Kyla Lee Ward at Tabula Rasa gives an entertaining review of Dirk Flinthart’s Path of Night, noting: “Flinthart delivers a thoughtful and entertaining take on his material.”
Elizabeth at Earl Grey Editing Service says of Phantazein: “The stories that make up the anthology had a nice mixture of cultures” and “…I’d definitely recommend it…” while Tsana Reads and Reviews declares: “there’s something here for all kinds of fairytalesque fantasy fans.”
We really appreciate all the reviews from our readers – if you have read one of our books, please post (or cross-post) a review on Amazon or Goodreads, as they do help!
It’s been a busy busy couple of weeks for interviews, with the 2014 Australian Spec Fic Snapshot taking place. Many of FableCroft’s creators have been snapshot already, and it’s been great reading the interviews from all facets of the Aussie Spec Fic scene! I particularly enjoy seeing what people are working on, and what they’ve been reading.
And many many more writers we have published are part of the Snapshot – check out the hashtag #2014snapshot on Twitter or follow the tag links in one of the posts to see them!
Alex Stephenson has written a fantastic review of Guardian in Aurealis #72 – among other things, Alex says:
Guardian is a tremendously satisfying conclusion to an already celebrated series.
…Anderton is to be commended for her ability to create such rich and original settings.
A fitting end, or entry, to the trilogy, Guardian is as excellent as Anderton’s fans deserve. It is a pleasure to read modern science fiction driven by a female lead as strong and nuanced as Tanyana.
Thanks Alex! You can read the whole review (and new fiction and other things as well!) in the issue, just $2.99 at Smashwords.
Another review of Jo’s Veiled World books comes from Paul Bonamy on Goodreads, who calls them: “…an excellent series, and well worth reading.”
Jason Franks has interviewed Dirk Flinthart over at his blog, talking a lot about Path of Night and what’s coming up next. Don’t forget that while you wait for book 2 in the series, “Sanction”, a short story set after the events of Path of Night, is available super cheap from Amazon!
Did we mention that The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories won Best Collection at the Australian Shadows Awards last month? It DID! Nice double with the Aurealis Award – congratulations Jo!
Speaking of The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories Dave Versace reviewed the book on Amazon, saying it’s full of, “Beautiful, dark stories of humanity on the fringes of normality or the verge of extinction.” Much appreciated Dave!
Elanor Matton-Johnson gave Ink Black Magic by Tansy Rayner Roberts five stars on Goodreads, saying it’s, “A brilliantly batty romp…” – we agree! And Cissa on Amazon said, “VERY recommended, especially if you like surreal mash-ups.” Thanks Cissa!
Let us know if you review a FableCroft book on Amazon, Goodreads or your blog, and we’ll happily link to it!
It occurred to me recently, that given we have Jo Anderton’s launch next weekend, I probably should (finally) post about the OTHER book celebrations we’ve had recently. Well, in the past year. Hmmm, yes, it HAS been a busy 12 months! (more photos of events over at the FableCroft Facebook page)
First off the rank (gosh, was it really in APRIL last year?!) was the dual launch for The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories by Joanne Anderton and One Small Step, an anthology of discoveries at Conflux, the 2013 Natcon in Canberra in October. We had a great spot in the thoroughfare, and a good time slot too, and it was lovely to see so many con-goers in attendance. Kaaron Warren acted as launcher (for both our books AND Thoraiya Dyer’s Twelfth Planet Press Twelve Planets Collection Asymmetry!), and Joanne, Thoraiya and I said a few words too. Lots of fun!
So we had an intimate but fun launch for Dirk Flinthart’s debut novel, Path of Night, way back in November 2013. It’s the first book of ours that has been launched by the local mayor, which was exciting, and the author and cover designer both attended in fine style. Was lovely to meet some of the good people of Scottsdale, and we had a great evening.
Earlier this year, we had a FableCroft Book Party, hosted by the great folks at The Hobart Bookshop. The wonderful Lian Tanner said lovely things about Ink Black Magic and Path of Night, and Tansy and Dirk both got to read some of their novels too. Was a good turnout, particularly for the Sunday afternoon of the long weekend, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!
Photo by Helen Merrick
Just a few weeks ago (okay, okay, it was nearly two months – goodness me, the year is flying!) we celebrated two wins at the Aurealis Awards, with The Bone Chime Song taking out Best Collection and One Small Step sharing the glory with The Year’s Best Fantasy & Horror 2012 in the Best Anthology category. With several other FableCroft works on the shortlists, including Path of Night and Ink Black Magic, we had a brilliant night, and enjoyed being able to spend the evening with the best and brightest of Australian spec fic.
Now we’re gearing up for next weekend’s celebration of Jo’s new book Guardian, and I’m still a bit boggled that it’s been over a year since the launch of The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories! Hopefully it won’t take me so long to blog about the fun we have there… All attendees of Continuum X are welcome to join us for the launch, 4pm on Saturday 7 June. Hope to see you there!
It’s a lovely long weekend, so for a very limited time we have two free ebooks on Amazon! Until Monday only, you can grab great stories by Dirk Flinthart and Margo Lanagan, instantly available on your ereader!
“Sanction” by Dirk Flinthart – continuing on from the events of the Aurealis Award-shortlisted Path of Night (though standing alone!), this brand new story follows former detective Jen Morris on a mission that will see her question everything she knows, and she’s dragging a very much changed Michael Devlin along for the ride. Will what she has to do take too much toll?
“Flower and Weed” by Margo Lanagan – a short story glimpse into the vividly imagined world of Margo Lanagan’s powerful, multi-award-winning novel Sea Hearts (also published as The Brides of Rollrock Island). Selkies are in the background, but this is a story of a liaison between a selkie’s earthly husband and one of the witches who does the magic that’s essential to keeping the selkie-wife trade going.
If that’s not enough, you can still pre-order Jo Anderton’s new Veiled Worlds novel right now and receive an exclusive bonus content ebook, containing both original and previously published stories in the Veiled Worlds. Don’t miss out!
Cheryl Morgan congratulates FableCroft and Twelfth Planet Press on their Aurealis Awards shortlistings, and links to the books for sale in the Wizard’s Tower Books store.
Speaking of reviews, Ink Black Magic by Tansy Rayner Roberts was reviewed in the February edition of Locus! Can’t link to it, unfortunately, but Carolyn Cushman said the book is, “a fun fantasy adventure with considerable satire…that brings to mind Terry Pratchett’s Discworld” – thanks Carolyn!
Tansy and other Aussies Alex Pierce and Gillian Polack, along with several other well know folks were mind-melded over at SF Signal, on the topic of “secondary characters who take center stage” – some interesting thoughts presented!
While we’re on the topic of parties, don’t forget that tickets to the Aurealis Awards ceremony (and the preceding Conflux Writers’ Day) are on sale! It’s going to be a blast!
And finally, submissions to Insert Title Here close on February 28 – have you got your story in?
Jim C Hines took a look at Tansy Rayner Roberts’ Ink Black Magic and pronounced it as having “a healthy appreciation for the absurd, and a lively cast of ridiculous and entertaining secondary characters” with a plot that “was surprisingly layered, with mystery after mystery to be peeled back like an onion in which every layer of the onion is magical and might kill you or rewrite your mind or un-kill you or bring about a sudden rain of seafood. Or all of the above.” Thanks Jim!
Sue Bursztynski read Path of Night by Dirk Flinthart and thought it was pretty good too! She says: “Definitely a change from Dirk Flinthart’s usual swashbuckling fantasy, but still, action adventure”, and made particular note of the humour of the story. Cheers Sue!
If you review one of our books on Amazon, Goodreads, a reviewing outlet or on your blog, please let us know – we love to see what people are saying 🙂
Tsana reads and reviewsInk Black Magic, noting “In the case of Ink Black Magic, I can honestly say that only the start — the set up for the rest of the story — put me in mind of Pratchett. And not early Pratchett either, more like middle Pratchett, with Moving Pictures springing to mind as an obvious comparison (with bonus thematic parallels). But once the story in Ink Black Magic really gets going, it becomes very much Tansy-ish and not at all Pratchettesque.”
Tansy has been pretty busy it seems. She guest blogged over at The Book Smugglers, chatting about great book ideas for Christmas. She also wrote a great post on diversity in YA for Tor.com – highly recommended.
Sean the Bookonaut reviewsPath of Night, calling it “a darkly humorous thriller with cracking one liners and plenty of action.”
Our friend Marianne de Pierres has revealed the cover of her forthcoming novel Peacemaker (coming in 2014 from Angry Robot Books). FableCroft had the privilege of reprinting “Virgin Jackson”, the short story that holds the seeds of Peacemaker in Australis Imaginarium – can’t wait to read the novel!
Rowena Cory Daniells interviews Dirk Flinthart on the release of Path of Night.
Jamie over at MDPWeb reviewsPath of Night, saying: “It’s raw and violent, sexual and powerful, chaotic and mesmerising. It’s also a hell of a lot of fun!” and also interviews Dirk at Spotlight Report.
Tsana examinesPath of Night and notes: “The pacing in this novel is brilliant.” She gives it 4.5/5 stars!
Dirk Flinthart reviewsInk Black Magic by Tansy Rayner Roberts, and reckons it “is both an entertaining fantasy romp in the Pratchett mode, and an absolutely fascinating book for anyone who is interested in the art of writing and popular fiction.”
Let us know if you have reviewed any of our books – we love to hear about it!
If you are a book blogger interested in reviewing our novels or anthologies, please contact Tehani at fablecroft [at] gmail [dot] com.
Being the type of person that he is, Mister Dirk Flinthart has decided that his little town of Scottsdale could do with a jolly good book launch… If you’re in the area (or feel like a quick trip to Tassie!), please join us to celebrate the launch of Path of Night!
Kyla Lee Ward at Tabula Rasa gives an entertaining review of Dirk Flinthart’s Path of Night, noting: “Flinthart delivers a thoughtful and entertaining take on his material.”
FableCroft 