The Book Plank

SPACE OPERA AND THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE FICTION by D. Nolan Clark             In the 1920s, 30s and 40s, magazines like Weird Tales , Astounding Stories of Super-Science , and Amazing Stories were the cradle of science fiction. H.G. Wells and Jules Verne might have invented the genre but it was the pulps that turned it into what we know today, starting the rich tradition of speculative work. The magazines each had their own editorial style and stable of fan-favorite authors, but they had one thing in common: their lurid, colorful covers. Even today we have no trouble imagining what those old magazines looked like—typically they showed a blond man in a space suit, wielding a raygun against an alien that had more tentacles than were strictly necessary.             The stories in the magazines often had nothing to do with the cover images—even in this nascent era, ...

Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames, The Band #1  Their glory days long past, the mercs have grown apart and grown old, fat, drunk - or a combination of the three. Then an ex-bandmate turns up at Clay's door with a plea for help. His daughter Rose is trapped in a city besieged by an enemy one hundred thousand strong and hungry for blood. Rescuing Rose is the kind of mission that only the very brave or the very stupid would sign up for.  It's time to get the band back together for one last tour across the Wyld. Clay Cooper and his band were once the best of the best -- the meanest, dirtiest, most feared crew of mercenaries this side of the Heartwyld.  Where to begin? Every reader has a sweet spot for a certain style/genre of book. For me it has always been Epic Fantasy. I have been a bit out of the social media scene so i hadn't heard anything about the announcement of Kings of the Wyld right until it dropped in my mailbox. After seeing the cover ...

Author Interview with Nick Eames About the author: Nicholas Eames was born to parents of infinite patience and unstinting support in Wingham, Ontario. Though he attended college for theatre arts, he gave up acting to pursue the infinitely more attainable profession of “epic fantasy novelist.” Kings of the Wyld is his first novel. Nicholas loves black coffee, neat whiskey, the month of October, and video games. He currently lives in Ontario, Canada, and is very probably writing at this moment. BP: First off welcome to The Book Plank Nicholas! Can you tell us a bit of who Nicholas Eames is? What are your likes, dislikes and hobbies? NE:  Hi! Thanks for having me.  Nicholas Eames, huh? He’s a big fan of scotch, he likes his coffee black, and he loves the Ottawa Senators like a beaver loves wood (the Senators are a hockey team, in case you DON’T live in Canada, and beavers are…actually, nevermind—you wouldn’t believe me if I told you). As for hobbies: reading, writing, a...