Foundations of Fantasy: The Epic of Gilgamesh
Ryan Howse
More than any other genre, fantasy tends to examine ancient epics. Whether it’s the study of archetypes and ectypes, or a historical understanding of narrative itself, or simply a desire…
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, Translated by Ken Liu
Sonia Grace
The Three-Body Problem is about aliens. It’s also about Revolutionary China, Communism, and human nature. There’s a fair bit of philosophy thrown in, some well-explained math, and a computer game…
Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off #2: The Self-Pub Strikes Back
Geoff Matthews
Last year’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off gathered a lot of interest across Twitter, Facebook and forums. At Mark Lawrence’s request, ten influential websites, bloggers and over 250 authors got together and…
Languages In Fantasy
Leo Elijah Cristea
Language in fantasy: is it an outdated, often academically-gratuitous addition that bogs down a story and its world, or a clever quirk of setting that adds a sprinkle of the…
Fantasy Medicine – Part One: Healthcare, Magical and Mundane
B. Pine
Fantasy, whether epic, high, or sword-and-sorcery, would not be very exciting if the characters were as susceptible to death and disability as we are in the real world. The truth…
Using Scrivener To Store Your Research & Notes
Adrian Faulkner
If you enjoy writing, it’s quite possible that you’ve heard of Scrivener. The writing software, available for both Mac and PC, is a firm favourite for both published and unpublished…
New Models for Magicians
Eric Christensen
In many fantasy stories, magicians often follow one or two traditional models. Many are often portrayed as guides or teachers that assist the protagonist. Often this mentor is described as…
Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
Overlord
Just like the smash hit Red Rising by Pierce Brown, Sleeping Giants has been turning heads because it has managed to sell movie rights before even being published. Its Publishers…
Angry Robot signs Eric Fischl
We keep a close eye on Angry Robot’s latest signings here at Fantasy-Faction HQ. This is because we know that when Angry Robot snap an author up, there’s two things…
Interview with Sylvain Neuvel
I was lucky enough to get a super-early Advanced Review Copy of Sleeping Giants. It was a book that immediately grabbed me and kept hold of me until I turned…
Excerpt from ‘Wrong Place, Wrong Time’ – A short story from Sharp Ends by Joe Abercrombie
There are very few authors that Fantasy-Faction forum users and Facebook group members talk about more than Joe Abercrombie. There are many reasons for this, but in addition to truly…
Monthly Short Story Winner: Fairy Tales
Xiagan
Some are funny and silly. Some are dark and strange. But all of them have a morale, a (more or less fixed) narrative, and rules. This month’s short story contest…