Marc Aplin's Blog, page 17

Earth, air, fire, and water. Primal forces that make up the world and power magic. Why are they such a popular motif in fantasy fiction? Firstly, the theory of the ‘classical elements’ is part of the bedrock of Western thought. Ancient Greek philosophers, such as Plato, suggested the world was literally made up of the […]

Hills of Heather and Bone is our finalist for Round One of this year’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO) and will be joining nine other books in the final round. To follow it and check out its competition you can visit the official SPFBO website. You can see the full list of our Round One Semi-Finalists […]

Welcome back Factioneers! We have come to the end of round one in this year’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO)! Over last month we have announced six semi-finalists. Today we will reveal our ranking of those semi-finalists and our top book of round one! Let’s begin with our (already announced) 6th place semi-finalist! 6th Place Semi-Finalist […]

* Disclaimer * Everyone is different and likes and dislikes different things. Reading is no exception. One person’s all-time favorite might seem too bland or too high stakes for another. That being said, the opinions of our judges in this contest are just that: opinions. Just because we let a book go, doesn’t mean it […]

* Disclaimer * Everyone is different and likes and dislikes different things. Reading is no exception. One person’s all-time favorite might seem too bland or too high stakes for another. That being said, the opinions of our judges in this contest are just that: opinions. Just because we let a book go, doesn’t mean it […]

* Disclaimer * Everyone is different and likes and dislikes different things. Reading is no exception. One person’s all-time favorite might seem too bland or too high stakes for another. That being said, the opinions of our judges in this contest are just that: opinions. Just because we let a book go, doesn’t mean it […]

* Disclaimer * Everyone is different and likes and dislikes different things. Reading is no exception. One person’s all-time favorite might seem too bland or too high stakes for another. That being said, the opinions of our judges in this contest are just that: opinions. Just because we let a book go, doesn’t mean it […]

* Disclaimer * Everyone is different and likes and dislikes different things. Reading is no exception. One person’s all-time favorite might seem too bland or too high stakes for another. That being said, the opinions of our judges in this contest are just that: opinions. Just because we let a book go, doesn’t mean it […]

I started Oath Sworn by Meg MacDonald years ago, for SPFBO, but despite enjoying it, I set it aside because it—sadly!—got cut, and I needed to finish those still in the running. As these things happen, time flew by, and I forgot about it for ages. Now I finally got around to starting it over […]

* Disclaimer * Everyone is different and likes and dislikes different things. Reading is no exception. One person’s all-time favorite might seem too bland or too high stakes for another. That being said, the opinions of our judges in this contest are just that: opinions. Just because we let a book go, doesn’t mean it […]