I’ve recently finished The New Magic by Joseph Malik (review to come soon — but his first book, Dragon’s Trail, was half of what prompted me to start writing advice on writing action scenes, as an example of how to do them right). Anyway. You often hear the advice about writing fight scenes to “use […]
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Book Review: ‘Rocks Fall. Everyone Dies.’ by Eddie Skelson
I found out about Rocks Fall through SPFBO 2019, and an interview with Corbett (the cranky wizard) convinced me to read. It’s an excellent, lighthearted fantasy adventure that fans of D&D and MMORPGs would adore, and make just about everyone with a funny-bone snort at the jokes. What to expect Expect a funny fantasy romp, […]
Ancient Texts
Today’s post collects interesting articles on the subjects on ancient texts. From high-tech reading of ancient Roman scrolls to medieval books made now available (and down to some really pissed-off bronze age customers), we have an amazing selection for lovers of words. Protect yourself! First, let’s start with a bit of fun. Every author these […]
Book Series Review: Marcus Corvinus, by David Wishart
I’ve read and reviews Ovid, the first in the series, about a year ago. It was awesome, so naturally I went down the rabbit hole of reading through the 20-volume series… I’ve even chased down Corvinus himself for a character interview. I’ve posted my reviews of each individual volume on Amazon and Goodreads, but below […]
Book Review: Cabaret of Monsters, by Tansy Rayner Roberts
Caberet of Monsters presents a marvelous twist of Urban Fantasy. Though I was originally drawn by the Roman elements, the vibe of Parisian theatre and roaring 1920’s as a backdrop to urban fantasy was refreshingly original What to expect A novella set in the same world as the Creature Court trilogy, published a few years […]
Book Review: Rivers of London (aka in the US as ‘Midnight Riot’), by Ben Aaronovitch
Rivers of London was recommended to me by a bookstore owner (one who carries my novels too, and was trying to find similar target audiences). Considering my love of urban-fantasy detective, especially with an historical bent, I dived right in. What to expect Expect an interesting twist on Urban Fantasy, when an unsuspecting British constable […]
All in a Name: Romans, Russians, and Fantasy
A character’s name will be the trait most often referred to in a book, so today I’d like to talk about historical and fantastical names, as well as literary usage. We’d start with a quick review of some interesting naming conventions from history (Romans, duh, but also others), then touch on fantasy and science fiction […]
Book Review: The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch
The Lies of Locke Lamora has been on my to-read list for a while — I’m glad I finally got to it. What to expect A wonderfully-built “heist” style adventure, with a dark turn towards the end. Locke Lamora is a thief, a con-man swindling the rich out of their money, in a roughly Renaissance-ish […]
I did NOT see this coming!
Here I was, typing away at In Victrix, very focused on the emotional grand finale, when, last Thursday, just as my train pulled in to the last station, this happened: That makes the official third volume of full-length Felix mysteries complete! Well, the first draft of which. I have quite a bit of notes in […]
TV Shows and Podcasts!
It appears I’ve appeared on national TV… Life is picking up! 🙂 This was all very exciting, not the least of which is because it was recorded at half past-midnight Australian time. I was quite happy with how coherent I still was… At least it was aired in more appropriate, viewer-friendly hours. So please, read […]
