What are you wasting your time reading this for? Today is release day for The Tyrant’s Onslaught. Get your eReader or pick up a hard copy and get reading. And if you haven’t read book one of the Valerious Chronicles, well frankly I don’t know what in the world you’ve been doing!
I hope to see you all celebrating with me!
I have seen multiple lists of iconic fantasy novels to read. The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant have almost always made an appearance. Because of that I finally managed to find the time to read the first entry. I will be upfront, I did not really enjoy Lord Foul’s Bane. I knew little about it prior to picking it up, other than the fact that the main character was an anti-hero.
Having read the book, I now feel that much of this book’s success can be attributed to it being one of the few Fantasy novels of its time to push certain boundaries. Therefore I need to give it credit where credit is due and say that Thomas Covenant is a terrific anti-hero. By the end of the book I actually disliked him more than at the beginning. I do not want to spoil anything for would be readers but there is a particular event at the start of the book which really surprised me. And not in a good way. In a way that instantly made me want to read something else because I detested the character so much.
What saddens me is that Donaldson is a great writer. At times I really loved his descriptions, names and characters. But as a whole I just found it tiresome to finish the story. I didn’t care whether Thomas Covenant achieved anything. The basic premise of the story reminded me heavily of the Lord of the Rings. Yet it was different enough not to feel like it was borrowing too heavily.
What I particularly liked was the different cultures which Donaldson developed, such as his giants and the people of the plains. They were a unique take and I found that refreshing. Saltheart Foamfollower was a character I instantly liked and, to be honest, kept me reading when I considered giving up. After finishing the book I hopped online to see what others had thought. Normally I do not do this but as I really didn’t enjoy the book that much, I felt that perhaps I had missed something.
Never have I come across such polarizing reviews. It seemed that people either loved it or hated it. One star or five. I found few reviews that sat in the middle. Many of the negative reviews centered on that certain event at the beginning, and I can understand how that could turn someone away from reading any more of the book quite quickly. However, I found that when I read why people loved the book I started to see their points.
Lord Foul’s Bane is best looked at through a lens. It may not be the best story, but it set out to create a unique world, with an anti-hero main character whose actions and behaviour go against what we expect in a novel. I think you need to consider when it was written whilst judging it. Fantasy writing has changed significantly since then. Modern novels trend towards faster pacing, more dialogue and less exposition. Donaldson covers some great themes in his book and I think it is true to say that reading the Chronicles is hard work. You almost feel as though you are studying an ancient roman text. That being said it is an exceptionally well written story.
So now I ask myself would I recommend this book to my friends. The short answer is no. I do not feel that I would be looked upon favourably in doing so. But credit must be given. I understand why some people would love this book. And Donaldson is a great writer. I have simply decided it is just not to my taste.
Rating: 2/5
I am excited to announce that The Tyrant’s Onslaught, Book Two in the Valerious Chronicles is available for pre-order prior to its release on the 31st of August.
Imprisoned. Christill now faces the wrath of his King and Council. They will demand his blood, but his destiny is yet to be fulfilled. He must uncover the terrible source of the Tyrant King’s power if the world is to be saved. The guardian gods have given him strength, however, he will be forced to travel to the most dangerous part of Kovi, hunted by those he is fighting to save.
Thibalt always believed in his Scorpions, but it is a dark path the Maloreichar have set them on. He will question his actions at every turn. The war will paint his hands red. As their enemies close in around them, he will be forced to make the hardest choice of his life.
Throughout their journey they will face familiar enemies, treachery and above all the malevolence of Zephra. The truth will be revealed and sacrifices made, for the Tyrant King’s onslaught is unwavering. Hope is all that remains. Hope and two brothers.
The Tyrant’s Onslaught is now available to Pre-Order at the following retailers:
And for those who are very eager to secure a copy the paperback version is already available for sale early on Amazon and my own store.
I am in the final stages of proofreading for The Tyrant’s Onslaught. Once that is finished I will begin the arduous task of formatting for Smashwords, Kindle and Paperback.
I am expecting Pre-orders to be available in the next fortnight and will keep you posted once they are up.
Until then, keep your fingers crossed, and send me some good vibes so that I can keep my eyes open and get the next installment of the Valerious Chronicles out to you.
To all those eagerly awaiting the release of book two in the Valerious Chronicles, I have finally set the official release date.
The Tyrant’s Onslaught is set to be released across all formats on the 31st of August 2014. I am hoping to have preorders available at the end of July.
Hang in there. Not too long left.
Today I am privileged to provide you with a guest post by Fantasy/Sci Fi author Terry W. Ervin II. Having recently published the third book in his First Civilizations Legacy Series, Terry shares with us what he has learned in writing Soul Forge. I hope you enjoy reading his wise words and take as much away from them as I did.
What I Learned While Writing Soul Forge
From the first page of a first draft, of the first novel an author writes, to writing ‘The End’ for the final draft of that first novel, the author has probably learned quite a bit about writing—even if that first novel isn’t quite good enough to find a publisher (or of sufficient quality to merit self-publication). Heck, most writers, upon completing their first novel’s first draft, can see a major improvement in writing and storytelling skill when comparing the early chapters to the later ones.
While there is a learning curve, where writers learn a lot (or hopefully do) during their early efforts, established authors also learn something—maybe many somethings—during the process of completing each project. Perhaps it’s how to employ a new structure, such as creating a frame story, or figuring out how to write using a different point of view. Sometimes it’s not learning something new, but improving upon an already existing skill or a familiar technique, such as more effective use of foreshadowing or devising how to make an action scene flow just a little bit better.
For me, all of this comes from actually writing and by comparing what I’ve written with what I learn through reading and studying other authors’ works. I also learn from beta reader and crit partner comments, and from working with an editor. This type of learning requires an open mind coupled with the drive to create a story that’s better than the previous one.
Soul Forge, my forth published novel, is my most recent release. And, through the process of writing it, I believe I made significant strides in improving my writing in several areas.
Soul Forge is the third novel in the First Civilization’s Legacy Series. The stories are mainly action-adventure and focus on Flank Hawk, a farmhand turned mercenary in a post-apocalyptic fantasy setting.
The first and probably the most important thing I learned was how to write the third novel in a series such that readers could pick up Soul Forge and enjoy it as much as anyone who’d read Flank Hawk and/or Blood Sword, the first two novels in the series.
Through reading and study, I’d learned how to write Blood Sword, so that readers could select it as the first novel in the series they might read. But that was the second novel in the series. Soul Forge, being the third, added a greater level of complexity to accomplish the same objective. The world in the series is extensive, with countries and cultures and history and conflicts that are built upon while being integral to the plots of each novel, beginning with Flank Hawk and moving forward. Add to that, the characters which appeared earlier in the series, and return to play a part in the third. There are even characters that died in the earlier novels, but continue to impact the characters and their actions in Soul Forge, and will continue to do so as the series continues.
I refined the use of dialogue, description, character thoughts, flashbacks, and character actions/responses to provide the necessary backstory within the context of the current story being told. It’s accomplished in such a way that it isn’t redundant, and actually reminds veteran readers of what’s happened in the series while providing additional information or insight.
Second, all of the novels in the First Civilization’s Legacy Series are written in first person point of view. Even so, characters other than the POV character (Krish/Flank Hawk) are well developed, with a number becoming the favorites of readers. In Soul Forge I worked to improve using actions, dialogue, and POV character thoughts and perception to more fully bring the characters that populate the novel to life.
Finally, I worked to improve my ability to intertwine secondary plotlines with the novel’s main plot to add depth of interest and suspense for the reader while raising the stakes for the characters involved.
An example of this was the personal duel brought upon Mercenary Flank Hawk and, although delayed until young Enchantress Thereese is revived (or dead), it’s a challenge the mercenary knows he cannot win. Even Imperial Seer Lochelle predicted that, should he cross blades with Flayzin, the captain of Supreme Enchantress Thulease’s guard, Flank Hawk will die.
Complicating the situation is the source of the conflict (the death of a prince) and the fact that both Flank Hawk and Captain Flayzin serve Supreme Enchantress Thulease. The two men must set aside their conflict as best they can while accompanying the enchantress as she seeks the legendary Sleeping Sage in a bid to discover a way to revive her dying daughter.
Why would Flank Hawk accompany the supreme enchantress, through perilous circumstances and fighting alongside Captain Flayzin, knowing that the man’s sword is destined to slay him?
That concern and many others are brought together as the story moves forward, aboard the Hunchback Maiden while crossing the Mediterranean, traversing the vast desert of the Southern Continent, and even venturing to the Mountainhold of the secretive Svartálfar.
Even as I write this article, my mind is on my next project (working title: Relic Rescue), the sequel to Relic Tech, the first novel in the Crax War Chronicles. While I’ll be using what I learned while writing Soul Forge and the other novels that came before, I’m sure I’ll improve not only in several areas of writing, but learn something new. Or at least I hope so.
Terry W. Ervin II is an English teacher who enjoys writing fantasy and science fiction.
His First Civilization’s Legacy Series includes FLANK HAWK, BLOOD SWORD and SOUL FORGE, his newest release from Gryphonwood Press. Terry’s debut science fiction novel RELIC TECH is the first in the Crax War Chronicles and his short stories have appeared in over a dozen anthologies and magazines. The genres range from SF and mystery to horror and inspirational. GENRE SHOTGUN is a collection containing all of his previously published short stories.
You can purchase Soul forge at the following retailers:
To contact Terry or learn more about his writing endeavors, visit his website at www.ervin-author.com or his blog, Up Around the Corner at http://uparoundthecorner.blogspot.com
Part two of my series on my biggest influences covers some lesser known things that have moulded who I am today. I will continue to cover some of the key books, movies, music and shows that have influenced me.
The Call to Ktulu:
Music plays a very large part in getting my creative juices flowing. Music can stir emotions that other mediums fail to. In many ways it requires you to really utilise your imagination as there is no visual stimulus. Metallica’s instrumental piece ‘the Call to Ktulu’ is one piece of music that is very important to me. I am referring to the version presented on their S&M album together with the San Francisco Symphony.
Why is this piece of music so important to me? Because it could be seen as a trigger for my choice to become a writer. Sitting on a bus for up to 8 hours a day whilst travelling through central Australia on a school trip, I was given ample time to listen to my Walkman. Metallica had opened my eyes to hard rock a year earlier and my tape got a good workout. None more than the Call to Ktulu. As soon as this track began I was taken away from that bus. Transported to a world of clashing armies, knights and demons, magic and mayhem.
I played out scenes of an epic tale in my mind whilst staring out of the window at the endless red blanket that is the aussie outback. The music fuelled my imagination. With every repeat of the track the story grew larger, clearer. By the end of a two week trip, I had to pick up a pencil and write the tale. And that is what I did when I got home. That story became the basis for the Valerious Chronicles. I have no doubt that without the Call to Ktulu to keep me company, Christill and Thibalt’s tale would have never been told.
X-Men (Comics and Cartoon):
One of my fondest memories as a child was going with my mother to the local shopping centre and finding that a new volume of the X-Men animated series had become available on VHS. This was well before the days of the internet and the only way for me to watch the show was through waiting months for the next cassette to become available. It was shown very rarely on TV in Australia giving me little opportunity to tape it.
I shudder to think how many times I watched each episode, glued to the TV to watch Wolverine and the X-Men fight the most dastardly villains ever to grace the TV. Much can be said about why X-Men is so popular. Strong characters, relevant themes and great writing perhaps to name a few. Its popularity is still on the rise. For me it was the first fictional universe to draw me in and create an obsession. There are few things that I liked as a child that I am still passionate about now. X-Men has stood the test of time.
My brother collected X-Men comics which I eventually inherited. They opened up to me the greater marvel universe and showed me how much more there was than just the animated show. I came to realise that there were thousands of people out there who liked X-Men as much as I did. It was my first introduction to true fandom. One could say it was the beginning of my transition to teenage nerd.
Stay tuned for more over the coming weeks.
Anyone who is a fan of Roleplaying will enjoy this. The team at FantasyCon have created Cubicles & Careers to promote their convention and I think they really hit the mark.
Thank you to i09 for sharing this.
What are my biggest influences? There are too many to cover in one post. So over the next few weeks I will be covering off on some of the key books, movies, music and shows that have influenced me, not only as a writer, but as a person.
The Lord of the Rings:
I will begin with the most obvious of choices. This covers both the books and the movies. I am not sorry to admit that I did not read the novels until after I’d already seen the first movie. Prior to that most of the fantasy novels I read were written by authors like Feist, Eddings and Weis and Hickman. But after watching Peter Jackson’s Fellowship of the Ring I found a new obsession.
To me the trilogy of movies summarise the Fantasy genre. It is a visual delight with set pieces and landscapes that make you wish you were born a hobbit. You have heroes and villains, elves, orcs and dwarves, battles, magic and political drama. In every sense it covers the things that make so many fantasy works what they are. The names are amazing, the characters strong. The story is one of good and evil with human drama and emotion the real focus. There is so much to learn from it.
Were it not for the movies it would have been many more years before I read the actual books. And, had that been the case, it would have been a lot longer before I decided to become a writer. But thankfully I picked up the trilogy and never looked back.
Many argue about how exciting the Lord of the Rings trilogy is. I love the books, but even I admit that there are parts where you feel like you are scraping nails against a blackboard. However I look at it as a foundation from which so much modern fantasy came. There are plenty of books which are better, but would those authors have been able to write those books without the inspiration and grounding that Tolkien provided? I don’t believe so.
Thus I attribute much of my desire to write epic fantasy to the Lord of the Rings. The writing is in every sense magical. There are lines from the books and films that make the hairs on my body prickle when I hear them. Scenes in the movies stir emotions in me that real world events fail to. I listen to the soundtracks when I write, for they throw images of Rivendell, Lothlorien and Minas Tirith into my mind. I can’t explain why, but I feel I have more of my own emotions invested in middle earth than in our earth. And I don’t regret it one bit.
Remember the Titans:
From an obvious choice to one less so. Everyone loves a good triumph over adversity story. Sport is one of the best mediums for it. I watched the mighty ducks and cool runnings as a kid. Practically everyone my age did. But the one movie that has stuck with me is Remember the Titans. I consider the Lord of the Rings and Star Wars to be outside of the normal catalogue of movies. They are an enigma of nerd royalty which would always win a competition for best movie. As such, taking them out of the running, I would name Titan’s my favourite movie of all time. It’s a big call, I know.
I have watched this movie countless times now. Every single time I am amazed at how much of an emotional rollercoaster it is for me. I swing from laughing, to shaking my head, to almost fist pumping in ecstasy as the movie plays out. At one point I almost struggle to hold back tears alongside the two main characters. Every time! For a movie to captivate me like that, it is doing something very right.
I have taken a lot from this movie with me in my journey to become a writer. The drama in my writing is heavily influenced by the character interactions in Remember the Titans. The varied cast of characters, though in many ways following established tropes, reminds me of what the right mix of personalities is. When I seek to place humour into my work I often think back to the lines in this movie which crack me up every time.
Most of all I am reminded that sometimes all you really need is an inspirational ending. I won’t necessarily put an inspirational ending in my own writing. But as soon as the credits roll on this movie I feel the desire to get to my keyboard and start typing. And the value of that can never be played down.
Stay tuned for more over the coming weeks.
Blotting Away 