Seven Blades in Black by Sam Sykes
Seven Blades in Black is the first book in The Grave of Empires series. The central theme is the contest for power between mages—those with any magical or superhuman ability—and non-mages—regular humans. Before the events of this book, the Empress—a mage from a lineage of powerful mages—gave birth to her first child and heir, who […]
Chronicles of Ancient Darkness by Michelle Paver – Series Review
Chronicles of Ancient Darkness is a six book historical fantasy series by British author, Michelle Paver. The series consists of Wolf Brother, Spirit Walker, Soul Eater, Outcast, Oath Breaker and Ghost Hunter. It is aimed at younger readers, but can be enjoyed by a range of ages. We follow a twelve-year-old boy, named Torak, who […]
A Fantasy Geek’s Guide to YouTube: Vampires
Vampires. They’re better than zombies. I’ve demonstrated this conclusively in a previous article. From True Blood to Let the Right One In to V Wars, vampires are all over literature, films and TV and they show no sign off stopping. But let’s talk about vampires as they appear in that little corner of the world […]
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
When I first said I wanted to review this book, I mentioned the prologue as what drew me in. That wasn’t entirely true. While I did enjoy the prologue (and I’ll mention the chills it gave me later on), it was the title that really caught my eye. How could it not? There’s something enticing […]
On Planning My First Solo Author Event
Planning a book related event is stressful on all accounts, no matter if it’s a simple reading or a large writing conference. Regardless of size, the same questions remain: Will people have a good time? Does the agenda flow smoothly? Will people discover something exciting? Are there enough networking opportunities? What about food and drinks? […]
The Dreaming Land by E. P. Clark – Series Review: Books I-III
I discovered E. P. Clark a couple years ago when I read (and loved) the first book in the Zemnian series, The Midnight Land. Set about a hundred years later, The Dreaming Land books provide a highly entertaining finish to this series set in a fantasy version of the Russian Empire, in which women hold […]
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood – Book Review
Set in the near future, society has become something different; there’s a new hierarchy at play. The government has fallen and life has fractured as a result of pollution and radiation. The Republic of Gilead rises from the ashes. Men have taken the position of power as head of the household. They are in charge; […]
Soul Render by T. L. Branson
“Stormbringer in a stone.” Middle school marked the rebirth of my interest in fantasy, and after reading heroic fantasy stories like Dragonlance and Dragonriders of Pern, I was taken aback by Elric of Melnibone. The ability of Stormbringer to suck souls utterly horrified me: raised in a Southern Baptist household, the idea that the essence […]
Fantasy-Faction Game of Thrones Discussion: Season 8, Episode 6 – “The Iron Throne”
*Spoilers*This is the final episode. Spoilers for the entire Game of Thrones series ahead! “The Iron Throne” is a fitting title for the finale of Game of Thrones. For the past eight years, we’ve watched the characters kill and die over this MacGuffin-seat, only to see the chair itself turned into molten slag during the […]
Blade Skill, Iron Sensing and Hypnosis: Behind the Scenes Look at Shadowblade – Guest Blog by Anna Kashina
Despite being a scientist in my day job, in my writing I tend to gravitate to fantasy. This means, magic rather than technology, supernatural and mystical as opposed to rationally explained. People often ask me why I am not using my science background in my writing, and up until now I have always come up […]
40 Years of The Perfect Organism: Does Alien Hold Up?
Spoiler Warning! This article contains many spoilers! When I was about 15, Aliens had a reputation among my friends as a great film. It was part war movie, part science fiction film: futuristic in a tough, edgy way. After watching it on a battered VHS videocassette and thinking it was excellent, I settled down to […]
As I Learn: Or Why I Stopped Calling Myself A Pantser
Do you already know what type of writer you are? You may call yourself a discovery writer, an outliner or a mixture of both. We traditionally think of discovery writers, gardeners, and pantsers as writers who make up their stories as they go, and outliners, architects, and plotters as writers who pre-construct their plots before […]
