Tag: Fantasy Book Series

Books

Exclusive Interview: “Rise From Ruin” Author Melissa Olthoff

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date June 2, 2025
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We all have dreams. Sometimes they come true; sometimes, not. And in the case of the latter, the “not” part can come from any number of things: a lack of talent, a lack of opportunity…

But in Melissa Olthoff’s new fantasy novel Rise From Ruin (paperback, Kindle), the main character has her dreams shattered by a prank. Well, sort of shattered.

To find out what I’m talking about, and why I’m hedging, check out the following email interview with Olthoff, in which she discusses what inspired and influenced this novel.

Books

Exclusive Interview: “The Tunnels Of Buda” Author Don Sawyer

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date May 30, 2025
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With The Tunnels Of Buda (paperback, Kindle), author Don Sawyer is completing the urban fantasy story he started last year with The Burning Gem, which was the first book in his Soul Catcher duology.

In the following email interview, Sawyer discusses what inspired and influenced this second half of the story, as well as how it might not actually be the end…

Books

Exclusive Interview: “The Eye Of The Bedlam Bride” Author Matt Dinniman

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date May 15, 2025
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Matt Dinniman The Eye Of The Bedlam Bride Dungeon Crawler Carl

Five years ago, author Matt Dinniman launched his science fiction / fantasy / LitRPG series Dungeon Crawler Carl when he self-published the titular first novel…and quickly caught the attention of fans of LitRPG stories. Which, in turn, caught the attention of Ace Books, who started reprinting these novels in 2024.

With the sixth book, The Eye Of The Bedlam Bride, newly available from Ace in hardcover — just weeks after reissuing the fourth [The Gate Of The Feral Gods] and fifth [The Butcher’s Masquerade] — I spoke to Dinniman via email to talk about both this series and Bedlam Bride.

Books

Exclusive Interview: “A Letter From The Lonesome Shore” Author Sylvie Cathrall

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date May 7, 2025
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On her website, Sylvie Cathrall identifies herself as a “romantic fantasy author.”

But while the two novels that comprise her Sunken Archive duology are romantic and fantastical — and other things — the central relationships in them are not between lovers, but two sets of siblings.

And no, these stories don’t get all Game Of Thrones-y.

In the following email interview about the second book, A Letter From The Lonesome Shore (paperback, Kindle, audiobook), Cathrall talks about what inspired and influenced this novel, as well as how it completes the story she started in the first, A Letter To The Luminous Deep.

Books

Exclusive Interview: “Death At A Wedding” Author Marc Watson

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date April 16, 2025
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As we all know, Death has lived a long and rewarding life. When not performing their duties as The Grim Reaper, they’ve taken a trip down the Nile, made a number of wishes of varying degrees of quality, and even gone on holiday.

But in Marc Watson’s comedic fantasy novella Death At A Wedding (paperback, Kindle) — the sequel to his 2017 novella Death Dresses Poorly — the embodiment of life always ending has to navigate an awkward social situation: being a guest at a loved one’s wedding.

In the following email interview, Watson talks about what inspired and influenced this urban fantasy / dark romantic comedy novella.

Books

Exclusive Interview: “Cold Iron Task” Author James J. Butcher

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date March 6, 2025
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In the following email interview about Cold Iron Task (hardcover, Kindle, audiobook), author James J. Butcher says this third book in his urban fantasy series The Unorthodox Chronicles is “a conclusion of consequences from the previous novels,” Dead Man’s Hand and Long Past Dues.

But if you think that means it’s the end of this series, or the witch / government employee Grimshaw Griswald Grimsby…

Books

Exclusive Interview: “Days Of Shattered Faith” Author Adrian Tchaikovsky

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date March 4, 2025
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With Days Of Shattered Faith (hardcover, Kindle, audiobook), author Adrian Tchaikovsky is presenting the third installment of his Tyrant Philosophers series.

But as he explain in the following email interview about this fantastical realism fantasy novel, Faith is hardly the end of this ongoing story…or the last we’ll be hearing from Tchaikovsky this year.

Books

Exclusive Interview: “Dance Of Shadows” Author Gourav Mohanty

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date March 3, 2025
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While many epic fantasy stories are rooted in European history and culture (The Lord Of The Rings, Game Of Thrones), other parts of our world have just as much to offer this genre.

Take Gourav Mohanty’s epic and grimdark fantasy series The Raag Of Rta trilogy, which is as influenced by the epic South Asian poem The Mahabharata as it is by Thrones. Maybe more so.

With the second book of the trilogy, Dance Of Shadows, now out in hardcover, Kindle, and audiobook, and the first, Sons Of Darkness, recently released in paperback (though still available in hardcover, Kindle, and audiobook as well), I spoke to Mohanty via email about what inspired and influenced both this series and this middle piece.

Books

Exclusive Interview: “The Dark Mirror” Author Samantha Shannon

Post author By Paul Semel
Post date February 26, 2025
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With The Dark Mirror (hardcover, Kindle, audiobook), author Samantha Shannon is presenting the fifth book in her seven part dystopian fantasy series The Bone Season.

In the following email interview, Shannon talks about what inspired and influenced both this Ancient Greek myth-inspired alt-history series and this fifth installment, as well as where things stand with the final two books.