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Friday, 28 February 2014

Why Does Epic Fantasy Have A Unique Sound (Or If GoT Characters were Aussies)



Love it or hate it, if you’ve ever read epic fantasy you know that it's different. Not just in the subject matter, but in the language that is used. Epic fantasy tends to the more ornate, perhaps the more old-fashioned.

Why is that?

I’ve heard it said that fantasy allows writers to be sloppy, to use adjectives and adverbs to excess in ways that isn’t tolerated in other genres. To some extent that is true, but that’s not the reason. Even among excellent writers of fantasy, like Brent Weeks and Brandon Sanderson, there is a certain feel to epic fantasy prose.

I’ve never written anything that isn’t epic fantasy, and this is why. I don’t know that I could let go of the epic 
fantasy style. I know that other genres are different, but I don’t know how to create them. Possibly because I’ve been immersed in the epic fantasy style for so long, or perhaps just because I’m so in love with it.

But still, why is epic fantasy this way?

A thought struck me last night, that when fantasy is filmed, like Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, great care is taken with the accents of the characters. Why? I think because it’s a critical part of the world-building. It just wouldn’t feel right if the characters sounded like Americans or, perhaps even more laughable, Aussies. How could you possibly immerse yourself in this world that is other, that is elsewhere, and suspend disbelief, if Eddard Stark sounds like your neighbour?

I think that’s part of the answer to epic fantasy prose. The language is different because the world is different, and it ought to feel different.

The other part, I think, and a problem that doesn’t exist in visual representations of the genre, is that so much of what is seen in an epic fantasy world is other. The creatures, the magic, the people, the clothing, the weapons, the buildings – everything – we see none of this in our day to day lives.


While other genres can rely heavily on the fact that the reader knows intimately what an iPhone looks like, and therefore need not describe it in evocative, so much of what is present in epic fantasy is drawn either from the pages of an unfamiliar history or the imagination of the writer. Creating a vivid setting, a world in which the reader can feel present, requires more description. The subject matter of that description is often so fantastical or unfamiliar that the prose needs to be different in order to convey the feel of it.

The prose of epic fantasy is different so that we can be transported to a different realm of existence, in which the sheer flights of fantasy produced by one person's imagination are painted entirely with words.

If the characters in Game of Thrones were Aussies:


Eddard Stark: Hey Bob, how’s it garn?

Robert Baratheon: She’ll be right, mate.

If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to check out my previous posts if you haven't already. If you're finding yourself here often, you might like to join as a member, sign up to the blog through RSS or email, or sign-up to my newsletter. 

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Monday, 24 February 2014

Monday Morsel: The Death Priestess - An Extract from In the Company of the Dead



Welcome to the Monday Morsel feature, where I share short extracts from the first draft of my adult epic fantasy/fantasy romance, In the Company of the Dead.

* * *

She raked him with a dark, measuring gaze. The contrast with Alharne couldn’t be starker. His wife had been joyous and carefree. Ellaeva seemed sombre as a tombstone.
What can I expect from a girl raised by the priestesses of death?
The thought gave him a sobering glimpse into what might have been her past – an image of a little girl, alone in the halls of death. The moment left him with a deep sadness.

* * *

Thanks for dropping by! Don't forget, this is a first draft, and as such won't be perfect. If you like what you read, and are so inclined, show your support by leaving a comment, and In the Company of the Dead will be available in the future. I aim to have the first draft finished by the end of March. If you'd like to sample more of my writing, check out my novella Confronting the Demon.

If this is your first visit to Monday Morsels, find others in the series by clicking on the ‘Monday morsel’ tag, or go to the first installment.

More about In the Company of the Dead:


Lyram already crossed a prince, and now he finds himself on the brink of crossing a god.

Son of a duke and second in line for the throne, Lyram is exiled to a lonely castle after assaulting the crown prince. When a hostile army arrives to besiege the castle, he believes the prince wants him removed – permanently.

As though answering their prayers, Ellaeva, the Battle Priestess of the death goddess, arrives unexpectedly. But she has not come to break the siege. Instead, she is in pursuit of a necromancer of the evil god of decay. When misfortune after misfortune befalls the beleaguered defenders, Lyram realises the necromancer is hidden within the walls, sabotaging the very defence.

Against the backdrop of clashing gods, Lyram must fight to save himself from the political machinations of his prince, and the dread plans of a necromancer. But as the siege lengthens, he realises the greatest threat may come from another quarter — a woman sworn body and soul to a god tempts him to pay a terrible price.

If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to check out my previous posts if you haven't already. If you're finding yourself here often, you might like to join as a member, sign up to the blog through RSS or email, or sign-up to my newsletter. 

Don't forget to share the love and spread the word on Twitter, Facebook or StumbleUpon (or other social networking site of your choice) if you know other people who might also enjoy this.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting with us!


Friday, 21 February 2014

The Huashan Trail – Story Inspiration



The trail is said to be the most dangerous in the world. After you see it, you can understand why – tiny ledges, or a bare few planks bolted to the cliff face, in both cases hardly wide enough for a person to shuffle along crabwise. There is no guard-rail – only a chain strung along the cliff for travellers to hold. In places, you must climb up a ‘ladder’ to a higher level.


I use the word ladder loosely. It is comprised of spikes of steel driven into crevices in the rock.


The trail’s most dangerous sections feature such names as Thousand-Foot Precipice, Hundred-Foot Crevice and Black Dragon Ridge – names to inspire confidence for sure. No statistics are kept, but as many as 100 people may die on the trail each year. The trail leads to only one place.


A teahouse.


Yes, you read that correctly. Tourists brave the most dangerous trail in the world, literally risking their lives, for tea.


Or more probably, just so they can say they did it.


I have no intention of doing it myself, but the first thing I thought when I saw it was ‘How can I use that in a story?’


I didn’t have an immediate use for it. My current project, In the Company of the Dead, is set almost entirely within the confines of a castle. No cliff climbing likely, and I had to concede that any attempt to include one would be artificial – damn.


I suddenly recalled the trail while talking to my husband one day. I told him about it, particularly about the teahouse, and after the conversation lapsed I remembered I wanted to use it.


I had just started a short story, The Dilemma of Twins, which is set in the same world as my short story A Magical Melody. There wasn’t much to it yet, but I had a notion that it involved a ‘high place’ which I was loosely calling the Sky Pillars. And then I realised, if there is a high place, they need to get there.


Yes, I made my main character climb a dangerous trail and cling to a cliff face over dizzying drops.


Hey, it could have been worse.

If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to check out my previous posts if you haven't already. If you're finding yourself here often, you might like to join as a member, sign up to the blog through RSS or email, or sign-up to my newsletter.

Don't forget to share the love and spread the word on Twitter, Facebook or StumbleUpon (or other social networking site of your choice) if you know other people who might also enjoy this. 

Thanks for stopping by and visiting with us!






Monday, 17 February 2014

Monday Morsel: Desperate Rescue - An Extract from In the Company of the Dead

Welcome to the Monday Morsel feature, where I share short extracts from the first draft of my adult epic fantasy/fantasy romance, In the Company of the Dead.

* * *

His horse struck the other animal's shoulder, hard enough to rattle Lyram's teeth and knock the attacker's horse off stride. Lyram swung his sword, the blade whistling through the air, and the enemy rider flung himself out of the saddle. Lyram's mount surged past the now riderless horse in a thunder of hooves. Cursing, Lyram hauled on the reins. The horse swung about in a wide circle.
The young woman had stopped to watch the spectacle. Though the soldier had crashed to the ground mere feet from her, she watched with a calm expression as he climbed to his feet. Turning, the soldier saw her, and reached for her with his free hand.  
Horror squeezed Lyram’s chest tight. He was too far away to make a difference. She brought one long-fingered white hand up in a gesture of – what? Supplication? Forestalling? Defence? The soldier seized her by the wrist, and with her other hand she reached out and touched his chest.

* * *

Thanks for dropping by! Don't forget, this is a first draft, and as such won't be perfect. If you like what you read, and are so inclined, show your support by leaving a comment, and In the Company of the Dead will be available in the future. I aim to have the first draft finished by the end of March. If you'd like to sample more of my writing, check out my novella Confronting the Demon.

If this is your first visit to Monday Morsels, find others in the series by clicking on the ‘Monday morsel’ tag, or go to the first installment.

More about In the Company of the Dead:


Lyram already crossed a prince, and now he finds himself on the brink of crossing a god.

Son of a duke and second in line for the throne, Lyram is exiled to a lonely castle after assaulting the crown prince. When a hostile army arrives to besiege the castle, he believes the prince wants him removed – permanently.

As though answering their prayers, Ellaeva, the Battle Priestess of the death goddess, arrives unexpectedly. But she has not come to break the siege. Instead, she is in pursuit of a necromancer of the evil god of decay. When misfortune after misfortune befalls the beleaguered defenders, Lyram realises the necromancer is hidden within the walls, sabotaging the very defence.

Against the backdrop of clashing gods, Lyram must fight to save himself from the political machinations of his prince, and the dread plans of a necromancer. But as the siege lengthens, he realises the greatest threat may come from another quarter — a woman sworn body and soul to a god tempts him to pay a terrible price.

If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to check out my previous posts if you haven't already. If you're finding yourself here often, you might like to join as a member, sign up to the blog through RSS or email, or subscribe to my newsletter.

Don't forget to share the love and spread the word on Twitter, Facebook or StumbleUpon (or other social networking site of your choice) if you know other people who might also enjoy this.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting with us!

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