Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan
Nicholas Schmiedicker
The Powder Mage Trilogy begins with Promise of Blood, a fantastic and engaging book from debut author Brian McClellan. Powerful sorcerers, trained Marksmen with magical abilities, and long forgotten gods…
fantasy
Wolfhound Century by Peter Higgins
Idlewilder
Investigator Vissarion Lom has been summoned to the capital in order to catch a terrorist – and ordered to report directly to the head of the secret police. A totalitarian…
Fantasy Book Club – April 2013: Fade To Black by Francis Knight
Lisa Taylor
Fade to Black by Francis Knight won our Debut theme for April. I’m pretty anxious to start this one because it definitely sounds like a book I will really enjoy.…
Nina D’Aleo Interview
Dan Hanks
Last month I reviewed the outstanding science-fiction/fantasy novel The Last City. This month I’ve been fortunate enough to chat (time zones allowing) with its Australian author, the lovely Nina D’Aleo,…
The Battle of Science and Magic – Part Two: Nostalgia and the New
Victoria Hooper
In the previous article we looked at the idea that science destroys magic through encouraging disbelief, and how this has influenced fantasy stories involving magic, folklore and fairies. The first…
Exclusive Message for Fantasy-Faction users from Scott Lynch
Overlord
So, we’ve heard the news that Scott Lynch’s latest novel is out this year (whoo!), but now we’ve managed to track Scott down, drag him to a keyboard and force…
The Republic of Thieves Release Date Announced
The Lies of Locke Lamora has been hailed by many readers as one of the best fantasy novels of the decade. Its sequel Red Seas Under Red Skies gave an…
The Truth About Tropes
Adrian Faulkner
Every genre has its own tropes, those signature metaphors seen time and time again across multiple unconnected books by multiple authors. Fantasy, however, has more than its fair share. So…
A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan
A Natural History of Dragons is exactly what it sounds like. A memoir written by a Victorian naturalist who has an obsession with dragons and embarks on an adventure to…
The Battle of Science and Magic – Part One: Particles and Pixie Dust
For a long time we have separated magic and science, drawing a line between fantasy and science fiction, associating magic with the past – usually a pre-industrial society – and…
Across the Nightingale Floor by Lian Hearn
Steff Humm
Eastern settings have an exotic magic all of their own even without traditional fantasy elements. From the title and beautiful Japanese-style cover art alone (variants of which can be found…
The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde
Liz Fellshot Ambrose
I’ve had people tell me that I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. While I understand (and agree with) the metaphor as it applies to people, I think that…