Diverse Fantasy Is Better Fantasy
Eric Christensen
I recently I submitted a story to my writing group for critique. It was a secondary-world fantasy set in a pre-industrial port city. Of all the comments I received, the…
The Paper Menagerie And Other Stories by Ken Liu
Jonathan Thornton
“Time’s arrow is the loss of fidelity in compression. A sketch, not a photograph. A memory is a re-creation, precious because it is both more and less than the original.”…
The Chronicles of Malus Darkblade – Volume I by Dan Abnett & Mike Lee
Aaron Miles
For Malus Darkblade a feat of heroism involves raiding a coastal village for plunder and slaves, butchering his enemies and successfully bringing back his spoils without being thwarted or assassinated…
Berserkers In Fantasy
Nicola Alter
In fantasy, we see a lot of magicians, shape-shifters, werewolves and all manner of humanoid characters with supernatural qualities. One type of powerful character that crops up more rarely, however,…
Hereville: How Mirka Caught a Fish by Barry Deutsch
Jo Niederhoff
Mirka of Hereville has defeated a troll in a knitting contest and won her home back from a meteorite that tried to take her place in her family, but now…
The Silver Tide by Jen Williams
Lucy Hounsom
By now, I’m sure everyone knows how much I love Jen’s books. Last year I was raving about The Iron Ghost, which was one of my favourite titles of 2015,…
Body Work – Rivers of London Graphic Novel Review
Alister Davison
I was raised on a diet of comic-book adaptations. Back when home video was in its infancy, they were the only way to ‘watch’ a film again, or in some…
Fight Like A Girl Anthology: Launch, Review, and Readalong!
A.F.E. Smith
On the first Saturday in April, I learned something very important: if you’re going to get involved in a tavern brawl, always make sure you have Juliet McKenna on your…
Small Press Fantasy Titles On Our Radar: April 2016 Edition
Overlord
Welcome to the second edition of the Small Press version of Fantasy-Faction’s popular ON OUR RADAR feature. This is the post in which we show readers all the Small Press…
Javelin Rain by Myke Cole
Richard Bray
This review contains spoilers for Gemini Cell. Please read with caution if you have yet to finish the first book. You can find Fantasy-Faction’s review for Gemini Cell here. Javelin…
Mythology in Urban Fantasy
Leo Elijah Cristea
I’ve talked before about creating a mythology using fantasy, and I’ve delved a little into world mythology and folklore through various articles on dragons, demons, fae, and magic, but this…
Worldbuilding: The Nihilistic Architect and the Negligent Gardener
Nick Clark
George RR Martin’s now famous analogy of the architect and the gardener distilled the craft of novel-writing into two distinct creative approaches. I would suggest that this is a particularly…