Jonathan Moeller's Blog, page 310

official description for FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT

Here is the official book description for FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT:

From the author of DEMONSOULED and THE GHOSTS, here is a new epic fantasy of high adventure, heroism, and daring deeds.

A thousand years ago, the last grandson of Arthur Pendragon led the survivors of Britain through a magical gate to a new world, a world of magic and high elves, of orcs and kobolds and stranger, darker creatures. Now the descendants of the exiles rule a mighty kingdom, peaceful and prosperous under the rule of the High King. 

But a shadow threatens to devour the kingdom. 

RIDMARK ARBAN was once a Swordbearer, a knight of renown. Now he is a branded outcast, stripped of his sword, and despised as a traitor. 

But he alone sees the danger to come.

CALLIANDE awakens in the darkness, her memories gone, and creatures of terrible power hunting her. 

For she alone holds the secret that can save the world…or destroy it utterly. 

The secret of the Frostborn.

-JM

another excerpt from FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT

I am continuing to edit FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT. So let’s have another short excerpt!

“You don’t have to do this,” said Ridmark.

“Nonsense,” said Caius. “You are permitted a witness and a herald, to ensure that the trial is fair.”

“True,” said Ridmark. “And a priest to administer the last rites, if I am mortally wounded?”

“Well,” said Caius. “Yes.”

-JM

Reader Question Day #70 – why did Caina go blonde?

SD asks what has, so far, been the most common reader question about GHOST IN THE ASHES:

What gave you the idea to make Caina blonde though?

Note that the answer to this question CONTAINS SPOILERS for GHOST IN THE ASHES.

Within the terms of the story, it was purely a practical method of disguise. Despite Caina’s best efforts to remain anonymous, she has been at the center of some very tumultuous events, and so certai nvery powerful people are starting to have an inkling of who she really is – and some of those powerful people want her dead, quite badly (like Decius Aberon, for one, who would kill her simply to spite Corvalis). Or Lord Haeron Icaraeus’s former supporters – using her old disguise as “Countess Marianna Nereide” would have been an invitation to disaster. So dyeing her hair was an obvious and easy way to help disguise her true identity. In addition, she needs to disappear into the disguise of “Sonya Tornesti” for some time, and the dye helps with that.

For me as a writer, it was fun to do because for all her pragmatism, Caina is just vain enough to be annoyed at having to change her hair color (not that this stops her from doing it). Also, one of the subplots of GHOST IN THE ASHES is how much Caina unexpectedly enjoys her disguise as Sonya Tornesti, and how she fears it will subsume her. The hair dye was a good physical symbol of that.

So that was where the idea originated.

Several people write to ask:

When is GHOST IN THE MASK coming out?

Before the end of the year. Ideally the end of September or sometime in October, though as ever we are subject to the vagaries of life and the weather. I’m reasonably satisfied with my outline for the book, and hope to start it as soon as FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT is finished.

-JM

Morvyrkrad and ancient tombs of unspeakable horror

Someone sent me a nice email praising SOUL OF SORCERY (Demonsouled #5), in particular the chapters that center around the ancient tomb of Morvyrkrad. The reader particularly liked the sense of dread and foreboding around Morvyrkrad, of finding something horrific sealed away in an ancient place, and wondered if I had any particular experiences that inspired it.

Well. Let me tell you a story.

A while back someone brought me a desktop PC repair. A desktop PC, one of those old beige Optiplex GX400 towers Dell used to manufacture before they tried (and mostly failed) to do cool designs.

“You have cats, don’t you?” I said, dusting off the top of the case.

“Yup,” said the client.

“I bet you smoke, too, don’t you?” I said.

“Yup,” said the client.

“How long have you had this computer?”

“Nine years.”

“And in that time,” I said, “it’s never been moved?”

“Nope.”

I nodded, took a deep breath to steel myself, and then opened the computer case.

An inch of smoke-scented gray fur.

Covering every single component. Like 1970s shag carpeting from hell.

The fact that the computer turned on at all was astonishing. The fact that the client’s house had not burned down was proof that the age of miracles had not yet passed from the Earth.

And that was when I learned all I needed to know about finding something horrific sealed away in an ancient place.

-JM

HARD MAGIC, by Larry Correia

Based on the cover art, I picked up this book anticipating something along the lines of THE DRESDEN FILES or GARRETT, P.I – you know, a hardbitten private investigator solves crimes involving supernatural creatures while dealing with the ever-evolving mess that is his personal and/or love life. (Depending on the skill of the writer in question, the series might eventually degenerate into an endless sequence of werewolf-on-vampire romantic interludes.)

HARD MAGIC is nothing like that.

It is speculative fiction in the purest sense of the word – changing one element of human history or technology and asking “what if?” from the question. In the case of this book, the premise is that in the mid-19th century, humans started developing magical powers for unknown reasons. As one might expect, this played havoc with quite a few different aspects of human society – World War I was bad, but World War I with zombies and fire wizards was much worse.

HARD MAGIC opens at the start of the Great Depression. Despite the Depression, the world is at peace – Nikola Tesla figured out how to use magic to build his fabled teleforce Death Ray, and Tesla’ s “Peace Rays” have made war obsolete…or so claims the government. Jake Sullivan, an ex-con with magical superstrength, is recruited by the Bureau of Investigation (the precursor to the modern FBI) to help bring down dangerous “Actives”, or magically empowered individuals. Jake quickly realizes that the Bureau is in over its head – in HARD MAGIC, Japan has been taken over by magic-using eugenic-minded fascists, led by an ancient wizard who is determined to make humanity stronger to face some unknown enemy…no matter how many people he has to kill in the process.

Meanwhile, an unwanted girl named Faye, feared for her unusual magical power of teleportation, grows up with her adoptive grandfather, who also has the same power. One day when cars full of armed men show up at her grandfather’s farm, Faye quickly realizes that Grandpa has a secret…and a lot of people are willing to kill to get their hands on that secret.

HARD MAGIC is chock-full of action, guns, adventure, and cool magical powers. It’s also a fascinating piece of speculative fiction. How would the use of magical powers shape human history? I especially liked the quotes from historical figures at the start of each chapter, altered slightly to contain the magical perspective. This also helps make the villains particularly villainous – 20th century era eugenics were bad enough, but magic-backed eugenics are even worse. (Also, there seems to be an unwritten law of alternate history fiction that zeppelins must make an appearance, and HARD MAGIC has zeppelins in spades.)

Definitely recommended, and I’ll be reading the sequel later this year.

-JM

so what will GHOST IN THE MASK be about?

Now that GHOST IN THE ASHES is out, a few people have asked 1.) when is the next book in the series, GHOST IN THE MASK, coming out, 2.) what will the book be about, and 3.) who will the point of view characters be?

Answers follow! Note that this has spoilers for GHOST IN THE ASHES.

1.) I’m going to start writing it in August, so hopefully it will come out by the end of September or October.

2.) Lord Corbould Maraeus (from GHOST IN THE STORM and GHOST IN THE STONE) has a master plan to crush New Kyre, and he’s convinced the Emperor to put it into motion. The Empire can’t defeat New Kyre on sea, and the city of New Kyre itself is too far away (with too much neutral territory in between), so the Empire can’t send an army to attack New Kyre.

What the Empire can do, however, is close its ports to Kyracian trade…and the Empire has quite a lot of ports. Additionally, the Empire can persuade other nations to close their ports to Kyracian trade, and New Kyre is utterly dependent on trade for its income. Since peace with Istarinmul came at the end of GHOST IN THE ASHES, the Empire has already persuaded Istarinmul to close the Starfall Straits to Kyracian ships, cutting off half of New Kyre’s trade income. If Lord Corbould can just convince the Anshani to stop selling grain to the Kyracians, New Kyre is going to be in big, big trouble…because New Kyre does not control enough arable land to feed itself. The Kyracians have the best navy in the world, but that does no good if there’s no silver to pay the rowers.

If Lord Corbould’s plan works, the Empire is going to strangle New Kyre, all without losing a single ship or Legionary. So all the efforts of the Ghosts are going into persuading, arranging, or coercing Anshani nobles into turning against the Kyracians.

And in the midst of all this upheaval, a strange and dangerous mystery drops into Caina’s lap.

Someone in Malarae is committing murders using an Dustblade, an extremely dangerous weapon that turns its victims to ash with a single touch. This is bad enough, but there’s only once place the killer could have found an Dustblade.

Caer Magia, once the capital of the Magisterium, now a haunted and accursed ruin. One hundred and fifty years before Caina’s time, the magi of the Magisterium ruled the Empire, fighting against both the Emperor and the Ghosts. To defeat their foes, the most powerful magi gathered in Caer Magia and cast a mighty spell to create a weapon of sufficient power to destroy all their enemies. Unfortunately, something went wrong, killing all the magi…and all of the one hundred thousand people living in Caer Magia.

And to this day, if anyone sets foot within the ruins of Caer Magia for more than a few moments, they drop dead for no discernible reason.

Which means someone got in Caer Magia long enough to obtain a Dustblade. That in turn means someone else could enter Caer Magia long enough to bring out something else. And that is very bad, because the magi left things far nastier than mere Dustblades within the walls of Caer Magia.

Since the bulk of the Ghosts’ efforts are going towards defeating New Kyre, Caina is sent to solve this mystery since there is no one else to do it…and there is no one better to handle it.

3.) Caina will be the main POV character, but Kylon of House Kardamnos will be back as a POV character. Additionally, Claudia Aberon will be a POV character for the first time.

-JM

FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT, a second excerpt

Edits are still underway. So let’s have a second excerpt from FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT!

The serpentine creature was the size of a large dog, through its bat-like wings stretched for a dozen feet in either direction from its slender body. Gleaming copper-colored scales covered the creature from its head to its pointed tail, and talons the color of sooty iron jutted from its paws. Its narrow head rotated back and forth on the end of its long neck, and its gleaming yellow eyes regarded Ridmark with an unblinking stare.

Caius frowned. “Is that a…”

“Drake. A fire drake, yes,” said Ridmark. “Spread out your hands. Make yourself look bigger, and start moving to the side.” He spread his arms, staff in his right hand, and moved to the left while Caius moved to the right. “And for God’s sake don’t run at it.”

“Small little devil,” said Caius, and his deep voice turned the drake’s attention toward him. “One good blow from my mace should crush its skull.”

“Aye,” said Ridmark, “and if you miss, you won’t get a second blow, because your head will be on fire.”

-JM

an excerpt from FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT

I am busily editing FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT, so let’s have an excerpt!

His voice grew thicker, his breathing harsher. “The bearer…the bearer of the shadow. You were right about him, too. This was his doing. Everything has been his doing…and he has been laboring in the darkness for centuries before Malahan Pendragon raised the first stone of Tarlion itself. Mistress, please, beware…he will come for you…he…”

The specter vanished into nothingness.

And the blue glow faded.

With a surge of alarm Calliande realized the glow had been part of the spell. And now that the spell’s message had been delivered, the light would fade away.

Leaving her alone in the darkness.

“No!” she said, her voice echoing off the walls.

The blue light faded away a moment later, leaving her in utter blackness.

-JM

Reader Question Day #69 – The order of THE GHOSTS novels and short stories

JB asks:

I am a huge fan of the ghost series… I was wondering what order do they go in? I have read all of the ones I could find on my kindle even the short stories. I am reading them again but I wanted to go in order from child of the ghosts to ghost in the ashes and I’m not sure where the short stories fit into the rest of the series. I can’t wait till ghost in the mask comes out…I feel like I have watched Caina grow up!!!

Thanks! I’m glad you liked them.

Officially, they should be read in this order:

#1 Child of the Ghosts

#2 Ghost Aria (though Ghost Aria actually takes place during CHILD OF THE GHOSTS)

#3 Ghost in the Flames

#4 Ghost Dagger

#5 Ghost in the Blood

#6 Ghost in the Storm

#7 Ghost in the Stone

#8 Ghost in the Forge

#9 Ghost Claws

#10 Ghost in the Ashes

LKM asks:

Do you write from an outline, or do you just make it up as you go?

A little bit of both. I always write an outline beforehand – usually about 3,000 words to describe the entire book. It’s pretty thorough, but I’m open to improvising if the story demands it.

A good example is Malaric in SOUL OF SORCERY and SOUL OF SKULLS. In the initial outline of of SOUL OF SORCERY, Malaric was simply the mercenary captain Lucan hired to bring him to Morvyrkrad, and then Lucan would betray him and leave him in Morvyrkrad once he had the Wraithaldr. But Malaric’s role expanded the minute I actually wrote him – first he became the assassin the Skulls sent to punish Molly Cravenlock for her betrayal, but Malaric decided his ambitions would be better served by following Lucan.

Which, of course, prompted the obvious question – what were Malaric’s ambitions? Why, to overthrow his father and his younger brothers, and claim the throne of Barellion for himself. So Malaric went from a minor character to one of the principal antagonists in SOUL OF SKULLS. Had I slavishly followed my original outline, that would not have happened.

Celia asks:

Your books rock! I love the ghost books. How did you come up with such an idea as the ghost books and all your other books.

Thanks! I’m glad you liked them. Here’s a longer essay from last year explaining where I got the idea for THE GHOSTS – as with so many things in life, it started with a rejection letter.

-JM

FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT rough draft done

I am pleased to report that I have finished the rough draft for FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT, the first book in my new epic fantasy series. At 95,000 words, I did an average of about 3,518 words a day since June 30th.

Twelve years ago, when I finished what would become the first book of DEMONSOULED, I had a feeling not of completion but of a beginning. That I had in fact just taken my first steps upon a very long journey, a journey that would change my life and lead me I knew not where.

This turned out to be accurate.

Emotions are of course subjective, but I have the same feeling right now about FROSTBORN: THE GRAY KNIGHT. We’ll see whether or not it proves predictive or not.

Meanwhile, I have a few odds and ends to wrap up, and then it’s time to start cracking on edits!

-JM