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)…
I was on vacation last week, which left little time for blogging. But I did have time to finish a wonderful book by Michael D. Sellers titled John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood. The book is a fascinating read for anyone interested in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ landmark John Carter of Mars series or the…
Let me start by saying this is a first rate novel. At times, I found myself lost within its pages, feeling the story’s suspense and tension in my very bones. It is better than A Feast For Crows and probably on par with A Clash Of Kings. But it is easily George R.R. Martin’s most…
Last week, frequent commentator and guest reviewer Bill Brockman alerted me to an article about BBC making Bernard Cornwell’s The Last Kingdom into a TV series. The Last Kingdom is one of my all-time favorite historical novels, so this is wonderful news! You can read the full article in The Independent, titled “BBC’s new Game of Thrones slayer…
It’s been a rough week for writing, which makes it even rougher for blogging. So this week, I’m going with a little humor, thanks to the talented folks at Horrible Histories. The parts with the monk crack me up!
Imagine the courage of those who risked all for the sake of independence and freedom. It led to a war and lives were lost, but the Declaration of Independence well states the cause for which they fought 238 years ago: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that…
This week it’s my pleasure again to feature a guest review from historical fiction aficionado Bill Brockman, a frequent contributor to the blog (you can read more about him here). In April, he reviewed Blood Eye by Giles Kristian, Book 1 of the Raven Trilogy. This time, Bill takes on Book 2 of the trilogy, Sons of…
I saved this review until after the finale of season 4 of HBO’s Game of Thrones because there is no way to discuss A Feast for Crows without spoiling the most shocking part of the final episode. So, if you haven’t seen Season 4 of Game of Thrones or haven’t read A Storm of Swords,…
Since I’ve read most of the books, none of the jaw-dropping scenes in Season 4 of HBO’s Game of Thrones, such as Joffrey’s murder and Oberyn’s skull crushing defeat, came as big surprises. But what has surprised me is when the show’s producers have strayed from the novels. So before this Sunday’s season finale, I…
No time to blog this week. Yet with pirates all the rage these days, I’m re-posting one of my favorite bits from the talented folks at Horrible Histories – enjoy!
Pirates must be all the rage these days. Barely two months after the finale of Black Sails on Starz, which was a worthy prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island (with another season on the way), NBC is offering a new pirate drama based on the notorious captain Black Beard. It’s titled Crossbones and premiers tomorrow at 10 PM. The series…