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The Creatures We Base Aliens On
One of the interesting things about fictional aliens is that they’re almost never completely alien. We have no real idea what extra-terrestrials would look like, and it’s nigh impossible to imagine an entirely new species unlike anything we’ve ever seen. As such, we usually fall back on earthly species for inspiration, combining known elements to […]
Worlds Within Worlds – Part Three: Old Grey Beards
If you ask someone on the street to name the first three wizards that come to mind, you’ll probably hear the names Gandalf, Merlin, and Dumbledore (or Rincewind, if they’re trying to be clever). The image of the white-bearded old man with a staff is woven into modern fantasy, to the point that Pratchett filled […]
VOYAGER TAKEOVER: ANNOUNCING The City Of Brass
Well, the cake and coffee and various other sweet things have run out. The seating is comfortable, but we’re getting a bit bored of being lazy now (I know… I thought it would never happen as well!). You’d have thought that during our capture, Harper Voyager would have provided us with Netflix or a PS4 […]
Voyager Takeover: Announcing Witchsign
The takeover continues, although there’s a vent that we at Fantasy-Faction considered escaping from. When we talked about it though, the cakes, coffee, books and comfortable chairs provided by Voyager are better than our normal work conditions, so we thought we’d let them get on with it… Oh, Den Patrick! You’re about to hear about […]
Voyager Takeover Intro & THE BLOODPRINT
Why hello sports fans! Why are you reading this blog? This is about FANTASY. We here at HarperVoyager like to keep you on your toes and what better time to do that than at World Fantasy Con! We’re here in sunny Helsinki having a sauna and drinking with SFF royalty, plus, you know, working REALLY […]
Cover Reveal for A Veil Of Spears
I can still remember the first time I heard of Bradley Beaulieu. It was 2011 when he was in the running for the Gemmell Morningstar Award with The Winds of Khalakovo. That was a great book and anyone who read it knew that Bradley would go far should he stick with Fantasy. However, Khalakovo was a […]
Small Press, Big Stories: World Weaver Press
Small Press, Big Stories is a monthly column focusing on small and independent presses from around the world. This month’s featured publisher is World Weaver Press. So far, all of the independent presses we’ve featured have been based in Britain. This time however, we’re off across the Atlantic to talk to World Weaver Press, home […]
The Pros and Cons of a Macro Timescale
Most fantasy and science fiction series tend to be, by their very nature, large in scope. We expect stories about the fate of worlds, the rise and fall of empires, and history in the making. A book might still focus on a character’s personal, small-scale struggle, but it’s rare the focus will only be on […]
Tough Travels: Strongholds
At the start of every month, Fantasy-Faction will lead you (yes, YOU!) on a tour of the fantasy genre. From high to low, from classics to new releases, from epic to urban; each month, we will guide you in search of a different trope, theme or cliché. Lest we become lost, we’ll be referring to […]
Cover Reveal & Extract for A TIME OF DREAD by John Gwynne
John Gwynne is a favourite here at Fantasy Faction. His The Faithful and the Fallen series has been named in our ‘best of’ and ‘most anticipated’ lists time and again, and for good reason. His debut, Malice, won the David Gemmell Morningstar award, and the next three books (Valour, Ruin, and Wrath) were all shortlisted […]
10 Tips for Self-Published Authors
In publishing there are outliers who release a book straight to the top of the charts, but they are few and far between. Happily, you don’t need this to happen to be able to make a full time living from writing—the slow build to a solid platform is equally viable, albeit longer in the making. […]
Monthly Short Story Winner: Dragons
This month we decided to give you a treat. Something grand. Something terrifying. Creatures you complained about being not depicted as they should be. This month our entrants wrote about dragons! Absolve yourself and picture them as the menacing, intelligent, magical, godlike terrors they are. Or not. You never know what our writers are going […]
