by ObiwanSpock | Apr 3, 2016 | awesome, book review, Dungeons & Dragons, ebooks, publishing, pulp fiction, self-publishing, Zackery Arbela
“Almost time to die, you maggots!” The chief jailer whacked his baton against the iron bars of the cells, laughing as several of the inmates scrambled back. “That’s right, practice your shakin’! The mob expects a good show, don’t...
by ObiwanSpock | Mar 30, 2016 | book review, ebooks, fantasy, sword and sorcery
A long time ago, I was going through a back room stacks of an old used book shop, whereupon I came across a well-worn copy of THE ANVIL OF ICE, by Michael Scott Rohan. Like most good fantasy novels, this one initially drew my attention with the cover, but once said...
by ObiwanSpock | Mar 7, 2016 | ebooks, fantasy, sword and sorcery, Zackery Arbela
Modern fantasy fiction is a child of two fathers, and Robert E. Howard. If Tolkien helped build what we now call High Fantasy, Howard is the originator of its sister sub-genre, sword and sorcery. Both men are rightly considered the fathers of fantasy, yet it is hard...
by ObiwanSpock | Mar 2, 2016 | ebooks, fan fic, fantasy
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in 1892 in South Africa, moved to England when he was three and spent the bulk of his childhood in the countryside around Birmingham. Both his parents died when he was young, and his mother named a close friend of hers who was also a...
by ObiwanSpock | Feb 24, 2016 | awesome, Dungeons & Dragons, ebooks, fantasy, fantasy art, heavy metal, self-publishing, sword and sorcery, Zackery Arbela
There is a tendency within all parts of popular culture for division and subdivision. What starts out s simple becomes more complex as people focus on minor differences and build on them to create something new. Take music for example…Black Sabbath creates heavy...
by ObiwanSpock | Feb 17, 2016 | awesome, ebooks, fantasy, heavy metal, pulp fiction, scifi, self-publishing, sword and sorcery, The Tale of Azaran
“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and cannot remain silent.” – Victor Hugo The writer of Les Miserables knew of what he spoke. Writing and music go together like bacon and eggs or coffee and doughnuts. You can have one without the other,...