“Silver Linings” by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris
Last month the newest edition to Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris’ Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences series was released. The latest installment, Dawn’s Early Light, features Braun and Books on their next assignment, which brings them to the United States to investigate a series of nautical and aerial disasters. If you’ve not gotten a chance to […]
The Shadow’s Curse Cover Reveal
I’m hoping that many of you have had the opportunity to read and enjoy one of 2013′s very dest debuts, The OathBreaker’s Shadow by Canadian fantasy author Amy McCulloch. If you didn’t, the story is set in a world where you tie a knot to secure any promises that you make. Should you break these promises you […]
Survey of Fantasy Subgenres – Part One: High and Low Fantasy
A big hello to Fantasy-Faction readers! I’m happy to be a new member of the Fantasy-Faction staff and would say thanks for the great opportunity. As my first series of articles, I’d like to present and discuss subgenres of fantasy. The definitions and boundaries are subject to opinion. I’ll present what seems correct to me, […]
Michael J. Sullivan on why he is jumping from Fantasy to Sci-Fi
Some of the most fun I’ve had reading novels over the last few years have come as a result of Michael J. Sullivan. His novels aren’t huge, epic, Game of Thrones type novels – but rather a throwback to when fantasy didn’t take itself so seriously and the primary aim of the book was simply […]
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: What it Means to be a Female Hero
It’s been nearly eleven years since the end of the cult TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer but after all this time it remains a significant contributor to fantasy history. The show is lauded as ground-breaking, not necessarily for its overly original speculative fiction elements but ultimately because the development of character, combined with a […]
Have we made Dragons and Demons too cute and cuddly?
To celebrate the release of Stephen Deas’s The Dragon Queen coming to paperback, we have for you today a very cool article on the emasculation of dragons in contemporary fantasy writing and why – in Stephen’s opinion – this is a bad thing, taking away from the ‘formidable or dangerous’ beasts that have featured in stories over […]
Worldbuilding: Using The Creation Story To Help Design A Belief System
Is a faith system vital to any fantasy story? Definitely. Even in a fictional setting, people need a raison d’être and comforting explanations for the mysteries of life. Religion is an excellent way to enrich a world. It provides it with clerics, shamans, priestesses, temples, oracles and prophesies. Religion is one of five main components […]
The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes
BioWare has created a number of my favorite video game franchises. Alongside the critically acclaimed Knights of the Old Republic, their blood soaked fantasy world of Dragon Age and alien covered sci-fi universe of Mass Effect have entranced, enthralled, and enriched countless fans who’ve pour hours into their story driven campaigns. Imagine my surprise as […]
Winner of the January 2014 Writing Contest
We’ve been getting such good feedback for the short stories our members have submitted in our Monthly Short Story Competition that we have decided to post them on the main site at a rate of about one a fortnight. Today we will be looking at the winner from our January 2014 contest. “Et tu, Brute?” […]
Writing Is Like LEGO and It’s Awesome
Somewhere out there, in the aether of time and space, is a scientific report waiting to be written about the links between writers and LEGO. Just about every writer I know loves LEGO, many rewarding themselves for new book deals with those huge expensive sets (I’m looking enviously at you, Adam Christopher, and your Star […]
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
This review contains some spoilers. Read with caution if you have yet to finish the book. After thoroughly enjoying The Northern Lights I was eager to get onto The Subtle Knife and I was instantly intrigued by Pullman’s approach at opening with an entirely new set of characters. As well as new characters Pullman throws […]
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
The year is 2044. Planet Earth is entering the third decade of a colossal energy and employment crisis. Cities are going up in superheated mushroom clouds, and people are packed together in slums like sardines. The world is in a bleak time in its history. A time when nearly everyone is looking for an escape […]
