May 30, 2016

“This Book is Full of Spiders” by Jason Pargin (David Wong) – The Invisible Invasion

This Book is Full of Spiders by Jason Pargin (Book cover)
After fending off the Shadow Men from destroying the entire world in their last outing, David Wong and his friend John are trying to live out their days in relative peace and comfort in the disappointingly strange town of [Undisclosed].

However, Jason Pargin had other plans for the now practically cult-classic duo, suiting them up for a new round of adventures in This Book is Full of Spiders.

May 27, 2016

“Once Dead” by Richard Phillips – The Best Laid Plans of Aliens

Once Dead by Richard Phillips (Book cover)
When Richard Phillips began writing the original Rho Agenda trilogy, it felt like he was writing in a style made to cater to young adults more than anyone.

However, it feels as if his progression through the story pushed him more and more towards the boundaries of adult storytelling... as if the author was still searching for the approach he liked best.

Feeling he could make a good expansion of his universe, he set out to write The Rho Agenda Inception series, with the first book being Once Dead.

May 22, 2016

“Career of Evil” by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) – A Taste for Dismemberment

Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) (Book cover)
For as long as men and women have existed we have been killing each other in innumerable ways, and even though modern life has drastically reduced our chances of dying a violent death, the thought of it still stirs something deep within us.

If there is one type of killer we've come to fear in today's society more than others, it is perhaps the deranged serial killer. He or she can camouflage as a normal member of society, can never be reasoned with, and can never stop doing what they are driven to.

May 19, 2016

“Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World” by Haruki Murakami – A Place Within Yourself

Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami - book cover
Since the moment we were born the quest to find our place in this world has been thrust upon us, and for many it is one that haunts them from beginning to end, never really finding the crevice they fit in perfectly.

Nevertheless, we keep on living through life in hope of answers, understanding and meaning, many coming to the conclusion that we ought to carve our own places in this world, rather than search for them.

In Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Haruki Murakami presents us with two parallel stories centred on that idea in their own ways.

May 2, 2016

The Thoughts of a Master - An Interview with Author Glen Craney


Personal site

Glen Craney is an American author, novelist, journalist and lawyer with degrees from Hanover College, Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis, and Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. He has taken to writing novels with more of a historical penchant, such as The Virgin of the Wind Rose and The Fire and the Light.
Good day to all our fantastic readers! We've recently had the opportunity to conduct an E-mail interview with Glen Craney author of The Spider and the Stone as well as The Yanks are Starving, both of them received with exceptional critical acclaim. And so, taking our change, we picked his brain a bit in regards to his relation with literature, and here are his (very detailed) answers, hopefully you'll enjoy and learn from them as much as we did!

Q: As is known in the biographical elements made public, in addition to being an author you are also a journalist and a lawyer. When and how did you decide to turn your life towards writing fiction rather than fact?

GC: Thanks for hosting me, David. I came to fiction later than most novelists. Following stints as a trial lawyer and political reporter, I had a flirtation with the movie business after winning the Nicholl Fellowship, an award given by the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences for best new film writing. Readers often tell me my novels have a cinematic feel.

Maybe that's because I learned screenwriting first. I discovered how difficult it is to get any movie produced, but particularly an intelligent, sophisticated one that stays true to historical events. The original writer's vision usually gets lost in the shuffle of multiple writers and studio demands for taking dramatic license. So, I decided to write my historical stories first as books.

Q: In what ways do you think your careers have impacted your writing in terms of its subject, style and quality?


May 1, 2016

“Chains of Command” by Marko Kloos – Aliens, Traitors and Space Explosions

Chains of Command by Marko Kloos (Book cover)
The Frontlines series has certainly giving us more than a few epic moments and encounters between the humans and their alien invaders, and Marko Kloos returns in force once again to expand on his universe and continue the story of humanity's struggle to maintain its own existence.