The road to writing professionally (or at least capably) is filled with more pitfalls than the first five minutes of Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the deepest, spikiest, most cunningly disguised of these is, in my opinion, understanding what really makes a book great. It’s not how unique your world is, or how thoroughly-plotted … More Review: Wake of Vultures
I can only imagine the day Jon Hollins (a pseudonym for Jonathan Wood) devised the plot for Fool’s Gold. He might have turned over the final page of some dour tome of epic fantasy and thought: Fuck this noise–I want something fun for a change. He may have googled, “Ocean’s Eleven meets The Hobbit,” figuring … More Review: The Dragon Lords: Fool’s Gold
Good morning, class. My name’s Nicholas Eames, but don’t call me Mr. Eames–that’s my father’s name! *Crickets chirping* Okay. Moving on. We’re all here for one reason: we love fantasy books, and it is absolutely imperative to us that others like them too. You might liken us to a horde of theocratic zombies who won’t … More F101: Intro to Fantasy
Stranger: What’s that you’re reading? Me: The Vagrant, by Peter Newman. Stranger: Cool cover. Me: Right? Stranger: So what’s it about. Me: (Standing, shouting as the lights in the coffee shop flicker, and smoke roils from the back room to curl ominously around my ankles) IN A WORLD TORN ASUNDER AND RESHAPED BY DEMONIC FORCES, … More Review: The Vagrant
So I’ve just finished reading Beyond Redemption, by fellow Canadian Michael R. Fletcher, and let me tell you: it’s fantastic. It is also, in all probability, unlike any book you’ve ever read. In the acknowledgements Fletcher quotes his agent as calling the novel viscerally disgusting and its characters repulsive. True and true. I described it … More Review: Beyond Redemption
The Heartwyld 