“Helen has such beautiful prose. Combine that with a sweeping epic fantasy and you have magic. Each book in this series gets better too.”

~ The Seattle Public Library

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A Seattle reader sent me this, which appeared on an Epic Fantasy reading list, under General Recommendations, on the Seattle Public Library website. Nice! And ‘thank you’ to the list compiler.

Although — coughs — the list was titled “Hidden Gems in Epic Fantasy” and like most authors I always feel that I could do with less hidden. 😉

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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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Granian:  a knight and herald from the Derai Alliance’s House of Stars; also Granianned

“Granian’s our herald. She can issue challenge if you wish, my brother,” Tirael murmured. But Kalan shook his head, because this was a Blood camp.

~ from © Daughter Of Blood: The Wall of Night Book Three, Chapter 63 — Song Of Farewell

“I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a thick hide.”

~ Harper Lee

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A wry quote on the writing life, I should have said, but very true — my way of saying something very similar is that  in order to survive as a writer one must have a cast-iron soul.

Last month I kicked of the 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. 🙂

This month I am keeping the promise I made then, to feature a Fantasy novel “where love is far closer to the core of what makes the story tick.”

I can think of few better choices than Laini Taylor’s Daughter Of Smoke and Bone, which slots into the romance theme I term “my enemy, my love.”

To find out why, click on through and check out:

Romance in Fantasy Fiction: My Enemy, My Love & Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone

“Once upon a time an angel and a devil fell in love.
It did not end well.”

Enjoy!

On 10 March, number eight wire, the fourth New Zealand Haiku Anthology was launched in Tauranga. (For those who’re not NZ-ers, that’s in the upper half of the North Island, on the east coast.) You can see photos and read about the launch here.

Edited by Sandra Simpson and Margaret Beverland, number eight wire covers the decade 2008 – 2018 and is a 150-page book containing 330 haiku by 70 haijin (poets who write haiku), “published at home and around the world with many honoured in international contests.” One of those haijin, I’m delighted to confirm, is myself, for the haiku, after the funeral.

after the funeral was Highly Commended in the New Zealand Poetry Society International Haiku Competition 2009 and first appeared in the NZ Poetry Society publication, moments in the whirlwind, also in 2009.

The significance of the title, number eight wire, derives from NZ wire, which “has been used in New Zealand since the 19th century for farm fences and has also come to mean a way of thinking that creates brilliance from the most basic of materials, and far-sighted problem-solving and innovation. The book includes a glossary of New Zealand words and phrases.”

For those interested in haiku, details of how to acquire your own copy of number eight wire are available here:

number eight wire

Previous New Zealand haiku anthologies have appeared in 1993, 1998 and 2008.

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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Southern Deserts:  a vast desert region lying to the south of the empire of Ishnapur, itself the southernmost of the Southern Realms of Haarth
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“And after that? Malian wondered. But she said nothing, just slipped off the bed and walked over to look at the map, turning the tabletop beneath her hand.  She murmured the names under her breath: Ij, Terebanth, the Winter Country; Emer, Jhaine, and Ishnapur.  “After Ishnapur, what?” she asked Haimyr.

“The great southern deserts,” he replied, in his lazy way, “the sea of sands, perhaps even the very end of the world.”

~ from © The Heir Of Night, The Wall of Night Book One: Chapter 23 — Throw Of The Dice

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“On the River,” she said, “poison is widely used by assassins sworn to the Ijiri School. So detecting their use is taught as well, and was part of my study—and the wine in the cup was heavily spiced, a favorite disguise of River poisoners.”

“Is that who you suspect here?” Lady Bonamark asked. “River assassins?”

Malian shook her head. “It’s not a River poison. It was only the heavy spice that alerted me. From my brief study of the cup I would
guess Ishnapuri—or possibly something originating from the great southern deserts. But I will have to test it to be sure.”

~ from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 31 — Tenneward Lodge
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“Emuun must have shown them a way of extending their reach, because until now both the djinn and their lesser servants have been bound to the southern deserts.” Raven paused. “His immunity comes from his Fire mother, the facestealing from his Sun father, but he knows the runes as well as Arcolin or Thanir, and is adept at using them to glean others’ magic for his own ends.”

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

Handwritten, from the heart

There is only Us,
our collective heart torn apart,
one hundred members of our community
dead or grievously injured
at Al Noor and Linwood mosques.
We all came here, at our different times,
in hopes of making fresh starts,
new beginnings, peace.
We have too often failed in Waitangi’s promise
of “He iwi kotahi tatou —
Now we are one people.”
Together, we must keep on trying.
Nothing can replace the fifty lives lost,
but together we can hope for healing
of the fifty injured. Together,
we can hope to make that fresh start,
to build a stronger future for all of us,
to sow love where hate has carved its wound,
to restore peace or to make it new.

— Helen Lowe

Floral tributes near Linwood mosque

I wrote this last Sunday, before my partner and I took flowers to the Al Noor and Linwood cordons. Later, I wrote a more formal post, trying to formulate some sort of response to the terror attack, a response I felt was necessary because the murder of fifty fellow human beings, the majority of them fellow citizens, and the wounding of fifty more, took place not just in my country, but in my home city. That post can be read here:

A Dark Day

These words, though, were the first ones I wrote, the words of my heart.

Among 20,000: all here to show support

Last Friday, exactly one week on from the two acts of terror, I went to Hagley Park, along with ca. 20,000 others, to support the Christchurch Muslim community in their first public religious service since the attacks. In that service, Imam Gamal Fouda of the Al Noor mosque, and a survivor of the attack, captured the mood of the afternoon, speaking eloquently & movingly of compassion & peace, mercy & togetherness. His full speech is here:

Imam Gamal Fouda

In the past ten days I have heard the harrowing accounts of survivors and family members. There have also been so many inspiring and moving moments in answer to the attacks and horrific loss of life that it’s impossible to list them all. Nonetheless, they have meant a great deal in the face of such dark and bloody acts. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, leading by example, has inspired us all.

Leaving Hagley Park, after the service

Today, I would like to say only one thing more. On Friday, some New Zealand women who attended the support events chose to wear a hijab to show visible support for NZ’s Muslim women. I saw a great deal of discussion of this on the internet. (Of course I did!) One common statement, when NZ was criticised for this particular aspect of our response, was (here I summarise and paraphrase) that “they” (Muslim communities in the commenter’s country or around they world) wouldn’t “do the same” (i.e. remove their hijabs, wear a cross or a Star of David or other religious symbol) if a similar atrocity “was committed against us.”

My response on first seeing these comments, and now, remains the same: Actually, it doesn’t matter what “they” (whether Muslims or other religious or cultural groups in like circumstances) might or might not do at some time in the future. All that matters is what we choose to do now, in response to this act, out of the love in our hearts — and certainly not in the spirit of a transaction that hopes for a future return.

Having said that, I believe that Imam Gamal Fouda’s words on Friday also epitomise love and a generosity of spirit that at least matches the aroha and support from his fellow New Zealanders.

Today I wish you love, compassion, kindness, generosity of spirit and peace. May we all be willing to show it, regardless of whether we find it in return.

Floral tributes near Linwood mosque

Last Friday 15, in the early afternoon, what is now believed to be a sole gunman committed a preplanned terrorist attack on the Al Noor and Linwood mosques in my home city of Christchurch. Currently, the death toll stands at 50, with a further 50 suffering injuries that range from critical to minor. The dead include men, women, and children as young as three years old.  As I write this, a four-year-old girl is still fighting for her life in Auckland’s Starship Children’s Hospital and I understand that at least two others also remain in critical condition.

I imagine most if not all who read my blog will have already read, heard, or viewed a great deal about this attack and its aftermath on the mainstream and social media. In that respect, there is very little more I can add to the information that is already in the public record, except to say that I fully endorse the sentiments Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has expressed throughout, but particularly in her first press conference on Friday evening. The press conference and her statement can be viewed here:

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern: Friday 15 March

Key messages include that this was a very dark day, not just for Christchurch but for New Zealand, and that “we — New Zealand — share common values. And the one that we place the currency on right now … is our compassion and support for the community of those directly affected by this tragedy. And secondly…we utterly reject and condemn … the ideology of the people who did this.”

I also want to express my support for New Zealand’s leaders, who have united in rejecting this terrorist act and in support for the communities of the Al Noor and Linwood mosques, in particular, but also New Zealand’s wider Muslim community.

But I also want to acknowledge the realities such as this report on Radio New Zealand yesterday, setting out how the Islamic Women’s Council in NZ have been lobbying successive governments for the past five years about the need to stem rising hostility, discrimination and Islamophobia in this country, and the lack of a substantive response. In this sense, there has not been only Us and NZ’s wake-up call has come at the cost of 50 lives (so far.)

Hearts on trees, Linwood Avenue

In terms of a personal response, initially I did not want to post at all. I questioned what I, as an individual citizen on the suburban backlines, could say that would be meaningful in the face of such an atrocity. I certainly don’t feel that I can cap or expand on Jacinda Ardern’s words and I know that nothing I say will in any way lesson the wound that has been torn in one of our communities, or ease the grief and turmoil of the survivors, their families and friends, and extended community.

And I also feel, very strongly, that this isn’t about me or my “feelings”. It’s really important that the focus stays on the dead, the wounded, the survivors, the families, and the savagery of this attack on NZ’s Muslim community.

Yet I also believe that giving into that response of “not wanting to” would be an act of cowardice on my part. The nature of terror is to target the innocent and those who do not bear arms, to sow doubt and confusion and fear, and to try and lessen the everyday bonds that knit communities together. Under any circumstances, citizenship is not a spectator sport; it requires commitment of us all, whether the Prime Minister, first responders, and medical professionals on the front lines, or a “just-a-person” Helen on the suburban rear lines.

At present, there may not be a great deal that I can do, in real and practical terms, to honour and fulfil the commitments of citizenship and awhi (support) Christchurch’s Muslim community. But what I can do is to stand up and be counted in terms of saying that I do utterly reject this act and the ideology that has spawned it. I can also consciously think about and strive to empathize with those affected, to “walk-in-the-shoes” of their terror and trauma, devastation, loss and grief. To try and feel their pain as my pain, to make it true and real that rather than “them and us”, in our community there is only Us.

Flowers & message

In terms of tangible actions, my partner and I have donated money to support the victims and the community. We have also, like so many others, taken flowers (from our garden) to leave at the police cordons, which is as close as we can get to the Al Noor and Linwood mosques. The flowers were chosen with regard for the language of flowers: hydrangea for sincere emotion, in this case grief; rosemary, for remembrance; and fern for its NZ meaning of the hope of renewal, as well as the more general meaning of sincerity. The rest of the message was aspirational: There is only Us. And Arohanui, an expression of “great love.” Because we have no white flowers for mourning, each arrangement was wrapped in white paper and tied  with a silver ribbon.

Intellectually, I know that this gesture, too, does nothing for the dead and little to help the injured of the two mosque communities or those who now mourn for loved ones.  I also know that those whom the flowers and messages are intended to support may never see or read them, since their focus is—necessarily—on the harsh realities of identifying and burying the dead, keeping vigil for the wounded, and supporting those who mourn. Nonetheless,  it still felt—and feels—really important to reach out publicly, to express solidarity and support the bonds of community, and to repudiate this act of barbarity, hatred, and violence. In that sense, the message of the flowers and going to the cordons is also for the perpetrator and those who propagate extremism: in this case white supremacists and Islamophobia.

Linwood cordon

In writing this, I also acknowledge that although now is primarily a time for grief, we must already be thinking about what we must do in the future to give effect to that repudiation and to promote healing and peace and inclusion. This means addressing, as communities and a nation, the very real issues raised by the Islamic Women’s Council.

I believe we also need to articulate and  understand that grief and trauma are not limited to a particular time and incident, then neatly and tidily over with and done. As Christchurch has most recently learned from the 2010-2011 earthquakes, the effects can be with those affected for years if not for the rest of their lives and take a variety of emotional forms.

Al Noor cordon, Deans Avenue

These effects also emulate rivers that sometimes flow on the surface, and at other times underground, but still make their presence felt in terms of emotional, mental, and physical health and wellbeing. So the kindness and compassion and support the Prime Minister talked about will not be required of our NZ and Christchurch communities only in the immediacy of now, but well into the future.

But in terms of what matters most right now, it has to be about keeping our aroha centered on those most directly affected: the dead, the wounded, the uninjured survivors, the families, their friends, and the wider Muslim community. And about keeping their trauma and loss at the forefront of our hearts and minds, not only now but into the future.

To Donate:

If you wish to donate, I am aware of the following avenues:

NZ Victim Support Fund for Victims of the Christchurch Shootings

The LaunchGood Fund United for Christchurch

The MATW (Muslims Around The World) Fund in partnership with Sonny Bill Williams

The Christchurch Massacre Fund set up by Waikato District Councillor, Jacqui Church

But there may be more.

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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Gol: a warrior from the Derai Alliance’s House of Swords

A gust of wind set the nearby tent flaps fluttering, but Kalan kept his eyes on the Sword line. The older warrior, Gol, stepped closer to Orth. “Perhaps,” he said, speaking in Derai, “we should wait until after this tourney truce is done. It will not help our work if we are banished from this realm. Or dead.”

~  from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 42 — Rites Of Honor
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When Kalan crossed into the outer camp, it was not just Jad and the remaining exiles, but Kelyr and a dozen caravan survivors…who waited to leave with him. His brows rose at the sight of Kelyr, and the Sword warrior shrugged. “Fighting is what I know, but I doubt I’ll be welcomed back into Swords. Kin and Blood was just an excuse,” he said, before Kalan could ask. “Another of our number, Gol, had already sent written word of Tirorn’s loss before we left Ij.”

~ from © Daughter Of Blood: The Wall of Night Book Three, Chapter 63 — Song Of Farewell

On 1 March I started a Romance in Fantasy post series on the Supernatural Underground by looking at the novel of The Lord Of The Rings, chiefly because it’s influenced fantasy literature and the epic fantasy subgenre so profoundly.

All of which got me thinking about the three The Lord of The Rings(LoTR) films as well. Then last Friday, on an unexpected road trip, I heard a review of music soundtracks and their composers, in this case Howard Shore. The piece of music featured was Evenstar, from the first film in the LoTR trilogy, The Fellowship Of The Ring:

Evenstar

Arwen Evenstar

Evenstar is a beautiful piece of music and I really enjoyed listening to it again.  But I was also thinking, “How can it be eighteen years (this year) since The Fellowship Of The Ring was first released?

It really does feel very close to yesterday… “As far away as yesterday and as long ago as forever”, to paraphrase Ursula Le Guin.

I remember waiting for the film to come out with a mix of anticipation and trepidation. Anticipation because I love the story and wanted to see it on the big screen; trepidation because I dreaded that it would be Truly Awful, as so many fantasy films before it had been.
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Meetings in dark places: Aragorn as Strider

The feeling of delight when Fellowship was not awful remains as fresh as if it truly were yesterday that I saw the film. Favourite moments include the first appearance of the Black Riders; the hobbits first encounter with Aragorn in his guise as Strider, the flight to the fords, and waking in Rivendell.

Of the three LoTR films, Fellowship is still my favourite, partly because of those feelings of relief and delight. I also think it works the best because the main characters are together in the fellowship.

Still my favourite…

In the later films, we have to follow three and then four main threads: Frodo and Sam; Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli; Merry and Pippin together, and then Merry and Pippin separately. This made the films longer, which in turn led to some sequences being featured over others, which is always difficult for the avid reader and fan.

Still, it was great to rehear the Evenstar theme again and recall those moments of delight—eighteen years later! 🙂