Marc Aplin's Blog, page 28

* 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 […]

Many space operas revolve around space exploration and warfare within a galactic empire; and many individuals are drawn to them due to the spaceships and the space battles. Some of those stories are about threats to humanity, or, at times, a threat to the entire universe. Shards of Earth, the first book in The Final […]

* 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 […]

Journey to the West meets Paternus meets The Greatest American Hero. Journey to the West is perhaps the forbearer of the xianxia genre, and its main character Sun Wukong is beloved in China (and popularized worldwide through as Goku in the Japanese anime, Dragonball Z). While I’ve never actually read the novel, I have enjoyed […]

*Disclaimer* This is not an academic essay. It’s a series of very shallow cuts that completely fails to delve into the complex histories it touches upon. It bounces around the world, and from the Dark Ages to the Early Modern era, not because those times and places are necessarily covered by the term “Medieval”, but […]

* 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 […]

Today begins Hispanic Heritage Month! It goes from September 15th to October 15th. And we are going to highlight some of the best SFF authors of Hispanic heritage! This is of course an incomplete list, but if you notice a glaring omission (or if I put someone in the wrong category) please let me know […]

As a writer, inspiration can come from anywhere, and researching your chosen subject can be a useful tool. When creating a new world, researching geographical maps and landmarks is a good place to start. When developing events in said world, looking into historical events is a perfect way to build out the world’s history. And […]

Growing up, we’re taught to always be kind and tell the truth, but as adults, are any of us truly virtuous? We walk past the panhandler with a muttered “sorry,” or we pretend we don’t see them at all. We tell our boss we’re late because traffic was terrible or the cat was sick, when […]

Each reader experiences a narrative differently. That is to say, while the text is fixed, how the readers read the story varies amongst them. There are cases when such things lead to a split within that reading community, and there are instances when the majority of those readers will praise the story. And yet, both […]