Among writers, the shades of genre can be passionately argued discussed, as we try to figure out what readers expect from their fiction. And recently, I had one of those discussions about urban fantasy. Actually, it was my fault the discussion took place at all. I asked the fatal question; What IS urban fantasy? I […]
Urban Fantasy? Or Contemporary Fantasy? You Tell Me. Read More »
It’s Spooky season, and we’re only five days away from Halloween itself. So I thought I’d research and bring to your attention some fantasy stories with Halloween as a theme. And shocker: Halloween fantasies are hard to find. I finally tracked down a series of anthologies on Kobo. That I found them on Kobo is
Halloween Fantasies Read More »
A Subtle Thing…. “No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife between the shoulder blades will seriously cramp his style,” The Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust Taylen
Religion plays a hefty role in many fantasy stories, and some of the belief systems are downright bizarre. All of them, though, dictate how people in that story world behave, and usually have an out-sized influence upon the politics and power figures running the show. I tend to roll my eyes at the more outlandish
The Power of Belief Read More »
Megapacks are for Fantasy, too! I just got an email from Wildside Press announcing the release of their latest Megapacks. For the longest time, I thought these bundles were purely for Classic and Golden Age Science Fiction, but Wildside collect all the classic fiction, including mystery, horror, and fantasy. I thought I’d mention it
Megapacks are for Fantasy, too! Read More »
Today marks the 819 anniversary of the fall of Constantinople to the Crusaders of the Fourth Crusade, which temporarily ended the Byzantine Empire in 1204. The attack of Constantinople was a political strategy driven mostly by the new Republic of Venice. Constantinople was the greatest city in the world at that time, measured by both
The Fall of Constantinople Read More »
So here’s a nice little kudo. Barnes & Noble have selected The Rivers Ran Red as a Top Indie Favourite this month. Taylen
THE RIVERS RAN RED is Top Indie Favourite on B&N Read More »
The remains of Pompeii, Italy.I have a thing about volcanoes. Don’t know why. But of all the disaster movies and books that I’ve seen and read in my time, the ones featuring volcanoes get my thumbs-up and attention. One of my favourite movies of all time is Dante’s Peak. There’s nothing that can beat the
It’s getting hotter in here…. Read More »
There’s been a few interesting tidbits crossing my desk lately. Here’s a couple of them. First up, there’s been a rash of AI-adjusted pirated books appearing on the bookstores. There’s a video that explains it on Twitter (and you don’t need a Twitter account to watch it) here. The gist is, the AI writing tools
Piracy Goes High Tech, And the Next Big Thing. And some UF, too. Read More »
This is a sort-of pre-review, I suppose. One of my preferred authors for urban fantasy is Charlaine Harris. If she heard me say so, she would probably shudder. Harris has two series that I consider to be great UF — Sookie Stackhouse (which was made into the True Blood TV series that eventually came apart
Holding My Breath and Hoping…. Read More »