Ian Lewis's Blog: Ian Lewis Fiction - Posts Tagged "from-legend"
Batman, a Fantasy, and a Western all in a blender
I'm excited to announce the release of my new novel! "The Reeve Book I: From Legend" is the first in what will be a five-book Historical Fantasy series. There's a lot that went into this story from a conceptual viewpoint, so much that I worried whether I could effectively articulate my vision. The title of this very post is how I went about describing it to people early on. Sounds kind of out there, right? Well, all along my goal was to write something accessible, and in the end, I feel I was able to temper the narrative despite the ambitious nature of the project. So, let's dive in.
It started out with an abstract idea that came out of left field, very much undeveloped. I was looking at my mundane surroundings, wondering what my environment would look like in context of a Fantasy novel—sort of an alternate reality, if you will. This idea was so unexpected because I'm not a big Fantasy guy. There are some exceptions (notably the original Star Wars trilogy—and before you say it's Sci Fi and not Fantasy, let me say two words that recently changed my mind on this: Space Wizards), but magic, dragons, elves, orcs, and the like are just not my thing. At least not the classic, medieval interpretation of them.
I quickly abandoned the idea of a medieval version of Northeast Ohio because of that, but the alternate history idea stuck with me, and more specifically the idea of a stunted world. Not the kind where we progress as normal and then at some point in the future there's an apocalyptic event, but rather at some point in the past something terrible happens, and the present as we know it never occurs.
In the world I posited, things go awry in the 1100s. Here are the assumptions I provide to the reader at the beginning of the book:
Man once pursued alchemy seeking the purification of the human body and soul. Fueled by his vanity and pride, his pursuit gave birth instead to bastard mutations and obfuscation of knowledge, culture, and religion. The world has since been plunged into darkness.
Fast-forward centuries later, and the world has followed a trajectory somewhat different than our own: the Japanese reach North America before the Europeans do, Gothic architecture finds its home on the shores of Lake Erie, and technology is more or less at a Colonial/Victorian level despite it being the year 2017. I still needed a plot and characters, though.
Enter the album Koi No Yokan by the Deftones. I've talked before about how much music influences my writing. In this case I was listening to this album a lot during the germination stages of the novel, and subsequently the pacing and to a certain extent the plot were inspired by it. The lyrics in the first and final tracks especially fueled some of the concepts/scenes; they suggested things to my rampant imagination that just stuck.
A bigger influence, though, might be the Batman archetype, as a co-worker phrased it. I like the term so I'm running with it. I've always been fascinated with the Batman universe, and so the protagonist is to a large extent modeled on the "world's greatest detective." Whereas Batman is a polymath and a supreme athlete, Logan Hale/The Reeve is an approximation of that. Physically imposing, brooding, athletic, well-read. And yeah, he likes to prowl from above. Some of it's a bit on the nose, but I reasoned that even Batman had his influences (see Zorro and The Shadow).
The Reeve isn't a vigilante, however. He's a lawman—more or less a sheriff type of character. In fact, the word "sheriff" is derived from the term "Shire-Reeve." Hence the Reeve. And therein lies the subtle Western influences. Logan is the highest peace officer in the city of Beldenridge, and it's his devotion (or is it an obsession?) that prompts him to set out on a desperate trail into the unknown, pitted against the elements.
There's a lot to be said about Beldenridge (modern day Avon/Avon Lake). It's the grand ideal of its founder's intent to build the perfect city—sort of the Cyrus Pinkney/Gotham idea that I remember from the Destroyer storyline in Batman. I tried to capture the muted pallor of autumn skies in Northeast Ohio as well as the fickle weather. It's often such a depressing, washed out effect that permeates the feel of a damp morning along Lake Erie; I hope I did that justice. There are also some Easter eggs throughout the book for those who know Lorain County history.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the philosophical thrust that will underpin the series. You don't get too much of it in the first book—just a hint, really—but there will be something for all you thinking types as everything unfolds. The gist is that I've found myself consumed with the idea that it's logically impossible for God not to exist. Or worded another way, it's logically incoherent to even ask whether God exists.
Now if you're first inclination is to go running to Richard Dawkins complaining about flying spaghetti monsters or magical sky buddies, ask yourself if you aren't railing against a caricature or perhaps a popularized stereotype. My project isn't to advocate for any particular belief system, only to outline the philosophical concept of what we'll colloquially refer to as God, supported by arguments that have an inescapable cumulative effect. I want to strip away dogma and preconceptions as well as emotionally-driven responses, and then distill things down to logic and reason. The question isn't whether you'll like the conclusion or even find it palatable; the question is whether you can give it intellectual assent.
As it stands, here's my plan with regard to where these arguments will be featured:
Book 2: The Moral Argument
Book 3: The Fine-Tuning Argument
Book 4: The Cosmological Argument
Book 5: The Ontological Argument
Book 1 hints at Leibniz's Principle of Sufficient Reason, but it's brief since "From Legend" is very much a setup for the rest of the series. The challenge for me is going to be how I can weave these arguments into the narrative while still telling a good yarn! I hope you stick it out to see if I succeed.
You can buy a copy of "From Legend" wherever eBooks are sold, or if you want a paperback, you can order from Amazon (which should be available in a day or two).
As always, thanks for reading, and please take the time to leave a rating/review.
It started out with an abstract idea that came out of left field, very much undeveloped. I was looking at my mundane surroundings, wondering what my environment would look like in context of a Fantasy novel—sort of an alternate reality, if you will. This idea was so unexpected because I'm not a big Fantasy guy. There are some exceptions (notably the original Star Wars trilogy—and before you say it's Sci Fi and not Fantasy, let me say two words that recently changed my mind on this: Space Wizards), but magic, dragons, elves, orcs, and the like are just not my thing. At least not the classic, medieval interpretation of them.
I quickly abandoned the idea of a medieval version of Northeast Ohio because of that, but the alternate history idea stuck with me, and more specifically the idea of a stunted world. Not the kind where we progress as normal and then at some point in the future there's an apocalyptic event, but rather at some point in the past something terrible happens, and the present as we know it never occurs.
In the world I posited, things go awry in the 1100s. Here are the assumptions I provide to the reader at the beginning of the book:
Man once pursued alchemy seeking the purification of the human body and soul. Fueled by his vanity and pride, his pursuit gave birth instead to bastard mutations and obfuscation of knowledge, culture, and religion. The world has since been plunged into darkness.
Fast-forward centuries later, and the world has followed a trajectory somewhat different than our own: the Japanese reach North America before the Europeans do, Gothic architecture finds its home on the shores of Lake Erie, and technology is more or less at a Colonial/Victorian level despite it being the year 2017. I still needed a plot and characters, though.
Enter the album Koi No Yokan by the Deftones. I've talked before about how much music influences my writing. In this case I was listening to this album a lot during the germination stages of the novel, and subsequently the pacing and to a certain extent the plot were inspired by it. The lyrics in the first and final tracks especially fueled some of the concepts/scenes; they suggested things to my rampant imagination that just stuck.
A bigger influence, though, might be the Batman archetype, as a co-worker phrased it. I like the term so I'm running with it. I've always been fascinated with the Batman universe, and so the protagonist is to a large extent modeled on the "world's greatest detective." Whereas Batman is a polymath and a supreme athlete, Logan Hale/The Reeve is an approximation of that. Physically imposing, brooding, athletic, well-read. And yeah, he likes to prowl from above. Some of it's a bit on the nose, but I reasoned that even Batman had his influences (see Zorro and The Shadow).
The Reeve isn't a vigilante, however. He's a lawman—more or less a sheriff type of character. In fact, the word "sheriff" is derived from the term "Shire-Reeve." Hence the Reeve. And therein lies the subtle Western influences. Logan is the highest peace officer in the city of Beldenridge, and it's his devotion (or is it an obsession?) that prompts him to set out on a desperate trail into the unknown, pitted against the elements.
There's a lot to be said about Beldenridge (modern day Avon/Avon Lake). It's the grand ideal of its founder's intent to build the perfect city—sort of the Cyrus Pinkney/Gotham idea that I remember from the Destroyer storyline in Batman. I tried to capture the muted pallor of autumn skies in Northeast Ohio as well as the fickle weather. It's often such a depressing, washed out effect that permeates the feel of a damp morning along Lake Erie; I hope I did that justice. There are also some Easter eggs throughout the book for those who know Lorain County history.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the philosophical thrust that will underpin the series. You don't get too much of it in the first book—just a hint, really—but there will be something for all you thinking types as everything unfolds. The gist is that I've found myself consumed with the idea that it's logically impossible for God not to exist. Or worded another way, it's logically incoherent to even ask whether God exists.
Now if you're first inclination is to go running to Richard Dawkins complaining about flying spaghetti monsters or magical sky buddies, ask yourself if you aren't railing against a caricature or perhaps a popularized stereotype. My project isn't to advocate for any particular belief system, only to outline the philosophical concept of what we'll colloquially refer to as God, supported by arguments that have an inescapable cumulative effect. I want to strip away dogma and preconceptions as well as emotionally-driven responses, and then distill things down to logic and reason. The question isn't whether you'll like the conclusion or even find it palatable; the question is whether you can give it intellectual assent.
As it stands, here's my plan with regard to where these arguments will be featured:
Book 2: The Moral Argument
Book 3: The Fine-Tuning Argument
Book 4: The Cosmological Argument
Book 5: The Ontological Argument
Book 1 hints at Leibniz's Principle of Sufficient Reason, but it's brief since "From Legend" is very much a setup for the rest of the series. The challenge for me is going to be how I can weave these arguments into the narrative while still telling a good yarn! I hope you stick it out to see if I succeed.
You can buy a copy of "From Legend" wherever eBooks are sold, or if you want a paperback, you can order from Amazon (which should be available in a day or two).
As always, thanks for reading, and please take the time to leave a rating/review.
Promptly Written Volume 1 and the SPFBO Sampler
It's been a while since my last post. A long while. But I assure you I've been busy. I'm working on the fourth book in the Driver series which I hope to have out sometime this year--hopefully by summer. I've also been writing monthly installments for the Promptly Written Podcast, which brings me to some overdue news:
The first season's worth of stories are now available in Promptly Written Volume 1. Get a copy wherever eBooks are sold, or if you prefer paperback, hit up Amazon:
https://books2read.com/u/m2r291
The first season turned out really well, and Matt (my co-host) and I had a lot of fun tackling the prompts from month to month. I hope you'll tune in and listen at some point. We run the gamut of genres and often end up with stories 180 degrees off of one another.
I also participated in the 5th annual Self Published Fantasy Blog Off (SPFBO) contest. My entry was From Legend (a Gothic Western heavily influenced by Batman). Though I didn't make it into the finals, I got a respectable review out of it and hopefully some exposure to new readers. If you haven't read From Legend yet, you can check out the first five chapters in the SPFBO Sampler, along with excerpts from many other participants in this year's and past contests. The best part is it's free. You can download it here:
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/ett75g3wn3
Well, it's back to writing. Keep an eye out for the next book!
The first season's worth of stories are now available in Promptly Written Volume 1. Get a copy wherever eBooks are sold, or if you prefer paperback, hit up Amazon:
https://books2read.com/u/m2r291
The first season turned out really well, and Matt (my co-host) and I had a lot of fun tackling the prompts from month to month. I hope you'll tune in and listen at some point. We run the gamut of genres and often end up with stories 180 degrees off of one another.
I also participated in the 5th annual Self Published Fantasy Blog Off (SPFBO) contest. My entry was From Legend (a Gothic Western heavily influenced by Batman). Though I didn't make it into the finals, I got a respectable review out of it and hopefully some exposure to new readers. If you haven't read From Legend yet, you can check out the first five chapters in the SPFBO Sampler, along with excerpts from many other participants in this year's and past contests. The best part is it's free. You can download it here:
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/ett75g3wn3
Well, it's back to writing. Keep an eye out for the next book!
New release: Villains
I’m really excited to announce the release of book two in the Reeve series: Villains. Clocking in around 99,000 words, Villains continues the Gothic Western saga which imagines an alternate, post-alchemy version of North America as seen in From Legend, the first installment released in 2019.
This story came together faster than I anticipated, which plays into my desire to remain prolific. Ideas consume me for a limited amount of time before I become bored with them, and so getting a project over the finish line is freeing in a way—it gives one a sense of accomplishment as well as kindles a desire to tackle something new.
I was reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy at the outset of the writing process, and it really invigorated my efforts from a style perspective. Specifically, I leaned more toward a relaxed-but-not-quite-stream-of-consciousness approach along with the use of polysyndeton. McCarthy has such a way of painting a picture that’s very much unrestrained by convention or even punctuation. While I didn’t abandon convention to the extent he does, I let my thoughts widen a bit and paid less attention to trying to explicitly define what was in my mind’s eye. Instead, I wanted to let the reader get carried away by their own imagination by what I hope is evocative prose.
If you’ve read From Legend, you’ll know it left things in a bit of a lurch. The primary protagonist—Logan Hale—made a very unexpected decision at a pivotal moment in the story. Villains picks up immediately after that, leaving no uncertainty as to where Logan’s head is at or what’s become of his once fervent desire to protect his city. The Batman mythos runs strong in his character, maybe too strong, but that’s how he lives in my mind, and so that’s how he’s portrayed. And it’s that obsessive, brooding nature that continues to dog him as he tries to overcome his failures.
The book features a Batman-esque rogues' gallery of ne’er do wells as well, many of which feature in their own POV chapters. I don’t often enjoy writing from the antagonists’ perspective, but in this case, it was an interesting exercise because it forced me to consider what makes people evil, or rather why people make evil choices. The question of whether objective moral values and duties exist is an important idea in the book as it pertains to the philosophical underpinnings that will feature throughout the series: the exploration of whether a greatest conceivable being exists—what the book refers to as the Absolute, or what we would colloquially call God.
This is really my enterprise here, the examination of four philosophical arguments in each of the subsequent books. Villains focuses on the Moral Argument for the existence of God, and I went back and forth regarding how prominently to feature it. I didn’t know whether to bury it in symbolism or surface it in dialogue. I ended up mostly opting for the latter since I don’t think I’m skilled enough to do the former.
And I don’t know if it works. I don’t know if it’s too on the nose. I don’t know if it comes off as too intellectually snooty. Too dry, perhaps. I waffle about my opinion of it, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing. The book could be brilliant, or it could be the work of a hack (who most certainly relied on greater thinkers than himself in any case). It could be a muddled mess in between—but it’s what I wrote, and it’s time to let it out into the world. My limited abilities will only permit so much polish before it’s as good as it’s going to get.
The following quote from J.R.R. Tolkien captures my cautiously optimistic sentiment knowing that my endeavors, however noble I want them to be, are imperfect:
“We have come from God, and inevitably the myths woven by us, though they contain error, will also reflect a splintered fragment of the true light, the eternal truth that is with God.”
I hope you enjoy Villains; I truly enjoyed writing it. The narrative is dark but ultimately doesn’t leave you hopeless. And I think that’s the takeaway—that despite every horrific reason one might have to view life as something of unavoidable despair, there is a glimmer still, meaning to be found, something that enables one to endure the long, hard road ahead.
This story came together faster than I anticipated, which plays into my desire to remain prolific. Ideas consume me for a limited amount of time before I become bored with them, and so getting a project over the finish line is freeing in a way—it gives one a sense of accomplishment as well as kindles a desire to tackle something new.
I was reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy at the outset of the writing process, and it really invigorated my efforts from a style perspective. Specifically, I leaned more toward a relaxed-but-not-quite-stream-of-consciousness approach along with the use of polysyndeton. McCarthy has such a way of painting a picture that’s very much unrestrained by convention or even punctuation. While I didn’t abandon convention to the extent he does, I let my thoughts widen a bit and paid less attention to trying to explicitly define what was in my mind’s eye. Instead, I wanted to let the reader get carried away by their own imagination by what I hope is evocative prose.
If you’ve read From Legend, you’ll know it left things in a bit of a lurch. The primary protagonist—Logan Hale—made a very unexpected decision at a pivotal moment in the story. Villains picks up immediately after that, leaving no uncertainty as to where Logan’s head is at or what’s become of his once fervent desire to protect his city. The Batman mythos runs strong in his character, maybe too strong, but that’s how he lives in my mind, and so that’s how he’s portrayed. And it’s that obsessive, brooding nature that continues to dog him as he tries to overcome his failures.
The book features a Batman-esque rogues' gallery of ne’er do wells as well, many of which feature in their own POV chapters. I don’t often enjoy writing from the antagonists’ perspective, but in this case, it was an interesting exercise because it forced me to consider what makes people evil, or rather why people make evil choices. The question of whether objective moral values and duties exist is an important idea in the book as it pertains to the philosophical underpinnings that will feature throughout the series: the exploration of whether a greatest conceivable being exists—what the book refers to as the Absolute, or what we would colloquially call God.
This is really my enterprise here, the examination of four philosophical arguments in each of the subsequent books. Villains focuses on the Moral Argument for the existence of God, and I went back and forth regarding how prominently to feature it. I didn’t know whether to bury it in symbolism or surface it in dialogue. I ended up mostly opting for the latter since I don’t think I’m skilled enough to do the former.
And I don’t know if it works. I don’t know if it’s too on the nose. I don’t know if it comes off as too intellectually snooty. Too dry, perhaps. I waffle about my opinion of it, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing. The book could be brilliant, or it could be the work of a hack (who most certainly relied on greater thinkers than himself in any case). It could be a muddled mess in between—but it’s what I wrote, and it’s time to let it out into the world. My limited abilities will only permit so much polish before it’s as good as it’s going to get.
The following quote from J.R.R. Tolkien captures my cautiously optimistic sentiment knowing that my endeavors, however noble I want them to be, are imperfect:
“We have come from God, and inevitably the myths woven by us, though they contain error, will also reflect a splintered fragment of the true light, the eternal truth that is with God.”
I hope you enjoy Villains; I truly enjoyed writing it. The narrative is dark but ultimately doesn’t leave you hopeless. And I think that’s the takeaway—that despite every horrific reason one might have to view life as something of unavoidable despair, there is a glimmer still, meaning to be found, something that enables one to endure the long, hard road ahead.
