Caroline Sciriha's Blog, page 11

Days of Wind and Snow…coming soon

The ABC of Epic Fantasy: Jinn

I was stumped to find something which begins with J, but then I thought of Jinn, although this supernatural creature rarely appears in epic fantasy. I wonder why? Jinn are spirits that can manifest in various forms and are capable of extraordinary powers. They are often depicted as inhabiting various objects, as well as found underground, in the air or in fire. Jinn can be troublemakers but whoever gains control of a jinn has a powerful weapon at his disposal.

With these qualities, who wouldn’t want to read about them more!

Let’s start a list of some great epic fantasy books with jinn: I’ll start with An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. Can you suggest some others?

Perhaps we’ll be seeing more jinn in epic fantasy.

#epicfantasy #epicfantasybooks #epicfantasynovels #epicfantasyseries #epicfantasybookseries #epicfantasyadventure 

R is for Red Herring

Some personal news. My editor should be returning the final draft of Days of Wind and Snow by today. The launch of book two is therefore fast approaching. In the meantime, I’ve recorded a short clip of myself talking about Dawn which should appear on a Youtuber’s channel dedicated to Fantasy within the next couple of weeks. That was scary to do but goes to show that when prodded to do something (thanks Mikhaeyla), even an introvert like me can do it. I’ve also kept up the Instagram posts on the ABC of Epic Fantasy, which seem to be attracting some attention. I’m also excited about joining a group of authors who have set up a Discord page to offer support and encouragement to each other, as well as help promote each other’s work. I had long felt the need to form part of such a community and am so glad to have found the Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers Alliance.

After that longish update about my writing, let’s move on to today’s Literary Device.

R is for Red herring

A red herring is a literary technique that writers use to create suspense and keep readers guessing. Red herrings are used to create misdirection, for example giving misleading pieces of information which direct attention away from a significant item, character or event. Red herrings abound in mystery or crime novels where, for example, innocent characters are purposely presented in such a way as to make readers believe they are guilty of the crime, or the opposite, making the guilty person appear to be innocent.

Writers create red herrings by drawing the reader’s attention away from important pieces of information or by inserting information that seems significant but isn’t, as well as through the careful choice of words and any other possible way to create a false impression of what is going on.

Therefore, red herrings help to create mystery and tension in the story and often result in plot twists when the truth is revealed. In Dawn of Purple and Grey the cold eyes of one of the characters, his initial behaviour towards the protagonist and word-of-mouth about his race brand him as being an antagonistic character, for example. This of course ends up not being true. Similarly, in book 2, Days of Wind and Snow, Shael’s brother Iysel is presented as the arch-enemy but in reality others are responsible for the crisis in the Inner Lands and the disasters threatening Shael and those she loves.

On Reading

I’ve finished reading Dune by Frank Herbert. It was not quite the book I expected it to be. Herbert’s worldbuilding is fantastic but the protagonist ended up being presented as too much of a cult figure rather than a flesh-and-blood one whom I could root for. While I’m tempted to dive into book 2, I’ll probably choose a different series to read next. I’ll probably go with my book club choice: Dawn by Octavia Butler.

Some embarrassing self-promo

Dawn of Purple and Grey, book 1 in the Hyllethan Gifts series is available from Amazon as a paperback and as an ebook. It is now also available from Barnes and Noble and Book Depository.

Till next time,

Caroline

The ABC of Epic Fantasy: Into the Inferno

Epic fantasy novels catapult their protagonists into metaphorical infernos. The conflicts, obstacles and heartache that the often unprepared protagonists face are the forge, shaping the characters into the resilient and heroic individuals they become. One character that comes to mind is Samwise, in Lord of the Rings. He faces all that Frodo faces and helps to keep Frodo on track. Frodo and Middle Earth owe much to Samwise. In Dawn of Purple and Grey, too the protagonist, Shael, would not have faced and accepted her true nature and potential if she hadn’t embarked on a journey that led her to face her own Mount Doom.

I’d like to think that these epic characters help us readers face, climb and overcome our own Mount Doom, in whichever form that takes.

The ebook version of Dawn of Purple and Grey is free on Kindle Unlimited.

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The ABC of Epic Fantasy: High versus Epic Fantasy

Do you think there is a real difference between Epic fantasy and High fantasy? Nowadays, few writers seem to use the term High fantasy. In fact, many people seem to believe that the terms can be used interchangeably but most posts on the subject seem to agree that there is a distinction.

High fantasy

Focuses on particular characters and their decisions, rather than on a huge cast. Characters tend to be elves, dragons, wizards, dwarfs who are often royal. Like Epic fantasy, these characters could be involved in a quest, often to defeat an evil lord of immeasurable power.  The setting is often medieval in character.

 Epic fantasy

Deals with situations that impact an entire continent/world/universe;Have a large cast of characters, so that one often finds it difficult to keep track of who’s who;Does not restrict itself to the races and creatures one associates with High fantasy. So Mistborn is epic fantasy but not high fantasy. Doesn’t necessarily take place in medieval settings; Tends to be loooong; Often has a fairly straightforward distinction between good and evil.

Do you think we need to distinguish between high and epic fantasy?

And would you consider The Hobbit as High fantasy and the Lord of the Rings Epic fantasy? Or is this splitting hairs?

The ebook version of Dawn of Purple and Grey is free on Kindle Unlimited.

#epicfantasy #epicfantasybooks #epicfantasynovels #epicfantasyseries #epicfantasybookseries #epicfantasyadventure #highfantasy #amreadingfantasy

Q is for Quest

Book two in the Hyllethan Gifts series is finally at the editor’s. It’s the longest work I’ve ever written, running to 113,000 words, so it’s a relief to get that done Another bit of exciting (to me) news is that I’ve received the files for the cover. I hope you like it!

Q is for Quest

Today’s literary device is strongly tied to the type of fiction I enjoy reading and writing. A hero is faced with impossible odds and goes on a quest to… find lost treasure, or save someone, or solve a mystery, or recover something (as in finding the stolen Hyllethan gifts in Dawn of Purple and Grey, or as in Frodo setting off to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom in Mordor…)

To read on, please go to carolinesciriha.substack.com.

#writingcommunity #amwriting #amreading #literarydevice #epicfantasy #epicfantasynovels #epicfantasybooks

The ABC of Epic Fantasy: Good vs Evil

Who doesn’t enjoy reading about a hero (often flawed or an underdog) fighting—and hopefully winning—against seemingly impossible odds? That’s to me one of the aspects that make Epic Fantasy so much fun to read and write.

Who are your favourite heroes? I’ll start the list with Frodo.

The ebook version of Dawn of Purple and Grey is free on Kindle Unlimited.

#epicfantasy #epicfantasybooks #epicfantasynovels #epicfantasyseries #epicfantasybookseries #epicfantasyadventure #epicheros

The ABC of Epic Fantasy: Fae

Last week I wrote about Elven; today’s letter led to a similar type of fantasy character: Fae.
The Fae, or the Fair Folk as they are often called, are derived from Celtic mythology while Elves/the Elven call to mind Tolkien and Norse myths.
To me Elven and Fae are somewhat related concepts as the beings are often depicted as having similar physical and supernatural characteristics, but I consider Fae as bordering more on the self-centred, the thoughtlessly cruel, the superficial or capricious. Do you agree? What characteristics distinguish Fae from Elven?
The ebook version of Dawn of Purple and Grey is free on Kindle Unlimited.

epicfantasy #epicfantasybooks #epicfantasynovels #epicfantasyseries #epicfantasybookseries #epicfantasyadventure #elves #fae

P is for Personification

As those of you who follow me on this site and other social media already know, NeoSapiens, an anthology of short fantasy and science fiction stories, is set to be released next week, and my short story Shades of Red and Wolf will feature there. The story is set in the futuristic world of a previous story, also published by New Myths (Knight of Pawns) where Were struggle to survive in a world governed by the Unchanged.

In case you’re wondering, anthropomorphism doesn’t feature in those stories but today’s literary device, personification does.

Examples from Shades of Red and Wolf:

“The very houses seemed to be holding their breath, waiting for what was to come.”

“Phee’s heart threatened to bound out of her chest.”

To read on, please go to carolinesciriha.substack.com.

By subscribing to carolinesciriha.substack.com you’ll receive my twice monthly newsletter in your inbox and as a thank you for your trust, you’ll get access to one of my most light-hearted short stories.

The ABC of Epic Fantasy: Elves

Elves_the ABC of Epic Fantasy

Thanks mainly to Tolkien, our mental image of elves is of a pointed-eared race of long-lived or immortal beings. Elves are often depicted as cold and remote but ethereally beautiful with sharp senses, superior metal and craft skills, and supernatural abilities often due to their affinity with nature.

When I first drafted Dawn of Purple and Grey, I sub-titled it The Elven Gifts, but I realised quite early on that the word Elven would carry all the associations that Tolkien has tied to the term. That was something I didn’t want as my race was not quite Tolkien-esque. This led to the enemy race becoming the Hyllethans, meaning Children of Etha (Earth) in the Hyllethan tongue. The Hyllethans still have some of the characteristics associated with Tolkien’s elves, such as the pointed ears and their affinity with nature which enables them to develop particular talents, such as keener senses and the ability to influence nature, but they are not remarkably long-lived nor immortal.

The ebook version of Dawn of Purple and Grey is available at $2.99; the print version is available at $14.99.

#epicfantasy #epicfantasybooks #epicfantasynovels #epicfantasyseries #epicfantasybookseries #epicfantasyadventure #elves