Tag: Fantasy

Okay, So, I’m a Wee Bit Behind on the ’ol Book Updates

One of the reasons I started this blog in the first place was to keep all y'all updated on my various projects, and to keep myself accountable. The good news is, I've made tremendous progress on the writing projects. The bad news is, I was so focused that the blog slipped a bit.

On Creating a Main Character . . . When you can’t give the reader any obvious information about that character

I firmly believe that character is the most important part of a novel. That's the hill I'll die on. Plot keeps us turning the pages, setting immerses us, but character makes us care. If you're racking your brain for story idea, character is a terrific place to start. Of course, developing a compelling character is easier said than done. There are, however, some tricks that can help you. So what happens if you can't use some of the obvious tools?

New Book!

I just added a new book to my author site! This one is called Incandescent: A Winter Tale of Blackthorne Faire, and it's the next in my series of winter tales—short, sort of holiday-adjacent books meant to be read in just a sitting or two, ideally under a blanket by the fire, with a mug of something warm. This book will be available wherever fine books are sold in early November.

Book Updates: One Out, One (Slightly) Delayed, Two Polished, and Two Underway

So, it's been a pretty momentous month—it always is when one launches a new book out into the world. It never, ever gets old and I am way beyond thrilled. And I have many more projects in the hopper!

I’m Not Making Progress: In which I offer an update on the projects I’m NOT (yet!) working on

In my last blog article, I updated all y'all on all the many writing projects I'm working on currently. What I didn't talk about was all the projects I'm not working on. Well, I guess technically that list would be infinite, but I mean specifically the ideas that are stirring around rather urgently in my head, that I haven't been able to let go of, but for which I haven't written more than the occasional note.

I’m Making Progress! In Which I Offer Another Book Update

One of the reasons I started this blog was to chronicle my journey as a writer and, I like to hope, to pass along some of the things I've learned. I also intended to hold myself accountable and present updates on all my works in progress. I haven't been too great about that last part, … Continue reading I’m Making Progress! In Which I Offer Another Book Update →

If you want to write, read!

I've wanted to write since (at least) the third grade. My urges to become an astronaut or a dinosaur-seeking paleontologist faded (although my love for astronauts, space exploration, and dinosaurs remains undimmed), but my longing to create stories never did. In fact, I can still remember the exact books that made me want to make … Continue reading If you want to write, read! →

Thinking About Music, Stories, and Author’s Voice

I've been thinking a lot about music, and how it influences emotion in movies. How do we as book authors do this same in our fiction? How do we capture music in the written word?

It is Accomplished!

The final final draft is officially delivered to my publisher! Here we go again. This post is an update to this one, which updated this one, which was in turn an update to this one. It's always good to remind the audience of the previous episode before diving into the new one. Makeup Test has been delivered … Continue reading It is Accomplished! →

Book Updates

So, y'all. This blog was meant to talk about my journey as an author (hence the title), which to be frank I haven't done a lot of. So every month or so, I'll let you all know where I am with everything that's in the works. The Winter Tales As most of you know, I've … Continue reading Book Updates →

Who are your book grandparents?

Professors Tolkien and Lewis So, fellow authors. My publisher, business partner, friend, and fellow author Lou Aronica and I have been talking about a theory I have. See, we all carry our ancestors with us in the attics of our brains as surely as we do in the spiraling chains of knowledge that make up … Continue reading Who are your book grandparents? →

Can Fantasy be Myth? Mythopoeia and “The Lord of the Rings”

Speaking for myself, it’s not too much of an exaggeration to call reading The Lord of the Rings for the first time way back in the fifth grade a life-changing experience. Tolkien’s trilogy led directly to my own life-long love of stories and mythology. I can’t help wondering if, without that experience in my childhood, I would have written a novel of my own. I may well have, but I don’t think it would be as myth-infused as Raven Wakes the World. In short, my experience of reading The Lord of the Rings, like that of so very many other readers through the decades, was the kind that changes a person for all time, or at least inspires a life direction — and for me at least, even a sort of pilgrimage. That’s the type of response that one usually has only to the most significant, the most sacred stories — the cultural heritage of truth disguised as narrative that serves as a guide through the dark forests of life. In short, myth.

From an Author to Readers: Thank You.

I am stunned and in awe. As most of you know, my novel Raven Wakes the World was published this week. Amazon sold out almost immediately, and the entire first distribution sold out soon after. A few friends who tried to order from their favorite local bookshops told me that it was either backordered, or … Continue reading From an Author to Readers: Thank You. →

In which I am interviewed on writing and marketing, I write about Renaissance fairs and setting as a “character” in a story, and prepare to write about the old pulp heroes of yesteryear

In which I am interviewed on writing and marketing, I write about Renaissance fairs and setting as a “character” in a story, and prepare to write about the pulps

Did y’all know I have another blog, too?

Hey, did y'all know I have another blog, too? It's about stories, writing, fantasy, mythology, and Renaissance festivals.

You can find it here: http://blackthornefaire.net

The most recent post is about Renaissance fairs, and the feeling of falling into a story. I hope those of you who follow this blog will take a look at that one, too. I'd be grateful.

Love and comfort in fantasy, or why George R. R. Martin isn’t the American Tolkien

I often hear Mr. Martin called "The American Tolkien." I can see why people say that. Both write (or wrote) extremely complex fantasy novels, both have very passionate fan bases (with a great deal of overlap), both have created British Isles-inspired worlds rich with invented history and languages, and, well, both authors have the initials "R. R." in their names.

But honestly, I think the resemblance ends there. The similarities are superficial at best.

Book Review: City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte

The Prague of City of Dark Magic is a city steeped in legends of magic, a history of blood, and a legacy of secrets. It has been home to geniuses and eccentrics. It is also a city of secrets as music student Sarah Weston discovers. Sarah has come to the Prague Castle for the summer with a team of colorful academics to restore the Lubkowicz Palace to its former glory and turn it into a museum filled with centuries old treasures. There, she finds clues that might finally unravel the mystery of Beethoven's famous immortal beloved. What follows is a tale of mystery, politics, murder, a time traveling prince, a centuries-old dwarf, and even a portal to hell. Yes, and its a romantic comedy. This isn't a book that follows genre conventions, it lays them out like toys and plays with them.

Book Review: “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern

Wow, the last quarter of 2011 has been a grand one for books. Erin Morgenstern's lovely and haunting The Night Circus continues a string of truly good reads that began with Among Others and The Magician King. It's a book I'll be thinking about for a while, and one I'll alms certainly read again some day ... something increasingly rare when my to-be-read stack reaches the ceiling. It's certainly one I'll be pushing on my friends. It's one that I can recommend to a wide swath of them, because The Night Circus will appeal to a very broad range of tastes. It's romantic, it's mysterious, it's evocative (certainly that!), magical, it's lovely, and it's (at times) heartbreaking. And it's almost impossible to describe. I wanted to rush through The Night Circus, and I wanted to savor every word. I couldn't wait to get to the end; I wanted it to go on forever.

Book Review: “The Magician King” by Lev Grossman

I went to hear Mr. Grossman speak when his author tour brought him to Atlanta, and while I found his talk and reading delightful, I didn't think The Magician King was a book I'd be reviewing. Largely because, when someone asked about a third book, Mr. Grossman joked about writing as many as his agent thought he could sell. Great, I thought. This isn't a book. It's an episode. I couldn't have been more wrong. While The Magician King assumes familiarity with the first book (although it does a fine job of reminding you of the hight points if it's been a while since you read it), this is a sequel with it's own beginning, middle, and very definite end. And darned if it's not an out an out better book. More, Quentin Coldwater (how great is that name?), the main character, grows and changes in this book.

Book Review: Jo Walton’s amazing “Among Others”

I readily confess: I am not above flights of hyperbole. Nonetheless, I don't think I am indulging in it even in the least when I say, Jo Walton's lovely, startling Among Others is more than amazing. It's a book that's going to save someone's life some day.

Book Review: “The Magicians and Mrs. Quent” by Galen Beckett

was about halfway through reading, and thoroughly enjoying, Galen Beckett's The Magicians and Mrs. Quent when I decided to pop online to check out the reviews. It's a rather irritating habit (irritating to me; I can't imagine that anyone else cares), but I like see if every one else agrees with my own assessment. The first review I read (I tried to find it again to link, but alas, it seems to have vanished) offered this critique: "nothing new." For the record, that doesn't seem to be the majority opinion, but frankly, I can't say I disagree. None of the ingredients, or few of them, anyway, are what you'd call groundbreaking. But then, it's not always the ingredients that make the stew; it's how they're mixed. Sure, The Magicians and Mrs. Quent is pastiche. But it's very good pastiche. Outstanding, even. My wife and I too turns reading it aloud to one another, and we had an absolute blast.

Belated Book Review: “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell” by Susanna Clarke

If there was ever a book I truly don't know what to say about, it's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Don't get me wrong—I adored it. I've recommended it to dozens of my friends. But not all of them. I don't even recommend it to all of my friends who like fantasy, or mythic fiction, or British drawing room comedies of manners. It's a massive book, something like 400,000 thousand words (that's a guess; I haven't actually counted them). Nonetheless, I found myself enchanted from page one. Magic and sly witticisms were so thick I had to swat them away like flies, and the oh-so-English narrative delighted me. The characters are engaging and well-drawn, and the period voice, complete with obsolete spellings and elaborate, fanciful footnotes (don't dare skip them!) delighted me. All the same, when I was nearly halfway through, I found myself still wondering when the actual story was going to get started. It had been going all along, but Ms. Clarke, like any good magician, had distracted my attention.

Book Review: “The Wise Man’s Fear” by Patrick Rothfuss

The sequel to The Name of the Wind, The Wise Man's Fear, was released a few years later than promised, but it was worth the wait. The new volume picks up right where the last one ended. The central character, Kvothe, has been narrating the truth about his life—already a legend—to a scholarly young man known as Chronicler. Kvothe promised that the telling would take three days. The first volume was day one; the new one is the second day. The final volume, day three, should be released within our lifetimes, if all goes well. There's apparently a sequel trilogy coming after that. I have no idea when, but I feel utterly safe in saying that whenever it arrives, it will, like The Wise Man's Fear, be worth the wait.

Book Review: “Guardians of the Desert” by Leona Wisoker

The sequel to Secrets of the Sands, Guardians of the Desert, actually expands on the earlier book's strengths—the world is deeper and more complex and the characters have grown. Leona's sense of pace hasn't dulled, and the mental pictures conjured by her spare but elegant prose and much more vivid. Her subtle, wicked wit is still apparent—and still luring to catch the reader unaware.

Game Review: Falling into a Story with The Lord of the Rings Online

The Lord of the Rings Online is a computer game that actually captures the feeling of falling into a story. There are some limits, of course, but by and large, Middle-earth is yours to explore at will—from Thorin’s Hall in the west to Lórien and perilous Mirkwood in the east. Using the arrows on your keyboard, you can send your character wandering through the towns and forests of the Shire, or through the dangers of the Old Forest and the Barrow Downs (both deliciously creepy), or even all the way to Bree and Rivendell, where old friends will be waiting. The experience of the game is astonishingly immersive—sounds, voice, and music blend seamlessly with the visuals. Every environment is lovingly—at times even astonishingly—rendered. Even more than Peter Jackson’s films, the game feels like Tolkien’s Middle-earth.

“Secrets of the Sands” by Leona Wisoker

In Secrets of the Sands, Leona Wisoker has created an elaborate, well-crafted fantasy world that doesn't feel like the too-familiar pseudo-Celtic Medieval Land, and a complex desert society that doesn't feel like, say, Dune or The Arabian Nights. She's created a logical and consistent language that feels exotic but (despite the ubiquitous apostrophes) doesn't feel like Klingon or Tolkien's masterful Elvish. She manages to use her language to make her world seem textured and real, but still keeps her dialogue fresh, lively, and yes, even contemporary. Secrets of the Sands is a fun read—it's delightfully original, and it deserves attention.

“Total Oblivion, More or Less” by Alan DeNiro

Read Total Oblivion, More or Less: A Novel Total Oblivion, More or Less is a strange novel. In a lot of ways, in fact, it's a novel about strangeness, and how ordinary people deal with it. Imagine Huck Finn's raft drifting through a post-apocalypse American wasteland. Things have changed. The government has disappeared, geography itself … Continue reading “Total Oblivion, More or Less” by Alan DeNiro →

Throw-back SciFi in “Deuces Wild: Beginners’ Luck” by L. S. King

The arc that makes Deuces Wild: Beginners' Luck work is the at first reluctant friendship that grows between the two leads. Imagine what might have happened in Star Wars had Luke met Han in that bar without Obi Wan and some urgent mission. Imagine them slowing coming to respect, and even like each other and they drift planet to planet, constantly finding new trouble to get themselves out of. The growth of that friendship is what keeps you smiling in spite of yourself and turning the pages.

“The Ruling Sea” by Robert V. S. Redick

Pretty much everything I said in my review of The Red Wolf Conspiracy also applies to it's sequel, The Ruling Sea. Once again, Robert V. S. Redick has created a fantasy that recaptures the swashbuckling adventure that I first fell in love with in my youth in books like The Sea Hawk, Captain Blood, The Three Musketeers, Treasure Island, and those marvelous, under-appreciated tales of Lloyd Alexander.

“The Magician’s Book: A Skeptic’s Adventures in Narnia” by Laura Miller

I am nobody's skeptic. As a matter of fact, I consider myself very, if hardly conventionally, religious. That said, I read Salon co-founder Laura Miller's The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia with a constant grin on my face, as passage after passage made me cry out with delight, "friend!" Here is someone who seems to not only understand the love I felt for C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia, a love that still endures very deeply in my heart, but also my love of stories and reading. Indeed, she helped me understand that love better, and by consequence, the person I am and the writer I want to be.

“The Magicians” by Lev Grossman

When I first browsed through Lev Grossman's The Magicians at Blue Elephant Bookshop, I knew it was a book that was coming home with me. The jacket blurb promised a book for adults who, as young readers, had adored the Narnia, Oz, and Harry Potter stories, and books like T. H. White's The Once and Future King. And indeed, The Magicians draws liberally and lovingly from those sources. There is a magic school filled with eccentric professors and strange wonders, teaching by turning students into animals (as Merlyn does with the Wart in The Once and Future King), and even a hidden fantasy world accessed through a sleepy "between" world filled with pools, a motif familiar to anyone who has read C. S. Lewis' The Magician's Nephew, one of the best of the Narnia books. Even the characters in The Magicians grew up reading and loving a series of fantasy books. That fond, nostalgic love is one of the reasons we are so drawn to them. But don't get the idea that The Magicians is a mere pastiche. The Magicians is told from a decided, utterly (even ironically) original, and heartbreaking, adult point of view.

“Silverlock” by John Myers Myers

In his introduction to the 1979 paperback edition of Silverlock (I still have my first 1979 Ace paperback, as well as a hardcover first edition and a lovely new hardback that includes the Companion), author Larry Niven enthuses: “You’ll get drunk on Silverlock. When you finish reading, you will feel like you got monumentally drunk with your oldest friends; you sang songs and told truth and lies all night or all week; you’ll sit there grinning at nothing and wondering why there isn’t any hangover.” I couldn’t agree more.

Two books (that aren’t quite) within other books

It's a joy to discover, after the last page of a good book is turned, that there is still more content to discover. Especially when the storytellers have the talent of Alice Hoffman and Catherynne Valente. This kind of expanded "book within a book" content is a trend I applaud enthusiastically. I hope we'll see more.

“Anointed: The Passion of Timmy Christ, CEO” by Zachary Steele

"When the Anti-Christ and Satan entered the bar, nobody took notice."

That's a great first line. Believe it or not, it's not the start of a joke. It's the first line of Zachary Steele's novel "Annointed," which is a scream. If you're a fan of people like Christopher Moore or Douglas Adams, take a look. Sadly, (in my humble opinion) it hasn't received the attention it deserves.

In Good Company: “The Company They Keep” by Diana Pavlac Glyer

Until the publication of Diana Pavlac Glyer’s new book The Company The Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community, I hadn’t realized how strong was my urge to be a “completist.” A new book out on the Inklings? By all means, I had to have it, period. This is fortunate, because if I paused to remind myself that I’d already read Humphrey Carpenter’s superb biography The Inklings, and then to ask if I really, really needed another book on the subject, the rational part of my brain might have said “no,” and (it’s not completely impossible) might have carried the day. And that would have been too darn bad. Glyer’s book makes a wonderful companion to Carpenter’s more well known volume, and stands very well on its own. Carpenter’s book is a biography; Glyer’s is an examination of the very significant ways in which, as a community, the Inkings challenged, inspired, influenced, and supported one another. The Company The Keep is a terrific and insightful read.

“Coyote Moon” By John A. Miller

As fond as I am of trickster tales, it's hard to imagine anything with a title like Coyote Moon can be anything other than mythic. Coyote Moon doesn't have a lot to do with coyotes, or even with tricksters (although I have a feeling that author John Miller himself may qualify), but the novel is certainly mythic. First, baseball plays a major role in the story. As the brilliant book Ground Rules: Baseball and Myth shows, baseball is a goldmine for mythic material. Add in liberal doses of cutting edge physics (if you're not up on your science, don't worry), possible reincarnation, and the search for meaning and miracles, and the result is a myth lover's delight.

“Spirits in the Wires” By Charles de Lint

Spirits in the Wires is fun and entertaining. As a thriller, it's a page-turner. But the myth and the poetry of the writing make it lovely, and the characters make it come alive. Our compassion for de Lint's beautifully-drawn characters moves us, and makes the novel linger long after the last page is turned.