Flame Tree Fiction

In the final instalment of our Dystopian Universes series (part 1 / part 2), we look at the best literary depictions of dystopias. Ranging from the classics to other books you might not have heard of. For any sci-fi lover, this is an excellent one-stop list of the best dystopian novels out there. Get some tips courtesy of us and get your weekend reading sorted out right now.

A book bound in human flesh and inked in blood, a book filled with spells to raise the dead and summon ancient creatures, the Necronomicon inflicts insanity and even death upon its readers.

The British Library’s recent exhibition Terror and Wonder: The Gothic Imagination celebrated 250 years since Horace Walpole’s ‘Castle of Otranto’, though the popular exhibition sadly closed its doors last month, leaving fewer ways to now satisfy that thirst for all things gothic. With our new range of ebooks on the subject, we thought we’d take a look back at how the exhibition looked at the gothic genre, and see if we can’t provide some material for those who missed out or simply need another fix!

Where do tattoos exist in today's society? The short answer could be: everywhere. Once consigned as the embellishments of rockstars and delinquents, tattoos have enjoyed a renaissance of late and now about 20% of adults have one. So what happened?

Continuing our series on Dystopian universes, this week we look into the future. Dystopian narratives are quite interesting for a variety of reasons, one being that they encourage exciting things to happen (a revolt against the government, perhaps? Dramatic chase scenes?), and if they're good, they make you think about the way you're living your life. Dystopian stories that take place in the future make the readers think about the possibilities that lay ahead and whether or not they want to be a part of shaping that future.

Our amazing illustrated title Cthulhu is now available as an iBook. As iPads and iPhones are amazing devices to view images on, in today's blog we're going to look at a handful of great images from the book.

Gothic literature has been a huge part of British history since its conception, and with Halloween around the corner, what better time to celebrate it! The British Library has just opened their exhibition Terror and Wonder: The Gothic Imagination, and it presents the evolution and spread of the Gothic genre over the 250 years it's been in existence.

Dystopias have been invading our screens for decades, although there has been a recent influx of great dystopias. They come in all kinds of forms, including TV shows (the ever-popular 'The Walking Dead' is starting up again in October!), films (Mockingjay Part 1 is released in November!) and books (there are so many YA dystopias being published I don't know which to get excited about first!). But what is a dystopia? We know there must be something fundamentally broken about society. But in what way should it be broken? Must there be a totalitarian leader and cameras watching your every move?

Following Marvel's recent announcement that Thor will now permanently be a woman in the superhero universe, there was some surprise from onlookers. The change is intended to bring a larger female readership to the comic behemoth by speaking directly to an audience 'that long was not the target for superhero comic books.'