Reading J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fall of Arthur reminded me of another work of Arthurian fiction that’s related to Tolkien and has been stuck in my the back of my bookshelf for years. That work is Tolkien’s translation of a fourteenth century poem titled Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The famous poem is the work…
I am taking a brief respite from my series on Medieval Fiction to review a wonderful new contemporary fantasy by author K.A. Krisko called Cornerstone: Raising Rook. While set in our day and age, there are distinct medieval elements to this novel and it was a nice change of pace from the pure historical fiction and…
I recently re-read William Goldman’s The Princess Bride for the first time in probably sixteen years. Although I also saw the film adaptation when it was released in 1987, I have probably watched the movie ten or twelve times, so I found it nearly impossible to separate my feelings about the book from Rob Reiner’s…
Season 3 of HBO’s Game of Thrones premiers on March 31st, so it’s about time for another review of a book from George R.R. Martin’s epic series A Song of Ice and Fire. As I’ve mentioned before, I started reading A Song of Ice and Fire shortly before the HBO series first premiered, so I arrived…
This week, Enoch’s Device received two more reviews on the web. Steven Reynolds’ review on SPR went live on February 12. You can read the complete review here, but here are some highlights: “Enoch’s Device is a wonderfully imagined, vividly described, alternately lyrical and violent romp of a novel that should give lovers of historical…
I’ve been travelling this week for work, and I’m way behind on blog posts. So for this week, I’m updating one of my first posts on puzzle-like plots.This month on the SFWA Blog author Terry Bisson offers 60 Rules for Short SF and Fantasy. I found Rule #3 particularly interesting: “The SF reader is a gamer…
I have learned a thing or two about gambling this past month. The first lesson is: don’t make a wager with your spouse unless you know with certainty that you can win (seriously, this should be a maxim in life). The second is: don’t bet on the film version of a worldwide fantasy classic if you’re limiting…
My new novel, Enoch’s Device, is now available on Amazon! I have long awaited this day, and I’m grateful to be able to share it with you now. Nearly a thousand years after the birth of Christ, when all Europe fears that the world will soon end, an Irish monk, Brother Ciarán, discovers an ominous warning…
I can finally reveal the cover art for my new novel, Enoch’s Device! The artwork was done by Glendon Haddix of Streetlight Graphics, who was great to work with. The back-cover blurb follows this image of the book’s cover. Nearly a thousand years after the birth of Christ, when all Europe fears that the world will…
The other night, my wife and I made a friendly wager, perhaps a foolish one on my part. She has long been a fan of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series and predicted, rather confidently, that the new Hobbit film would never beat out the latest Twilight movie at the box office. I told her she was…
I recently re-read J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit for the first time in probably ten years. Once I got past the older and awkward narrative viewpoint (in Tolkien’s defense, the omniscient point-of-view was in vogue back in 1937, especially for what was considered a children’s book), I was reminded of how rich and wonderful the story…