Guest Post: Can there be such a thing as “Too Much Fantasy?” by David Emrys

David E. Emrys is the author of a couple of self-published fantasies. I got to chatting with him on Twitter, and he seemed like a good fellow. So I asked if he’d like to write something. And he did. So here it is.

Is the fantasy world over-populated? It’s a valid question and one that keeps raising its ugly head in the current era of ‘Lord of the Authors: The Fellowship of the Fantasy’.

Without battling out the topic of Indie vs Traditional, I want to take a moment and talk about fantasy worlds. A simple blog post can’t cover every single fantasy tome to have ever graced a book shelf (or a digital market place like Amazon, for all you e-publishing gurus), but we can highlight a few.

Upcoming: “Fearsome Journeys” ed. Jonathan Strahan (Solaris)

A very exciting new anthology will be landing in May 2013 from Solaris. The collection, edited by super-editor Jonathan Strahan, brings together some of the best and most exciting new and established authors in fantasy. Here’s the proposed line-up:

“The Effigy Engine: A Tale of the Red Hats” by Scott Lynch

“Amethyst, Shadow, and Light” by Saladin Ahmed

“Camp Follower” by Trudi Canavan

“The Dragonslayer of Merebarton” by K.J. Parker

“Leaf and Branch and Grass and Vine” by Kate Elliott

“Spirits of Salt: A Tale of the Coral Sword” by Jeffrey Ford

“Forever People” by Robert V.S. Redick

“Sponda the Suet Girl and the Secret of the French Pearl” by Ellen Klages

“Shaggy Dog Bridge: A Black Company Story” by Glen Cook

“The Ghost Makers” by Elizabeth Bear

“One Last, Great Adventure” by Ellen Kushner & Ysabeau Wilce

“The High King Dreaming” by Daniel Abraham

Can not wait to read this anthology. Fearsome Journeys is already available for pre-order from Amazon US & UK.

Upcoming: “EPIC” ed. John Joseph Adams (Tachyon)

I almost gave this post a rather grand title along the lines of “The Most Important Introduction to Fantasy?” I decided to let my British reserve win out, but I think Epic could well be the best thing to happen to Fantasy newbies for a long time. It’s an anthology that, quite obviously, takes Epic Fantasy as its premise, and editor Joseph John Adams has drawn together a quite spectacular roster of new and established authors.

An Interview with Kate Elliott

Following on from Alyssa’s review of Kate Elliott’s latest novel, Cold Magic – a “steampunk meets ice” fantasy – the author was kind enough to answer some questions about her world-building, novels, writing and more.

“Cold Magic” by Kate Elliott (Orbit)

Reviewed by Alyssa

Introducing The Spiritwalkers Series

As they approach adulthood, Cat Barahal and her cousin Bee think they understand the society they live in and their place within it. At a select academy they study new airship technologies and the dawning Industrial Revolution, but magical forces still rule. And the cousins are about to discover the full ruthlessness of this rule.

Drawn into a labyrinth of politics involving blood and old feuds, Cat is betrayed by her family and forced to marry a powerful Cold Mage. As she is carried away to live a new life, fresh dangers threaten her every move and secrets form a language she cannot read. At least, not yet.

But both cousins carry their own hidden gifts and these will shape great changes to come. For in the depths of this treacherous world, the Wild Hunt stirs in darkness and dragons are waking from their sleep.

In Cold Magic, Elliott has created a fascinating and complex alternate nineteenth-century Europe. In this world, people are as likely to have migrated due to plagues of ghouls as political upheaval, and the government is a kind of dual feudal system of Mage Houses and princes. There are threads of magic running throughout the world, but the powerful Houses are made up of ‘Cold Mages’, who wield cold like a weapon. The imaginative world and intriguing magical element of this novel make for an enjoyable and engaging read.