Good day and welcome to this episode of the Fantasy Focus podcast. I’m your host, podcaster and author of Fun Fantasy Reads, Jamie Davis. This podcast is exactly what the title says it is, a show focused on everything in fantasy books.
From epic fantasy, Urban fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, and everything in between, expect to find the best and brightest authors from all the various corners of the fantasy book world. Plus we’ll add in a few other very special guests as well along the way.
First an update on what I’ve been up to. I’m wrapping up a second pass on Cyber’s Escape, book two in my Sapiens Run cyberpunk YA series. I’m also working closely with the narrator on book 1 of that series so we can get the audio book done before the book’s release in April. Voice over actress Sarah Grant is awesome and I can’t wait to hear her final version of that performance.
If you are an audiobook listener and want to listen to it for free, all my audio books are available via your local library system, just ask your librarian to check them out and order them. I’ll bet some of them are there already. Cyber’s Change will be there, too, in early April.
Today we’ll be talking about a Megan Lindholm short story she contributed to the Unfettered III short story charity anthology alongside such fantasy and sci-fi greats as Kevin J. Anderson, Brandon Sanderson, Terry Brooks, Tad Williams, and Anna Smith Spark. You can find out more about that project over at GrimOakPress.com.
Good day and welcome to this episode of the Fantasy Focus podcast. I’m your host, podcaster and author of Fun Fantasy Reads, Jamie Davis. This podcast is exactly what the title says it is, a show focused on everything in fantasy books.
From epic fantasy, Urban fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, and everything in between, expect to find the best and brightest authors from all the various corners of the fantasy book world. Plus we’ll add in a few other very special guests as well along the way.
First an update on what I’ve been working on. I just got back from a week-long trip to Austin, Texas for the final Smarter Artist Summit. It was awesome hanging out with several hundred people who I’d call my tribe. We talked about how to write better stories and great ways to interact with readers like all of you in the podcast audience.
Now I’m back home and hard at work on the next project, Book 2 in my Sapiens Run Trilogy, Cyber’s Escape. It’s pretty intense, carrying over the energy from Book 1 which is coming out this coming April. This YA coming of age cyberpunk story is near and dear to my heart for a variety of reasons. I’m hoping all of you will like it, too.
individual books. Look for those wherever you listen to audiobooks, including your local library where you can listen for free through whatever app they’re using. Just search there and you’ll find all the books I’ve ported over to audio.
Anna is multi-talented with a host of previous jobs including English teacher, petty bureaucrat, and even fetish model. If you run into her at a con, you may know she’s coming by the heels of her shoes. You can find her on Twitter at QueenofGrimdark.
Having been around the literary scene for a short while, and having written for a number of credible blogs, as well as my own here at Fantasy Focus, I’ve been fortunate enough to get to know a number of talented individuals. Many of them have been authors, both traditionally published and self published. Many have also been creative talents such as typographers, cover designers, and editors that help bring the work to life. Despite being relatively new to the literary world, I have spent many years in business, and as with any entrepreneurial venture I’ve heard from many authors, both those writing full time and those aspiring to that, how challenging it is to turn their art in to a full time career. I found myself inspired and motivated by the career path of Rhett Bruno, who is not only a brilliant author of some of the best Science Fiction and Fantasy out there, but also the co-founder and co-director of Aethon Books, a rapidly growing publishing enterprise with a focus on quality work, stunning covers and the best in audio narration. He’s also recently been nominated for a Nebula for his short story “Interview For The End Of The World”.
After reading Titanborn, the first book in his new 5 book sci-fi series, and Web Of Eyes, The first in a 6 book Fantasy series he co-wrote with Jaime Castle (aka Aethon co-director Steve Beaulieu) I felt compelled to reach out to Rhett, and find out more about what goes in to his writing, and what set him on his path as an author and an entrepreneur. The following is our interview.
ME: When did you decide you wanted to be a writer? What led to your decision?
RB: I started writing probably back in middle school. Maybe before. I was dealing with some things at that age, and a psychologist ( or psychiatrist hah) recommended I try to focus my thoughts in a positive way. So I started writing little stories about video games I loved. Diablo. Soul reaver. And it just evolved from there.
ME: Describe the process of your first novel being published?
RB: A terrible one. I was 16 and had written a fantasy book titled isinda. I had no idea what I was doing and me and my parents got swindled by a vanity publisher. Tate Publishing, the heads of with are currently in jail. It never sold. It didn’t deserve to be published. But I learned a lot through failing so miserably. It taught me to research, and made me a far better writer going forward.
ME: So that being said, was self publishing the next route explored? What brought you from that point to The Circuit?
RB: No, it wasn’t. My next route was trying the traditional path. And making more mistakes hah. I couldn’t find an agent for the circuit, but got some offers from small presses. I wound up signing with mundania press, but after some disagreements over the quality of editing shortly after its release, I got diversion books to buy the rights from mundania, re release book 1 and do books 2 and 3 with me. The editorial team there was a dream come true. Taught me so so much.
ME: What themes are important to you in your writing? What do you hope readers can get out of your work?
RB: I think the main theme that always finds it’s way into my work is that the characters often aren’t black and white. Even the protagonists. In fact, the narrative rarely has a clear villain. Sometimes the biggest obstacle for the main character is themselves. That sort of character-focused, realistic drama is what I try to bring to the table.
I’d love for them to learn something. I always try to have my characters be deeply flawed. They either embrace their flaws or battle them internally. But those struggles are where sometimes there are lessons about life even I didn’t intend to write.
ME: How did Aethon come to be? And how did your partnership with Steve Beaulieu begin ?
RB: Aethon was an idea that my partner Steve and I had a little more than a year ago. We talked about how we’d love to help other authors’ dreams come true. We didn’t really have the platform or the time back then, but after growing our connections throughout the industry in 2018, it felt like the right time to go for it. It’s really all happened very very fast.
I met Steve through Sci-fi Bridge, a cross-promotional platform I help run. A friend recommended him as someone who could do our logo. As fellow writers, we hit it off pretty well. We’re similar in a lot of ways, and also very different, which helped us start writing together and give our characters really diverse perspectives on the world.
ME: What roles do Aethon take on for its Authors? And What would you say your company’s mission statement is?
RB: We do everything any reputable publisher should. Multiple layers of editing, cover design, book design, proofing. We market every book, push for subrights deals right away, with a focus on audio. Mostly, we’re also authors, so our hope is to make our authors as successful as they can be. With us, and also in their future work.
Our mission statement is to publish great books, of course, but also to SELL them. And we put our money right where our mouths are. We release some of our own work through Aethon and try and sell it the same way we would for other authors. It allows us to have hands on experience with how to sell books at both levels of the industry, creator and publisher, and to keep updating strategies as this very volatile industry shifts.
ME: Talk a bit about a couple of your signings and why people should check them out?
RB: We have some really exciting stuff coming, or already out. Hayley Stone was the first author we signed, with her weird western MAKE ME NO GRAVE. I had beta read the book a year or so earlier, and knew she hadn’t yet sold it, so it was the first book I knew we needed to buy.
But most exciting is THE PATH’S BETWEEN WORLDS, by Paul Antony Jones, coming this March. To get a 47North author is something we never expected, and we get to publish his first book since his massively bestselling Extinction Point Series. His new book is a sort of Post-Earth, heartfelt story about a girl lost in time and man… it is really strong. Kate Reading, the narrator for the Audiobook, even messaged us personally telling us how much the story touched her.
And beyond those two bigger names, we have a lot of debut authors. Brian Mansur is doing something with a Military SF Book called CAPTIVE EMBERS that I think will open some eyes. His characters are great. JB Ross wrote a far future story of Roman Gladiator-like Mech battles. Which sounds awesome of course, but the world he’s created is so strange and unique… it’s something you’d never expect from a debut.
ME: What made you And Steve decide to co-write a series? Describe the process of the co-Write
RB: When we first met, I had a WIP that was something new for me. I was in a rough position at the time with my agent and publisher and work, and we talked about him maybe writing it with me to take over one of the two main characters. We just clicked. That book isn’t out yet, but it’s coming one day! Then we started the Buried Goddess Saga together, and now that we felt comfortable editing each others work, the give and take has been fantastic. We constantly push each other to throw the characters into unexpected situations and take the story to unexpected places. I think it’s helped us create a truly unpredictable series.
Our style is that both of us take 50% of each book. In that, we both take lead on certain POV characters, then swap. There isn’t a word in any of our books that both of us haven’t touched, and it all smooths over into a style that is uniquely “Bruno & Castle” when compared to our solo works. We actually wrote a book called TWO AUTHORS ONE BOOK that details our co-writing process, with examples, as compared to other co-writing processes authors have talked to us about.
ME: Can you talk a bit about The Buried Goddess Saga, and what readers can expect from your co-written Fantasy series?
RB: The Buried Goddess Saga is as fun and unpredictable to write as it is for readers (I hope). Jaime Castle and I are constantly pushing each other to be better, constantly throwing each other curve balls as we craft the epic story. As we are a 50/50 team and each touch every word, it really allows us to push things far. A two heads are better than one sort of thing. It also allows us to make the characters we lead on feel unique, and give every POV a voice
ME: Take us through the original publication of Titanborn and talk a bit about why it’s getting a re-release? How many books are in the series and when will they be released ?
RB: Titanborn was originally bought and released by a digital only imprint of Random House where, I’ll say, my editor Sarah Peed was fantastic. The book wouldn’t be anywhere near as good as it is without her, and I’ll say it here, Editing Is Crucial. But anyway, the book had a ton of critical success, but sales never took off the way we hoped, both for it or it’s sequel. Another thing I’ve always said, beyond viral successes that can’t be explained, marketing makes a bestseller. I really believed in this book, and in 2018 I bought my rights back so that I can do the work to make it a continuous series like I always envisioned.
There are currently 4 Books written that will be coming out in February through July, on ebook, print and audio from Audible Studios. And I can announce it here, Audible Studios just contracted me to write a 5th book. The idea I have for it is probably the most excited I’ve been about a pitch. Logan mixed with God of War 4 is the most I’ll say about it. My hope is to write it fast enough so that it could be released this fall.
ME: How did your deal with audible studios come about? How were you able to land RC Bray as narrator for Titanborn?
RB: The Audible Studios deal was pretty easy in that we had already sold the Buried Goddess Saga rights to them. They saw in the series what I always did, and were willing to take a big chance on releasing the entire series with RC Bray. He was always my number one target for this series, with Ray Porter as a very close second, and Audible has been great to me. They basically gave me a choice of either and made it happen. I owe them everything when it comes to that.
ME: what takes up most of your time when you aren’t writing and publishing books?
RB: I spend most of my time watching TV shows and movies with my wife. Right now were sadly finishing up the final season of the Punisher….
ME: Congratulations by the way on your Nebula nomination. How did that feel? Can you tell us a bit about the story?
RB: Thanks man. It feels pretty surreal! I wrote this story a few years ago as I was writing the Children of Titan Series, and it never saw the light of day until the massive Bridge Across the Stars Anthology I helped collect. It tells a story that I never could in the series, and I never really thought anybody but fans of Titanborn would enjoy it. But apparently I was wrong! It’s a story about sacrifice, and what family really means… all set at the impending apocalypse.
ME: What’s next for Aethon in 2019…what are some of the big releases coming out
RB: Probably more than I even realize now haha. We have Paul Antony Jones’ book, THE PATHS BETWEEN WORLDS coming on 3/19/19, on ebook, print and audio.
On 2/19/19, we’re relaunching the ebook and print books for Joshua Gayou’s incredible Commune Series, which is just killing it on Audible with RC Bray.
In April we should be releasing Brian Mansur’s debut CAPTIVE EMBERS as well as book 4 in the BURIED GODDESS SAGA.
Things aren’t so concrete datewise after that, but we’ve signed roughly 15 authors so far and are excited about every single one of them. And while it’s mostly all Sci-Fi, every series is very very different. There will be something for every fan of Speculative fiction, from epic fantasy to Cyberpunk, from Military Scifi to Post Apocalyptic.
I can also say that we’ve signed a bunch of great sci-fi standalones to be published by us and recorded by RC Bray through our exclusive patreon page. Stuff that may not have seen the light of day
otherwise, like a sci-fi cop thriller from James Wolanyk.
If you want to find out more about Rhett C. Bruno you can find him at Rhettbruno.com
You can also interact with him on Facebook @ The Official Rhett C. Bruno Fan Group
The Name of the Wind regularly tops the lists of the best fantasy books of the 21st century. That’s a blessing and a curse. When I got around to reading it, I was expecting something pretty exceptional.
CHARACTERS
My name is Kvothe. You may have heard of me
Kvothe is the main character of this book, of that there is no doubt. Many fans have fallen in love with him and it’s easy to see why. We are introduced to the red haired Kote as a simple innkeeper. It soon emerges, however, that he has been much more than that. A Chronicler arrives, looking for the famous Kvothe. Kote begins to tell his story to a small audience and we are transported back in time to when he was called Kvothe, as a young boy. Kvothe’s early years, up to 15 or 16, are the centre of the story. He is very young, but extremely talented: a musician; magician, of sorts; brave; attractive to the ladies; intelligent, since he goes to university at a remarkably young age. Well hey, this is fantasy. Many people would like to be Kvothe. At times, however, I found his perfection to be a little annoying. Nonetheless, his trials and tribulations make you root for him to succeed.
The book features a host of supporting characters: his parents; his first teacher, Abenthy; various other masters at the University; friends; his love interest, Denna; Ambrose, his antagonist at the University; Bast, his assistant in the frame story. And many more I could name. But all of these characters are kept at arm’s length, to an extent, to allow Kvothe to be centre stage. Many, such as Denna and Bast, are deliberately mysterious. Overall they are interesting, with hints as to their future role in the story, but after 660 odd pages we still don’t know them that well.
WORLDBUILDING
As with the characters, the world that Rothfuss gives us, hints of much more to come in later books. In this novel there is still a sense of mystery about what kind of world we are dealing with. We are introduced to a pseudo-scientific magic system, called Sympathy, which explains how people can perform ‘magic’. This makes it something that can be studied, in a multi-disciplinary kind of way, at the University. Thus, you can have natural ability and develop it through your studies. There are restrictions on students using this magic outside the University. All of this is easy for the reader to grasp and accept, being not so different from Hogwarts after all. We are only given tantalising glimpses of other aspects, however. We know that there are non-human creatures about, but this is left vague.
The world Kvothe inhabits is lovingly created at the micro level. There are two key settings: first the city of Tarbean; second the University with the associated cultural hub of Imre. These locations are so well described that you get immersed in the environment in which Kvothe is trying to make his way. Details such as the currency, the buildings and inhabitants are rich and believable. At the more macro level, there is less. Most of the story is set in the Commonwealth, but this is a vague entity. The towns and cities seem to be, to all intents and purposes, self-governing, but even here there are no discernible political leaders. Ambrose is a member of the nobility, who we are told are rich and powerful, but there is little sign of their influence. Again, this may be fleshed out more in later books, but I was left with little understanding of how this world ‘works’.
STYLE
Rothfuss is a great writer and this is surely key to his popularity. He deals with a long and complex story effortlessly and his descriptive writing is lush without being heavy. He has produced a coming-of-age story that can be enjoyed by any reader, not just fantasy fans.
PLOT
This is a story that takes its sweet time. Kvothe is given pages and pages in which to grow. Not so much has happened by the time we get to the end, it has to be said. The evil Chandrian, whom Kvothe is trying to uncover, remain as mysterious as they are at the beginning; as does the girl he wants. Kvothe’s spell at the University is not yet at an end. That’s not to say that we haven’t been taken on a journey. But it seems there is a lot of work left for the second book to do.
CONCLUSION
This is a great read by an author with a mature and light touch, dealing with familiar themes. As I say, it rises above the genre, in a similar way to the Harry Potter series. It seems ideal for fans of Hogwarts who are ready to move on to a more adult fantasy setting. Finally, it promises much for the rest of the series. The second book in the series, The Wise Man’s Fear, is already out and, so I’ve heard, even longer!
Tigana is a classic, stand-alone fantasy novel by one of the greats of fantasy fiction. It is named after a province in the mythical Peninsula of the Palm.
CHARACTERS
Kay uses multiple points of view in this story, meaning that we look through the eyes of a number of characters. This allows us to follow events across the Palm, from a number of perspectives. I tend to enjoy this approach to fantasy writing and the author handles it well. Most of the characters we follow are exiles, of one kind or another, from Tigana: Devin, young and green; Catriana, equally young but more mature; Dianora, whose story is largely separate from the other characters; Baerd, her brother, full of anger and purpose. Interestingly, their leader, Prince Alessan, is never used as the POV by Kay, leaving him more mysterious and remote, which I think was a good decision. We are even treated to the POV of one of the main adversaries, Alberico of Barbadior, which Kay seems to enjoy writing. The characters are well drawn, with clear motives and backstory. They are also complex: the heroes make morally dubious decisions to get what they want, and the villains can be sympathetic, too. I found I cared about the characters. Having said that, when the book was finished, I didn’t find myself missing them, which can happen with my favourite books.
WORLDBUILDING
The story is set in the Palm, which is geographically an upside-down Italy. Like medieval Italy, it is divided into different, disunited provinces. At the beginning of the story it has been invaded by two different foreign powers, Ygrath and Barbadior, who have divided the Palm between them. The world feels real, with a history, culture and religion of its own. Each province has its own unique characteristics, which inform much of the plot. All this world-building is done with a light touch, so that it never intrudes too much on the story.
There is magic in the Palm, but no great magicians. This explains how the antagonists, Brandin of Ygrath and Alberico of Barbadior, were able to conquer it in the first place. It also helps the reader to root for those struggling for independence, since they are underdogs for this very reason.
STYLE
Tigana is an effortless read and Kay writes with a sense of poetry, like the earlier fantasy writers. It is, therefore, different to the more modern trend of gritty writing which can make it feel more dated than it is in some ways (it was published in 1990). This sense of poetry and magic pervades this novel, reminding me of classic Arthurian literature. It means that the world is perhaps not always logical or realistic—that’s OK, though—it’s a fantasy novel.
PLOT
The story is centred on the fate of Tigana, one of the provinces of the Palm. It has been cursed by Brandin of Ygrath, as punishment for its resistance to his invasion. We focus, therefore, on the efforts of the heroes, mostly exiles from Tigana, to save their homeland. The themes of duty, of belonging to a place or people, are therefore very strong. None of the heroes are ‘super’ heroes, with extraordinary magic or martial skills to help them. Indeed, many of them are most proficient at making music. Neither do they have an army to help them. This fact is both a strength and a weakness of the book. It means that we root for them, as underdogs. However, in order for them to achieve their goals, we have to swallow a fair amount of dubious plotting. The route to victory, apparently, involves years of wandering around carrying out complicated/pointless acts of rebellion, or, conversely, huge acts of self-sacrifice. There is no conventional rebellion or civil war here; neither is there ever an outright attempt at assassination of the two wizards by the heroes. This is despite the fact that other attempts at assassination make it seem eminently achievable. This lack of realism in the plot was the one thing that made me harrumph while reading. Having said that, this is pretty standard fare in the fantasy genre.
CONCLUSION
This is a really good book, still loved by many, that has stood the test of time. It doesn’t have the complexity of some fantasy epics, but we are so used now to fantasy stories as trilogies, if not longer, that this is a somewhat unfair criticism. In Tigana, Kay achieves in a single novel what many authors fail to do in a series. If we are to judge it against other single, stand-alone fantasy novels, then it is up there as one of the best ever written.
It’s been 20 years since A Game of Thrones hit the bookshelves. It’s had a transformative effect on the world of Fantasy, partly down to the huge success of the HBO Series. But when I first read it, in the late 1990s, it was just another fantasy novel. Few people knew then what it would become.
CHARACTERS
It’s fair to say that Martin has no better in terms of character creation. That said, the first novel of A Song of Ice and Fire is, to some extent, a different experience to the later books in the series, never mind the TV version. The series is known for many things: its huge scope, including the number of characters; the author’s willingness to kill off many of his characters, at regular intervals, with no sentimentality; the ‘grey’ nature of his characters, with a lack of simple good/evil characterisation; then of course the sex and violence, which is more apparent in the TV series than the original books.
These characteristics had not fully appeared in the first novel, however. Yes, there is already a big cast of characters, but the POV is pretty focused on the Stark family, the only notable exceptions being Tyrion and Daenerys. This makes A Game of Thrones a more tightly written affair than some of its successors, and allows the reader to engage with the storyline. The death toll is not so high. And while the grey areas are already there, from my perspective as a reader, I was soon rooting for the Starks, who were effectively the ‘good guys’. Around them was created a fascinating support cast, but they were the protagonists.
It has been interesting to see how the series has developed. The role of the Stark family has remained important, but it has undoubtedly been watered down. Other characters have barged their way into the story, taking it in new directions, some of which, I think, were not in the author’s original plan.
WORLDBUILDING
Martin took the classic, medieval-inspired fantasy world, and made it bigger, more densely populated, and more real than anyone had done before. That he was able to provide this scale and still deliver a killer story is perhaps his greatest achievement.
Most of the action takes place in Westeros, a kingdom recently united after a vicious civil war. The cracks in this unity are already beginning to show, however. Meanwhile, the Daenerys storyline reveals that there are many more realms beyond Westeros. Sometimes, there are so many other lands, with so little connection to the events in Westeros, that the scale of the world can seem too big.
At this point, the world of A Song of Ice and Fire is barely fantastical at all. There are no pointy eared elves, or fairies flying about, or wizards with long grey beards. The only dwarf is…well… a real dwarf, not a member of a fantastical race. It’s easy to forget how many of the staples of fantasy fiction were culled by Martin. In so doing, he modernised the genre and opened it to a new group of fans. That’s not to say that wizards, elves and dwarves have had their day—far from it. But it he did, in effect, introduce a new sub-genre, that tends to be called grimdark.
Of course, Martin didn’t do away with magic, not at all. He didn’t do away with an evil menace either, for surely that is the white walkers who live beyond the Wall. But he revelled in flawed characters, making difficult decisions in a cruel world they had no control over, a world not unlike our own.
PLOT
Hmm. Where to start? There are so many plot lines. A central one is the political struggle for the Iron Throne. Then there is the supernatural threat to Westeros itself. But in some respects, the series resembles a soap opera, with multiple characters and storylines all interwoven into one whole. Of course, a harsher critic might suggest that Martin has failed to interweave said storylines and somewhat lost control of the project. It has become so complex, that Martin’s original vision of a trilogy is long gone and the series has yet to be completed, some twenty years after the release of the first book. Maybe it never will in the author’s lifetime. This is both a tribute to the scale of the project and a flaw and source of frustration to fans.
CONCLUSION
A Game of Thrones is a seminal, must-read novel for fantasy fans. I remember reading it all those years ago. I wouldn’t call the book an inspiration: I was in my mid-twenties when I read it. I had already picked up the fantasy bug from earlier novelists and was toying with my own ideas for a fantasy story. But it set a benchmark. It made me rethink my ideas. Not necessarily to create something the same, or as large: trying to do that could send a mere mortal mad. Just to make my own story better. All fantasy writers are now operating in a post A Game of Thrones world. The genre is no longer the same. How many books can you say that about?
Here I review another true fantasy epic, Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. I have just finished reading the last of the series (#7) The Dark Tower, published in 2004. The first book in the series, The Gunslinger, was released in 1982. So, while it took him a fair while, at least King was able to finish the series *cough, cough, George Martin*. A film adaptation has been in the works for several years, and was recently released, to mixed reviews.
CHARACTERS
The central character of the series is the Gunslinger himself, Roland of Gilead. Roland Deschain is a descendant of Arthur Eld, or King Arthur, and King’s Gunslingers are in part inspired by the knights of Arthurian legend. His old world destroyed, Roland is on an epic quest, to find the Dark Tower. He is the last of the gunslingers, and his quest seems to have been going on for countless years. Roland’s character is also inspired by ‘The Man With No Name’, the Clint Eastwood character from the Dollars film trilogy. He is, at first, equally enigmatic, but his backstory is filled in as the series progresses. There are a whole host of other characters in this series, but most important are the Ka-tet, the group he recruits to help him on his quest. They are trained to be gunslingers. Jake Chambers, Eddie Dean and Odetta Holmes are each recruited from a different era of ‘real world’ New York (70s, 80s and 60s respectively) by Roland. This ‘world-jumping’ is an important device in the story. King does character extremely well, and the American characters add humanity to the single-minded obsessiveness of Roland.
WORLDBUILDING
What you don’t get here, is the meticulously detailed, medieval-inspired secondary world, that is the staple of fantasy literature. This is not Lord of the Rings or A Game of Thrones. King lets his imagination run riot, and the series jumps from America, to Roland’s Mid-World, to alternate or parallel worlds, with rapidity. What’s more this isn’t a pure fantasy story, either. There are elements of post-apocalyptic Sci-Fi, Horror, Western, Metaphysical etc. Time and space are in flux in this series, which serves as a useful get out of jail card for King, allowing for a vagueness of location which fits in with the spiritual nature of Roland’s quest. And let’s not forget that King is first and foremost a Horror writer: his stories are supernatural and don’t attempt to obey scientific rules or create a ‘realistic’ world.
PLOT
The world has turned, or gone bad in some way. We know that Roland must save it by finding the Dark Tower. But beyond that, much of the story is shrouded in mystery to begin with. As a series, we follow the adventures of Roland and his new Ka-tet on their quest. A range of supernatural enemies await them on the way, from vampires/’low men’, a deranged monorail train to the Crimson King himself. But each book has a very different story to tell. No doubt this is partly because they were written so far apart in time. Wizard and Glass (#4), for example, is effectively a flashback to an episode in Roland’s past. Each book, therefore, has a unique feel to it and readers can react very differently to that. Some may feel that as a series it doesn’t hang together as well as others, and that the quality is patchy. Others appreciate the variety that King has introduced. True fans of King even get to see links to many of his other well-known stories in the series.
STYLE
Stephen King writes mighty fine, do ya ken. Well over 1 million words ooze effortlessly by, with much of the series written at the height of his powers. Roland’s language is ‘High Speech’, and by the end of the series I found I had adopted some of these phrases as my own.
CONCLUSION
This series is a classic of epic fantasy, a unique tale and a great achievement. Yes, there are problems and weaknesses along the way, though that is to be expected in a piece of work this size. Few of the single volumes of this story are, in my opinion, masterpieces. But taken as a whole body of work, The Dark Tower series deserves such praise.
The quality of self-published, or indie, books is getting better and better. Not just the stories themselves, but the editing, covers and all the other professional aspects of the business. So much so that the best of the bunch are, in every important respect, the equals of their traditionally published cousins. Here I review one of the leading indie fantasy books from the last few years.
CHARACTERS
I would class this as character driven fantasy, in the sense that you feel that the author started with the characters and allows them to take centre stage. We follow the point of view of at least half a dozen as the story develops and all of them have well defined personalities. Lannick de Veers is a broken ex-soldier with a dark past. Zandrachus Bale is another unlikely hero, living a safe life amongst his books in the Abbey until forced to go out into the world. Karnag is an assassin with no moral code. True to the theme of the series, none of the characters are traditionally heroic, and are often reluctant. This adds some complexity to their characters, but at times can be overdone, especially since the reader has the impression they are going to do the right thing in the end anyway. I enjoyed the range of characters, though it does mean the plot moves slowly at times, since most characters have their own separate storyline. Indeed, the three mentioned above still haven’t crossed paths by the end of the book. This would suggest that the series still has a long way to go.
WORLDBUILDING
We are in fairly familiar territory here. The kingdom of Rune is under threat from evil forces from the past. There is a solid historical backdrop to the story, with the Sentinels, demi-god style characters, who have defended Rune in times past, banished by the High King some generations ago. And they need to come back. It is a modern, Abercrombie-esque setting, with humans taking centre stage and no mention of elves, dwarves etc. Some considerable thought has gone into the politics, with a High-King gone mad (we never meet him); a Queen in peril; evil figures at court; and a mention of thanes, who sound like regional noblemen, who may well come into the story. I appreciated this attempt to flesh out and make a believable world. In the end it felt secondary to the main storylines, since the principal characters are political outsiders (unlike Game of Thrones, for example), but there are hints that this angle may be developed in later books. Finally, there is magic in this land, often quite dark and scary. Benem avoids incorporating a new magical system with detailed rules into the story, which I appreciated. On the other hand, I didn’t detect what the limits or costs of magic use are.
PLOT
The king is mad, war with the kingdom’s neighbour is brewing, and behind it all a dark, hidden sect, who worship an evil God, are pulling the strings. The Sanctum, a group of book reading old men generally held in contempt as ‘spookers’, must begin a search for the long forgotten Sentinels. Some of these Sentinels and/or their followers are revealed in the book, and they are not always what the reader is expecting. As indicated above, this is an ambitious start to a series, with multiple plot lines started, and a story that slowly reveals itself to the reader. There is a lot more to come and it doesn’t surprise me to see that it has taken Benem over two years to come up with the sequel, The Wrath of Heroes, out now. This is thoughtful, meaty fantasy, and worth waiting for!
Good day and welcome to this episode of the Fantasy Focus podcast. I’m your host, podcaster and author of Fun Fantasy Reads, Jamie Davis. This podcast is exactly what the title says it is, a show focused on everything in fantasy books.
From epic fantasy, Urban fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, and everything in between, expect to find the best and brightest authors from all the various corners of the fantasy book world. Plus we’ll add in a few other very special guests as well along the way.
Right now at the Smarter Artist Summit in Austin, Texas where I’ve been hanging out with some of my best friends in writing for the last few days. I look forward to these events because they recharge my writing batteries so I can get back to writing books for readers like all of you.
Once I’m back midweek, I’m jumping back into writing the second book in an upcoming near-future cyber-sci-fi series that focuses on featuring diverse characters and themes. Watch for the Sapiens Run series launching in early April. The first book, Cyber’s Change is available for preorder now wherever you buy ebooks.
Charles describes himself I am an author of fantasy, science fiction, and post-apocalypse horror. He lives in Ashland, Ky with his wife and four dogs. He runs a review blog as well as writing reviews for Booknest.EU.
Malice, the first book in the completed fantasy series The Faithful and the Fallen, is a title that has been on my radar for a while, and I have finally got around to giving it a read. I found it a really interesting experience. The covers for the series are quite similar to mine, with a weapon taking centre stage on each book. Once I got reading, I found that the similarities didn’t end there.
CHARACTERS
One of the obvious similarities is that there are a lot of characters and a lot of viewpoints. Gwynne doesn’t shy away from this, crediting the reader with the intelligence to follow multiple storylines. While these storylines do overlap, the characters are located in different kingdoms, with their own challenges and problems. Gwynne gives a chapter to each character, following the approach of GRR Martin, and personally I found it all perfectly easy to follow, but I am well used to and generally enjoy this approach.
Corban is a fairly typical fantasy character: a boy growing into a man, living in the capital of the King of Ardan, being taught how to fight by a mentor or two, with a crew of family and friends around him. It is pretty clear early on that he is destined to become a heroic figure. His sister, Cywen, gets her own chapters, but she is largely a support character in this book. Veradis, located in a separate kingdom, Tenebral – the home of the ‘high king’, is a newly trained warrior who is assigned to serve the Prince of Tenebral, Nathair. A third young fighter, Krelis, is located in a third kingdom, Isiltir, at the court of his uncle. Orphaned and isolated, he has an uncertain future.
There are a host of other characters. Like the main characters, a huge proportion of them are men: kings, soldiers, bandits, champions, hunters and the like, many of whom are more than handy with a blade. A lot of attention is given to military aspects. This probably means the series isn’t for everyone. I enjoyed it, though even I struggled at times to differentiate between all the characters, perhaps because some of them were a bit samey.
WORLDBUILDING
Malice is set in the Banished Lands, occupied generations ago by humans who arrived by sea. The humans have formed several kingdoms, who can form alliances and rivalries with one another. One of the kingdoms, Tenebral, has a high king, whose authority over the others is vague. Between kingdoms are lawless forests inhabited by bandits. When the humans first arrived, they had to defeat several giant clans for control over the Banished Lands. The remnants of these clans still exist, seemingly pushed into forests and mountains by the more populous humans.
As a setting its more familiar than unique. But the impressive part of the worldbuilding is the many kingdoms that feature in this book. Each has its own internal and external politics. A lot of thought has gone into this, and it helps the reader to feel like the events are taking place in a real world.
There is magic in the Banished Lands, wielded by humans, giants and other creatures. But it is mysterious and in Malice the reader is kept at arm’s length from it: none of the main characters are wizards. I tend to prefer this approach, since it avoids the dangers of laboriously outlining a whole new magic system for a character to learn (yawn).
PLOT
This is a traditional epic fantasy series in many ways. Driving the plot is a good vs evil storyline. Although we are not given too much information, we learn that in the past there have been two Gods (one good, one evil). A prophecy reveals that a Godswar is coming and two figures will emerge as champions of each God: a hero and an anti-hero. Malice reveals who these two individuals will be. It does feel a little corny at times, and the revelation of the hero and anti-hero is so heavily signposted the reader is not really given the fun of guessing. Of course, there may be a twist in the later books here, but it didn’t feel like there was going to be when I read this one.
Again, it is not dwelt on too heavily, but part of this Godswar may well be the location of nine (? or similar) magic items/weapons cast by the Gods. The search for these items may well form the plot for much of the three remaining books of the series. Again, I couldn’t help here but see the connection to my own series, where the heroes have to find 7 weapons to combat the threat to Dalriya. Yes, the search for magic objects can potentially feel old hat. But it injects purpose, conflict and direction into a plot, which in epic fantasy, with sprawling worlds and huge casts, might otherwise get lost.
The plot of Malice did a great job of introducing the rest of the series, with enough going on to start pulling characters in different directions and as a reader I was interested to see where it would go next.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to fantasy fans, who have the added bonus of knowing that this is a completed series they can read to a conclusion. I will certainly be continuing with it. It’s traditional fantasy done well.
