The Forge: Fire and Ice, by Fantastic Books Publishing: #BookReview.

On 11/08/2019 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Reading, Review8 Comments

236 pages Short Stories/Fantasy/Science Fiction Anthologies Before you read this, you need to know that one of the 27 stories published in this anthology was written by me. So, a collection of dark, sometimes very dark, speculative fiction with a touch of black humour sprinkled in. The theme of the anthology is Fire and Ice …

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The Fifth Ascendant, by Joshua Grant: #BookReview.

On 13/06/201913/06/2019 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Reading, Review

777 pages Children’s Steampunk/Fantasy and Magic for Children As this is a children’s book, I read it to find out how the author dealt with such a readership, having read other works of his written for adults. This is definitely written for a younger readership. There are elements some adults will find difficult to follow; …

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A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. Le Guin: #BookReview.

On 23/01/2019 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Literature, Reading, Review13 Comments

304 pages Children’s/Science Fiction and Fantasy It may seem like an odd time of life to be reading children’s literature. In my defence, I bought this book ‘blind’ as one of a number I ordered after being gifted a book token for my 70th birthday. I’d heard of Ursula Le Guin, had her books recommended, …

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Game Changers of the Apocalypse, by Mark Kirkbride: #BookReview.

On 12/01/2019 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Reading, Review

Science Fiction/Post-Apocalyptic Horror 299 pages As far as I can recall, I’ve never read a book in the post-apocalypse genre before, so it’s probable there are recognisable conventions of which I’m unaware. That said, any book should generally be accessible to all readers if possible. This one took some getting into for me. Once I …

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The Darkness Abides, by L. Harcroft: #BookReview.

On 30/12/2018 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Reading, Review

Fantasy serial It’s difficult to know whether this book is experimental or just badly written. The sentence structure sometimes seems borrowed from the 19th century and there are many errors that should have been spotted in editing. The opening is a strange mix of intriguing detail and oddly expressed action. We’re given no clues as …

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A Night Shift, by Joshua Scribner: #BookReview.

On 14/08/2017 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Creative Writer, Fiction, Reading, Review

This short piece of dark fantasy puts a different spin on a popular theme, and carries it through with some dark humour. It’s a compact story, told simply but with great effect. We know as much as we need to about the characters and watch as the tension slowly builds to the denouement, which contains …

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The Majat Testing, by Anna Kashina Reviewed.

On 11/01/2017 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction, Reading, Review

This fantasy short introduces readers to a new series, The Majat Code, which, on the basis of the writing here, I may very well explore further. For a short piece, this book develops the characters well and presents an imagined world in surprising detail, without boring the reader with unnecessarily lengthy descriptions. The story involves …

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The Birth of Death, by Joseph Macolino, Reviewed.

On 11/10/2016 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction, Review

Fantasy for YA readers, this tale of magical creatures failed to grab my attention, though I imagine those interested in the lore of elves, satyrs, centaurs, et al, will find enough here. I found the writing style a little stilted and was unable to engage with the characters, so didn’t read past the first quarter …

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The War of the First Day, by Thomas Fleet, Reviewed.

On 04/09/2016 By stuartakenIn Author, Book, Fiction, Reading, Review3 Comments

Fantasy with a difference, this novel, set in a world of witchcraft, is remarkable for its language and surprising use of logic. The story is told through the first person point of view of an aspirant witch caught up in a civil war among her sisters. There is the usual fantasy ingredient, essential to my …

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Searching for the Right Words? Tip #40

On 23/08/201623/08/2016 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Grammar, Word Choice

This is the final post in the series aimed at helping authors express the full meaning and emotional content of their fiction. However, I intend to start a new series, again about word choice. I’ll begin that on Thursday with the next post. Keep an eye out for it. It’ll be titled, ‘Looking for …

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Searching for the Right Words? Tip #38

On 16/08/2016 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Grammar, Word Choice

This series, now reaching its natural close, aims to help authors express the full meaning and emotional content of their fiction. As writers, we seek to inspire readers with joy, stoke their terrors, romance them with love, overwhelm them with horror, inflame their passions. This set of posts examines how we can influence mood, …

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Searching for the Right Words? Tip #37

On 12/08/2016 By stuartakenIn Author, Creative Writer, Fiction, Grammar, Word Choice

This series aims to help authors express the full meaning and emotional content of their fiction. As writers, we seek to inspire readers with joy, stoke their terrors, romance them with love, overwhelm them with horror, inflame their passions. This set of posts examines how we might influence mood, illustrating how word choice and …

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FantastiCon 2016: A Convention with Added Bite!

On 07/08/201609/08/2016 By stuartakenIn Author, Fiction, Fundraising

The annual SF/Fantasy/Gaming/Cosplay/Music event FantastiCon 2016, will take place on 19th & 20th November at the Guildhall in Hull UK! Why am I telling you this? Because I’ll be there! Signing books, socialising, meeting readers and possibly doing a reading (TBA). I'd love to meet you there. This is the third year of this convention …

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