Back in 2015 I came across a debut author, Lucy Hounsom. I loved Starborn – from its subversion of fantasy genre tropes, to its flawed protagonist and excellent prose. Since then, I befriended Lucy and she has been one of ...
Read More »Age of Assassins by RJ Barker
I love going to conventions. Not only do you get to indulge in your geekiest loves, you discover so many new things you never encountered before. I discovered RJ Barker at Nine Worlds. When I heard him and – more ...
Read More »Darien by C. F. Iggulden
C. F. Iggulden is the pseudonym of successful historical fiction writer Conn Iggulden. Darien is the author’s first attempt at a fantasy series, and a YA series at that. Having never read any of his previous work, I went into ...
Read More »The Asylum of Dr. Caligari by James Morrow
Adapting one of the most iconic silent films into a new SF novel sounds like a bizarre idea – or at least it did to me. But then again, reboots seem to be all Hollywood can manage these days, so ...
Read More »All Good Things by Emma Newman
All Good Things is the fifth and final instalment of Emma Newman’s Split Worlds series. It is likely, by now, that you know whether or not you are on board with the style, characters, and plot, but as the final ...
Read More »Damnation by Peter McLean: You’re about as deep as a puddle of piss
Peter McLean is back with another instalment of his entertaining Don Drake series. The rough-around-the-edges diabolist-for-hire continues to pine for his guardian angel, make stupid decisions, get himself into trouble, and generally fuck up whenever he possibly could. Three books ...
Read More »Tyranny of Queens: Maybe luck believes in me
The trouble with writing a spectacular opening novel of a series is that every follow-up is held up to a bar already set incredibly high. Of course, writing a smashing first instalment encourages readers to pick up any follow-ups, so ...
Read More »The Bear and the Serpent by Adrian Tchaikovsky
The Bear and the Serpent is the second in Clarke Award-winning Tchaikovsky’s Echoes of the Fall series. Where the first novel found us following a very personal journey of self-discovery, the second novel is far more macro in scope. This ...
Read More »The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams
It’s only natural that you end up comparing a writer’s new work to what they’ve previously delivered. Given that Jen Williams’ Copper Cat series was one of the most fun I’ve read in recent years, it was always going to ...
Read More »The art of writing a book series
Having been racing my way through many SFF book series, I started to note the differences amongst how they approach certain issues of construction – how they deal with the continuing story, individual novels as part of a larger whole, and ...
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