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Providing book reviews of speculative fiction since 1999. Read our story
If you have ever been out to sea on a sailing boat, you may have felt that feeling of majesty and awe that the water evokes. This vast expanse that continues as far as the eye can see. Depending on your personality, it can instil a sense of fear or a sense of adventure. I have felt this feeling...
Fantasy can feel like a packed, oversaturated genre. Some writers seem more than happy to walk well-footed paths when it comes to character arcs, magic systems, and worldbuilding. Maybe more than anything else, the settings of so many fantasy novels seem directly lifted from Tolkien—all babbling brooks and green glades and perfectly picturesque mountains.
Don’t get me wrong, I thrilled at that landscape as a child first...
A lot of the political hustle and bustle in today’s world has its roots in how far you think capitalism should go. Some countries are all for state control, others are far more laissez faire. Do private companies already have too much...
Heroic Fantasy doesn't always get the credit it deserves, but when done well can be powerful, energetic and immersive fiction. Sky in the Deep is one of the best examples of recent times and an equal to Gemmell's past stories.
The story follows Eelyn, a member of the Aska...
It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it?s called life
What do we expect from the future? I consider myself a half glass full type of person, but even my positivity has taken a battering in the past few years. A world buried under a sea of sand sounds like it may be better in some circumstances. If we do find ourselves roaming a desolate...
Since the days of The Lord of the Rings the fantasy genre has had a close relationship with the idea of a fellowship of characters. A group of disparate people of all races brought together to fight for a common cause. This produces a sense of shared responsibility and...
Making an author come up with a single science fiction concept is tricky enough, but to ask them to come up with an infinite number of multiverses is just plain mean. Tim Pratt only have themselves to blame as they choice to take Zaxony Delatree on an adventure...
The first in the Eidyn series, The Lost War begins its story part way through, in the aftermath of a ruinous war for the kingdom of Eidyn. The location of the opening scenes, in a tavern no less, and the easy interplay of two of the main characters Aranok the draoidh and Allandria, his bodyguard...
When we colonise the planets will they send out the best and the brightest? I’m not so sure as many of the best and the brightest will be quite happy on Earth leading a successful life. Converting the likes of Mars into a liveable environment will be dirty, cold and...
The Universe of Star Wars is a vast one full of unexplored planets, characters and timelines but the will of The Force always seems to drag it back to the Skywalkers. The brand-new Star Wars: The High Republic is an attempt to write Star Wars free from the restraints of...
The long running series is a dream for an author as it means that your characters and world are successful enough that people are buying them, and you can keep writing. John Sandford's Lucas Davenport books must be a success when you realise that Golden Prey is the 27th book...
Fair warning, this isn't going to be a normal review, it's the first one I've written post-covid and is much more personal than usual.
Some years ago, my father started reading again. Previous to that he hadn't read much for the last few decades outside of Haynes manuals and instruction...
To the uninitiated, the fantasy genre is stagnant. The same old dwarves and elves going on long journeys and then back again. Any fan of the genre knows that this is just not the case. The genre has evolved with society. The fantasy books of the 80s and 90s differ greatly from Tolkien...
I have been a fan of Star Trek for a long time and am happy to overlook many of the contradictions and technobabble that it has a habit of spouting but one thing I can never get my head around is why. Why are they on these ships? Why risk their lives? For...
Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish on ability to climb a tree it will live its life believing it is stupid
Fantasy is known as an epic genre; stories can span generations and civilisations rise and fall. As a fan of the genre, you also notice some regular tropes that occur, similar races and similar storylines. Within the pages of Brian McClellan’s Powder...
Adrian Tchaikovsky has a talent for writing deep, meaningful scifi. He won the Arthur C Clarke award in 2016 for Children of Time and the 2019 BSFA best novel award for the follow-up Children of Ruin. There are few authors that can quite match his vision for non-human intelligence, or his flair...
For many people clowns are the stuff of nightmares and there they should remain. In the modern age you can pretty much live a life free of these demon entertainers; just avoid going to the circus, CBEEBIES and any films about IT. But what about if the clowns of your dreams decided to...
The latest collection by Anna Taborska, a British filmmaker and horror writer, includes fourteen stories, five of which previously unpublished. The volume is graced by a witty introduction by distinguished fellow writer Robert Shearman and enhanced by a number of beautiful illustrations by...
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