Author Archive: PaulineMorgan
FantasyCon 2021 – 24th-26th September 2021 (convention review).
Conventions are back! FantasyCon 2021 is the first full face-to-face convention in the UK since the start of the pandemic. Other conventions have either been entirely on-line or a hybrid. Although there was a reduced attendance, the committee had arranged an ambitious programme. We were all encouraged to take lateral flow tests before we arrived […]
Threading The Labyrinth by Tiffani Angus (book review).
To many a maze and a labyrinth are synonymous. Often a maze is depicted as having high wall or hedges and a number of dead-ends making it a puzzle to navigate and reach the centre. The term ‘labyrinth’ covers a lot more possibilities. They have been around for a very long time. In prehistoric times […]
The Magazine Of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Sept/Oct 2021, Volume 141 #757 (magazine review).
This 757th issue of ‘The Magazine Of Fantasy & Science Fiction’ has a beautiful astronomical image on the cover by David A. Hardy. While it is actually an image of Jupiter from Io it could almost be designed to illustrate Erin Barbeau’s story, ‘Ice Fishing On Europa’. Here, Theo is a one person scientific expedition […]
White Knight, Black Swan by David Gemmell (book review).
Writers who are starting to learn their trade are often told to write about what they know. It was always difficult to know if some of David Gemmell’s tales of his childhood were accurate or exaggerated. Regardless, his stepfather and thus Gemmell had knowledge of the criminal side of the community. Gemmell puts this to […]
Rituals (Cainsville series book 5) by Kelley Armstrong (book review).
Writers who produce series are faced with a dilemma. Not everyone finds the first book and may enter the plot arc part-way through. For these readers, there must be enough to engage the attention along with sufficient information to make them feel that the action is not leaving them behind. A barrier to the understanding […]
The Magazine Of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Jul/Aug 2021, Volume 141 #756 (magazine review).
Often, it is the stories by established writers that draw a new reader to a magazine. In this case it is Michael Swanwick for whom Alan M Clark created the surreal cover artwork which complements the story. ‘Dreadnought’ is an excellent portrayal of the lost people in society. Luke lives under an overpass and gets […]
A Strange And Brilliant Light by Eli Lee (book review).
The concept of a country that doesn’t actually exist is not new in literature. Anthony Hope’s 1894 novel ‘The Prisoner Of Zenda’ takes place in the imaginary country of Ruritania, identified as somewhere in Europe. Jim Crace’s first book, ‘Continent’, consists of seven stories set in a country that has similarities to South America. Thus, […]
Eternal Vigilance book 1: From Deep Within The Earth by Gabrielle S. Faust (book review)
The idea of having medical conditions, physical or mental, on some kind of spectrum is an increasing phenomenon. It seems that vampirism could be considered as such. On one end of the spectrum is Nosferatu, as depicted in the 1922 film, evil, ugly and whose motives are to kill, especially young women. At the other […]
Eyes Like Leaves by Charles de Lint (book review).
Once, when the word ‘fantasy’ was mentioned, the automatic thought was something Tolkienesque, a plot involving magic, wizards and possibly god-like beings, with lots of conflict and a quest. The settings were invented worlds. Often the sides of conflict were very much black and white. Later, fantasy became broader to include contemporary or historical settings […]
Monday Luck by Neil Robinson (book review).
The word ‘novel’ means new. Originally, a tale of over 60,000 words would have been a novel idea and the word became attached to longer fiction but with novel-length books being so common, the word needs to be attached to the content. What is new could refer to the plot, the characters, the setting or […]
