Tag Archives: sciencefiction

Hope is not eternal

Posted on November 3, 2023 by Mark Hayes

All things end, some with a whimper, some with a bang, some too early, some too late, but all things end. The default state of the universe is entropy, and no story is complete until the final line. And so … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, fantasy, fiction, horror, novels, reads | Tagged amreading, books, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk | 1 Comment

Breaking Reality in Gloucester by Nimue Brown

Posted on October 18, 2023 by Mark Hayes

Introduction by Mark Nimue Brown is one of my favourite authors and one of my favourite people. Despite this I invariably mispronounce her name, I’m a bit useless like that, I read a word and how it sounds in my … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, book reviews, books, fantasy, fiction, indie novels, indie writers, indieoctober, reads | Tagged amreading, books, guestposts, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, writer, writerslife | 1 Comment

Are you ready for the apocalypse? by Liz Tuckwell

Posted on October 12, 2023 by Mark Hayes

Introduction by Mark : Elizabeth Tuckwell is a fellow Harvey Duckman writer and the aunt of an old friend of mine. These two things are not connected and we were unaware of the second connection till the old friend read … Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, big questions, Harvey Duckman, indie writers, indieoctober, indiewriter, opinion, reads | Tagged amreading, amreadinghorror, enviroment, reads, sciencefiction, writers, writerslife | Leave a comment

The Kraken’s of Venice…

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Mark Hayes

A review of the Clockwork City by Shelley Adina

This is a delightful read, it keeps you turning pages, as it gently moves along, and then makes you turn them as things start to go badly for our two heroines. Because when things go bad, they go down hill quickly. And once that starts happening it hard to put the book down as you care about the characters, which is the real strength of the novel. It makes you care. Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, book reviews, books, steampunk, writing | Tagged amreading, books, newbooks, newreads, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk, writers, writerslife | 1 Comment

It…

Posted on August 3, 2023 by Mark Hayes

It watches…
It would be wrong to say it is waiting.
Waiting would imply it was waiting for something. That it desired something. Desire is an emotion, want is an emotion. Emotions are not something it experiences. To have emotions requires a frame of reference for emotion is a reaction.
It does not react.
It does not desire.
It does not want… Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, big questions, fiction, Passing Place, reads, sci-fi, supernatural, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, books, fiction, Passing Place, reads, sciencefiction, writerslife, writing | Leave a comment

Strange wonders

Posted on July 25, 2023 by Mark Hayes

Tales of Sanctimonious cults, another of a strange tower that do not want to be seen. A story of madness and elder gods returning in the Tees valley, a tale of a magician appointed to the court of Victoria Sax-Coberg. The strange statement of a life repeating in waves of twenty-seven, a tale of a wyrd in the western deserts cira 1850, a story with Sigmond Freud in a rowing boat and finally Hannibal Smyth, who is his as reliably honest as ever, while carrying and aspidistra. Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, books, cthulhu, fantasy, fiction, Hannibal Smyth, horror, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, Passing Place, reads, sci-fi, steampunk, supernatural | Tagged books, fantasy, horror, newbook, Passing Place, reads, sciencefiction, steampunk | 1 Comment

Dear Edgar #11 The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall

Posted on July 24, 2023 by Mark Hayes

Edgar Allen Poe remains one to the most influential writers of the western cannon. His Horror stories inspired many writers, not least those of HP Lovecraft’s generation a hundred years later and by extension Steven King generation were inspired by both Poe and the previous generations he had inspired. Without Poe there may never have been a Cthulhu or a Pennywise the clown. Continue reading →

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The Rabbit Hole

Posted on July 5, 2023 by Mark Hayes

So I am down the rabbit hole, admit The Matter of France, Italian Epic Poems, adrift in the pedalo of an idea, that may become a thing… Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, amwriting, big questions, books, dreamlands, fiction, humour, indie, indie novels, indie writers, indiewriter, music, rant, reads, writes, writing | Tagged amreading, books, dark tower, darkages, music, Orlando, reads, Roland, sciencefiction, writer, writing | 1 Comment

Dear Edgar #8 Berenice

Posted on June 28, 2023 by Mark Hayes

…she roaming carelessly through life with no thought of the shadows in her path, or the silent flight of the raven-winged hours. Berenice! — I call upon her name — Berenice! — and from the grey ruins of memory a thousand tumultuous recollections are startled at the sound! Ah! vividly is her image before me now, as in the early days of her light-heartedness and joy! Oh! gorgeous yet fantastic beauty! Oh! Sylph amid the shrubberies of Arnheim! Continue reading →

Posted in amreading, Goth, horror, Poe, reads | Tagged amreading, Dear Edgar, Edgar Alan Poe, gothic, horror, Poe, reads, sciencefiction, writerslife, writing | 6 Comments

The battle of the bottle bridge

Posted on June 28, 2023 by Mark Hayes

Originally posted on The Hopeless Vendetta:
By Mark Hayes In the aftermath of broken bottles and stamped on night potatoes no one was entirely sure what had happened. No one even admitted to having been there. The most anyone would…