Browsing all articles tagged with dragons.
Monthly Short Story Winner: Fire
This month we asked our entrants to write about fire. The beauty of fire is its ambivalence. On the one hand we need it to survive (cooking our food, keeping us warm, protecting us) on the other hand it’s dangerous, maybe even diabolical (arson, battle magic, forest fires, household accidents). A fire—no matter if it’s […]
The Anointed by Keith Ward – SPFBO #4 Finals Review
* Disclaimer * Writing and reading are subjective arts. What some folks will absolutely love, others will dislike. It is a bit like Marmite in the UK—normal people dislike it intensely, but some weird folks actually enjoy the taste of warm road surface with fresh roadkill upon their tongue. To each their own, I suppose. […]
The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
A world divided. A queendom without an heir. An ancient enemy awakens. The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction–but assassins are getting closer to her door. Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she […]
Chasing Embers by James Bennett
Behind every myth there is a spark of truth. There’s nothing special about Ben Garston. He’s just a guy with an attitude in a beat-up leather jacket, drowning his sorrows in a downtown bar. Or so he’d have you believe. What Ben Garston can’t let you know is that he’s also known as Red Ben. […]
Draigon Weather by Paige L. Christie
In Adfen, men fear the coming of Draigon Weather – the oppressive heat, the lasting droughts, the slow death of everything that can only be appeased by sacrifice. And women fear the coming of the Draigon – because it is always a woman who is sacrificed. Only nine-years-old, Leiel Sower has already lost her mother […]
The Bitter Twins by Jen Williams
This is the second book in the Winnowing Flame trilogy and continues soon after the end of the first book, The Ninth Rain. Since this is a sequel I will not be going into details of the plot, but I will say that the sequel maintains the fantastic standard of the first book. The Bitter […]
Brian Rathbone Interview
Born on a farm in New Jersey, International bestselling fantasy author, Brian Rathbone, proclaims himself to be a bit odd. From training Standardbred racehorses to working at a nuclear plant to helping build the Internet, he has done more than many would hope to achieve in several lifetimes. Yet this was not enough. Known most […]
In Defence of a Zombie-Free Apocalypse – Part Two: The Rest!
And we’re back. Last time we explored how vampires, werewolves, and ghosts have so much more potential to create an exciting Apocalypse scenario than just rehashing all those rotten old zombie tropes. Now it’s time to look at a bunch of the less obvious creatures to see if they’d be any good at bringing down […]
The Reborn King by Michael Miller
I’m an impulsive book buyer, usually drawn to a shiny cover and 99c sales like my wife is to shoes and handbags. If my one-click finger itched any more, you would think I was Wyatt Earp at the O.K. Corral. It has led to an insurmountable TBR list (and an angry wife who wonders where […]
His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik
Napoleonic Wars? Check. Age of Sail naval culture? Check. Hints of Asian civilizations? Check. Dragons? Check. The only thing that could make me want to read His Majesty’s Dragon more would be an Ominous Dark Lord bent on world domination. Oh, wait, there is some short megalomaniac mentioned often in Naomi Novik’s alternate world novel. […]
Smoke Eaters by Sean Grigsby – Cover Reveal + Excerpt
If you read Fantasy-Faction there is a high chance you like dragons. We sure do! We even made our mascot a dragon (her name is Scarlette btw). <3 So, we’re sure you’ll- What? You say dragons in fantasy are overplayed? While we heartily disagree, this is not the first time we’ve heard this particular complaint. […]
Monthly Short Story Winner: Regret and Redemption
Your main character (MC) did something, planned or by accident, and it went terribly wrong. Life is now constant regret. Do they want to correct it? Is it even possible? Everybody should have the chance to redeem themselves, but this is not a fairy tale – or is it? Rules: 1. The story’s theme must […]
