Category Archives: Features

Today we land in Europe, its history the inspiration for many of the popular fantasy novels published today… Or at least the depiction the average person would give if you asked them to describe elements of a traditional fantasy story. Castles, knights, swords – King Arthur, basically. Of course, fantasy is becoming more diverse andContinue reading “SFF World Tour Day Four: Europe!”

Although each day of this tour is loosely based on one continent, today we’re visiting The Arctic. Unlike the other places on our tour, the Arctic Circle isn’t officially a continent itself and largely consists of the Arctic Ocean, which is predominantly water and ice, circled by countries belonging to other continents; parts of Greenland,Continue reading “SFF World Tour Day Three: The Arctic!”

We’ve arrived in North America, home to The Land of Opportunity. And what an opportunity you are presented with! 6 fantastic books – all pretty different yet very highly rated. You’re practically guaranteed to find something here you really like the sound of. Trail of Lightning – Rebecca Roanhorse While most of the world hasContinue reading “SFF World Tour Day Two: North America!”

We arrive at our first destination: South & Central America. A beautiful area of the world, with a rich, colourful history and culture, there is unfortunately not a lot of Fantasy or Sci-Fi to come from South & Central/Latin America. Magical Realism is more popular, which you could say is a variant on fantasy. It’sContinue reading “SFF World Tour Day One: South & Central America!”

Your flight is waiting for an around-the-world trip, discovering Science Fiction and Fantasy inspired by, set in and written by authors from every continent. This is a 7 day voyage, and your itinerary is as follows: Monday – South America Tuesday – North America Wednesday – The Arctic Thursday – Europe Friday – Africa SaturdayContinue reading “Tickets Please!”

Hello and welcome to the first issue of Hidden Gems. This is a new feature in which we look at books with a lot of promise that might benefit from some extra exposure. It’s your chance to find a cherished ‘Hidden Gem’! In issue 1 we have 6 suggestions, many of which come highly recommendedContinue reading “Hidden Gems Issue #1”

At the time of writing, I’ve had my blog set up for just over 4 months. It’s been a great experience and one I’m still really enjoying. Starting completely inexperienced and naïve, some might say I’m still both of these things, but I feel I’ve learned a few things to guide new bloggers, give anContinue reading “The Newbie’s Guide to Book Blogging”

The DNF (Did Not Finish) book is something that all readers come to at least consider, sooner or later. Some have stacks of DNFs. Others just can’t bring themselves to do it, grinding through a read that isn’t really for them, with a steely determination to get it finished. Maybe there are some lucky anomaliesContinue reading “The ‘DNF’”

What kind of reader are you? I’m a weird one. I can finish the best book I’ve ever read and instead of immediately moving onto the next, I will read a few other books first. I don’t know whether this is just a change of scenery, giving other authors a try or simply because myContinue reading “Turn it up to 11!”

Women are a huge presence in what was considered a male-dominated genre, many estimates putting SFF readership at a 50/50 split between women and men. I won’t bore you with studies or data but there’s plenty on Google should you wish to do a little research. With fiction in general, the percentage of women readersContinue reading “10 Women Authors to Read this year!”