Just to recap, I have dedicated 2019 as my Year of Romance (#YOR) on the Supernatural Underground, specifically Romance in Fantasy Fiction (#RIFF). Because as I indicated last month, Fantasy is how I roll. 😀

I began in March with JRR Tolkien’s The Lord Of The Rings (aka when romance is missing-in-action), continuing in April with Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone, which is romance of the kind I categorize as “my enemy, my love.” Last month, I featured Patricia McKillip’s Riddlemaster series, with the additional tagline of “Constancy Amid Tumult.”

On 1 June, I featured Guy Gavriel Kay’s Under Heaven — in particular Li-Mei & Meshag’s tale with the subsidiary tagline ‘When Your Ship Doesn’t Sail’.

Also known as: When The Stars Don’t Align, aka It Could Never Be – but to find out more, rock on over to Supernatural Underground and check out the post in full: 😉

Guy Gavriel Kay’s Under Heaven: Li-Mei & Meshag’s Tale or ‘When Your Ship Doesn’t Sail’

Enjoy!

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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 simultaneously — in alphabetical order, of course!

(The quotes, together with the covers, indicate the books in which the character appears.)

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Heris:  an itinerant scribe, in the Southern Realms of Haarth

…Heris—a name that could equally well originate on the River or in northern Emer—an itinerant scribe on a pilgrimage to all the shrines of Serrut in Emer and Aralorn. And maybe Lathayra, although the shabby scribe was undecided on that point whenever his plans were discussed. Lathayra, he had heard, was a dangerous place for those not adept with the weapons of war.

~  from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 53 — The Solitary Tower

Some years ago when I lived in Sweden, I was told that in the main language of neighbouring Finland (i.e. Finnish, as opposed to Swedish, which is also an official language there) there are only two pronouns: one personal, denoting ‘he/she’ for people; and one impersonal, denoting ‘it’ for inanimate objects.

This, I felt, was a straightforward and sensible state of affairs and would also make writing far easier, because it disposes with the perennial awkwardness of personal pronouns when the context is indeterminate, i.e. the story has not revealed whether the person is a he or a she, or is dealing with a group that includes both—which is frequently the case in Derai society. (I feel that the Derai language would definitely take a Finnish approach to pronouns.)

Although the now old-fashioned use of “he”, in English, to include “she” may appear to achieve the same end as the Finnish he/she I don’t feel that it does. This is because the English tradition of separate pronouns means that the “she” is being artificially subsumed by the “he”, as opposed to the Finnish situation where one pronoun has evolved to mean both.

To avoid having to cumbersomely write “he or she”, “his or hers” I naturally incline to using “they” and “their.” They/them is also an approach being adopted by those who choose not to identify as a specific gender. However, I have been corrected for the they/their usage in the past, although the mighty Merriam Webster has pronounced recently on the “they” usage being A-OK—at the same time pointing out that it’s centuries old.

original, 1904 cover

However, I was recently reminded of another alternative that appears to have been acceptable in the past, but which I’d forgotten since it has been Very Many Years Indeed since I last looked between the covers of an E Nesbit book.

You know,  E Nesbit, the  awesome force in children’s writing from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, whose Five Children series juxtaposed magic with childhood adventures. Anyway, I recently unearthed a tattered copy of The Phoenix and the Carpet from one of the post-earthquake era boxes that are still waiting to be unpacked — and in dipping into it, discovered this:

“Then all the fireworks were put on the table, and each of the four children shut its very tight and put out its hand and grasped something.”

Not “his or her”, dear readers, and not “their” either (there being four children at this juncture of the story, two girls and two boys), but “its.”

Needless to say I was quite fascinated (enough to keep skimming and see it crop up consistently throughout the story), both because the awkwardness of “he or she” is obviously a longstanding problem for authors and because “its” must have been an acceptable alternative at the time E Nesbit was writing.

And because I do love words and language, and the history and evolution of both, I decided I had to share “its” with you. 😀

The Wall of Night Series map; artist Peter Fitzpatrick

The A Geography of Haarth post series is traversing the full range of locales and places from The Wall of Night world of Haarth. Each locale is accompanied by a quote from the relevant books where the place occurs.

From January 25, 2013 to November 25, 2014, the series explored locations encountered in The Heir Of Night and The Gathering Of The Lost. Now the series has resumed to ensure the geography of Daughter Of Blood (The Wall Of Night Book Three) is included in our “grand tour”, epic fantasy style. 😉

The new series comprises updates of previous entries as well as the new listings.

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Telimbras:  the braided river that runs the length of the Jaransor hills, separating them from the Gray Lands.  It eventually becomes a tributary of the Ijir. Also known as “the river of no return.”
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“She let her mind soar, following the bird, and suddenly the whole world was sharper, clearer, every rock and ridge outlined as though she saw it through the falcon’s eyes.  That gaze swung wider, out over the plain, and Malian felt certain that her enemies were there, hidden beneath the milky haze.  Their presence buzzed at her, sharp as a wasp along the outer edge of her mind.  She could sense an inexorable quality to their pursuit, and did not think the river Telimbras would stop them for long.”

~ from © The Heir Of Night, The Wall of Night Book One: Chapter 25 — The River of No Return

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The owl’s call, soft and sad from the trees, sounded like a farewell as she brought the gray alongside Raven’s horse. Briefly, Malian wondered if it was the same bird that had helped her earlier. But the horses were already turning toward Hedeld and the Telimbras, their hooves muted by drifted leaves as they left the night, and the ruin, and the body, to the pyre’s leap of flame.

~ from © Daughter Of Blood, The Wall of Night Book Three: Chapter 37 —High Stakes

The Wall Of Night series

“Player” vs “non player” characters are a roleplaying (i.e. roleplaying game) term. Broadly speaking, “player” characters are those developed (i.e. “rolled up” since dice—or more correctly, die—feature in this process) and then played by the participants in the game. “Non player” characters, aka NPCs,  are usually those generated by the Game Master to help along whatever campaign she or he is running.

In writing terms, I tend to think of those characters that exist in present time and are alluded to by others, but never actually appear in the action of the story, as “non player” characters. And yes, I persist in this mental categorization even though I know non player characters are frequently (if not always) part of the action in roleplaying games.

For me, it’s a useful piece of writerly shorthand, especially as the term does encapsulate the part such characters occupy in the story—an important aspect being that they are not just “names off (stage)”, but their existence has a bearing on the storyline.

Examples that I can think of, off the top of my head, include Elite Cairon of the Shadow Band, Onnorin of the Derai House of Adamant, and the River trader, Gray Taan.

As a writer, though, I believe it’s important that non player characters (as opposed to mere “names off”) should still convey a sense of personality and well, character…

Here’s a snippet for each for the three I’ve mentioned so you can decide for yourself whether I’ve hit the mark:

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Elite Cairon:
And Elite Cairon? she wondered. For nearly five years I’ve been working the River every summer and hunting down trails that always came to nothing—yet he is an Elite of the Shadow Band, with its network of listeners and agents. All along he must have known.

Bastard, Malian thought, entirely without surprise.

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Onnorin of Adamant:
…Rook could not help admiring the ensign’s courage in refusing to forswear her mission, despite the punishment meted out. She
reminded him of Onnorin, who had taken more than one beating, during their growing up together, that a lie would have prevented.

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Gray Taan:
Asantir paused. “I learned later that the trader, Gray Taan, was famous. As soon as I entered, he said he had something that might interest me.”

“Did he know the swords’ history?” Kalan asked, curious now.

She shook her head. “Only how they came into his hands, amidst an array of weapons of dubious provenance—his
words—in a tinker’s wagon. Too rich and too foreign for easy sale, the tinker had told him, and that he had been thinking
of melting them down. … “

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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 simultaneously — in alphabetical order, of course!

(The quotes, together with the covers, indicate the books in which the character appears.)

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Guyon:  a knight in training, in the southern realm of Emer

They all seemed friendly enough, Carick decided, as Audin’s riders assembled around him…The only person who was silent while they waited for Raven was the young woman. She had led out a great, red roan warhorse and patted its neck while she listened to the cut andthrust of conversation between the other six, who obviously knew each other well. The youth swapping jokes with Hamar was called Arn, while Tibalt, who had a moth-shaped birthmark on his cheek, held a torch steady so that another young man, whose name seemed to be Guyon, could adjust his stirrup leathers.

~  from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 12 — Nightfall

A short while ago, I reported very favourably on my reading of Julie Czerneda’s Search Image, a new science fiction novel in her Web Shifters universe, and the beginning of a new trilogy, Web Shifters’ Library. (The first Web Shifters trilogy comprises Beholder’s Eye, Changing Vision, and Hidden In Sight.)

As part of the release of Search Image, Julie also released a standalone novella, titled The Only Thing To Fear, which is a very near-in-time prequel to Search Image, reintroduces readers to the principal Web Shifters’ characters of Esen, Paul, and Skalet, among others, and introduces the character of Evan Gooseberry who will also play a significant part in Search Image.

However, The Only Thing To Fear is not – or not only – an introduction to Search Image, it is also very much a story in its own right. And a fun, adventurous, and scientifically interesting story — particularly from Julie’s strong suite of biology-informed world- and species-building — as well as having a really intriguing festival as a central point in the story.

As you may recall from my earlier post on Search Image, I really like the character of Esen and this novella reintroduces her character for readers while establishing Evan as a major player in the forthcoming series.

So, a lot to like, especially for those who love a good space opera that has serious stakes without being too heavy going. As you can probably tell, I am recommending the read. 🙂

By way of disclosure, Julie and I met at the NZ Natcon in 2009 and have remained in contact since then, and Julie gave me the copy of The Only Thing To Fear to read. Thank you, Julie! 😉

The Wall of Night Series map; artist Peter Fitzpatrick

From January 25, 2013 to November 25, 2014, the series explored locations encountered in The Heir Of Night and The Gathering Of The Lost.

Now the series has resumed to traverse the geography of Daughter Of Blood (The Wall Of Night Book Three.)

The new series comprises updates of previous entries as well as new listings.

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Stoneford: a village in Southern Aralorn, near the border with Jhaine

The smith, Baz, was standing beside the tower, his expression impossible to read beneath its shadow. Malian did not speak, and neither did he until she picked up the cob’s reins and began leading it toward the village. “There’s an old woodcutter’s cottage a mile or so down the Stoneford road,” he said, “if you need somewhere to sleep the night.”

~  from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 53 — The Solitary Tower
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Malian had a brief, dizzying sense of the corvids’ wings from her Stoneford fever, spiraling about her, before they dissipated into the murmur of Haarth’s song, rising through the cairn’s wellspring of power. Stepping forward, Malian placed her left hand on the pale boulder that served as a plinth. The armring flamed into silver life and the shadow of a gate rose before her, shaped out of mist and darkness.

~ from © Daughter Of Blood: The Wall of Night Book Three — Epilogue

On Thursday, I linked to my current Supernatural Underground (SU) post and Intalment #3 of my Year Of Romance in Fantasy post series there: Constancy Amid Tumult, which features Patricia McKillip’s Riddlemaster trilogy.

In the post, I also refer to Patricia McKillip’s “gorgeous writing” – which featured in a post series here a few years back, titled “Gorgeous Words.”

Writing the SU post sparked me to have a quick re-read of the Gorgeous Words post — and also made me think you might enjoy doing the same. In which case, the post is here:

Gorgeous Words: Patricia McKillip and The Riddle-Master Of Hed

The other posts in the Gorgeous Words mini-series are:

• Mary Stewart and Madam, Will You Talk
• Mary Renault and The Praise Singer
• Guy Gavriel Kay and Tigana
• Barbara Hambly and The Ladies of Mandrigyn

If you love gorgeous writing as well as great storytelling they may be worth a look, or a re-look if you have the time. 😉

Happy Monday!

In March, I kicked of my Year of Romance (#YOR) in Fantasy Fiction (#RIFF) on Supernatural Underground by looking at The Lord Of The Rings Effect — aka When Romance is Missing-In-Action. 🙂

Last month, I continued with Laini Taylor’s Daughter Of Smoke and Bone.

For 1 May, I’ve featured one of my favourite Fantasy stories and also one of my favourite romances in Fantasy literature: Morgon and Raederle from Patricia McKillip’s (wonderful!) Riddle-Master Of Hed series.

So if you want to have more fun with romance in your fantasy, then head on over to the Supernatural Underground and read on!

Romance In Fantasy: Constancy Amid Tumult & Patricia McKillip’s “Riddle-Master” Series 

And have fun, too. 🙂