Keeping Characters Realistic In A Fantasy Setting
The fantasy genre is about the imagination, so it might seem strange to talk about realism in your work, but hear me out. Your characters are what sell your story, especially in the fantasy genre. When the world is utterly bizarre, it is the characters that ground the story in something the reader can relate […]
David Gemmell Legend Awards Shortlist & Lunchtime Thoughts
It’s my lunch break and I’m sat here looking over the David Gemmell Legend Award shortlist. It’s truly great to see that in just a few years of the Gemmell’s being set up the three awards that it comprises have become some of the genre’s most sought after. Why? Well, firstly, to make the longlist you need to have been nominated […]
Stolen Songbird by Danielle L. Jensen
If you want a fantasy where two teens in an arranged marriage struggle to love each other, then read Stolen Songbird by Danielle L. Jensen. First Cecile is kidnapped. Then she’s taken underground into a labyrinth that’s slick with the slime of slug beasts that sweat antimagic. Next she’s thrown into a city of human-hating […]
Creating Shanghai Sparrow. Guest Post by Gaie Sebold
The germination of a novel is a peculiar process. It seemed particularly so, for me, in the case of Shanghai Sparrow. When I first considered the possibility of a steampunk novel I had only written two short stories set in steampunkish universes, both of which I’d enjoyed doing, both of which had a rather sepia-soaked, […]
Faeries and Folklore – Part One: An Introduction
We’re going to talk about faeries. For the purposes of both my sanity and authenticity, leave any and all notions of Disney’s Tinker Bell at the door. Tinker Bell is a pretty fiction dreamed up in order to invite little girls to dress in frilly gowns that glitter and sparkle in the sun. Faeries are […]
Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson
This review contains some spoilers. Read with caution if you have yet to finish the book. Midnight Tides, book five of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, provides robust proof of Steven Erikson’s skills as an author, and kicks the whole series into overdrive. Now at book 5/10, we have made it to the middle […]
The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski
I try not to get my hopes up too high when I check out new author/book recommendations from friends or even other book reviewers I respect. What touches one person does not always apply for another. Plus, my reading list seems to grow at a rate that would require me to give up work and […]
Children’s Fantasy: Eight of the Best – Part One
I do not write for children, but entirely for myself. Yet I do write for some children, and have done so from the beginning. This wonderful, contradictory statement comes from Alan Garner, who merits a place – at least in my mind – at the high table of children’s fantasy literature. Garner continues: Only recently […]
In Defence of the Chosen One
One of fantasy’s most commonly mocked tropes is the chosen one. This makes sense; it’s also one of fantasy’s most recurring tropes, and there are a lot of very good reasons why it can feel like a clichéd or even lazy feature. However, I don’t think the chosen one narrative is always negative; in fact, […]
Dunk and Egg Collection Announced
Today, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who hadn’t seen, read or at very least heard of A Game of Thrones… However, the stories of ‘Dunk & Egg’ – The Hedge Knight (1998), The Sworn Sword (2003) and The Mystery Knight (2010) – are far less well-known – mainly because they’ve been buried in genre […]
“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 […]
