The Book Plank

Epic Fantasy: More Than Just Swords by Gail Martin What makes epic fantasy so ... epic?   Some of it is scope. Epic fantasy series tend to think big: the rise and fall of kingdoms, the machinations of kings, huge battles, the fate of the world in the balance.  Epic fantasy, almost by definition, tends to be in a medieval setting. Monarchs, walled cities, pre-industrial technology, battles with trebuchets, catapults and ... swords. Swords and sword fights are definitely part of epic fantasy, along with knives, crossbows, longbows and other medieval armaments. If you think that limits the inventiveness of battle, take a look sometime at Leonardo DaVinci's schematics for war machines. I've used some of those machines in conflicts in my prior books, and they were fun game changers.  There's so much more to epic fantasy though than just the swords. Sure, understanding the battle tactics and weapons that are period-authentic is important for credibility...

Hope and Red by John Skovron, Empire of  Storms Trilogy #1  In a fracturing empire spread across savage seas, two young people from different cultures find common purpose. A nameless girl is the lone survivor when her village is massacred by biomancers, mystical servants of the emperor. Named after her lost village, Bleak Hope is secretly trained by a master Vinchen warrior as an instrument of vengeance. A boy becomes an orphan on the squalid streets of New Laven and is adopted by one of the most notorious women of the criminal underworld, given the name Red, and trained as a thief and con artist. When a ganglord named Deadface Drem strikes a bargain with the biomancers to consolidate and rule all the slums of New Laven, the worlds of Hope and Red come crashing together, and their unlikely alliance takes them further than either could have dreamed possible.   There are a lot of leading authors in the Epic Fantasy genre, breaking through is a challenge. One thing ...

Dancer's Lament by Ian C. Esslemont, Path to Ascendancy #1 For ages warfare has crippled the continent as minor city states, baronies, and principalities fought in an endless round of hostilities. Only the alliance of the rival Tali and Quon cities could field the resources to mount a hegemony from coast to coast -- and thus become known as Quon Tali. It is a generation since the collapse of this dynasty and regional powers are once more rousing themselves. Into this arena of renewed border wars come two youths to the powerful central city state that is Li Heng.  One is named Dorin, and he comes determined to prove himself the most skilled assassin of his age; he is chasing the other youth -- a Dal Hon mage who has proven himself annoyingly difficult to kill. Li Heng has been guided and warded for centuries by the powerful sorceress known as the "Protectress", and she allows no rivals. She and her cabal of five mage servants were enough to repel the Quon Tali Iron L...

The Tiger and the Wolf by Adrian Tchaikovsky, Echoes of the Fall #1 In the bleak northern crown of the world, war is coming Maniye’s father is the Wolf clan’s chieftain, but she’s an outcast. Her mother was queen of the Tiger and these tribes have been enemies for generations. Maniye also hides a deadly secret. All can shift into their clan’s animal form, but Maniye can take on tiger and wolf shapes. She can’t disown half her soul, so escapes – with the killer Broken Axe in pursuit. Maniye’s father plots to rule the north, and controlling his daughter is crucial to his schemes. However, other tribes also prepare for strife. It’s a season for omens as priests foresee danger, a time of testing and broken laws. Some say a great war is coming, overshadowing even Wolf ambitions. But what spark will set the world ablaze?   Adrian Tchaikovsky, the man behind one of the series that shook and shaped modern fantasy. The Shadows of the Apt series. This will haunt him forever in...

Saint's Blood by Sebastien de Castell, Greatcoats #3 How do you kill a Saint? Falcio, Kest, and Brasti are about to find out, because someone has figured out a way to do it and they've started with a friend. The Dukes were already looking for ways out of their agreement to put Aline on the throne, but with the Saints turning up dead, rumours are spreading that the Gods themselves oppose her ascension. Now churches are looking to protect themselves by bringing back the military orders of religious soldiers, assassins, and (especially) Inquisitors - a move that could turn the country into a theocracy. The only way Falcio can put a stop to it is by finding the murderer. He has only one clue: a terrifying iron mask which makes the Saints vulnerable by driving them mad. But even if he can find the killer, he'll still have to face him in battle. And that may be a duel that no swordsman, no matter how skilled, can hope to win. Two years ago Sebastien de Castell...

Guest Blog: The Soundtrack of a Book by Ben Peek Leviathan’s Blood is my sixth book, but it is the second in my big fantasy trilogy, Children. The first was called The Godless . The third, when it is released next year, will be called The Eternal Kingdom . I wrote Leviathan’s Blood mostly in silence. I didn’t always prefer the quiet while writing. I used to listen to music, sometimes loud, sometimes soft, but then, one day – I couldn’t tell you when, to be honest – I turned the music off. It had begun to dig under my concentration. It broke up my words. It had to be turned off so I could write properly. I love music, and though it was turned off while I sat at my laptop and worked, I turned it on in the interstitial spaces of my life. Walking up the road, taking a shower, cooking dinner, gardening: I did all that with music on. At the same time, I also thought about my book. I thought action scenes and battles, I ran through the conversations of characters, thought about...

Guest Blog: THE VICTORIANS by Martin Kasasian People have a tendency to think of the Victorian era as something ancient and lost in the mists of time. But it is the closeness of it that fascinates me. According to Wikipedia, there are at least 4 people still alive who were born during the reign of Queen Victoria. And I have known people who could remember her funeral. The Victorians were the first people to be able to photograph themselves and they did so in vast numbers. No longer dependent on a flattering portrait painter's interpretation of his client, we can see exactly what the queen, Prince Albert and all the royal family looked liked. We can stare straight into the eyes of Charles Dickens, Gladstone, Disraeli, General Gordon, Florence Nightingale or Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Through a few brief flickers of cinematography we can even see the Victorians on the move. Victoria's jubilee procession in 1897 is there for all to watch or there is a clip of the la...