At first glance at the cover and blurb for Mark Smylie’s prose debut The Barrow, you’ll notice that something sets it apart from a significant portion of recent fantasy. There are no warring states, no fight for the throne. There is no greater evil or battle between light and dark. The Barrow, at its heart, is a…
It’s been a while since I’ve had a giveaway here at A Bitter Draft. This time around I’ve got Mark Smylie’s debut novel, The Barrow, thanks to the wonderful people at Pyr. Action, horror, politics, and sensuality combine in this stand-alone fantasy novel with series potential. Set in the world of the Eisner-nominated Artesia comic books. To…
After I finished Blood of the Mantis, I immediately sent an email to Pyr asking after the rest of the series and they obliged. I soon found out that Pyr didn’t have plans for anything after book 5, The Scarab Path, which is a shame because they format the books to be a bit taller, shortening the…
In my reviews of Empire in Black and Gold and Dragonfly Falling, I wrote of how hesitant I was beginning the Shadows of the Apt series. Insects are something that had never really made a presence in fantasy. They’re (mostly) disgusting creatures and the thought of reading a series where the orphan boy has been replaced by all…
Adrian Tchaikovsky is the author of the 10-part epic Shadows of the Apt. I read the first, Empire in Black and Gold, after much hesitation due to the strange concept. I could not have been more pleasantly surprised, as the book and its followup, Dragonfly Falling, were both fantastic. Pat: Hello Adrian and welcome to A…
