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
Laura M. Hughes
‘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…
Bigfootloose and Finn Fancy Free by Randy Henderson
Trent Cannon
The phrase “never judge a book by its cover” is one we should all live by, especially those of us who read fantasy in the 90s, when all covers required…
Deep Wizardry by Diane Duane
Jo Niederhoff
The second book in Diane Duane’s Young Wizards series, Deep Wizardry, is just as good as the first, I’m happy to say. Nita and Kit, the young wizards who thwarted…
Does Patrick Rothfuss Hate His Fans?
Overlord
Not too long ago, Patrick Rothfuss wrote this: Just when I was growing fairly certain my readers were clever people who actually have the ability to read and comprehend text,…