]
She Who Waits by Daniel Polansky
Editor’s Note: This review contains minor spoilers for the entire Low Town trilogy. If you search for “define warden” on Google, you’ll get the following: a person responsible for the supervision of a particular place or thing or for ensuring that regulations associated with it are obeyed. Clearly, The Warden was not misnamed. She Who […]
