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The About The Characters post series focuses on the minor characters in The Wall Of Night series, in large part because:

“I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”

~ from my Legend Award Finalist’s Interview, 2013

Initially, the series focused exclusively on characters from The Heir of Night, but now I’m continuing on with minor characters from both The Gathering Of The Lost and Daughter of Blood — in alphabetical order, by name, of course!

And I “think” the end may be nigh in terms of the letter “M”! 😉

—

UK/AU/NZ

Murn: secretary to Lord Nimor, the Sea House envoy

...the activity—and curses—around the foundered vehicle were not a repair attempt. Instead, the Sea Keepers were endeavoring to prevent the wagon tipping the rest of the way into the riverbed and smashing apart, while they removed its contents. These appeared to be necessities for the road, together with personal possessions, which were being ferried to waiting mules. …“The envoy’s state robes.” Murn, Nimor’s secretary, winked as they helped him with a particularly unwieldy sailbag…although Kalan thought the bag was too heavy for clothes.

~ from © Daughter of Blood, The Wall Of Night Book Three – Chapter 40, Shadow Moon

When it comes to holiday season booty, my haul was decidedly bookilicious. I’ve already mentioned AK Wilder’s much-awaited Curse of Shadows arriving immediately pre-Christmas.

Now, here’s what Santa, along with various other friends and wellwishers, have brought–and bought!—me since:

Something Old:

Dogside Story by Patricia Grace (first published 2001.) Those who visit here regularly probably already know I’m a Patrica Grace fan. Yes, right from here very first book, Mutuwhenua: The Moon Sleeps.

I haven’t read Dogside Story, though, and a friend in reading has been telling me it’s her favourite — so now I have my opportunity to find out for myself.

Something New:

OK, several somethings new, but first and foremost there’s Novelist As A Vocation (2022 in translation; 2015 in Japan) by Haruki Murakami, who is another author whose work and philosophy I heart greatly. So as you can probably imagine, I’ve already dipped into the series of collected essays that make up this work.

And yes, so far it’s just as good as I expected it to be. 😀

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo, published in 2019, is considerably less new than Novelist As A Vocation, but as fan of the Crows duology and Leigh Bradugo’s writing generally, I was pleased to find it in my Christmas stocking. Definitely a new-to-me read!

Something Borrowed:

A friend felt my holiday would be enriched by the company of Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club novels, so kindly loaned me Books 2 and 3, The Man Who Died Twice and The Bullet That Missed respectively.

I can confirm that she was not wrong and that they are highly entertaining light reading.

Something Blue:

That would be Demon Copperhead by the great Barbara Kingsolver, which comes with a gorgeous royal blue cover (here in NuZild, anyways!) It also ticks the Something New box, being a just-out, 2023 publication, I believe.

Am I looking forward to reading it? Given her much earlier (2000) novel,  Prodigal Summer, was my top read of 2021, you bet I am!

So as you can see, I now have lots of reading to do! 😀

I had hoped to get the “ten most-read posts” roundup to you before the old year rolled over into the new, but it was not to be. However, 2023 is still very young, so ’tis not (I feel!) too late to share them now. I do hope you agree! 😀

The year is yet new…

Last year, the posts grouped reasonably neatly into four themes, but 2022 was more diverse in terms of what you, as readers, were focused upon — with one exception.

Once I began my review, it very quickly became apparent that the one subject you were vitally interested in was progress updates for The Wall of Night #4, with the top three spots going to my updates of:

• January 6
• April 11, and
• August 22

In terms of the other seven posts, two book reviews got your attention:

• February 28: The Shipping News by Annie Proulx; and
• July 18: Maus by Art Spiegelman

You also showed some interest in the Daughter of Blood Q&A series, which I refeatured this year:

• March 31: Phoebe’s Question (on Narrative Planning)
• October 6: Robin’s Question (on Tuckerization)

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The final two posts of the “Most-Read” ten, both fell in May:

• May 9: “It’s A Truth Universally Acknowledged…” — a post pertaining to the direct correlation between the numbers of point-of-view characters and settings in a book, and its length.

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Last but very far from least:

• May 16: In Memoriam: Patricia McKillip, 1948 – 1922

Those of you who visit here regularly will know that I number several of Ms McKillip’s books among my all-time favourites, and consider myself greatly influenced by her writing. Putting together a personal tribute was a big deal for me, so I was very glad to see that it struck a chord.

And now onward, into 2023: may it deal kindly with us all!

Sea haze; evening light

Happy New Year, one and all!

And yes, I’ve posted a Happy New Year on the Supernatural Underground, too, it being the first of the month and all.

I’ve taken a chillax approach and posted some “inside Middle Earth” pics that I hope visitors will enjoy. The two photos shared with you here are by way of bonus New Year goodness.

Both trees featured are pohutakawa (Metrosideros excelsa), but the first photo features a tree with relatively unusual yellow flowers, whereas the red is both more common and the reason why it’s sometimes called the “NZ Christmas tree.”

Over the past few years I’ve posted on themes:

2019 – Romance

2020– Worldbuilding

2021 – Magic Systems

2022 – What Makes A Hero?

Note: The links are to the final post in each series, for the excellent reason that links to all the preceding instalments are listed at the end of the post. 😀

I’m still mulling whether to go with a theme for 2023, or not, so if you’re keen to know the outcome, check back on 1 February!

Meanwhile, to check out a new year from “inside Middle Earth”, click on:

Supernatural Underground: Happy New Year

PS: I’m sure you’re all savvy to New Year being a midsummer festival here in the Southern Hemisphere, but in case you’re wondering at the summery theme, that’s why. 😀

On Monday, I mentioned receiving a parcel from AK Wilder, enclosing a gift of her books Crown of Bones and Curse of Shadows.

Since Kim resides in Australia, the envelope bore the legend “Australia Post” — which of course reminded me of my poem of the same name. 😀

Hence sharing it with you today: enjoy!

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Australia Post

The location on the postmark
looks Aboriginal –
a smudged box number
provides no assistance.

I search for you in the gaps
between internet
and dog-eared telephone books,
the drift between continents,
listen to echoes,
bounce off satellites …

torn open,
your letter
lies unanswered.
.

© Helen Lowe

Published in The International Literary Quarterly, Issue 14, February 2011

Look what I found in my post office box on Christmas Eve — an initially mysterious parcel stamped “Australia Post” that turned out to contain two beautiful hardback books: Crown of Bones and Curse of Shadows by AK Wilder.

Respectively, they’re Books One and Two in Kim’s Amassia series, and although I read Crown of Bones in e-format when it first came out, Curse of Shadows was only just published on 6 December.

So it’s literally hot off the press — and arriving at the perfect time for holiday reading!

Not that there’s too much reading time for me currently, being so close to the end of WALL #4 and feeling the need to keep going. Still, like any keen reader, I’m always delighted to receive a “next exciting series instalment” — especially one that School Library Journal has given a starred review, with this to say:

“Wilder has created a magical, enthralling world that keeps readers engaged from the first page.”

I do love these covers and the hardback format, too. But irrespective of format and ‘look’, nothing ever beats the gift of a fellow author’s books.

So a big thank you to Kim. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to diving into the continuing story of Ash and Kaylin, Marcus and Salila, and the rest of the “band of friends” in the Amassia world.

A poem that’s seasonal for the Southern Hemisphere, at any rate — but first, the WALL (#4) update. Or rather, the deferring thereof (as am “pretty sure” I’m due one.)

However, not only is it the season of frenetic and ridiculously busy, but I’m in the throes of writing the final boss fight between Malian (& friends) and the Big Bads, so prefer to wait on updates until it’s a wrap. Hence, deferral!

In the meantime, with only three sleeps to go now, here’s a poem that speaks to the Kiwi (NZ) Christmas experience. (Although we could do with a bit more of the sunshine, right now, as well as the chillaxing.)

Be well, and safe, in your end of year and your travels, everyone!

~*~

Pohutakawa: the NZ “Christmas” tree

Christmastide

Christmas—and we
like so many others
are washed north
on a tide of summer,
our route signposted
by pohutakawa,
all flowering late
against a mirage
of cabbage trees,
dusty in the heat
that shimmers
above melting tar—
the whole country baking
as the nation makes

Harakeke (NZ flax), ocean, sky.

its annual pilgrimage
of Christmas and New Year:
“Good to see ya,” we say,
or simply “Mate”, pouring out
a cool one before we sit
down together, buoyant
with the sunshine
and the colour,
the high tide of summer.

© Helen Lowe

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Recently, I caught some of The Peripheral (television) series, which is based on a novel by William Gibson — and motivated me to reread Count Zero, which is one of his much older works.

Published in 1986, Count Zero is the second in what I think of as William Gibson’s Neuromancer trilogy, i.e. Neuromancer, Count Zero, and Mona Lisa Overdrive, which are credited with creating Cyberpunk, a science fiction subgenre centered on a dystopian near-future.

Although each story is linked, the stories effectively read as standalone novels, so can be read out-of-sequence. (Officially, I think they comprise The Sprawl series.)

I’ve always thought the series’ worldbuilding is brilliant and each book introduces a cast of fascinating characters, many of them decidedly offbeat. In Count Zero, four central characters get caught up in events that span computer hacking, corporate warfare, voodoo, and sentient AIs. The narrative is fast-paced but with plenty of character development.

If you haven’t already discovered the Neuromancer ‘verse, I’m pretty much of the view that there’s absolutely nothing here that’s not to like.

In terms of disclosure, I know I bought my copy of Count Zero, but it’s so like ago I really can’t remember more than that. However, it’s been a fixture of my personal library ever since.

My edition, ca. 1995

Intermittently through this year, I’ve been reprising a Daughter of Blood  (and by extension The Wall Of Night ) Q&A series that first featured in 2019. I’ve been enjoying rereading the Q’s and my A’s so hope you’re doing the same. 😀

Today it’s Shannon’s Question that’s in the limelight.

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Shannon:  Was there any part of the book or maybe a character that was harder to write?

Two potential answers popped into my head as soon as I read your question, Shannon, so I’m going to give you both of them. 🙂 The two characters I had to spend most time on were Malian and Raven, because I felt it was really important to get the balance of their relationship right. They’re both formidable in different ways, but there’s a big gap in age and experience (Raven) that is counterbalanced by Malian’s power and destiny. The alliance they’ve struck is also a major step for both of them, with a huge amount at stake. It represents a significant shift from their Emerian relationship as well. A really important part of writing their characters in Daughter of Blood was to show the evolution from the old relationship to the new in a way that was true to both their characters, and most importantly did not empower one by diminishing the other—which turned out to be more challenging than it perhaps sounds. However, given the way their alliance has continued to evolve, I think I may have pulled it off.

The second answer is that I recall the beginning of Part VI: No Man’s Land exercising me a great deal because of the various story strands that needed to be woven in. I can’t recall all the permutations now, but I rewrote it five times before finally getting it “right”—and that experience is deeply incised on both my memory and my authorial soul.

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Previous Thursday Q&A Refeatures:

March 31 — #1 Phoebe’s Question on Book Planning

April 21 — #2 Sam’s Question on Deleted Scenes

April 28 — #3 Sandy’s Question on Characters That Take Charge

May 19 — #4 Lindsay’s Question on Research

June 23 — #5 Chris’s Question on Tirael & “What Would Have Happened If…”

June 30 — #6 Rosie’s Question on the Web of Mayanne

September 8 — #7 Jason’s Question on Weapons & Names

October 6 — #8 Robin’s Question on Tuckerization Characters

November 24 — #9 Josh’s Question on Whether I Have A Favourite Moment in Daughter of Blood

On 1 December, when Kim Falconer (currently writing as AK Wilder) and I joined forces to post the final instalment in the What Makes A Hero? series on the Supernatural Underground blog, I wrote that:

“Epic or High Fantasy is often termed Heroic as well, and The Wall of Night series is firmly in that quadrant of the Fantasy ’verse.”

All of which still stands, but sometimes I refer to the WALL series as “High Romantic Fantasy” as well.

The Wall of Night series

“I know” — so many terms for what’s effectively one class of storytelling, but the varying tags do illuminate different aspects of the genre. For example, I believe the heroic tradition is more pronounced in The Heir of Night, while “high romance” elements come through more in The Gathering of the Lost and Daughter of Blood

The “high romance” stems from the chivalric epics of the High Medieval period, which are a major influence on epic fantasy: for example, the Morte D’Arthur and Sir Gawain and The Green Knight, as well as Le Roman de Perceval ou le Conte de Graal, Parsifal and Lohengrin.

King Arthur and Guinevere (Excalibur)

Romance and love are an integral part of the High Fantasy tradition, but the High Romance lies in notions of quest and chivalry, of tryst and tokens, of the trumpet blast at dawn, the banners of noon day, and the twilight of the gods–and the romance is as often unrequited, star-crossed, or doomed, as ending “happily ever after.” This is the romance of Lancelot and Guinevere, Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady, of Tristan and Isolde…

In short, the love of High Romantic Fantasy may be bitter-sweet, but no less poignant for all of that — as I believe Kalan and Jarna’s arc in The Gathering of the Lost, and Myr’s storyline in Daughter of Blood, attest.

The trumpet blast at dawn…