142 years ago, Queen Victorian narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by Roderick Maclean, who was offended by the Queen’s response to some poetry he sent to her. It was the last of eight attempts by separate people to kill or assault Victoria over a period of four decades…and Victoria is considered to be one of […]
Assassination as a tool of Statecraft Read More »
I have to come at this from an unexpected angle. I was talking about Blake’s 7, the BBC TV science fiction series from the late 1970s, with a group of authors the other day. We all love the writing in that series, love the characters, and hate the miniscule-to-non-existant budget the show was made with.
An Old Title Seen Slantwise. Read More »
This one tickled my funny bone. Today, in 1872, the first international soccer match was held. It was a game between Scotland and England (which is technically an international game) in Scotland. There was a lot of grumbling about who got to play on which team, as both Scots and Englishmen had played for either
The First “International” Soccer Game 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 »