The Wall of Night Series map; design by Peter Fitzpatrick

Oh no! I was so busy last week, pushing really hard on Daughter of Blood, The Wall of Night Book Three, that I completely forgot to post the new blog series I announced last week, here:

A Geography of Haarth

The good news is — no one else seems to have noticed. 😉 And also that I was working so hard on Daughter of Blood… 🙂

But I hope you will forgive me for not having delivered as promised — and I shall duly begin this coming Friday, February 8.

The 1st of the month (US time) is my regular guest post day on the Supernatural Underground—and today I’m wishing Pride and Prejudice a very happy 200th birthday.

“Yes, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice was first published on 28 January 1813, so Monday this week was it’s 200th birthday — and still in print: outstanding huh?…”

To read all about it, and even add your own birthday greetings, click here:

Happy Birthday “Pride & Prejudice”: 200 Years Old This Week!

As I posted yesterday, it’s interview time right now in the “…on Anything, Really”  ‘verse—only this time I am the interviewee rather than the interviewer.

As of today I am Guest of the Month with friend and fellow author, Karen McMillan. Please do click on the following link and check it out:

February 2013 — Helen Lowe

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Also, just in case you missed it yesterday, I will be interviewing UK Fantasy author Elspeth Cooper here on Monday, as part of which we’ll be giving away Books 1 and 2 of Elspeth’s The Wild Hunt series novels: Songs of the Earth and Trinity Rising. So check back Monday for that.

And you can read my latest “Fun with Friends” interview with Australian author Marianne de Pierres on SF Signal right now:

Interview with Marianne de Pierres

It’s interview time right now in the “…on Anything, Really”  ‘verse. 🙂

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Marianne de Pierres

First up, my January “Fun with (Australian & NZ) Friends” interview, featuring Australian author Marianne de Pierres, is currently featured on SF Signal.

To check on the goodness click right here: Interview with Marianne De Pierres

And as always, comments are always welcome. 😉

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Elspeth Cooper

In a recent What I’m Reading post I mentioned reading Elspeth Cooper’s The Wild Hunt series, Songs of the Earth and Trinity Rising and that I was hoping to do an interview. Well, Elspeth and I are doing an interview and it’s going to be posting right here on Monday—an indepth author interview’n’all, so be sure to check back in for that.

Plus, not just an indepth Q&A, but also a giveaway. Yes, Elspeth is going to be giving away a Songs of the Earth / Trinity Rising duo (the UK trade paperback editions, I believe, but I’ll confirm that officially as part of the post) and what’s more, it’s going to be fully international. Definitely something to look forward to!

On December 13, when I began my two-part post on my Favourite Epic Fantasy series, I promised that I would post on standalone novels “laterz.”

As part of the background to that post, I also explained that the drive to pen lists was partly because I’d received a few communications along the lines of:

“I don’t normally read fantasy but I enjoyed your books (HL: thank you!) and would like to read more, so what would you recommend?”

The best way to recommend seemed to be sharing what I have liked over the years. With this list though, it’s just “Fantasy” because I honestly couldn’t think of 10 standalone epic fantasy novels—epic really does seem to run to series! I should also note that I tried to stick to one book per author, otherwise around four on my list would be by Guy Gavriel Kay. And yes, I know my reading “slip” is now showing, but hey—just sayin’ 😉

I am very open though to hearing your suggestions for further, specifically epic—but in fact any!—standalone fantasy reading: comment at will!

I also note that:

• The list is in alphabetical order by author, so there is no preference implied by the order in which the books appear
• I am not including children’s fiction—these are all Adult or at least YA/Crossover reads. I will post on Children’s/YA books as a separate topic(s).

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Marion Zimmer Bradley: The Mists of Avalon

Although I was subsequently to read a huge number of retellings of the Arthurian legends (possibly too many in fact!) The Mists of Avalon was the very first such retelling I encountered—and I loved it! I was enthralled by its interweaving of Celtic myth and real history, and the combination of politics and battles and magic, romantic and sexual relationships—but most of all that the entire story was told from the perspective of the women in the Arthurian cycle. That was definitely a first for me in my Fantasy reading and one I liked, opening up the notion that women’s history and women’s voices in and through storytelling had something to say: something that mattered.

CJ Cherryh: The Paladin

I suspect The Paladin is one of CJ Cherryh’s less-known works, but I’ve loved it since first re-reading. Set in a medieval Sino-Japanese conceived world, it tells the story of Taizu, a young woman with a vengeance mission, and Shoka, the former general and warlord living in exile on the edge of the realm. The heart of the book is not the epic quest, but the relationship between Taizu and Shoka—and in particular, for me, the character of Shoka, who is a patchwork  of expereince and disillusion, self interest, guile, and reluctant integrity, that is perhaps best ‘caught’ by a companion’s summation toward the end of the book: “It was him, in all that glitter. Same eyes, same mouth. Same conniving scoundrel.”

Ru Emerson: The Princess of Flames

This is another book—and writer, sadly—that you don’t hear a lot about now, but The Princess of Flames is such a great story, with a skilfully drawn medieval world, and an interesting but not overly elaborate magic system that draws on a version of the tarot deck. The characters are fascinating and well-drawn, with the story picking up both the tensions and power-plays within a family, with similar forces playing out on a different scale within and between realms. Elfrid, the central protagonist, is a wonderful heroine: a woman forced by situation to become a soldier of fortune, who feels very ‘real’ both emotionally and in that role.

Raymond E Feist: Faerie Tale

This is the first Fantasy novel I can recall reading which brought faerie and magic so strongly into the contemporary everyday world, but also did so in a way that had overtones of Horror. In that sense it made quite an impression and I particularly liked the way traditional figures such as Oberon, Titania and Puck were re-imagined in an American setting and with a new twist added to the old stories.

Neil Gaiman: Neverwhere

Confession—I first read Neverwhere very recently, but I still feel it may be quite my favourite Neil Gaiman book (with the ‘possible’ exception of The Graveyard Book.). I just love the whole idea of an alternate realm below London (“London Below”—and yes, it does predate Mieville’s Un Lun Dun, just in case you’re wondering) and the sheer imagination of the story, the world—with elements such as the Floating Market, the Earl’s Court and the Angelus—and an array of wonderful characters. I love the central characters of Door, the Marquis, and Richard Mayhew—of course—but I think its a toss up between the ‘Russian Doll’ nature of Islington, and the villains Croup and Vandemar, for the characters I can’t help enjoying the most. This is a fun, but most of all a really imaginative read. Did I say I love it already? Well, I definitely do!

Barbara Hambly: Dragonsbane

I know, I know, you’re going to say there are sequels to Dragonsbane, but to me it’s like the movie Matrix–there’s really only one movie and the sequels don’t really exist!  The thing I love about Dragonsbane is that it is perfect, whole and complete just as it is—and I love the story, which at one level is about the nature of power, and duty, and the choices we make about those things as societies and individuals; at another about a reluctant dragon slayer, who is unheroic in his approach to the task but heroic in being prepared to take it on; and about a woman stepping fully into her power—and all the authentic Hambly interplay  between these elements. Plus featuring one of my all-time favourite dragons: Morkeleb the Black.

Mark Helprin: Winter’s Tale

I think this story is technically “magic realism” although to me it is more a kind of historical urban fantasy—beginning in a 19th century New York that is to all intents and purposes real—except for the magic: a white horse that rediscovers flight, a pursuit that traverses a century, a bridge of light to infinity… But really the heart of the book is the world, and the world is New York—Manhattan and Brooklyn and Up State—in a variant of ‘Gangs of New York’ meets ‘Westside Story.’  It’s a rich, mythic, and utterly fabulous world, more than well worth a read.

Guy Gavriel Kay: Tigana

Guy Gavriel Kay is one of the few fantasy novelists I can think of who has written more standalone novels than series—and Tigana is one of my favourites. Like many of Kay’s novels it is based on real history (in this case that of renaissance Italy) but transforms it into a distinctive story. Like most of Kay’s standalones it is also “magic-light” although there is always a thread of magic in the story—but the element that makes the story wonderful is the emotional realism and depth of the characters. Dianora, in particular, is probably one of my favourite fantasy heroines.

Patricia McKillip: The Forgotten Beasts of Eld

Patricia McKillip is one of my most-loved authors, and her Riddlemaster of Hed trilogy featured as one of my favourite Epic Fantasy series. I have also enjoyed many of her standalones, but The Forgotten Beasts of Eld was the first one I read and has been an enduring favourite. Like many of McKillip’s novels it is written in a very poetic (but not inaccessible) style that suits the High Fantasy-Romantic tale involving mythic beasts, high magic, warring kingdoms, doomed love, the price of power and of vengeance, and the heroine’s journey toward understanding of both herself and others. A classic Fantasy novel, in my opinion, which fittingly won the World Fantasy Award in 1975 and was reprinted by Gollancz as one of its Fantasy Masterworks series.

Tim Powers: The Drawing of the Dark

Although not a retelling like The Mists of Avalon, this story also owes a debt to the Arthurian cycle. As the story unfolds we learn that the main character, a freebooting, Renaissance-era sword-for-hire, is actually infused by the spirit of Arthur, and through Arthur,  the older hero archetype of Sigurd/Sigismund (may I say, really loved that aspect to the story.) He also gets caught up in the Ottoman seige of Vienna, which was indeed an epic battle of its day, although I tend to think of this story as a nice mix of myth and history, rather than epic fantasy per se. But it’s a longstanding favourite and one which also plays to my love of swashbuckling and adventurous storytelling. As for the Dark—it’s definitely not your bog-standard epic “dark”, but you’ll have to read the book yourself to find out what I mean. 😉

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So there you have it—ten of my favourite standalone, (largely Adult) Fantasy reads—but tell me, what would you add to the list?

we children

we children
when the days stretched
over the horizon, sprang
from our sleeping bags, threw
on our summer uniform, left
mum and dad dreaming, ran
barefoot through the bush, the river,
to the beach

we children
popped washed up blue
bottles, chased cantankerous
crabs, rescued stubborn sea
creatures from rock pools, buried
each other below sand castles, built
forts manned by katipos, cooked ourselves
in the sun

we children
got seaweed in our hair, sand
in our bum cracks, stranded
by the tide, wrestled the ball
from everyone’s Dad, rang
rings around them, stained our clothes
green, looked forward to doing it
all again tomorrow

now brother
you live over the horizon
and I no longer swim
in the sea

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© Janine Sowerby

First published in The Press

Reproduced here with permission.

Note:  Katipo(s) are a native NZ spider, often found in driftwood on beaches;
they are also NZ's only naturally occurring poisonous spider (we've gained a
few imports of recent years.)

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About the Poem:

Welcome back to The Tuesday Poem everyone—and if I haven’t said it to you already:  Happy New Year!

As we’re ripping back into The Tuesday Poem at the height of summer, I want to focus on some “summer” themed poems—and I don’t think I could start with a better one than Janine Sowerby’s We Children. For me this poem captures the very essence of the essential—and quintessential—Kiwi summer: sun, sea, beach, bach, family and friends.

If it were just that, I still think We Children would be a great summertime poem—but then Janine delivers the killer final stanza that captures so much more: the adult’s regret for summers and childhood past, certainly, but it’s not just a nostalgia poem—it also captures the disconnection that can occur between family members when we  grow up and grow apart, or are simply separated by distance; as well as the loss of courage, a sense of possibility, and even of hope that can also sometimes be part of what adulthood brings.

So—a poem of many levels and a great start, I feel, to our Tuesday Poem year. Enjoy!

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About the Poet:

Janine Sowerby has, in addition to various competition placings, had poetry and short stories published in New Zealand and overseas, including in Takahe, The Press, Kokako and NZ Poetry Society and other anthologies such as tiny gaps, Before the Sirocco, a taste of nashi, Crest to Crest and A Foreign Country. Janine has also had some of her poetry broadcast on Plains FM 96.9, for the Women on Air programme.

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To read the featured poem on the Tuesday Poem Hub—and link to other Tuesday Poets posting around NZ and the world—either click here or on the Quill icon in the sidebar.

So what’s been done:

Updated:

Front page — yes, The Gathering of the Lost now actually gets a mention, eight months after publication (hangs head in shame); as does The Heir of Night’s publication in France

Poetry — this page has now been updated to include 2012 activity

Awards — also updated to include 2012 ‘high notes’: the Ursula Bethell Residency in Creative Writing at the University of Canterbury; and The Heir of Night winning the Gemmell Morningstar Award in June.

Brand New (Drum Roll!):

With two books now out in The Wall of Night series, I decided each book needed its own page, so that’s what I’ve done.

UK/AU/NZ mass market paperback

The Wall of Night Series page now focuses on the series overall, plus bigger ticket news items, while pointing readers to individual book pages for both HEIR and GATHERING, which include synopses, reviews and links to excerpts.

To check out the new and whizzy pages, just click on the book titles:

The Heir of Night

The Gathering of the Lost

USA

Long overdue, huh? Well, I certainly thought so—but somehow, between trying to get traction on book writing, blogging, tweeting et all…well, somehow, the good old website updates just slipped through the cracks. Part of the problems was not being programming language savvy; the other part was not having (‘knowing enough to have’)  the right tools to get around that. (Writer, see—& not, alas, of the highly techno-savvy kind.)

But I have now discovered “wysiwyg”, aka “what you see is what you get”, and hey presto, the days of long intervals between website upgrades are looking like a thing of the past. Huzza! (I would have shouted “yahoo!” but then you might think I’m advertising!)

Even with “wysiwyg” I couldn’t quite do all the new stuff myself—graphics wiz-magickery still requires a helping hand—but by and large most of the brand new updates have been all my own work: yah— I mean, w00t! 😀

And I’m pleased to say, although not a ‘resolution’, it has been put into effect before the year is a month old. So yes, I’m pleased with the result all round! 🙂

Although, come to think about it, I would regard the gift of a book as a pretty good valentine. 😉

But one of the blogs I subscribe to is Christchurch City Libraries and I was very interested to see their post on International Book Giving Day:

“February 14th is not only Valentine’s Day. It is also International Book Giving Day — a day dedicated to getting new, used, and borrowed books into the hands of as many children as possible…”

The post lists three ways to get involved:

• Give a book to a friend or relative

• Leave a book in a waiting room or lobby

• Donate a book

with more detail on each option for giving, plus a couple of NZ book giving charities for children.

Well worth a look, right here: Celebrate International Book Giving Day on February 14 — and do consider giving a book in your community on February 14.

…I did, on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (!) — there will be a new featured poem up on the Hub this coming Tuesday 29, so now is your very last chance to check out the wonderful All my life by Sarah Broom—from her collection Tigers at Awhitu—while it’s still at the top of the masthead.

As guest editor for the last TP feature post of 2012, you won’t be surprised to learn that I feel it’s very well worth a read. So do click on All my life to read now if you have not done so already.

The Wall of Night Series map; design by Peter Fitzpatrick

What with it being the new year’n’ all I have been thinking of new things I could do on the blog and I will admit I extracted this one from something pioneered by the estimable and excellent Mary Victoria.

As part of the build up to the launch of Oracle’s Fire, the third and final novel in her Chronicles of the Tree series, Mary embarked on a Dictionary of the Tree, which I thought was a lot of fun.

Mary Victoria's world Tree; art by Frank Victoria - used with permission

So sparking off that idea, I thought: Why not do A Geography of Haarth series for the blog—for no particular reason other than that it could be fun, which is of course the very best possible reason there could be. 😉

And I am thinking that I will post on it every Friday, or every other Friday (I haven’t quite decided on that yet.)

Haarth—since some of you may not know—is the name of the world in my The Wall of Night series, so A Geography of Haarth will effectively be a small travel-logue through the world.

To get you in the mode for the new post series — and perhaps the mood, as well 😉 — I thought I would remind you of two of last year’s posts on Haarth.

The first, World Building: The Wall of Night Series & The World of Haarth was posted on July 26:

“One of the aspects I have always loved about Fantasy-Science Fiction (F-SF) is the door it opens into fantastic worlds…So it is perhaps not surprising that in The Wall of Night series  I have introduced my own world of Haarth.

USA

In the first book, The Heir of Night, much of the wider Haarth world is only alluded to. The dominant landscape  is the twilit and wind-blasted Wall of Night, a mountainous barrier range garrisoned by the alien and warlike Derai. The Derai keeps are also worlds in themselves, which open, like puzzle boxes, to other realms: the abandoned layers of the Old Keep and the Gate of Dreams—a place of forests and wreathing mist which may—or may not—only be accessed through the Old Keep’s secret heart …”

To reacquaint yourself of the full post and Haarth goodness (should you feel so minded), click here: World Building: The Wall of Night Series & The World of Haarth

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The second, Developing The Wall of Night Series Map, posted shortly afterward on August 20:

“… today I thought it might be fun to focus in on the process of developing the map—both from my point of view as the author, but also from the viewpoint of the artist, Peter Fitzpatrick.”

And we do just that: again, to read in full, click here on Developing The Wall of Night Series Map

So these posts, I think, form the preview to my new A Geography of Haarth post series—to commence next Friday: watch this space! 🙂