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The Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off 3: So It Begins . . .
Last week saw the exciting kick-off of the THIRD Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (#SPFBO), with nearly 250 novels submitted in the first four days of the announcement. As of May 7th, there are still around 50 spots left in the SPFBO3. If you’re planning on entering – HURRY! (Edited to add: the contest is full and submissions […]
Small Press, Big Stories: Luna Press & A.J. Dalton Cover Reveal
Small Press, Big Stories is a monthly column focusing on small and independent presses from around the world. This month’s featured publisher is Luna Press. Back in March I popped up to the York Pubmeet (find them on Twitter @YorkPubmeet) for AJ Dalton’s talk on his PhD thesis, The Sub-Genres of British Fantasy Literature. Not only […]
Cover Reveal for THE EMERALD BLADE by Steven Kelliher
Back in August 2016, Steven Kelliher surprised the indie scene with his self-published debut novel, Valley of Embers. Introducing readers to the LANDKIST universe (where flame-wielding warriors known as Embers struggle in dwindling numbers to defend their homes from the Darkness), Valley of Embers was widely regarded as a solid and highly competent debut. Though Fantasy-Faction didn’t find it […]
What’s the Deal with Interactive Storytelling?
What’s the deal with interactive storytelling? Glad you asked. If you know me, you’ll know that I’ve been making video games since I was a kid, banging away at the keyboard of my dad’s Commodore 64. If you don’t know me, well . . . surprise! One of my other favorite things since I was […]
Cover Reveal for PRINCESS OF BLOOD by TOM LLOYD
So here it is: the cover of Princess of Blood in all its monstery goodness. After the brilliant Stranger of Tempest cover we of course went back to Jon McCoy to do this one too and I think you’ll agree it’s a cracker – artwork to grab you by the throat! Before the throat grabbing […]
Cruising the Cosmere: Visit Magical Arelon!
Buckle in, dear readers – we’re taking a tour of the Cosmere! Over the course of a truly ridiculous number of months, Sonia Grace will be reading her way through every book, novella, and short story set in Brandon Sanderson‘s Cosmere. Read all about it here, follow along on the forum, and be sure to […]
Tough Travels: Assassins
Back in 2014, Nathan Barnhart created a weekly feature called ‘Tough Travels’, which he hosted over on Fantasy Review Barn. Inspired by The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones – a tongue-in-cheek parody of the fantasy genre – it would spotlight a different trope every week, and invite other bloggers to compile their […]
The Gemmell Awards for Fantasy: Shortlist 2017
Voting on the shortlists closes on Friday 2nd June. Cast your votes on the David Gemmell Awards official website HERE. The awards will be presented on the 15th July 2017, at the Edge-Lit 6 event in Derby. Be there or be…not there? Elsewhere? Somewhere? Blood has been spilled. Blades have been dulled. Bones have been […]
Sieges and Siegecraft, Part Two: Defenders
Shore up the defences, man the walls and get those supplies inside! Last time, we looked at siegecraft from the attackers’ side; this time, we’re on the defensive. There are a number of reasons why someone would choose to defend a specific location: to protect property or the lives of inhabitants; to secure a strategic […]
Disabilities in SFF (Redux): More or Less than ‘Fine’?
Quite some time ago, I wrote a pretty vague and largely naive (in that I missed a lot) article about disability in SFF. It was exclusively about physical disabilities and was, generally, written by someone who only vaguely knew what he was talking about. I referenced The Wild Hunt author, Elspeth Cooper as she talked a little about […]
Introducing ‘Cruising the Cosmere’!
Show of hands: how many of you started reading Brandon Sanderson’s books with no idea of what the Cosmere would be? When I picked up Mistborn way back before his first Wheel of Time book came out, my entire goal was to get a sense of the writing style of this Sanderson guy who was […]
I Know This is Fantasy-Faction, but Science-fiction Matters Too
I don’t think I have a strange reading history. I’m pretty sure it is the same as many other people. At a young age I started reading books, because that’s what you do once you’ve exhausted the excitement of cereal packet ingredients. I had a library card because it was much cheaper than buying lots […]
