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Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Review: The Trials of Empire by Richard Swan

 


Official Author Website

OFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: Richard was born in North Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. He spent most of his early life on Royal Air Force bases in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, and attended St Peter's School in York as a boarder. He studied law at the University of Manchester, and spent most of the following ten years as a lawyer specialising in multi-million pound commercial disputes.

Between 2015 and 2018, Richard self-published THE ART OF WAR trilogy, a sequence of epic military space operas, as well as a number of prequels, novellas and short stories.

FORMAT/INFO: The Trials of Empire was published on February 6th, 2024 by Orbit Books. It is 544 pages and told from the first person POV of Helena. It is available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats.
Tuesday, March 26, 2024

SPFBO 9 Finalist review: A Rival Most Vial by R.K. Ashwick

 


ABOUT THE AUTHOR: By day, R.K. Ashwick herds cats in the animation industry. By night, she writes, bakes, and herds her literal cat around her living room. She lives with her husband (and said cat) in California.

If you like fancy coats and silly ramblings, you can find R.K. on Tiktok and Instagram.

A Rival Most Vial links: AmazonGoodreads

SPFBO 9 Finalist Interview: R.K. Ashwick, The Author of A Rival Most Vial


ABOUT THE AUTHOR: By day, R.K. Ashwick herds cats in the animation industry. By night, she writes, bakes, and herds her literal cat around her living room. She lives with her husband (and said cat) in California.

If you like fancy coats and silly ramblings, you can find R.K. on Tiktok and Instagram.

A Rival Most Vial links: AmazonGoodreads
Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Book review: In The Shadow of Their Dying by Michael R. Fletcher & Anna Smith Spark

 


Book links: Amazon, Goodreads

Michael R. Fletcher: Michael R. Fletcher lives in the endless suburban sprawl north of Toronto. He dreams of trees and seeing the stars at night and being a ninja. He is an unrepentant whiskey-swilling reprobate of the tallest order and thinks grilled cheese sandwiches are a food group.

Anna Smith Spark: Anna Smith Spark lives in London, UK. She loves grimdark and epic fantasy and historical military fiction. Anna has a BA in Classics, an MA in history and a PhD in English Literature. She has previously been published in the Fortean Times and the poetry website www.greatworks.org.uk. Previous jobs include petty bureaucrat, English teacher and fetish model.

Anna's favourite authors and key influences are R. Scott Bakker, Steve Erikson, M. John Harrison, Ursula Le Guin, Mary Stewart and Mary Renault. She spent several years as an obsessive D&D player. She can often be spotted at sff conventions wearing very unusual shoes.

Publisher: Grimdark Magazine (March 19, 2024) Length: 143 pages Formats: ebook, paperback
Thursday, March 14, 2024

Review: The Last Phi Hunter by Salinee Goldenberg


Official Author Website
Buy The Last Phi Hunter

OFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: Sal(inee) Goldenberg is a multimedia artist and writer living in Washington D.C. She paints, draws comics, and plays guitar in a punk rock band. Before freelancing, the bi-chaotic elder-millennial worked at Bethesda Softworks, producing narrative trailers on IPs like Skyrim, Fallout and Dishonored. Now she makes wholesome social videos for Minecraft. She loves cooking, (especially Thai family recipes,) playing video games, and lowlevel hustlin’.
Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Review: That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf by Kimberly Lemming

 

Official Author Website
Buy That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf

OFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: Kimberly Lemming is on an eternal quest to avoid her calling as a main character. She can be found giving the slip to that new werewolf that just blew into town and refusing to make eye contact with a prince of a far-off land. Dodging aliens looking for Earth booty can really take up a girl's time.

But when she’s not running from fate, she can be found writing diverse fantasy romance. Or just shoveling chocolate in her maw until she passes out on the couch. 
Tuesday, March 12, 2024

SPFBO Finalist review: Daughter of The Beast by E.C. Greaves

 


ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Born in Solihull, UK, Ed Greaves now resides in Auckland, New Zealand.

Besides pouring his imagination out into the pages of his books, he also spends his time developing indie horror games, composing music, building and modifying old vehicles, and drawing.

And wasting too much time on Twitter.

Find E.C. online: Website

Daughter of the Beast links: AmazonGoodreads

SPFBO FInalist Interview: E.C. Greaves, the author of Daughter of the Beast



ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Born in Solihull, UK, Ed Greaves now resides in Auckland, New Zealand.

Besides pouring his imagination out into the pages of his books, he also spends his time developing indie horror games, composing music, building and modifying old vehicles, and drawing.

And wasting too much time on Twitter.

Find E.C. online: Website

Daughter of the Beast links: AmazonGoodreads

Monday, March 11, 2024

The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder by C L Miller (Reviewed by Shazzie)

 Book Review: The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder by C L Miller



Official author website

Buy The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder here

OFFICIAL BOOK BLURB:  Freya, it’s down to you to finish what I started. . .Freya Lockwood has avoided the quaint English village in which she grew up for the last 20 years. That is until news arrives that Arthur Crockleford, antiques dealer and Freya’s estranged mentor, has died… and the circumstances seem suspicious.

Thursday, March 7, 2024

Graphic novel review: Tender by Beth Hetland

 


Book links: Publisher, Goodreads

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Beth Hetland is a Professor, Adj. at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she teaches several comics and comics adjacent courses. She holds an MFA (2011) from The Center for Cartoon Studies and BFA (2009) from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Publisher: Fantagraphics (March 12, 2024) Length: 162 pages Formats: ebook, paperback

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

GUEST POST: Writing the Villainess by Elyse Thompson

GUEST POST: Writing the Villainess by Elyse Thompson




I was about half way through writing what I thought would be the second (now sixth) book in my series when inspiration struck. What if the innocent victims from Poisoned Empire were, in fact, party to the coup attempt? That would make them villains, wouldn’t it? Chasing the next shiny thing (something I’m often guilty of as a writer) the female lead for Conspirators’ Kingdom, Taisiya, began taking shape in my head.
Tuesday, March 5, 2024

Book review: The Truth of the Aleke by Moses Ose Utomi

The Truth of the Aleke by Moses Ose Utomi

 


Book links: Amazon, Goodreads

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Moses Ose Utomi is a Nigerian-American fantasy writer and nomad currently based out of Honolulu, Hawaii. He has an MFA in fiction from Sarah Lawrence College and short fiction publications in Fireside Fiction, Fantasy Magazine, and more. He is the author of the novella The Lies of the Ajungo and the YA fantasy novel Daughters of Oduma. When he’s not writing, he’s traveling, training martial arts, or doing karaoke—with or without a backing track.
Monday, March 4, 2024

Interview: Gareth Brown, author of The Book of Doors

 Interview: Gareth Brown, author of The Book of Doors


Buy The Book of Doors here

OFFICIAL BOOK BLURB: New York bookseller Cassie Andrews is not sure what she’s doing with her life. She lives quietly, sharing an apartment with her best friend, Izzy. Then a favourite customer gives her an old book. Full of strange writing and mysterious drawings, at the very front there is a handwritten message:

The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown (Reviewed by Shazzie)


Book Review: The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown


the book of doors by gareth brown


Buy The Book of Doors here

FORMAT/INFO: The Book of Doors was published on February 15th, 2024 by Bantam Books in the U.K. and on February 13th 2024 by William Morrow in the U.S. It is available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats. 

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