Author: Justin Blazier

Jesse Bullington’s problematic protagonists

I’m briefly coming out of retirement today to introduce Jesse Bullington, one of my favorite “new” authors. I like classic Fantasy, a lot. However, I like it more when a writer takes Fantasy to places where it doesn’t belong. Jesse takes Fantasy into those Dark places. He writes stories filled with macabre humor, twisted characters, and uninhibited violence. Jesse’s writing is disturbing, comedic, and most certainly brilliant. The mixed feelings that The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart brought out amongst our staff is a testament to his qualifications for writing questionable characters.

December 13th, 2012. Justin Blazier | Jesse Bullington | Thoughtful Thursday | 13 comments |

Red Country: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly with swords

Red Country by Joe Abercrombie

As a fan of Joe Abercrombie’s other books, such as The Heroes, Red Country was a must-read for me. Even though I had no idea what Red Country was about, or how it might be related to his previous stories, it didn’t really matter because I was certain that Joe Abercrombie would entertain me.

Red Country feels almost like a Western in the way that the towns are laid out — there’s a quasi general store and a the local saloon,

November 29th, 2012. John Hulet and Justin Blazier´s rating: 4 | Joe Abercrombie | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |

Thoughtful Thursday: Promising new authors

One of the things we’re always getting excited about here at FanLit is the emergence of new talent in speculative fiction. Every time a publicist writes to tell us about a debut author, we huddle together to read the press release, look around at each other, and start to mumble: “Is this the Dragon Reborn one we’ve been waiting for? The next King or Queen of Fantasy Literature? Someone who will reach down and lift us out of the wretchedness of our miserable mundane lives?

Alas. Usually no. But over the past couple of years we have read some authors that we’re getting pretty excited about,

September 27th, 2012. Justin Blazier | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 19 comments |

Pass the rolls to Alex Hughes

Today we welcome debut author Alex Hughes, who has a question for you. Her novel Clean will be released next week. One commenter will win a copy of Clean.

I’m Alex Hughes, debut author of the book Clean. I’m also a huge foodie. There’s nothing that makes me happier than sitting down with a gourmet meal — in a restaurant, of course, but especially in my own kitchen. There’s something therapeutic about cooking, about playing with a new recipe and making something delicious.

August 30th, 2012. Justin Blazier | Alex Hughes | Thoughtful Thursday | 9 comments |

The Gaming Gateway: Gencon 2012

Justin goes to Gencon!

My comrades and I arrived at the Indianapolis Convention Center at 9:00am. We had an hour to kill before the main hall opened and the running of the nerds commenced. Thousands of gamers rushed towards their favorite booths to get in line for those convention-exclusive goodies. I, too, had a booth in mind, and I joined the masses in a brisk walk/run to the Privateer Press booth. PP makes a miniatures game called Warmachine that I like to play, and this year they had some minis I wished to acquire.

August 25th, 2012. Justin Blazier | Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Rothfuss | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |

What makes a great female protagonist?

Today I will be handing over the Thoughtful Thursday reins to Nancy Holzner, author of the DEADTOWN series. Nancy is one of my favorite authors, and her razor sharp writing raises the bar in urban fantasy. It’s a an honor and a pleasure to have her guest post for today’s column.

I write urban fantasy, a genre known for its kick-ass heroines. Over the years, I’ve been involved in numerous conversations about “strong female protagonists” and what that means. To be honest, the phrase “strong female protagonist” irks me.

August 23rd, 2012. Justin Blazier | Nancy Holzner | Thoughtful Thursday | 23 comments |

Rename that Cover: Leather Pants and Self Decapitation: A Mariner’s Story

It’s been a while since we renamed a cover. The cover I chose today is not particularly awful — it’s quite the usual thing for a modern romantic fantasy. Queen’s Hunt by Beth Bernobich received a lukewarm reception by our reviewers but seems to be generally well liked over at Amazon. What got my attention about the cover of Queen’s Hunt is the look on the protagonist’s face — it just seems ripe for renaming. It doesn’t portray any of the fierceness that I think they intended.

August 9th, 2012. Justin Blazier | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 19 comments |

Author accessibility

We are well into the digital age of publishing. Almost every book is available from an online source and nearly every author has an internet presence. Contacting your favorite author is as easy as posting a comment or firing off a quick e-mail. More often than not, your favorite author will send you a reply in a reasonable amount of time.

This was not always possible. Back in the olden days (15 years ago) fans had to write letters and lick stamps, and if even if you got a form letter in response it was something to be treasured.

July 26th, 2012. Justin Blazier | Thoughtful Thursday | 10 comments |

Thoughtful Thursday: Five Free Books for Five years of FanLit

Fantasy Literature reached its fifth year of existence this summer, and I thought it time to do a little celebrating. I love this site a great deal, and it excites me to no end to see it grow like it has. FanLit has played a huge part in my development as a writer, and as a reader. I really appreciate the hard work our team puts into making the site so great. Besides reading and writing reviews, each of us has our own site jobs — editing, columns we’re in charge of, interviews, and many behind-the-scenes tasks that keep us producing daily content.

July 19th, 2012. Justin Blazier | Giveaway!, Thoughtful Thursday | 30 comments |

WWW: Wonder: Ties up the story nicely

WWW: Wonder by Robert J. Sawyer

WWW: Wonder is the third and final book in Robert J. Sawyer’s WWW trilogy. It continues the story of visually challenged Caitlin Decter and the self aware web-based intelligence that she has named Webmind. Caitlin and Webmind struggle to deal with the sudden attention Webmind’s emergence has brought on them all. Caitlin believes that Webmind is a benevolent entity, but the government considers it a threat and wants to eradicate it. There are a couple of other subplots that come to together in WWW: Wonder,

Next SFF Author: Ben Aaronovitch

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