Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic began my thoughts have often turned to WALL series readers, wherever you may be in the world—a concern that has increased, pretty much matching the extent to which the Delta variant has taken, and/or is taking, hold

A 2020 lockdown walk — & no one else there…

In some cases, I know a little of your personal circumstances because you’ve shared something of them with me via social. In others, I know where you live (in a ‘country’ sense, that is—because no, I don’t stalk readers on the internet!) and that in several cases those countries are being hard hit by Covid. In the great majority of cases, though, I will never know anything of WALL series readers or their/your lives—and that is not only completely fine 😉 but under more normal circumstances none of the above would be especially comment worthy.

Putting up the shutters on public contact — but still writing.

With Covid-19, though, we are not living through “normal times.” I know, too, that Covid has probably already affected all of you in innumerable ways. Although I can imagine and empathise based on news reports, as well as my own circumstances (while remaining keenly aware of my very privileged position here in NZ), I can never completely understand others’ lived experience of the pandemic or know the full extent of what you may be enduring.

Reporting from inside that naturally self-isolating writing life

Nonetheless, I wanted to say “out loud” that although this is a book blog and I am (clearly!) not an epidemiologist or public health practitioner, just because I stick, largely, to my bookish “knitting”, does not mean that I am not concerned for your wellbeing or the global situation. I am concerned, very much so, and actively endeavour to stay abreast of what’s happening globally, and consequently for you all personally.

The writing life in less isolated times

Some of the circumstances I’m familiar with include readers of all ages with underlying health conditions that render them particularly vulnerable to Covid 19; those in high contact / high risk occupations whose partners or immediate family members have equally high risk conditions; once healthy individuals who have been hit hard by the debilitating effects of Long Covid; and people resident in NZ who have lost both family members and friends to Covid in their countries-of-origin.

Far or near, you’re on my mind

I am sure there are many other stories as challenging and potentially devastating, and also that there is no catchphrase or bromide that I can “trot out” by way of a palliative. The reason I stick to the “bookish knitting” is not indifference, but because it is something I can do – definitely not at the epidemiological or public health end of the spectrum, but in the hopes of offering a positive (albeit very small – perhaps even infinitesimally small!) respite from everyday realities.

Hoping for light ahead, for all of us.

If it helps in any way to share your situation here, then please know that you are always very welcome to do so. Otherwise, to borrow an adage, please “be careful out there”* – and if possible, let’s keep trying to take care for others, as well as ourselves.

* “Allegedly”, the original adage is Amish: “Be careful out there, among the English” – or words to like effect, as reproduced in the (classic!) 1985 film, Witness. 😀

~*~

In the spirit of small positives—or what I hope will prove positive, however infinitesimally so—just a headsup that I’ll have a The Chaos Gate, The Wall Of Night work-in-progress update for you on Thursday. 🙂

Onward, onward!

In my 1 July, Magic Systems In Fantasy post on the Supernatural Underground, I discussed three works of Fantasy fiction, across the sweep of the genre, that impressed me in terms of their magic system. One of those works was A Shadow In Summer and the Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham.

Daniel Abraham is possibly better known now as one half of  James S.A. Corey (the other half of the duo is Ty Franck), writer of The Expanse science fiction series that generated The Expanse TV series.

Nonetheless he is also a Fantasy author and awa’ back in 2011 I interviewed him about his then new The Dagger and Coin series, and the first book, The Dragon’s Path.

So in keeping with my May 31 promise, on the 11^th anniversary of the blog, to revisit posts from the backlist on a semiregular (and at least monthly) basis, today I’m refeaturing that interview with Daniel Abraham.

Enjoy. 🙂

—

An Interview with Daniel Abraham, Author of “The Dragon’s Path” — from 19 October, 2011

Last year I was alerted to US author Daniel Abraham and The Long Price Quartet by the review site Risingshadow.net. I found the series intriguing, but also realized that I was late to the party: the series had been completed in 2009, but never distributed in New Zealand. So I was delighted to learn that Daniel Abraham had a new Fantasy series, The Dagger and The Coin, being published this year and that it would be released here. The first novel in the new series, The Dragon’s Path, is recently out in the bookshops and I seized the opportunity to talk with Daniel Abraham about it.

Helen: The Dragon’s Path is the first in a new series, titled The Dagger and The Coin—can you give readers an idea of what its about?

Daniel: It’s an epic fantasy series that borrows as much from Dorothy Dunnett as it does from Tolkien. It’s about war and banking, love and truth and murder and dragons.

Helen: In what way “Dorothy Dunnet”?

Daniel: Dorothy Dunnett is one of the underappreciated masters of historical fiction and, frankly, fantasy. She and Tim Parks were the people who convinced me that medieval banking was a powerfully cool thing. Plus which, I’ve read her House of Niccolo books through more times than almost anything else I own.

Helen: Do you agree that it’s fair to describe The Dagger’s Path as classic epic fantasy, with elements such as a medieval world, the legacy of a long ago past reawakening, a journey—the title reference to dragons even! What drew you to this very traditional, storytelling form?

Daniel: The first epic fantasy series I wrote – The Long Price Quartet – was built to be unlike anything else I’d seen in the genre. A different setting, an unfamiliar structure, and a story that wasn’t the usual at all. I’m very pleased with how those books came out. And having been there, I wanted to come back to the things that are the core strengths of epic fantasy and see how the lessons I learned out there on the borders of the genre could apply to those issues and concerns. That sounds a little pretentious now that I say it out loud. I was drawn to it because it’s what made me fall in love with the genre as a reader, and I wanted to come home to that.

Helen: Is there any sense in which you feel the story you are telling subverts the formula, either subtly or openly?

Daniel: Probably there is. I’ve taken out the traditional farm boy chosen of prophecy and put in a girl raised by a medieval bank, which is hardly the standard. And I’ve certainly taken a different perspective on the traditional dark lord. But subverting? I don’t know.

I’m sceptical of subversion for subversion’s sake. I think that there’s a real pressure to subvert the genre out of a sense of almost shame. It can be like a pre-emptive apology. I’ve done things that are different, but I’ve done them in an effort to reach the same places and effects, so I don’t think of it as subversive.

Helen: Could you expand a little more on how you feel that you’ve taken a different perspective on the traditional dark lord?

Daniel: A few years back, I was at a convention with Tim Powers. He was on a panel, and I was listening. He said that he didn’t just want his villains defeated. He wanted them humiliated and destroyed. I don’t. I want my villains understood and, if possible, forgiven. The Dagger and the Coin has its dark lord, and his rise to power and the things that come from that are central to the book. But he isn’t the kind of faceless “I’m evil because that’s what it says in the script” inhuman force that you have in Sauron. He’s sympathetic. You like him. You see the joy he takes in things, and the fear that drives him, and the pettiness. I think most evil isn’t pure, any more than most good.

Helen: Writers are also readers—so what are the elements that “spin your wheels” when reading fantasy? How do you approach incorporating them into your own writing?

Daniel: More than readers, writers are thieves. I was very careful planning this series to take all the things about fantasy that spun my wheels and put them in there. Epic fantasy is, I think, a genre about war and – in the best ones – an ambivalence about war. There are plenty of fantasies that are triumphalist, but the ones that really last are frankly melancholy. The Lord of the Rings was a massive epic fantasy about disarmament and the cost war has on the individual. A Song of Ice and Fire is among other things an essay on the futility of war. The aspect that I’ve taken in The Dagger and the Coin is the way that the story of a war, be it propaganda or history, outstrips the war itself. That’s at the large scale. The thing that I find myself going back to in books that I love are the characters. So I’ve peopled these books with characters I like spending time with. But I suppose that’s true in any genre.

Helen: So which are the characters in The Dragon’s Path that you most enjoy spending time with? And why?

Daniel: I like them all. I’d better. But for different reasons. I like Marcus Wester because he has so many of the good lines. I like Cithrin because she gets to think about economics and power and how you set prices and sell dresses and things that I actually find really involving. I like Dawson because he is so utterly opposed to everything I personally believe and he’s so much in love with his wife that I like him anyway. I like Geder Palliako because he’s a kind of character that I find wholly challenging. And there’s Clara. I’ve written a whole book since Dragon’s Path, so I’ve been able to spend a great deal of time with her, and she’s probably my favorite. For the moment at least.

Helen: One thing that impressed me in your earlier series, The Long Price Quartet, was how well you wrote women characters. Amat Kyaan and Idaan Machi particularly stand out for me but there are many more. So I couldn’t help noticing that in terms of major characters there is really only one, Cithrin, in The Dagger’s Path. It sounds as though Clara’s going to come into it more, but in this book she’s still very much a bit part. Was this approach a conscious decision on your part, or in some way driven by the plot?

Daniel: Clara Kalliam is one of those main characters who actually has a relatively small role in the first book, which is always tricky with these long, multi-volume stories. She is a tremendously important and central character, too, but you won’t see her as much until King’s Blood. Then from there on out, there are about as many primary women characters as there are men. That was intentional.

For secondary characters, I actually didn’t want Cithrin surrounded by very many women. I hadn’t thought about this until you asked, but part of what makes her story interesting to me is the sense of vulnerability and isolation growing into strength and community. We’re still in the first part of the series, so the vulnerability and isolation are more in the mix here.

One thing that’s interesting about these books that I didn’t consciously plan was the number of dead mothers. Two of the major characters – the two major characters really – lost their mothers very young, and in both cases I see that loss forming who they are.

Helen: In what way, “the loss forming who they are” with the two main characters—can you expand on that more?

Daniel: Cithrin is the girl at the center of the bank, and the thing that makes her individual and fascinating is the way she analyzes everything in economic terms. Where other people grew up with parents, she had a merchant and a manipulator. And what he gave her wasn’t love, it was an understanding of negotiation, gamesmanship, and trade. I think if she’d had a mother to take as a model, she’d have been an utterly different person.

Geder Palliako had a father growing up, but not one who was particularly nurturing. I see him as someone who, if he’d been loved a little more, might have developed more of a soul. Geder and Cithrin suffered the same kind of absences when they were kids, and I think it deformed them in similar ways.

Helen: So far, The Dagger and The Coin series is quite different in ‘feel’ to The Long Price Quartet. Do you see yourself trying something different again once this series is complete or would you like to continue with epic fantasy?

Daniel: It feels like every book I write is there to help build the tools for the book after it. What I’d really like to do after The Dagger and the Coin books are done is take what they teach me about accessibility and pacing and the strength at the core of epic fantasy and combine them with the unfamiliarity and strangeness of The Long Price books to make a single-volume story. I’ve told one story in four books. This one will be in five. I would love to use the things I’ve learned from them to write something that’s almost distilled. I don’t know what that book is yet, and I won’t for a few years, but I’m a little excited about it already.

Helen: Daniel, having read both the Long Price books and now The Dragon’s Path, I am very much looking forward to it, too—although with three books yet to write in The Dagger and The Coin series, I suspect I may have to “bide a wee” yet! In the meantime, thank you very much for agreeing to do this interview—it’s been fun and I am sure readers will enjoy the insight into your book and series as much as I have.

—

About the Author:

Daniel Abraham is the author of the critically acclaimed Long Price Quartet. He has been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy Awards, and won the International Horror Guild Award. He also writes as MLN Hanover and (with Ty Franck) as James S. A. Corey. He lives in New Mexico.

Currently I’m doing a post series where I report back on books on the “older to old” spectrum that I’ve read recently. Note: There are no really old (pre 19th century) or really, really old (think Xenophon’s Anabasis) books in the mix, so essentially they’re all “modern” works.

Yes, by implication I am calling 19th century works, e.g. Austen, Dickens, Eliot et al) “modern”, my argument being that they fit the criterion in terms of the “novel” format and their “sensibility”, which is still very accessible to modern readers.

Anyway, not to get sidetracked into categorizing books by age, the books I’ve been reading lately are all published from 1945 onward. So not that old in terms of the history of literature but certainly not on the new or recent publications shelves of either book shops or libraries.

So far I’ve only posted on two books from my eclectic (aka no rhyme, reason, or method to the reading process beyond interest and availability) list, but I thought I’d share some of the reasons why I read older books, especially when there are so many new books out there.

Reason the First: There are some great reads out there that may not have made the “classics” list but are still enjoyable reads, so I would be depriving myself from experiencing their goodness if I restricted myself to reading and posting on new books only.

Reason the Second: As with all the arts (and pretty much everything people do, for that matter) writing has its seasons and its fashions. Reading older books is a great way of gaining perspective on the ways writers have rocked readers’ worlds in the past, as well as what maybe didn’t work so well, or might not in today’s world. All of which is grist for the writer’s mill. 😉

Reason the Third: As a history geek (pretty much) I am always interested in where we’ve come from and what we’ve thought and done before as ‘uman beings, cultures, and societies. Reading books from earlier eras offers a window into how people thought and what concerned them, and their own take/takes on the events of their era. I value that insight, which sometimes (but not always) offers perspective on contemporary concerns and events.

Reason the Fourth: While non fiction  may offer more rigorous insights in terms of Reason the Third, sometimes fiction can be equally if not more fascinating. Last year, for example, I discussed Irwin Shaw’s The Young Lions and how aspects of the book were eerily prescient of current concerns (over two posts, hence the two links — probably best read sequentially.)

Yet even lighter reading can offer considerable insight from a socio-cultural perspective. An example I often cite in this respect is Mary Stewart’s Wildfire at Midnight (1956), which was set in 1953, with the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the ascent of Mt Everest by Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary as the backdrop that frames the story. The story is a romantic thriller set in a remote fishing lodge on the Island of Skye, so reasonably light fare but well written and well told, as Mary Stewart’s books always are.

Reading it, several social history aspects really leapt out at me. Firstly, absolutely everybody smokes as  a matter of course. Also, it’s illegal to fish on a Sunday, which I believe many contemporary readers would struggle to get their heads around. And it was clearly not at all respectable to be a paperback writer, although the said individual in this case was a surprisingly reasonable person given his socially below-par occupation… 😀 (Note: I should clarify, this is the narrator’s summation of his occupation and character, not mine.)

Anyway, these are just a few of the reasons I read older books, other than just to enjoy a greater variety of stories and storytelling techniques.

The next book I’m likely to feature will be Maquis, a nonfiction work first published in 1945.

UK/AU/NZ

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!

Currently, we’re traversing the realm of “L” – but this week I have to make a slight back cast, because I managed to skip a couple of Daughter of Blood characters: oh, no! An oversight for which I apologise, but which is easily rectified. So without further ado, or to-do, meet:

USA

Liankhara:  a Daughter of Blood, fourth child of the Earl of Blood; also known as “spider.”

Yet argument seemed too mild a term for the tempest that had broken the moment their father, Sardon, the Earl of Blood, announced that one of his daughters would marry the Earl of Night before the year was out. … The bride was not going to be Liankhara either, because the Earl’s second daughter had served as a Blood spymaster since she was younger than Myr was now. Neither the Earl nor his council would countenance her loss from Blood’s ranks, or the potential subversion of her loyalties, no matter how strategic the marriage offered.

~ from © Daughter Of Blood: The Wall of Night Book Three, Chapter 1 — Lady Mouse

To be consumed while writing…

I mentioned the authorial coffee break last Thursday so thought it might be fun to shine a light on authorial breaks — besides brewing up the coffee pot and reflecting on the power and dynamism of nature as per last Thursday, which is pretty much all the time in a coastal environment.

To be honest, though, I don’t have coffee breaks as such, because I like to consume the dark and bitter beverage while working, so the only break that occurs is in the making thereof. 😉

The first thing that happens on actual breaks – very often, anyway – is that a whole bunch of “and thens”, plus “and alsos”, along with “don’t forgets” from the preceding writing rear their heads, so I have to keep a pen and paper handy and jot them down, or rush back to the writing desk and type them in before I forget. (Which is also why Pen and Paper was the very first entry for Artefacts Of The Writing Life.)

Essential for jotting down ideas…

After that, though, when I’m actually breaking, it may not surprise you to learn that I frequently read books – very often standing at the bench, with the book propped on the windowsill, while I eat my lunch or dinner.

When I don’t want to risk getting immersed (always a hazard when reading a good book), I’ll substitute a magazine as reading. New Scientist has been known to take its turn propped on the lunchtime sill, but—being a foodie—food magazines are a time-honoured favourite, especially since they don’t require me to think too much.

Not a magazine, but a time-honoured favourite

Because as you may well suspect, the WALL series takes a lot of thinking, especially now I am in the endgame with all those reveals and resolves to not only write, but get right. 😉 So the breaks need to be real breaks.

Although sometimes a change of mindset can be the best break, which may be why I’ve become a fan of puzzles and quizzes. The code cracker is my current favourite, but I enjoy all the word puzzles and most of the numerical ones as well—to which end I’ve only just started with sudoku, but I’m getting my head around it.

The risk with puzzles is that they can be immersive, too, but I find them a lot easier to put down than a good book. 🙂

Getting out into the great outdoors is also a good way of blowing away writing cobwebs – although when the southerly buster is ripping up from the Antarctic there can be a bit too much blowing away.

The aftermath of a recent southerly storm

—

On another note, if you haven’t caught up with my Supernatural Underground post from 1 July, but are following the Magic in Fantasy series, the following link will take you there:

The Magic of Magic in Fantasy — & A Solstice Shift

Enjoy!

—

Previous Bulletins From Inside The Writing Life:

• A Little About The Writing Itself
• About Those Muses, Then…
• Naturally Self-Isolating
• Writing Novels, Posting Blogs
• Another Milestone Ticked Off
• A Game Of Two Halves
• Further Reflection on Writing Transitions
• Fun With Friends
• Those Moments Of “Grr-Argh”
• Sometimes It’s A Case Of “Oh Frabjous Day!
• “O Frabjous Day” Reprised
• Listening To The Silence
• Characters Behaving Badly
• Many Placemarkers

Supernatural Underground

My oh my, it’s July 1, so one thing that means is that I’ll be posting on the Supernatural Underground later today. On July 1, too, but US EST, which takes a little longer to roll on over on the calendar – yep, first in the world to see the new day, that’s us! 😀

If you’re following the Magic Systems In Fantasy series on the SU, just a hint that there’s a change in focus for the rest of the year – but all will be revealed “over there”, laterz. Watch that space!

Influences On Story

Otherwise, I’ve been gambaruing on with writing The Chaos Gate (The Wall Of Night #4) amid alternating floods, and high winds and seas. It all makes for an exciting – and occasionally scary – view out the writing window, I have to say, and engenders considerable reflection on the dynamism and power of nature when on the authorial coffee break.

After the storm

Will it creep into the work in progress? Well that, dear readers, is impossible to say at this juncture, chiefly because influences on story tend to heart Emily Dickinson and prefer to be told “slant.”

Did I say authorial coffee break?

However, given the current tempestuous environment, I thought I’d share an apposite quote from the WALL series to date. I enjoyed hunting it out, so I hope you enjoy reading it. 😉

USA

That WALL Series Quote

The whispering slipped away and Kalan turned back toward sleep—but the dream transformed into a heaving mass of water. Overhead, lightning tore the heavens apart, while thunder, wind, and ocean battered at each other. Have I crossed into one of Yelusin’s memories? he wondered, recalling the Sea mariners’ accounts of deep ocean storms. The vision rolled, hurling him onto the back of a mountainous wave. For a moment he rode above the abyss, lightning spearing around him, before the crest collapsed. An avalanche of water crashed into his side and he veered wildly off true. Voices screamed as a snapped mast thudded down and he was running blind, every fiber stretched to breaking point as he strained to climb the next towering wave.

Lightning exploded again and the black clouds boiled as a behemoth plunged through them, trailing streamers of fire. Kalan felt as though he might splinter apart at any moment but clung to the dream, striving to understand what the Gate—or the fragment of Yelusin contained within his mind—was showing him. “Too soon.” The whisper burned in his mind like one of the streamers of fire. “Too soon… But I burn. I cannot hold—”

“We’re tearing apart!” The man’s shout was raw with urgency, although Kalan could see nothing but black rushing water and the lurid glow overhead. “She’ll never hold unless—”

Unless what? Kalan wondered, as the clouds overhead snapped closed and the behemoth disappeared. The tempest continued to batter at him, but the wind’s fury was dying. The next time cloud and water swirled, the funnel around him was gray, not black. Finally, the storm dissipated altogether, transforming into clear dawn above a long gray firth.

~ from © Daughter of Blood, The Wall Of Night Book Three – Chapter 27, The Turnings Of Fate

UK/AU/NZ

—

And dinna forget to check in on the Supernatural Underground later today. In the spirit of Teresa Frohock’s Los Nefilim series, I’ll watch for you there. [Waves.] 😀

As long ago as last year and as far away as …well…just around the curve of space-time, I posted Having Fun With Epic Fantasy #13: We All Love To Love The Lovable Rogue. In the comments, Andrew mentioned a 1980s anthology, Amazons II, that contained a story titled The Robber Girl (by Phyllis Ann Karr), whose protagonist  fitted the “lovable rogue” bill.

Amazons II, edited by Jessica Amanda Salmonson, was published by DAW in 1982. It followed on from Amazons (1979), “an anthology of original stories by fine writers about women warriors  that was so good it won the World Fantasy Award as the best collection of the year.” 

Amazons II is also a collection of twelve original stories, all of which feature women heroines, and written by authors that include still-familiar names such as Tanith Lee, Gael Baudino, and George RR Martin, .

Although the heroines number warriors, including actual Amazons in Lillian Stewart Carl’s The Borders of Sabazel, the second collection also includes the robber girl, as well as a ropemaker, in Eleanor Arnason’s The Ivory Comb, a gypsy, Tindira, in Gordon Derevanchuk’s Zroya’s Trizub, a priestess, Yassim, in Jo Clayton’s Nightwork, and a witch, Alys, in George RR Martin’s In The Lost Lands.

Perhaps not surprisingly for a collection published in the early 1980s—following the 1970s groundswell of feminism and during the UN’s 1975-1985 Decade for Women—a central theme includes the assertion of women’s independence and strength within the context of patriarchal norms. The stories are by no means all of a kind, however, displaying a range of contexts from the prophecy and battle of The Borders of Sabazel, through the quest-journey of FM Busby’s For A Daughter, the rescue of Nightwork, mystery and sorcery of Tanith Lee’s Southern Lights, and humour of Gael Baudino’s The Lady of Forest End.

Diversity is sometimes discussed as if it were a purely contemporary concern in Fantasy literature, so I was interested that the stories encompassed not only women of diverse abilities, character, and situations, but also a reasonable degree of worldbuilding variation. Nightwork and The Ivory Comb are the two stories that have stayed with me in the latter respect, while The Robber Girl is possibly the most “fantastic” in a folklore/fairytale style of storytelling.

I also learned that the editor, Jessica Amanda Salmonson, apparently transitioned as a transgender woman in the mid 1970s (see Wikipedia.)

What I also noted, however, in terms of diversity and inclusion, was that the author list does not appear to include writers and voices from outside the UK and North America, or any non-white authors from within those countries. I believe this is less likely to be the case in 2021, nearly forty years later.

The cover art is also “classic” for the era, chiefly for the highly improbable levels of nudity, in combination with what little armor there is being both highly impractical and improbable, at best. All those vital organs left exposed; ah, well… Not to mention that it doesna reflect the quality of the fiction within, so the cover would probably have ensured I never read them, if not for last year’s comment. Now, having gotten past the cover, I am glad I did.

Many collections will have a story that sticks with you more than any other. For me, in Amazons II, that story is In The Lost Lands by George RR Martin. Readers of the A Song Of Ice and Fire (A Game Of Thrones) series, will not be surprised to learn that I found the characters compelling and the story powerful and brutal, brilliant and cruel. It’s a story that made quite an impact on first reading, and that I believe I’m unlikely to forget.

North

Last week I commenced revisiting the blog backlist with a post on “The Magic Of Winter Worlds”, first posted on 21 July 2012.

The 2012 post was sparked by the poem North, which was posted on 10 July, also in 2012. North is a midwinter poem, inspired by a journey I made to the far north of Sweden.

I am intending to refeature poems as part of the Backlist series, and since this is the week of winter solstice here in NZ (and in the southern hemisphere) I feel it’s exactly the right time to post it again. 🙂

~~~

North

homes
white timbered in the south
give way to brown-red
in mid and north –
avenues of birch trees
serried lakes

an elk
runs through deep winter
the night train flares
through cuttings –
inferno cast across jagged firs
frozen earth

rushes headlong
into spring – a pied crow
solitary
above a grey field
.

(c) Helen Lowe

Published in Bravado 14

—

North was first featured on the blog as part of my contribution to the Tuesday Poem community. Although the community put up its shutters some years ago now, the blog is still extant and features some wonderful poems, from ancient to modern — well worth a look for anyone who enjoys poetry:

The Tuesday Poem Blog

Winter’s world

Today is the winter solstice and shortest day here in NZ – so “Happy Solstice” to those that celebrate it as a festival.

The Maori New Year festival of Matariki will be marked a little later, on July 2 – traditionally the celebration commences when the Pleiades reappear in southern skies and is aligned to the new moon rather than the sun.

Kowhai: flowers in winter

On Thursday I refeatured a post on winter worlds from the blog backlist and mentioned Ursula Le Guin’s The Left Hand Of Darkness in that context. The world of Gethen, also known as Winter, is probably one of *the* defining winter worlds of speculative fiction.

Yet when it comes to solstice and new year festivals, Ms Le Guin’s Sunreturn, in her enduring children’s classic, A Wizard of Earthsea, is among my favourites. It’s a midwinter festival marked throughout the archipelagoes of Earthsea, with people drumming and dancing through the torch and bonfire lit darkness of the longest night, to invoke the return of the sun and life.

The essence of the festival is evoked in a handful of sentences but like so much of Ursula Le Guin’s writing, it captures the imagination and endures.

In Hogwarts, of course, they would have a glorious banquet. I suspect there may have been a few midwinter feasts here in NZ over the past weekend, with more coming up for Matariki – if only to fortify ourselves for the colder weather that tends to follow the solstice, i.e. as the days grow longer the nights get colder, for a time at least.

A feast of colour, if less “stupendous” than Hogwarts. 😉

The ideal season for storytelling, wouldn’t you say? 🙂

Under snow …

As promised on May 31, on the 11^th anniversary of the blog, I’m going to be revisiting posts from the backlist on a semiregular basis, because after eleven years there’s a fair amount of backlist to revisit. 😉

On 31 May, I was tossing up whether to revisit the backlist in a totally random way or go for themes. I still haven’t finally decided, but I suspect it’ll probably end up being a bit of both, i.e. I may settle on a theme for a while, then randomly leap to something else.

To kick things off, since winter solstice is almost upon us here in the Southern Hemisphere, I thought I’d revisit a winter-themed post from 2012: The Magic of Winter Worlds.

The post is by no means an exhaustive list of winter-themed works and was never intended to be, but if you like, you can join in the fun by adding “winter world” fantasies that have been published since 2012 — or from before it for that matter! Particularly if they’re a favourite!

Otherwise, enjoy!

—

The Magic Of Winter Worlds from 21 July 2012

Recently I posted my poem “North” here, and alluded to a journey into the far north of Sweden, to Arjeplog just south of the Arctic circle, which inspired it.

Again recently, I have begun reading Australian author Jo Spurrier’s debut Fantasy, Winter Be My Shield, first mentioned under “Just Arrived” here — and these two posts got me thinking about what a great tradition winter worlds are in Fantasy-SciFi.

Here are a few of my favourites:

The Narnia of CS Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, of course. I have think that moment when, together with Lucy Pevensie, I stepped through the back of a wardrobe and into the snowy landscape of Lantern Waste was definitely one of the most magical of my reading childhood.

As an adult, Ursula Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness provided a similar defining moment, with the physical world of Winter (Gethen) absolutely dominating the cultural, sexual, and political landscape of the story.

From there, I moved on to Michael Scott Rohan’s “Winter of the World” series (the first trilogy comprises The Anvil of Ice, The Forge of the World, The Hammer of the Sun), in which the encroaching ice (think ice age) is an aware power and the Norse myth influences on the storytelling — perhaps fittingly given the world — are strong. (Just in case you’re wondering, I think this is a good thing and the series a very interesting, if at times grim, one.)

And then there’s Mark Helprin’s Winter’s Tale — which is more like historical urban fantasy (meets the Gangs of New York) and is rich, mythic, magic realist imbued — and where winter undoubtedly ‘colours’  the entire story.

More recently I’ve read Kate Elliott’s Cold Magic (the first of a “Cold’ trilogy) which also picks up the idea of an ice age realm where the ice influences magic — but in a world where alternate history means the Carthaginians fought the Romans to a standstill, retaining their maritime empire, and North African (Mali) magicians have emigrated (ahead of a ghoul/zombie horde) to hook up with Celtic druids, I think you’ll already be getting that the story is going very different places to Michael Scott Rohan’s ice…

Nor should stories such as Peter Hoeg’s  Miss Smilla’s Feeling For Snow be overlooked, if only for the wonderful descriptions of winter and snow; this is a very atmospheric book. And how could I forget Joan Vingt’s “The Snow Queen”? Short answer, I can’t—again it’s a favourite novel and one where the prolonged winter world of Tiamat, but also the imminent transition to an equally prolonged summer is essential to the story being told. Picking up on extended winter/summer worlds again, “Winter is Coming” in George RR Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, even if it is not quite here yet — but the giant wall of ice and the Night Watch definitely set the scene from book one, A Game of Thrones.

And now I am reading the new Jo Spurrier epic, Winter Be My Shield, where winter and snow also dominate the world building.

There are also distinctive winter elements to wider worlds, such as the Winter Country in my own “The Wall of Night” series, and the north of the Finnish witches and panzer bjorn in Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass.

The more I think about it, it seems fairly clear that winter worlds hold an enduring fascination, so now I’m thinking about why that might be… In part, I suspect it is because winter landscapes and worlds are so dramatic, stark and elemental. Physically, they challenge us — and the white on white of snow worlds is also a very strong aesthetic.

Can you think of other reasons for their enduring popularity in Fantasy-SF or literature generally?

And what are your great winter worlds that I’ve missed mentioning?

—

The books mentioned in the 2012 comments were:

JV Jones’ SWORD OF SHADOWS Series

Brian Ruckley’s GODLESS WORLD series (Winterbirth, Bloodheir, Fall of Thanes )

John Farrow’s City of Ice (which is a thriller not fantasy but it’s set in Montreal during a bone-chilling winter).

Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising

‘Winter’s Night’ by Boris Pasternak (a poem)

Matthew Kirby’s Icefall.