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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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Gille:  Emerian knight in training, squire to Ser Rannart on the Northern March

The whispers, which had started to die down after the first few days, built again when reports of bolder raids by outlaw bands, this time accompanied by demons that were half man, half beast, began to filter in from outlying settlements. Lord Falk doubled the Normarch patrols in an effort to counteract the growing fear with bright steel and a show of strength, but the disquiet persisted.

“Werewolves, evil spirits, and blood-drinking ghouls,” Raher said with relish, one evening in the inn kitchen.

Arn snorted. “Everyone in the inner wards says that even the Oakward is just superstition, a hangover from the bitter years that followed the Cataclysm.”

Girvase raised one eyebrow, while Gille and Ado, two of Ser Rannart’s squires who had returned to Normarch for their vigil, exchanged a glance. “I’ve always liked the stories,” Gille said finally. “The secret circle that pushed back evil.”

~  from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 16 — Summer’s Eve

What I’m reading right now, and yes, really enjoying! (thought I’d get that out there right away 😉 ) is Julie Czerneda’s Search Image, the first in her new science fiction series, the Web Shifter’s Library.

It’s not the first Web series, though, but the second, bringing back the central characters from the Web Shifters series, chiefly Esen-alit-Quar and Paul Ragem/Cameron.

Canadian author, Julie Czerneda, has written nearly twenty novels now, most of them science fiction, so I’m not going to hide my head when I admit that I haven’t yet read the original Web Shifters series.  I’m almost certainly going to, though, since (as above) I am enjoying Search Image. I’m about half way through and so far, it’s a fun, adventurous story with plenty of Julie’s trademark worldbuilding and biologist’s take on fascinating species.

It’s also a book I can enjoy in its own right, without having read the preceding series: in part because it’s a new story but also because the backstory for the established characters is woven in as necessary for understanding (and without infodumping.)

Julie & me, NatCon 2009

If you like your science fiction with plenty of alien species and also space travel, humorous storytelling and engaging characters, then I suspect you’ll enjoy Search Image as much as I’m doing right now.

In terms of other aspects of the book that may be of interest, Julie used the names of friends and fellow travellers from the NZ speculative fiction community—met while here in 2009—as the source of character and place names. My friend Joff is there, masquerading as “Joffre sorbet”, while there’s also a continent called Lowesland… #JustSayin’ 😉

I am reading the hard copy version of Search Image, published by DAW in 2018. The book was made available to me by a friend, the Joffre of the Joffre sorbet. 😉

The Wall of Night Series map; design by Peter Fitzpatrick

The A Geography of Haarth post series is designed to traverse the full range of gazetted locales and places from The Wall Of Night world of Haarth.

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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Sea Keep:  chief stronghold of the Derai Alliance’s Sea House
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Even so, there were stories… Kalan had heard that there were weather workers in the Sea Keep who paced its walls in savage weather, their physical forms fraying into the elements.  Behavior like that drew attention, but it might be possible for those with lesser powers to survive undetected, even amongst other Derai.

~ from © The Heir Of Night, The Wall of Night Book One: Chapter 3 — Whispers in the Dark
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He paused, glancing toward the upstairs voices. “If I leave tonight I should catch up with the heralds. I can ride with them to Port Farewell and take ship for Grayharbor, then find another there to reach the Sea Keep. But I need to say good-bye to the others first, and see Jarn.” He took the gauntlets from his belt, but did not put them on. “I will meet you back here afterward and we can settle any other plans before I leave.” 

~ from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 51 — Reports From The Wall
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“There is a memorial with twelve sides in the Sea Keep, lying between the shrines to Terennin, the Farseer, and Ornorith of the Two Faces.” Che’Ryl-g-Raham’s eyes flicked back to Kalan’s, as if sensing that he had encountered a space enclosed by twelve walls before. “The sides are paneled in alternating black and silver, each one depicting a distinctive pattern of stars, none of which belong to this world.” Again she paused, as if inviting his comment. “I was taught,” she continued, when he remained silent, “that they chart every star system we’ve traversed in our war with the Swarm, until we came through the Great Gate. They may even extend all the way back to the beginnings of the Derai. I had the engraving made,” she finished softly, “to remind me of that possibility.”

From the stars we came—and she was a navigator, so more than anyone else in the Derai would be mindful of that tradition.

~ from © Daughter Of Blood: The Wall of Night Book Three, Chapter 11 — Storm Spear

Last week I was ruminating on potential themes for this year’s first-of-the-month posts on the Supernatural Underground.

February 1st rolled around on Friday and guess what, I came up with a theme for 2019 — and it’s going to be the Year of Romance in Fantasy Fiction.

And yes, there even be hashtags: #YOR (Year of Romance) and #RIFF — Romance in Fantasy Fiction.

Romance – Romeo & Juliet style

For more details, check out the post here:

A Theme For 2019: A Year Of Romance In Fantasy Fiction

Overall, though, I just aim to have a little fun and share a few thoughts on Books-Wot-I’ve-Read and the part romance may or may not play in them, purely for enjoyment’s sake. If this appeals, I hope I’ll see you over there. 🙂

And if you’re wondering whether a reason my thoughts may have inclined this way is because I’m thinking about romance in the Wall Of Night series, too—well, wonder on… 😉

It’s been two months since my last “About The Characters” and (alternating every other Thursday) “A Geography Of Haarth” posts. But fear not, dear friends, followers, and gentil readers—or alternatively, be very afraid 😉 —because the normal post schedule resumes today.

If an excuse is needed for the two month hiatus, let it be that it has been the summer holidays here. Plus I have had tax stuff to do, which is no holiday at all, je vous assure.

Yet now, with no further ado, let us return to About The Characters, which focuses on the minor characters in The Wall Of Night series, 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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USA

UK/AU/NZ

Ghiselaine: Countess of Ormond, in the southern realm of Emer

“The young women rode as lightly as the squires, most with long braids trailing from beneath caps of leather or steel. Only the central rider was bare headed, sitting straight and slender in the saddle while the bell of her red-gold hair lifted in the breeze.

“Ghiselaine, Countess of Ormond,” Raven murmured, although Carick had already guessed: she sat amongst the other riders like a queen among her knights.”

~  from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 13 — Normarch
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“As in Emer, the knight gave little away, but Kalan was remembering how they had fought shoulder-to-
shoulder at midsummer, to prevent a Darksworn coterie from assassinating Ghiselaine of Ormond.”

~ from © Daughter Of Blood: The Wall of Night Book Three, Chapter 58 — Passage of Power

Happy Monday, dear friends, followers, and gentil readers. 🙂

I do hope those of you who’ve been away on summer holidays are getting back into the swing of the year—and speaking of the swing of the year, I’ve been thinking about what I could do with my  Supernatural Underground spot this year.

The first of every month there is my regular slot, one I’ve been keeping going for (gulp!) nine years now in July—which is when I first posted with Making My Bow and Why I Love Fantasy. How—just to make a truly original observation 😉 —time does just fly by!

Post-wise, I’ve tended to round up my “usual suspects” with a focus on books, reading, speculative fiction, and things I like doing more generally, such as being “inside Middle Earth.”

However, as part of the new year (2019!) and year nine (also 2019 😉 ) I’ve been mulling over whether I could or should contemplate having a theme for this year. It would have to fit with the Supernatural Underground (SU) ethos of course, which began as “Books That Go Bump In The Night” and is now “Where Fiction Makes The Heart Beat Faster.”

So although it’s not a strict requirement, I guess if there is to be a theme for 2019, it should be something in the quadrant of writing fiction that *may* make readers hearts beat just a little faster. 🙂

Although I know it’s “my” slot so I can post on anything I like, it would help me out to know what those who visit me here would feel motivated to rock on over to the SU to read. Or to read more about here, if that ends being a better fit.

My only caveat is that any idea, however inspired I think it, that will require a lot of work to realise as a theme or post series, is not one I will be able to initiate until AtBiD (After the Book—Wall #4 that is — is Done.) But it’s still worthwhile (to me) to know that (as yet ‘mysterious something’) is a topic of interest.

And otherwise I shall box on in the usual fashion, rounding up all those usual suspects. 😀

A Nor’west Season

Waiting . . .

the nor’west arch a pale slash

along cloud-filled sky,  promises heat—

big bluster coming

beating in across the plains    lifting

roofs              tossing down

trees                              a dog howls

into the sun’s glazed eye

falls back into shadow

beneath a car body

propped on a rusted jack    waits

for the lull . . .

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© Helen Lowe

Published, Crest to Crest: Impressions of Canterbury Prose & Poetry, Ed. Karen Zelas, Wily Publications, 2009

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Although I have posted this poem here before (yes, it is one of mine), back in 2010 as it turns out, I am posting it again today because up until yesterday we’ve been having a blast of nor’west weather.

And a norwest winds means stinking hot—by NZ standards, that is. (I imagine anyone from India, Australia, or Africa will probably be sneering right about now. 😉 ) It’s not just heat, though: the norwester can be pretty destructive once it gets up a head of steam.

Yesterday was the culmination of the latest round of norwesters and what I call meltingly hot—until the southerly blew on through bringing some up-from-the-Antarctic, off-the-southern-ocean cool.

So today seemed a good time to honour the norwester, which is one of the defining characteristics of life in this part of NuZild (aka NZ.) I explain a bit more about that in the 2010 post: see the link above, or here.

The Wall of Hebe 😉

You seemed to enjoy last week’s Wall Of Hebe so I thought I’d give you another taste of summer in the form of yesterday’s writing spot.

I was keen to write, but it was such a great day, with lovely sunshine and enough of a breeze to be pleasant, but no “big bluster”, that I didn’t want to miss out on the outdoor goodness.

So I decided to have the best of both worlds and take my laptop outside to a wee nook in the garden that offered sunshine, shade, and a comfy Cape Cod chair. (They really are comfy, too, with those nice wide arms for the mouse!)

That summery writing nook…

In fact it worked so well that I plan on doing it again soon, if not later today or tomorrow. (The deities of weather must be consulted!)

And yes, I did get some words written. Not only that, I resolved a plot conundrum that has been bugging me since the end of last year and generally stymieing the muse. Nice to know that manuscripts as well as computers can be “debugged.”

So now it’s a case of Onwards, Onwards.

I hope to have an enjoyable and productive week ahead–and trust you all may do so, too.

KimFalconer

Kim Falconer’s latest post on the Supernatural Underground features some of the books coming out this year that she can’t wait to read.

There are a lot of interesting  titles on the list, including Seanan McGuire’s Middle Game and another Mercy Thompson novel from Patricia Briggs.

Probably the two books I am most interested from Kim’s list, though, are both by fellow Supernatural Underground authors:

1. Where Oblivion Lives by Teresa Frohock

Where Oblivion Lives is the first novel in Teresa’s Los Nefilim novel series — but you may recall that I read the initial Los Nefilim series of linked novellas in 2016. My post is here:

What I’m Reading: The Los Nefilim Trilogy by Teresa Frohock

The short version is that I enjoyed them and am thrilled there’s now a sequel. Better still it’s a novel trilogy. Best of all, Where Oblivion Lives is getting really positive advance notice, including a starred review from Publishers Weekly. So if you like the sound of the Los Nefilim novellas from my post above, then maybe you should check out Where Oblivion Lives…
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The Bone Throwers by AK Wilder

The Bone Throwers is scheduled for release in September and as yet there is no cover or synopsis, but I understand that it’s a YA Fantasy based around oracular bones.

To check out the oracle for yourself, click on:

The Bone Throwers

You can shuffle the cards yourself to find out more. 🙂

To check out the rest of Kim’s list and maybe spot a few good reads you havena considered for your own 2019 list, go to:

Can’t Wait To Read 2019

You can find out more about Kim and her writing by visiting her web portal:

Kim Falconer

I thought you might enjoy these photos of one of the hebes that’s currently flowering-like-crazy in my garden.

I suspect the flowering-like-crazy part may have something to do with our summer being far wetter than usual this year, since normally the summers where I live are very dry.

Whatever the reasons, this particular plant is pretty spectacular this year. And I’m not the only one who thinks so: the bees were going crazy for it the day I took these photos. In fact there are quite a few in both photos but they’re blending into the photo background. 🙂

Hebes are endemic to NZ and one of the country’s most popular garden plants. This particular plant is a garden cultivar and I’m pretty sure it’s moniker is “Icing Sugar.”

J Church, the friend who took this pic, of another hebe in the garden, did a better job of capturing the bee 😉

It certainly makes a colourful start to the week, although I shall be focusing on the gloom-shrouded Wall of Night, with its bitter peaks, rather than walls of hebe in the garden—except on my breaks, of course!