{"id":9233,"date":"2011-10-24T06:30:15","date_gmt":"2011-10-23T17:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=9233"},"modified":"2011-10-23T23:52:50","modified_gmt":"2011-10-23T10:52:50","slug":"launching-oracles-fire-harper-voyager-by-mary-victoria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2011\/10\/24\/launching-oracles-fire-harper-voyager-by-mary-victoria\/","title":{"rendered":"Launching “Oracle’s Fire” (Harper Voyager) by Mary Victoria"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Yesterday I was privileged to be asked to speak at the launch of Oracle’s Fire<\/strong><\/em>, the third and final book in Mary Victoria’s<\/strong><\/a> Chronicles of the Tree<\/span><\/strong> series. The other speakers were Tammy Ruffell, on behalf of the publisher, HarperVoyager, and Mary herself, who also read an extract from the book.<\/p>\n

So for today’s post, I thought I’d share what I had to say, together with some photos of the event.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

“Launching Oracle\u2019s Fire<\/em><\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Gathering at the Weta Cave<\/p><\/div>\n

It is always an honour to be asked by another writer to play a part in the launch of their book; the more so, I feel, when that book is the culmination of a series. So I am delighted to be here with you today to introduce Mary and Frank and say my few good words of introduction, as together\u2014to spin a metaphor\u2014we celebrate Oracle\u2019s Fire<\/strong><\/em> coming off the writing slipway and embarking on its maiden voyage into the great ocean that is published literature. \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

"Oracle's Fire" on display in the Cave<\/p><\/div>\n

When I wrote the Acknowledgments for the first novel in my own series I said that \u201cwriting the first book in a series is always a major undertaking.\u201d And it is true that very few people who set out to write a book ever complete it, and even fewer get published, so when Tymon\u2019s Flight<\/strong><\/em> came out, Mary was already well ahead of the curve.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Mary with her trilogy<\/p><\/div>\n

But writing a series at all\u2014sustaining and developing a story over several books\u2014is an even more significant undertaking. In Mary\u2019s case, the circumstances around completing her Chronicles of the Tree<\/span> trilogy have included punishing contractual deadlines, crippling Occupational Overuse Syndrome (the latter and the former probably not unconnected, I suspect), and marathon journeys to the far side of the world for family reasons. Not an easy row to hoe, so to be standing here today with this book in my hand is a testament to Mary\u2019s tenacity, commitment and professionalism.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The presentation team: Tammy Ruffell, Mary, me<\/p><\/div>\n

Only Mary can speak to the beginnings of the Tree journey, that place where a story sparked and then grew to become a three-book series. I entered the tale late, when I arranged to interview Mary on local radio\u2014and shortly thereafter the Advance Reader Edition of Tymon\u2019s Flight <\/strong><\/em>arrived in my post office box, and I discovered the world of the Tree. Not just a large tree, but one as vast as the Himalaya mountain range \u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Frank Victoria (aka the cover artist)<\/p><\/div>\n

This world was wonderfully imagined\u2014by which I mean not just the idea of world as Tree, but the practicalities of what that means in term of how people live: their technology and culture, conflicts and beliefs. So\u2014not just a clever idea, but a fully realized world.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Gollum disapproves of nassty launches ...<\/p><\/div>\n

Needless to say, I was strongly impressed by Mary\u2019s ability as a world builder. Other elements of her evolving story have impressed me as well: the way in which she weaves scientific understanding into her tale\u2019s mystical elements, and at the same time has not shied away from a story that operates on both the physical and metaphysical levels\u2014for example, the physical Tree and the metaphysical Tree of Being. And this is also a story that has a strong moral centre, while remaining a far cry from the standard \u201cgood versus evil\u201d tale.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

... but the mood is convivial<\/p><\/div>\n

If Tymon\u2019s Flight<\/strong><\/em> set the scene of character and world, Samiha\u2019s Song<\/strong><\/em>, the second of the Chronicles of the Tree<\/span>,\u00a0 is where the story\u2019s strongly metaphysical and philosophical elements come into their own\u2014and the distinctive character of Samiha shone through. By the time we come to Oracle\u2019s Fire<\/strong><\/em>, the apparent certainties of the world and its conflicts as first encountered in Tymon\u2019s Flight<\/strong><\/em> are open to question, and the seemingly distinct lines between factions have blurred,<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Tammy Ruffell speaks on behalf of the publisher, Harper Voyager<\/p><\/div>\n

In most epic fantasy, the story usually deals with the grand sweep of events. By these criteria, Mary\u2019s Chronicles of the Tree<\/span> are undoubtedly epic fantasy: a great deal is at stake, with the world poised to tip in one direction or the other, and the central protagonists standing at the heart of the storm. But this is not a story about individual contests of arms or sweeping battles, except in a sense that is peripheral to the core of the action. The conflict is centered at the metaphysical level, in the Tree of Being as much as the physical Tree, and the characters\u2019 struggles are fought and lost\u2014or won\u2014at that level. And as we enter into the events of Oracles\u2019 Fire, the jury is very much out on which it will be.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Speaking some "good words" of introduction ...<\/p><\/div>\n

So yes, this is<\/span> epic fantasy\u2014but a story in which Mary is very much following her own path. The Chronicles of the Tree<\/span>, from Tymon\u2019s Flight<\/strong><\/em>, through Samiha’s Song<\/strong><\/em>, to Oracle\u2019s Fire<\/strong><\/em>, comprises an ambitious project, and Mary has pulled it off, piloting us successfully to this final work\u2014not just another tangible and beautiful \u2018book in the hand\u2019 but the completion of a series.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Mary introducing "Oracle's Fire" & her reading.<\/p><\/div>\n

But when you hold a completed book in your hand, even before you open it to look at the words within, the first thing you do is look at the cover. What makes the covers of all the Chronicles of the Tree<\/span> books special is both their wonderful artwork and the fact that they have been created by Mary\u2019s husband, Frank Victoria<\/strong><\/a>, who is an artist with WETA workshops.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Guests included June Young of SFFANZ<\/p><\/div>\n

With the cover of Tymon\u2019s Flight<\/strong><\/em>, Frank gave us a sense of the vastness of the Tree, but also adventure and fun with a flying machine that looks something like a ship \u2026 The cover of Oracle\u2019s Fire<\/strong><\/em> is darker, full of more shadow than light, and conveys menace, but also mystery and wonder. Fittingly, it speaks to us of the story it encloses\u2014which is, I believe, as much a tribute to Frank\u2019s artistry with these covers as was his receipt of the Sir Julius Vogel Award for Best Artwork<\/strong>, for the cover of Tymon\u2019s Flight<\/strong><\/em>, earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

L-R: Tammy Ruffell, SFFANZ reviewer, Simon Litten, me <\/p><\/div>\n

In addition to the Sir Julius Vogel Awards, Tymon\u2019s Flight<\/strong><\/em> was also nominated for two of the UK-based David Gemmell Awards<\/strong> earlier this year: the Morningstar Award for Best Fantasy debut, and the Ravenheart Award for best Artwork. To garner international notice of this kind is no small achievement\u2014and just two days ago the UK-based Fantasy Book Review<\/strong><\/a> had the following to say about the story Mary began with Tymon\u2019s Flight<\/strong><\/em>:<\/p>\n

\u201cTymon\u2019s Flight is a fantastic read, one that does a great job of refreshing some tired tropes with some truly unique ideas, one that uses our own current events and issues to provide some great pieces of social commentary. This is the best novel I have read this year and it is very easy for me to recommend this story, not just to fantasy readers, but to readers of all genres.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Others present in the Cave ... Lurtz<\/p><\/div>\n

Today we are here to launch Oracle\u2019 Fire<\/strong><\/em>, which is the culmination of that story begun in Tymon\u2019s Flight<\/strong><\/em>. Having\u2014in a very small way\u2014been part of the journey from the release of the first book, and come to esteem Mary and Frank as friends, as well as writer and artist respectively, I am delighted to have had this opportunity to introduce both them and the book today.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

... & Sauron<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I was privileged to be asked to speak at the launch of Oracle’s Fire, the third and final book in Mary Victoria’s Chronicles of the Tree series. The other speakers were Tammy Ruffell, on behalf of the publisher, HarperVoyager, and Mary herself, who also read an extract from the book. So for today’s post, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-events","category-other-writers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9233"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9264,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9233\/revisions\/9264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}