Tag: Books

  • The New Age of Book Burning

    This week saw two attempts by book burners to take down offensive literature. One was successful, the other failed. Both attempts are instructive for authors to prepare for the realities of modern-day publishing and digital book burning. The Case of Amelie Wen Zhao Born in Paris, raised in China, and now living and working in…

  • Between Tradecraft and Thrills: Johnny Wylde

    It is accepted wisdom in the thriller community that highly-trained characters must display excellent tradecraft to thrill the reader. Yet this isn’t always so. In my first post in this series, I explored the Orphan X series, in which the protagonist’s poor tradecraft sets up superior scenes; in my previous post, I showed how taking…

  • Between Tradecraft and Thrills: Orphan X

    New York Times bestseller Gregg Hurwitz blew into the writing scene with his debut Minutes to Burn. With his Timothy Rackley series, Hurwitz hit his stride, solidifying his position as a top-shelf thriller author. In his latest series, Orphan X, he has reached new heights, producing a magnificent blend of pulse-pounding action, complex characterisation, powerful imagery,…

  • Appendix N: Robert E Howard, Masculinity and Morality

    Robert E Howard stands astride the world of American literature as a forgotten titan. With hundreds of stories and poems to his name, he built a bibliography that dwarfs any ten modern writers by the age of thirty. He wrote in a vast array of genres, from Westerns to spicy romances, light-hearted humourous tales to…

  • Press Release: HEROES UNLEASHED by Silver Empire!

    Yesterday, publisher Silver Empire announced a new superhero project titled Heroes Unleashed. Like Marvel and DC Comics, Heroes Unleashed will feature multiple superhero series set in a sprawling world of superheroes and supervillains, written by a number of up-and-coming critically acclaimed authors. The full press release is reproduced below: — ​SILVER EMPIRE ANNOUNCES “HEROES UNLEASHED” ​Multi-author shared universe…

  • Between Pulp Wonders and Light Novel Trash

    In his last podcast, JimFear138 sat down with Rawle Nyanzi to discuss the concept of genres in a freewheeling discussion that spanned, among other things, My Hero Academia, the blurry line between science fiction and fantasy, and, at the 40:15 mark, Japanese light novels. Rawle didn’t have a high opinion of most light novels. I share the…