Meeting Elric
Lucy Hounsom
Unlike many people who’ll see this post, I am a total newbie to the character and world of Elric and indeed to author Michael Moorcock. Lest I be burned by…
Breakfast of Bullshit: Futurephobia, the Hugos and the Invention of SF’s Past
M.D. Lachlan
Today we have a guest blog by MD Lachlan who has a lot to say about the recent Hugo fiasco. Many of you will be familiar with Mark, who has…
The Iron Ship by K. M. McKinley: Extract & Cover Art
Overlord
A few weeks ago I was sent a book called The Iron Ship, the first thing that struck me about this particular book was the fantastic cover art. It is…
Exploring Wattpad
Geoff Matthews
At my first Super Relaxed Fantasy Club, which you can read about here, I met a group of people who all publish their writings on Wattpad. Indeed, I met one…
Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman
Rebekah Loper
Seraphina is tangled amid the grapple for power between the dragon rebels and the human court. The dark secret of her true identity – half-dragon, half-human – has now become…
The Liar’s Key by Mark Lawrence
Charlie Hopkins
You know when you spend a silly amount of time setting the mood for someone that is special to you. You experiment with the lighting to make sure it is…
How to Write Good Dialogue: Courtesy of Mass Effect
Marc Turner
Here’s a question for you. You’re reading a book and the pace starts to drag, but you’re still curious to know what happens next. What do you do? The answer…
Monster Goose Nursery Rhymes by Henry, Josh, and Harrison Herz. Illustrated by Abigail Larson.
Liz Fellshot Ambrose
Re-imagining fairy tales has been going on since the invention of fairy tales, so it stands to reason that it was only a matter of time until someone did the…
Friendships in Fantasy
Nicole Singer
While there’s something to be said for great romances in fantasy (trust me, I love ‘em), it’s really the genre’s deep, unswerving friendships that drive it forward and keep us…
So What’s The Fuss About Ulysses?
Adrian Faulkner
There was a time when a writer’s most technological tool was the typewriter. With the advent of computers and the first word processors, writers entered the digital age. This early…
Gender and Stereotyping in Fantasy – Part One: Strong Women
Leo Elijah Cristea
The problem with the new and yet very important desire to portray realistic, strong women with agency, is that some people fixate entirely on the first part of this –…
The Darkness That Comes Before by R. Scott Bakker
James Davies
In The Darkness That Comes Before, R. Scott Bakker (in a style reminiscent of Steven Eriksson’s Malazan series) presents us with a vast world that is undeniably epic in scope…