The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French – SPFBO Review
Laura M. Hughes
Mr. French, the pacing of your novel is truly brilliant. Starting with a *bang* and then racing from conflicts and schemes to plot twists and battles, Bastards is what one…
December 2016
Slipping by Lauren Beukes
Eric Christensen
Slipping by Lauren Beukes is a collection of previously published short stories and nonfiction. Having read—and loved—two of her novels, The Shining Girls and Broken Monsters, I jumped at the…
RIP Carrie Fisher
Overlord
Fantasy-Faction is very sorry to hear of the passing of Carrie Fisher, the actress known globally for her role as Princess Leia Organa in the Star Wars movies. Carrie Fisher…
Holidays In Fantasy Fiction
Aaron Miles
With the arrival of the Christmas season I’ve been thinking about the effects of holidays on our lives. The influence of Christmas is incredibly far reaching; I doubt most people…
The Mirror’s Truth by Michael R. Fletcher
Leona Henry
Sequel to Michael R. Fletcher’s grimdark masterpiece Beyond Redemption, The Mirror’s Truth, continues the tale of the deranged characters with new additions to the cast. The story opens with a…
Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
‘On the second day of Hogswatch I . . . sent my true love back, A nasty little letter, hah, yes indeed, and a partridge in a pear tree—’ Of…
The Shadow Soul by Kaitlyn Davis – SPFBO Review
Geoff Matthews
The Shadow Soul is one of ten novels in the final round of Mark Lawrence’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO) 2016. Updates on the contest’s progress can be found here. When…
Putting Fantasy On The Map
Marc Turner
A while ago, I came across a wonderful spoof map of the fantasy land of Clichéa. For those who haven’t seen it before, you can find it below (click the…
Outpost by F. T. McKinstry – SPFBO Review
Outpost is one of ten novels in the final round of Mark Lawrence’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO) 2016. Updates on the contest’s progress can be found here. “Nine thousand suns…
Shy Knives by Sam Sykes
Zachary A. Matzo
Paizo is killing it these days. A deal with Tor for their Pathfinder Tales series, a new sci-fi campaign setting—Starfinder—in the offing. One video game in the can and another…
Why Aliens Look Like Octopuses
Nicola Alter
Have you ever noticed that extra-terrestrials in most “aliens-make-contact” science fiction usually resemble octopuses, squids, or other cephalopods? At least, when they don’t just look like humans in Halloween masks…
Hammers On Bone by Cassandra Khaw
Jonathan Thornton
Tor’s novella series was started in 2015, with the aim of promoting this shorter medium. The line includes both established authors and those just making their debut, and has included…