“The Heir Of Night” map: artist, Peter Fitzpatrick

The A Geography of Haarth post series traverses the full range of 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 it’s returned to gazette 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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Port Farewell:  a major Southern Realms trading port and the capital of Aralorn
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Kalan 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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The nearest shipping office was little different from the one in Port Farewell, a small room just inside the wide double doors of a ship chandler’s warehouse. The names of ships were chalked onto a blackboard beside the office door, but the clerk pursed his lips, assessing Kalan much as the Halcyon’s bosun had done. He looked like he might have been a sailor himself once, with a silver ring in one ear and callused hands that reached for a leather-bound ledger. “You’ll be wanting a Derai ship, then? I take it you’re going north?”

~ from © Daughter Of Blood: The Wall of Night Book Three, Chapter 5 — Blood Warrior

Genre: Science Fiction

Story Type: Novella

First Published:  2017 by  TOR.com

Awards: Nebula Award 2017 for Best Novella; Hugo Award 2018 for Best Novella

Science Fiction covers a broad spectrum and Martha Wells’ novella, All Systems Red, lies at the “Space Opera” end, with an overlap to Military SciFi.

Just so you know what I mean by “space opera”, to me it means adventurous (or even swashbuckling) stories set in futuristic or “alternative universe” space settings, where the emphasis is more on the adventure, fun science, and character interactions, rather than the more rigorous scientific realism of “Hard SciFi.” Devices such as faster than light (FTL) travel and wormholes/space gates are important devices that help make space opera work.

I believe All Systems Red ticks all the space opera boxes, in that it’s adventurous, set in “far space” within a space-based, future human culture, and the central character is definitely fun—but I’ll come to that in a minute. In addition to having overlaps to military SciFi (also to be explained shortly) it’s also what I would call “Corporate Culture” SciFi, i.e. in this version of the space future an awful lot of stuff is run by corporations.

So-o, what’s it about? Firstly, All Systems Red is a novella, which means that the story is single-focus—which works well with a First Person Singular (FPS) narrator—and relatively straightforward. The FPS narrator, aka “I”, is a self-aware security (“SecUnit”) robot of combined biological and mechanical construction, which refers to itself as Murderbot. The alleged overlap to Military SciFi (in my mind) is because Murderbot is a security specialist and gets to fight things and fire big weapons when the chips are down.

And of course the chips are down within the course of the story, because did I not say that space opera is all about adventure?! (I did say so: yes, indeed!) The basic story goes like this: Murderbot is the SecUnit assigned to a scientific mission surveying an uninhabited planet. Early in the story the mission gets attacked by endemic fauna and Murderbot and the team discover gaps in their maps and information. Shortly after that, they realize that someone or something (beyond the endemic fauna) is trying to kill them: cue the adventure, complete with alarms, excursions, and Murderbot action.

In this sense, the story is (as I said earlier) very straightforward space opera. The aspect that makes the story so enjoyable is the character of Murderbot, whose really not that murderous and likes to watch TV serials (soap opera style) during any available downtime.  An important part of Murderbot’s story arc is his developing realtionship with the human characters, particularly the mission leader, Dr Mensah.

I’m not going to say any more about the plot, because being only novella length it would be easy to spoil the story for you. Suffice it to say that I really enjoyed it: All Systems Red is a fun, light read with a genuinely engaging main character and interesting supporting cast.

If you’ve enjoyed novels such as CJ Cherryh’s The Pride of Chanur, John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War, Ann Leckie’s  Ancillary Justice, or Peter F Hamilton’s Fallen Dragon, I’m “pretty sure” you’ll enjoy All Systems Red.

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Disclosure: I purchased my reading copy of All Systems Red from a local independent book shop, Scorpio Books. And yes, it “is” a keeper. 🙂

Yes, it is! Albeit at the end of the month, but hey—best to be prepared right?! (Correct answer: Correct! 😉 )

At any rate, I’m already in the swing of things over on the Supernatural Underground, talking up the origins of Halloween (Samhain anyone? Not to mention All Souls’ Day…)

I’m also lingering a little over jack o’ lanterns and one or too spooky, eerie, or downright supernatural reads I haz known, aka Books That Go Bump In The Night… (Yes, there are a few reading suggestions: who’d’ve guessed?)

And if books that go bump in the night is your Thing, then you can’t go past our very own Supernatural Undergound authors in the right-hand side bar of the SU blog.

To check out the goodness and start getting into the Halloween mode, not to mention mood, rock on over to:

Halloween Is Coming!

Yes, the phrasing is deliberately like A Game Of Thrones—only with more jack o lanterns and trick-or-treating, and less Iron Throne. I mean, we are talking Halloween, after all.

If you have a favourite Halloween-ish read, I’d love the recommendation, so do let me know, either in the comments here, or o’er thar.

The spectre of SU giveaways past… 😉

The first orange cake

Lateish in 2015, I embarked on Quest For the Holy Grail—of orange cakes! “Which,” I pondered, “was the Best and Greatest?” The only way, I thought, was to make/bake the recipes and find out…

Orange cake, the second…

So in my mind, I had done a whole sequence of posts on this topic before being distracted by Other Life Matters, including the imminent release of Daughter Of Blood, as I recall. In the end, therefore, there were only ever two posts:

The Quest For The Holy Grail; and

The Quest For The Holy Grail Continues

However, the quest has remained ongoing, lurking somewhere in the background of both life and mind, and recently I made not one but two different orange cakes. (Although I kind of forgot the photo ritual with the second…)

Orange & Rosemary Syrup cake

The common ingredient in both cakes—beside the orange of course 😉 —is rosemary. The first is Orange and Rosemary Syrup Cake, the recipe gleaned from an Australian Gourmet Traveller of October 2001. Definitely going back aways but the recipe is very good. It’s from a sequence called HeavenScent by Leanne Kitchen. You can see some more of her food under her profile on Delicious.

Anyway, as mentioned, this cake is Really Very Good, in fact the Taste Team believe it may be the best, although they’re undecided because the first-made Orange and Almond Cake is also Very Popular…

I should also note that the original recipe was for cakes plural, with the recipe being divided into large muffin tins. But I made it as a single cake and adjusted the cooking time accordingly.

Just as good on the inside…

The second cake is a far more recent recipe, a Rhubarb, (Orange) Marmalade & Rosemary Cake from the Cuisine of July 2018 (No. 189.) The recipe was part of a preview feature for a book titled How To Eat A Peach by Diana Henry.

It qualifies as an orange cake imho because the marmalade used was sweet orange and the recipe includes orange zest. Plus it tastes orange-y. (I rest my case.) The recipe is very rich, but I do not say that like it is a bad thing: no, indeed! 😀

Rhubarb, Orange Marmalade & Rosemary cake — or what’s left of it!

At any rate, by the time I had remembered “Photos!” the Taste Team had demolished most of it. I believe you may draw your own conclusions from that fact; also that one of them was still talking about it a week later. 🙂

I hope the quest may continue with more orange cakes to come. To which end, I believe there may be an Orange Poppyseed Cake in the latest NZ House & Garden…

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Last year, I resumed my “About the Characters” post series that 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 whether the character appears in both or only one of the books — and we’re back to a single entry today. 😉 )

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Erron:  the horsemaster at Normarch, on Emer’s wild northern border
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“Ser Bartrand and the others,” he said. “Did they return safely?’

“Ay,” Hamar nodded. “The wolfpack tried to slip away but there was no chance of that with Erron on their trail. Outlaws never stand and fight against numbers,” he added, “not if they can avoid it.”

“A true wolfpack, then,” Carick said, “going after the straggler.”

~ from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 14 — Maister Gervon

Recently, while doing the electronic equivalent of rummaging through my bookish attic I came to the shelf where the covers for The Gathering Of The Lost are stored neatly in their row and was ‘struck all of a heap’ — because, dear readers, I realized that the published version of the UK/AU/NZ cover is not the original version.

I have always liked the The Gathering Of The Lost‘s UK/AU/NZ cover, but when I saw the original version I not only realized that it is different from the published version, but I also remembered how much I loved it when I first saw it. Before I say any more though, here it is, in all its glory:

Now, it’s still very similar to the published cover, which is this:

The main difference is that the “surround” of the final cover has been “blacked out” and the pale blue and the light-burst surrounding Malian seem muted by contrast—although I acknowledge that Malian herself is highlighted more, too, which is probably an improvement on the original. And overall, it’s still a great cover. Nonetheless, I really love the brighter, almost lapis-lazuli blue of the original concept and the contrasting brilliance of the light-burst around Malian. The title lettering seems more silver in effect as well, which I also heart.

Obviously more artistic decisions were made between the initial cover concept and the final look, and probably for very good reasons, such as highlighting the figure of Malian. All the same, having rediscovered the original in the book e-attic, sekretly, I love its overall look just a teensy bit more.

“The Heir Of Night” map: artist, Peter Fitzpatrick

The A Geography of Haarth post series traverses the full range of 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 it’s returned to gazette 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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Old Keep:  the original Keep of Winds (stronghold of the House of Night), now abandoned.
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“Loose tiles rattled and slid, bouncing off tall towers into the black depths below, and the wind whistled through the Old Keep, finding every crack and chink in its shutters and blowing the dust of years along the floors.  It whispered in the tattered hangings that had once graced the High Hall, back in those far-off days when the hall had blazed with light and laughter, gleaming with jewel and sword.  Now the cool, dry fingers of wind teased their frayed edges and banged a whole succession of doors that long neglect had loosened on their hinges.  Stone and mortar were still strong, even here, and the shutters held against the elements, but everything else was given over to the slow corrosion of time.”

~ from © The Heir Of Night, The Wall of Night Book One: Chapter 1 — The Keep Of Winds
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“Think what you would of Haimyr the Golden, Jehane Mor reflected, listening, but he could tell a good tale. He made their arrival at the Keep of Winds, in the middle of a formal Derai feast, sound full of portent, an opening hung about with the frayed darkness of ancient story—then let that darkness deepen into the blood and horror of the Darkswarm’s surprise attack and the disappearance of the Heir of Night. The request for the heralds’ assistance with the subsequent search became a flourish out of legend, and every step into the shadows of the Old Keep more fraught, sweeping the listeners through the Darkswarm attacks and into the final, deadly encounter with the Raptor of Darkness.”

~ from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 10 — A Pebble Falls
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An opener of ways: the epithet…became a weight as Garan remembered that Malian of Night’s power was believed to have come from her mother, Lady Nerion. And someone had known how to get into the Old Keep and bring down the New Keep’s defensive wards . . . Garan gritted his teeth, remembering Night’s tally of dead and injured from the Swarm attack and its aftermath. He wondered, too, if the reason Nhairin was keeping her face so resolutely averted was because one must never meet a demon’s gaze— or the eyes of one who had fallen beneath a demon’s sway.

~ from © Daughter Of Blood: The Wall of Night Book Three, Chapter 39 — Traitor

Where the fun started, back in 2011…

Way back on April 30, I said that I might write a few posts on Having Fun With Epic Fantasy Tropes, building on a mini-series of three that were featured on SF Signal in December of 2011.

(Close on seven years now —gulp!—but seven: the alchemy of numbers would suggest there’s something significant in that! 😉 )

I can tell you now that I had no idea that it would turn into a marathon ten posts, spanning over a third of the year. As I said at the beginning, though, the tropes are “part of what I love about these kind of stories” so I had quite a bit of fun along the way, not least of which was calling up cherished memories of “all the books I’ve loved before.” (With apologies to Willie Nelson.)

Han Solo, the quintessential “lovable rogue”

My muster of tropes in Posts 1 to 10 is not exhaustive: I’m aware there’s still a reasonable number of others out there, as yet unexplored (at least by me), such as “the lovable rogue” and “the sidekick”, which are sometimes one and the same person (Han Solo, anyone?)  I may return to them later, but for the moment I feel that ten posts is a nice round number and a reasonable place to hang up my hat.

Also, all exploration of tropes need not be on my blog alone. Aside from those initial three posts on SF Signal, I also post on the Supernatural Underground (on the first day of every month.) My current post there is checking out Fantastic Creatures and Companion Animals. The latter, at least (or so I strongly suspect), qualify as another trope.

Fantastic creatures

As I said last week, we’re not quite done yet, because I want to take a look at a few examples of when the tropes have been deliberately inverted or undermined.  And then there’s that final post, also promised last week, which harks back to one of my opening remarks:

“I would argue, of course, that it’s not the presence or absence of these classic elements…[aka tropes]…that define the story, but what you do with them…But that is another story!”

A story we will come to yet, all going well.

In the meantime, here is the Compleat List of the Having Fun With Epic Fantasy Tropes posts #1 – 10 (including the introductory post):

Introduction: Having Fun With Epic Fantasy—Meet the Tropes

Instalment 1: Having Fun With Epic Fantasy Tropes: A Farm Boy/Gal Goes On A Journey…

Instalment  2: A Prince/Princess Finds A Destiny

Instalment 3: Dreams and Portents, Prophecy and Destiny

Instalment 4: “Apocalypse Now”

Instalment 5: Meet The Big Bad

Instalment 6: The Sweep Of Time & Its Twin, War Without End

Instalment 7: Fortunately There was A Portal

Instalment 8: We’re All Going On A MacGuffin Hunt

Instalment 9: Artefacts of Power—And Doom—And Where To Find Them

Instalment 10: The Alchemy Of Numbers
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On SF Signal: The “Having Fun With Epic Fantasy” Series

1. “Making the Grand Tour” (aka the Road Journey);

2. “The “Band of Brothers”; and the

3. “Soul-Sucking Sword.”

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All © Helen Lowe

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Last year, I resumed my “About the Characters” post series that 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 whether the character appears in both or only one of the books.)

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Eria: an initiate priestess, serving in the Temple of Night
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“Why are you out here?” Haimyr asked. “Surely you’ve not come to meet me?”

Asantir stepped back. “I have. Eria told us that the talisman she gave Garan for the journey had begun to glow, so we knew you were close…”

~ from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 28 — Border Crossing
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Just as well Eria isn’t among the elect then, Garan reflected. Otherwise she could not have kissed him the way she had, the day he departed for the River…Garan, who had been conferring with Asantir, was the last to reach the gate— and at the final moment Eria had come running, swinging herself up by virtue of his saddlebow and one foot resting on his in the stirrup, to kiss him on the mouth.

~ from © Daughter Of Blood: The Wall of Night Book Three, Chapter 13 — Watch and Ward

This will be the final instalment in the “official” Having Fun With Epic Fantasy Tropes post series, which is only fitting since ten is for completion— Oops, there I go already, getting myself caught up in the alchemy of numbers!

Prince & only son; sword & destiny

At face value, numbers may not be the most obvious trope, but I’m going to argue for their inclusion nonetheless. You remember how we started out with the farm boy or gal who goes on a quest journey, and the prince or princess that finds a destiny? They’re integral to myth and fairytale, folklore and legend, right? Well, think a little bit more about how often the farm boy or gal, the prince or princess, is the only child, or alternatively the youngest (usually the youngest, anyway) of three children…

Prince Ivan — the youngest of three sons

Just for a few examples, the Greek heroes, Perseus, Theseus, and Jason were all only children—or effectively only children, since all Jason’s siblings were murdered when he was a baby. So, too, are the fairytale protagonists Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Jack the Giant Killer. The number three features prominently in both Greek and Norse myth, e.g. the Three Fates and the Three Graces, the three Gorgons and the three goddesses—Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite—who quarrel over the golden apple inscribed, “for the Fairest.” Odin, Thor and Loki are a frequent triumvirate in the Norse myths, while in the fairytale realm, Prince Ivan, Cinderella, and Beauty (in Beauty and the Beast) are just three examples of  characters that are the youngest of three children.

Another perennial and recurring aspect of the number three is the “love triangle”, with famous threesomes that include Helen, Menelaus, and Paris; Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere; Tristan, Isolde, and King Mark; Brynhild, Sigurd, and Gudrun… You get the picture! (And that “the triangle” did not spring fully fledged from Twilight and /or paranormal romance generally…)

Morgana and Arthur: MERLIN TV series

If numbers are powerful, then clearly some numbers, such as one and three, are particularly significant. Yet in the song One (most famously sung by Three Dog Night) the lyrics assure us that “Two…[is]…the loneliest number since the number one.” Myth and folklore may bear this assertion out, if we look at the fraught relationships and/or lives of siblings such as King Arthur and his half-sister, Morgana La Fay, or Helen of Troy and her twin sister, Clytemnestra. Snow White and Rose Red have a happier time of it, however, as do Helen and Clytemnestra’s twin brothers, Castor and Pollux, while Hansel and Gretel come through alright, in the the end. (Or as alright as a Grimm’s fairytale allows, at any rate.)

Juliet Marillier’s retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses

One, two, three…But the fun doesn’t stop there. We’ve still got all the multiples of three, such as nine (Tolkien’s “three times three”) as in the Nine Muses, and twelve—for example, the Twelve Dancing Princesses and the Twelve Labours of Hercules. Six and eight (the figure eight or lemniscatus is the symbol for infinity, but let’s not forget eight-legged Sleipnir either) also have their place, and thirteen famously gets a bad press for conveying ill luck. There’s even a name, triskaidekaphobia, for fear of the number thirteen…

The seven dwarfs in Snow White & The Huntsman

If looking for another really significant number, however, it’s impossible to go past seven, which I think most would agree is every bit as famous as three. For example, the seventh child of a seventh child is usually particularly lucky and/or gifted with the second sight. Greek myth gives us the Seven Against Thebes as well as the Seven Sisters that became the Pleiades constellation, while Sinbad went on seven voyages, and the Seven Dwarfs star in the popular and enduring Snow White fairytale.

I believe it’s inarguable that numbers play a significant part in myth, fairytale, and folklore. What’s less clear to me is why. My best guess is that it’s something to do with the human love of patterns, but whatever the reasons, it’s given us a force to be reckoned with.

But Turning to Fantasy—

The first thing I realised when I dived into this topic is that it could easily be a post series in its own right. So to ensure today’s feature does not exceed the Wheel Of Time series for length, I’m going to restrict my commentary to the numbers one, two, three, and seven—by and large at any rate. 😉

(The bonus to this approach is that I *may* yet do further posts on the other numbers, should conditions prove favourable. 😀 )

I know, I know, it’s “The Lord Of The Rings” again…

My second realisation was that when it comes to drawing on the alchemy of numbers to give texture and drama to a story, JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is da bomb. The One Ring to rule them all is undoubtedly boss, but it’s complemented by three Elven rings, the seven rings given to the Dwarf lords, and the nine given to the human kings that become the dreaded Black Riders. I would rest my case right there, except that I have to also point out the following rhyme:

“Tall ships and tall kings,
Three time three,
What brought they from the foundered land,
Over the flowing sea?
Seven stars and seven stones
And one white tree.”

I mean to say: multiples of three, seven, and the power of one—now I really do rest my LoTR case. 😉

The Power of One

It’s perhaps not surprising, therefore, that the alchemy of numbers is firmly embedded in Fantasy storytelling—and epic fantasy does not escape. In fact, one might argue that a literary subgenre with a predilection for Chosen One’s, actively embraces the significance of numbers.

As well as “Chosen One’s” there are also “hero/heroine alone” protagonists, like Mara of the Acoma (one of my favourites—from Raymond E Feist and Janny Wurts’ Empire trilogy), the paladin, Paksenarrion (Elizabeth Moon: the Deed of Paksennarion), Tenaka Khan in David Gemmell’s The King Beyond The Gate, or Kvothe in Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name Of The Wind. 

Remember, too, that Buffy the Slayer was “one girl in all the world”, while in the now cult film, Highlander, famously “there can be only one.” 🙂

Epic fantasy’s love affair with the number one isn’t restricted to chosen heroes either. Very often (although it’s not universal) the Chosen One must oppose an ultimate Big Bad, such as Sauron in The Lord of the Rings, Rakoth Maugrim (in the Fionavar trilogy), Torak in the Belgariad, or The Dark One in the Wheel of Time series.

“Two Is Just As Bad As One…” (Or in this case, as significant.)

The more I think about it, the more I realise that two is a vital part of epic alchemy. Its aspects include oppositions, such as (arguably) saidin and saidar in Robert Jordan’s Wheel Of Time series, and outright hatreds like the bitter antagonism between Bertran de Talair and Urte de Miraval that shapes the world of Guy Gavriel Kay’s A Song for Arbonne.

The power of two also comprises complementaries, like the Prime and Secchi (father and daughter) Pairs in Roberta Gray’s The Sword And The Lion, the Aes Sedai and their Warders in the Wheel Of Time, and the wizards and their sources in Guy Gavriel Kay’s Fionavar trilogy.

Two encompasses dualities as well, such as the relationship between Morgon and Deth, in Patricia McKillip’s The Riddlemaster of Hed trilogy. The duality is set up in the opening chapter with the rhyme of Belu and Bilo:

“Belu so fair was born with the dark
Bilo, the dark; death bound them also.
…
Death cried to Bilo out of Belu’s voice,
To Belu, out of Bilo…”

And is finally realised by both story and reader at the culmination of Book Three—which is truly awesome storytelling imho. (Just sayin’)

Fred and George Weasley (Deathly Hallows)

Twins also have their part to play, such as Oponn, the twin jesters of chance in the Malazan series, and the Weasley brothers in Harry Potter—who are also jesters, come to think of it. 😉
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And then of course there’s true love and some truly epic couples. Some of my favourites include Karou-Madrigal and Akiva in Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone and Beren and Luthien from Tolkien’s Silmarillion.
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Then there’sShoka and Taizu in CJ Cherryh’s The Paladin; Jenny Waynest and John Aversin in Barbara Hambly’s Dragonsbane, Diago and Miguel from Teresa Frohock’s Los Nefilim… There are many more, so I could go on, but I won’t. 😉 However, two is unquestionably the number of power couples.

Mystical Magical Three

If I recall correctly, the first Diana Wynne Jones’ novel I read was Power of Three and—unsurprisingly—combinations of three, not least the three peoples around which the story is spun, play a significant part in the narrative. Morgon of Hed, in the Riddlemaster series, has three stars on his forehead and must master three treasures that carry the same stars, while Daenerys Targaryen in George RR Martin’s A Song Of Ice and Fire series (aka A Game Of Thrones) is accompanied by three dragons. The defence of Dros Delnoch in David Gemmell’s Legend is primarily down to the triumvirate of Druss (the eponymous Legend), Rek, and Serbitar—who leads The Thirty, an order of paladin-mages. And thirty, of course, is another multiple of three…

NK Jemisin’s Inheritance trilogy centres on the triangle of Yeine, Nahadoth, and Itempas, while the conclusion of Courtney Schafer’s Shattered Sigil series is shaped by the three-sided relationship of Dev, Cara, and Kiran.

Arguably, though, the most potent aspect of three in epic fantasy is the trilogy, even if it has become somewhat less ubiquitous since the advent of the Wheel of Time. 😉

Superlative Seven

I don’t think it’s possible to bracket the number seven and epic fantasy together without mentioning the book Seventh Son, which began Orson Scott Card’s Alvin Maker series. The series is set in the pioneering United States, in the first half of the nineteenth century, and draws on the history and folklore of the era, including the mystical lore of seventh-born sons.

Seven is also the theme of John R Fultz’s Shaper trilogy, which comprises Seven Princes, Seven Kings, and Seven Sorcerers. A legendary king and his six brothers form The Seven-Petalled Shield in Deborah J Ross’s series of the same name—while in Juliet Marillier’s Daughter of the Forest (the first in her Sevenwaters series), it is Sorcha, the seventh and youngest child, who must save her six brothers from the enchantment that transforms them into swans.

Pippin with the tree & stars of Gondor on his surcote

I’ve already mentioned the seven rings of power given to the dwarf kings in The Lord of the Rings, as well as the palantir, which are the “seven stones” of the rhyme, and the “seven stars”, which together with the “one white tree” are the symbol of the kings and kingdom of Gondor.

Other signficant sevens include the seven seals to Shaitan’s prison in the Wheel Of Time, the seven unified kingdoms in the Westeros of the  A Song Of Ice and Fire series, the Seven Cities in Steven Erikson’s Malazan world, and seven horcruxes in Harry Potter—to name just a few!

Now, Onward To Thornspell and The Wall Of Night Series…

The numerical alchemy in Thornspell is centered on the numbers one and two, although I would describe the protagonist, Sigismund, as a “muted” power-of-one figure. Although those in the know, both enemies and friends, recognise that he may be the prince who will attempt to break the spell of the Hundred-Years-Sleep, he is not a Chosen One of long-foretold prophecy in the same way Malian is in The Wall Of Night series.

Dynamic duos and power pairings are really significant to the story, though, with the chief examples being the complementary mentor/”padawan” relationship of Sigismund and Balisan, which is counterbalanced by a similar relationship between the two antagonists, the Margravine and Flor. Sigismund and the Margravine are the primary antagonists, but the opposition between Sigismund and Flor is counterbalanced by the friendship of Sigismund and Rue. Other noteworthy duos in the story are the servants, Wat and Wenceslas, the noble kinsmen, Adrian and Ban Valensar, and the horse copers, Falk and Rafe.

In a way, these pairs reflect the two significant dualities that underpin the story, which are the sleeping world within the hedge of thorns and the waking world without, and the opposition between the human world and the faery realm.

USA

As indicated above, The Wall of Night story is centered on Malian being a Chosen One of prophecy, while Kalan’s path is also entwined with an ancient destiny. So the power-of-one tradition is definitely in play. Two also has a part to play, if not so strongly as in Thornspell. Malian and Kalan’s complementary relationship is definitely at the core of the story, while the Derai leadership of Earl and Heirs is a complementary pairing.

UK/AU/NZ

In terms of duality, its hard to go past the heralds of the Guild, with pairs comprising a “seeker” and “shielder” who often speak with one voice. But there’s also the Huntmaster and his crow, the tapestry of the Young Lovers in Daughter Of Blood, and Asantir’s black blades are paired blades…

USA

When it comes to three, the helmet, sword, and shield of Yorindesarinen are very much in keeping with time-honored tradition, although the role of the armring plays with the formula a little. The Darksworn have three ascendants, while the Derai make a strong “three times three” showing with Nine Houses, Nine Gods,  and nine aspects of the Golden Fire. Kalan uses a “power of three” magical working in The Heir of Night and three Ara-fyr speak to Malian from the top of the solitary tower in Aralorn. There’s even a romantic triangle(!) in The Gathering of the Lost, between Audin, Ghiselaine, and Hirluin.

UK/AU/NZ

Seven comes into its own in The Gathering Of The Lost as well, with the introduction of Jhainarian sevens, fighting units bound together and strengthened by magic. The heralds undertake a magical working based on seven adepts, too, in defense of the Hill fort. And although we’re not focusing on eight in this post, the heralds undertook another working, based on this number, in The Heir of Night. You may have noticed, too, that an “eight” is the base unit of the Derai military.

USA

You may be wondering if there’s any particular numerical alchemy present in Daughter of Blood. By way of answer, I point to the thirteen wyr hounds that broke free of the Red Keep to accompany Kalan into no-mans-land. I also note that Asantir’s paired swords make another strong showing and form a triumvirate with a black spear…

UK/AU/NZ

And that, I feel, is quite enough to be going on with when it comes to the alchemy of numbers. I hope it makes a satisfying conclusion to the Having Fun With Epic Fantasy Tropes series.

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Next Time:  Next Monday I’ll post a roundup of all ten instalments in the Having Fun With Epic Fantasy Tropes series to date, possibly with a few accompanying comments. But we’re not quite done. Shortly after that I’ll be back with a post looking at instances where the tropes are subverted, which I hope you’ll also find fun. And then (just to be mysterious) there’ll be one more post after that before the final curtain comes down…(If it ever can be fully rung down on such an all pervasive subject.)

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Previously In This Series:

Introduction: Having Fun With Epic Fantasy—Meet the Tropes

Instalment 1: Having Fun With Epic Fantasy Tropes: A Farm Boy/Gal Goes On A Journey…

Instalment  2: A Prince/Princess Finds A Destiny

Instalment 3: Dreams and Portents, Prophecy and Destiny

Instalment 4: “Apocalypse Now”

Instalment 5: Meet The Big Bad

Instalment 6: The Sweep Of Time & Its Twin, War Without End

Instalment 7: Fortunately There was A Portal

Instalment 8: We’re All Going On A MacGuffin Hunt

Instalment 9: Artefacts of Power—And Doom—And Where To Find Them

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On SF Signal: The “Having Fun With Epic Fantasy” Series

1. “Making the Grand Tour” (aka the Road Journey);

2. “The “Band of Brothers”; and the

3. “Soul-Sucking Sword.”

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© Helen Lowe