Last week, io9 ran an article titled “No, Bram Stoker Did Not Model Dracula On Vlad The Impaler,” which debunks the belief that Stoker’s legendary vampire was based on the notorious Wallachian prince. In fact, in early drafts of the novel, Stoker’s antagonist was apparently named “Count Wampyr.” You can’t make this up. The historical…
Today I’m guest blogging at Heroines of Fantasy, a site devoted to fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction, and especially women in genre fiction. As part of their month-long “Fright Fest,” I’ve written a work of flash fiction (i.e., a story under 1,000 words) titled “The Devil’s Bridge.” It’s based on an old Welsh legend about…
Yesterday, I finished Thieves’ Quarry by D. B. Jackson and found it a worthy sequel to the first book in the series, which I reviewed here. My review of Thieves’ Quarry follows this image of the book’s amazing cover. D. B. Jackson has crafted another fun historical fantasy with Thieves’ Quarry, the sequel to his…
Earlier this year I wrote about how I’m using Pinterest to stockpile images of the places and people featured in my novel, Enoch’s Device, and its upcoming sequel. Ten months later, the sequel board has grown considerably. Here’s a link if you’d care to take a look. Who is that man in black? And speaking…
This week, I’m pleased to feature another book review by guest reviewer Bill Brockman, this time of Dubh-Linn by James L. Nelson, Book II of the Norsemen Saga. As many readers of this blog know, Bill is an avid reader of historical fiction, but he’s also devoted his life to public service as a Battalion…
This Monday marks the premiere of Season 2 of Sleepy Hollow on Fox. Last year, I became quite taken with the show (you can read my post here), and I’m looking forward to the upcoming season, especially after the huge twists at the end of last year. Here’s a quick look at the trailer for…
Thieftaker by D.B. Jackson was on my summer reading list, and boy am I glad it was! Between this and the novels by Clifford Beal, I’m starting to enjoy great historical fantasy set outside the Middle Ages—in the case of Theiftaker, 1765 in good ‘ole Boston MA. Great cover art – and a great scene…
Last year I reviewed Gideon’s Angel by Clifford Beal, an example of historical fantasy at its best, set in the seventeenth century during the English Civil War. This year, Clifford Beal released the prequel to Gideon’s Angel titled The Raven’s Banquet. The prequel sheds light on the early backstory of Richard Treadwell, the series’ heroic…
This has been a great summer for historical fantasy fiction. Yesterday, author Roberto Calas released The Scourge: Emaculum, the third and final volume of his Scourge trilogy, which reimagines a medieval plague like the Black Death as a zombie apocalypse. I really enjoyed the first two books in the series (which I reviewed here and here)…
Summer is coming! With Memorial Day weekend almost upon us, my daughter will soon be out of school and summer vacations are fast approaching, so this is the perfect time to make a summer reading list – and the perfect time to offer a summer reading list sale for Enoch’s Device! But first my…
I considered writing about the season finale of Vikings, which was fantastic for those who didn’t see it. But there’s scant time for blogging this week, so I decided to focus on the little glimpse we received in last Saturday’s Da Vinci’s Demons about the mysterious Book of Leaves and its potential Enochian origin. This was…