The Quill to Live team is currently doing a reread of Lord of the Rings because for many of us, it has been awhile since we read it (on average about a decade). I initially thought about doing a review piece, but no one needs to hear another review about LotR to know it is…
Discussion
Observations About LotR – The Fellowship
The Quill to Live team is currently doing a reread of Lord of the Rings because for many of us, it has been awhile since we read it (on average about a decade). I initially thought about doing a review piece, but no one needs to hear another review about LotR to know it is…
Five Reasons Why You Should Be Reading The Expanse
I recently finished Babylon’s Ashes (which was fantastic), by James S. A. Corey, and was moved to take a moment to talk about The Expanse in case there is anyone out there not currently reading it. For those of you unfamiliar with The Expanse, it is a mega space opera set over nine books that…
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The Drenai Saga – Part 4/4
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Drenai part four, the Drenale. We have come to the end of our journey, and what a journey it has been. The final two Drenai books are a duology about a new character, Skilgannon the Damned. Skilgannon is Gemmell’s take on a hero tormented by his past, and a…
Passion – NYCC 2016
Once again New York Comic Con has come and gone, and once again all the big publishers in New York came out to play. As usual, I took home entirely too many books - both free and purchased - and now sit in a paper mausoleum that is close to sealing me off from the…
The Drenai Saga – Part 3/4
Part 1 Part 2 Drenai part three, the re-Dre-aning. Welcome back to my semi-journal of my slow and wonderful experience through the Drenai Chronicles. At this point I am pretty confident in saying that this is probably one of the best fantasy series of all time. I may only be about 3/4ths of the way…
Wish Fulfillment – Living Vicariously Through Protagonists
A short while ago, I wrote about Three Parts Dead, and spoke about its special brand of workplace wish fulfillment. In that piece, I mentioned that I wanted to do a post on wish fulfillment in general, and how the ever popular Kingkiller Chronicle employs it stealthily to great success. Well there’s no time like…
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The Fastidious Reader – Is An Author Responsible For His Plot?
I had a strange experience recently as I finished Dust, the last of Hugh Howey's Silo trilogy. I was about 60% of the way through the book when I realized that there was absolutely no way the book could end that would leave me happy or satisfied. Unsurprisingly, I finished the book and one of…
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Perspectives On Worldbuilding
This month I had the opportunity to go to a lovely event by the Aspen Institute in NYC on fantasy worldbuilding. At the event, three impressive authors (Hannah Tinti, Mark Tompkins, and Lev Grossman) all talked about how they go about world building and what works best for their method. While there, I managed to…
The Drenai Saga – Part 1/4
Gigantic fantasy series are amazing experiences, but tend to also be gigantic time sinks. As such, each year I pick one large and famous fantasy series to work though for the sake of reading diversity. This year I decided to read David Gemmell’s pivotal Drenai Saga. While reading through this 11 book series, I am…