Marc Aplin's Blog, page 250

Fandom is a funny thing. It’s also a complex thing with practically a life of its own; an organic organism that has taken on a different meaning besides stereotypical lines of nerdy thirty-year-old men queuing up outside comic and bookstores for the latest release or, dressing up like favourite—yet fairly “mainstream”—characters on Halloween. In fact, […]

Following a successful Kickstarter campaign, GERRY ANDERSON’S GEMINI FORCE ONE is to be published by Gollancz in 2014 and Orion Children’s Books in 2015. The publication will mark and celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the first broadcast of THUNDERBIRDS. For those unaware, GEMINI FORCE ONE is a series of Sci-Fi books devised and developed by […]

Last month I reviewed The Language of Dying by Sarah Pinborough. Today we have the privilege of talking to the author herself about the book, its inspiration, and what other projects she will be putting out in the near future. So without further ado, onto the interview! I guess all interviews have to start with that […]

In January 1974 Dungeons & Dragons hit shelves for the first time. It was a game that would change the history of boardgames and war-games forever… “Those war gamers who lack imagination,” the game’s co-founder, Gary Gygax, wrote in the game’s first introduction, “will not be likely to find Dungeons and Dragons to their taste. […]

Many people had The Grim Company by Luke Scull on their top books of 2013 lists. It’s no surprise, the book having earned reviews such as: ‘If you like your glizzards glistening and your mages mean, this rollicking debut will suit. Hugely enjoyable.’ Daily Mail. ‘The best fantasy you will read this year’ SF Book. […]

Get ready to enjoy your next bite of Steven Erikson’s bountiful feast, The Malazan Book of the Fallen, when you tuck into book two of the series, Deadhouse Gates. Deadhouse Gates is a wonderful return on investment for those who pick it up, for while the preceding installment, Gardens of the Moon, is a good […]

Richard A. Knaak is an author who has achieved just about everything you could hope for as a writer of Fantasy. Over the course of his career – that extends over a quarter of a century, by the way – he has had a written within the renowned and much loved worlds of Conan and […]

After reading Control Point, book one in the Shadow Ops series, I insisted you “bunker down as the fireballs fly with the bullets and enjoy one of 2012’s most exciting debuts” with the introduction of Oscar Britton and a world where magic not only exists, but is also utilized by the military. In book two, […]

(Click or mouseover links for humorous footnotes.) From the very beginning of the genre, one of the biggest problems fantasy authors have had to solve has been languages. It’s an odd sort of problem, actually, because for the most part readers don’t actually seem to pay much attention to it. Some writers seem to be […]

Imagine if publishers had the ability to tell whether a manuscript had the potential to become a bestseller within minutes of receiving it… without even reading it. It sounds ridiculous, unfathomable, but, incredibly, computer scientists have already taken a big step towards making it a reality. Researchers at an American University have published a paper explaining the […]