Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft
T. O. Munro
This is an exceedingly rich book. A depth of imagination married with a poetic turn of phrase and an engaging cast of characters (both those we meet and those who…
Our Monsters, Our Selves
Faith M. Boughan
The title of this article is taken from a panel discussion at World Fantasy Convention 2012—a panel that had so many voices who wanted to contribute that it had to…
BristolCon 2016 – Convention Review
Geoff Matthews
I went to Bristol. I’ve been before and usually get lost in the one way system. SatNav is no help, not for me and I speak as Geography graduate with…
Invisible Planets edited and translated by Ken Liu
Charlie Hopkins
Invisible Planets is superb anthology of short fiction that offers Westerners in particular a series of totally unique entry points and perspectives. There is plenty of impressive science fiction and…
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
Richard Bray
This review contains spoilers for the first book, Six of Crows. Please read with caution if you have yet to finish the first book. “Ketterdam is made of monsters. I…
Beyond Redemption by Michael R. Fletcher
Laura M. Hughes
Beyond Redemption is a classic Western adventure tale. Three cowboys, bound by beautiful friendship, return home to their ranch after a hard day’s work only to find— Wait! I’m kidding.…
SPFBO: Positivity & Professionalism in Self-Publishing
Unless you’ve been living on Mars with Matt Damon, you’ll know that Fantasy-Faction is one of ten blogs participating in the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO). Created and hosted by Mark…
The Rise of Io by Wesley Chu
Stephen Rhodes
The Tao books hold a very special place in my heart. I discovered them by accident and instantly fell in love with the characters and the adventures they had. I…
Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne M. Valente
Eric Christensen
Simply put, I loved Six-Gun Snow White. Although many have adapted fairy tales across a variety of media, very few have done it this well. This isn’t a simple retelling…
Surviving NaNoWriMo 2016
Trent Cannon
Ah, National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo for short (or NaNo for shorter)). We meet again. For the…I don’t even know. How many times is it now? Five? Six? It’s…
Brent Weeks Interview – The Blood Mirror
Overlord
Having met Brent Weeks and chatted with him a few times via email, I can tell you he is one of the nicest guys out there. Yes, he tortures us…
The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence
Have you ever wanted to applaud upon reaching the end of the last book in a series – and not because you were glad it was over? In recent years…