Dreaming Up the End of the World

by Gail Z. Martin

A blank page is always daunting, no matter how much opportunity it presents.

I don’t know if it ever stops being scary when you start writing a brand new book in a new world with new characters, but if it does, I haven’t gotten to that point yet.

I had gotten very comfortable in my world of the Winter Kingdoms, the setting for my previous six books in the  Chronicles of the Necromancer series and the Fallen Kings Cycle.  I knew the characters.  I had the lay of the land clearly in mind, and I had spent a lot of time creating the culture, religion and history.

But there were stories I wanted to tell that didn’t fit in that world, so for Ice Forged, I had to dream up a whole world–and bring it to its knees.

I’m not a big fan of modern apocalyptic fiction, perhaps a side effect of having grown up during the Cold War.   But the idea of an apocalypse in a medieval setting intrigued me, especially if magic was involved.  I liked the idea of having a culture that was dependent upon magic come apart at the seams when magic goes “off the grid” (so to speak) at the same time as a devastating war.  And I liked the idea that the people whom that culture had thrown away–exiled to a far-off prison colony–might be the only ones who could put the pieces back together.

So with a germ of a plot idea, I started thinking about the characters who could bring the plot to life, and the type of culture that would create the best setting for the story.  The weather in Edgeland, where the prison colony is located, plays a big role in the story, so I needed to think through what impact the weather would have on the colony and how it contrasted with what the colonists were used to.  I thought about the technology of a medieval culture that has acquired its stability and prosperity relying on magic for essential parts of its infrastructure, and what would happen when that infrastructure failed.  I asked myself questions about how magic works in this world (quite differently from how it functioned in my prior world), and how magic factored into the history of this continent.

As I pulled the pieces together, I kept circling back to the characters asking, “How would that affect a person from that culture?”  Doing that helps me to shape the customs, beliefs, holidays, cultural norms, socio-economic divisions and texture of the world, because all those elements arise from a confluence of geography, history, and technology.

So consider this an invitation to come and visit the world of Ice Forged!  I hope you’ll have as much fun exploring as I have had creating this world.

Gail Z. Martin’s newest book, Ice Forged: Book One in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga (Orbit Books), launched in January 2013.  Gail is also the author of the Chronicles of the Necromancer series (Solaris Books) and The Fallen Kings Cycle (Orbit Books).  For more about Gail’s books and short stories, visit www.AscendantKingdoms.com. Be sure to “like” Gail’s Winter Kingdoms Facebook page, follow her on Twitter @GailZMartin, and join her for frequent discussions on Goodreads.

Read an excerpt from Ice Forged here: http://a.pgtb.me/JvGzTt

 

 

Civilian Reader

 

It’s the End of the World as We Know It (Again)

By Gail Z. Martin

What is it about an impending apocalypse that captures the imagination?

Having just survived the “Mayan Calendar” apocalypse, the idea is pretty fresh in everyone’s mind.  Thanks to the Internet, warnings of immanent doom seem to crop up fairly often, so much so that most of us roll our eyes, mutter “another one” and go about our daily business.

Until the time it turns out to be true.

In my new book, Ice Forged, I look at an end of the world scenario in a medieval setting, through the eyes of the survivors.  The magic on which they have come to depend—in much the way we are dependent on our power grid—has vanished.  With it goes the monarchies it upheld, the conveniences and necessities it had provided, and the control over the natural world it imposed.  Amid the chaos and anarchy, the survivors are faced with the challenge to survive long enough to see if there is truth to ancient legends about a way to restore the magic.

I set my apocalyptic story in a medieval setting for several reasons.  First off, most modern-day end of the world stories don’t capture my attention.  I’m jaded, and they sound too much like overhyped headlines.  That wasn’t the setting in which I wanted to immerse my imagination for the better part of a year.

Secondly, I wanted to explore the magic-instead-of-technology angle, as well as the idea that when we have a simple shortcut to do vital tasks, we are at risk of forgetting how to do things the old way.  If the technology (or magic) fails, how do individuals or communities survive if the low-tech ways have been lost?

And the third element that intrigued me was the idea of who a society values and who it throws away.  In Ice Forged, the man who may be able to restore the magic is a disgraced lord who has been exiled to a prison colony in the arctic.  When social norms and civilized culture collapse, the skills and characteristics that made a person an exile—or even a criminal—just might be what it takes to survive.

It’s especially interesting to me because Western Europe did experience an apocalyptic scenario in the Black Plague.  The sheer magnitude of casualties, the swiftness of the disease’s spread and the fear that accompanied it changed the economic, cultural, political and religious fabric of a continent.  Most of the time, we read the 30,000-foot overview and see the Plague years through the lens of time.  But to those who endured it, I’m certain it felt like the end of the world was upon them.

Books and stories are interesting things.  They germinate from the odd bits and pieces in a writer’s memory, shaped by the question, “what if?” I’m looking forward to further exploring my medieval post-apocalyptic world, and I hope you’ll join me!

Gail Z. Martin’s newest book, Ice Forged: Book One in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga (Orbit Books), launched in January 2013.  Gail is also the author of the Chronicles of the Necromancer series (Solaris Books) and The Fallen Kings Cycle (Orbit Books).  For more about Gail’s books and short stories, visit www.AscendantKingdoms.com. Be sure to “like” Gail’s Winter Kingdoms Facebook page, follow her on Twitter @GailZMartin, and join her for frequent discussions on Goodreads.

Read an excerpt from Ice Forged here: http://a.pgtb.me/JvGzTt

 

Fantasy Book Critic

Breaking In A New Pair of Boots—Or a New Fictional World, As The Case May Be

By Gail Z. Martin

Ever buy a pair of boots—or shoes or jeans—and while they fit, they don’t really “fit.”  Not yet.  They haven’t molded to your contours.  You haven’t broken them in.

As a writer, there’s a “breaking in” period when you leave one fictional world that you’ve painstakingly developed and nurtured to begin a new fictional world.  And I know that, as a reader, there’s a little bit of adjustment that also goes along with following a favorite author from one series into another, new set of books.  It takes some getting used to.

I spent many years and six books developing my Chronicles Of The Necromancer/Fallen Kings Cycle world of the Winter Kingdoms, and writing in that world was as comfortable as slipping into a favorite pair of jeans or a well-worn pair of boots.  I knew the neighborhood.  I understood the culture like a native.  I knew the characters well enough that I would sometimes dream in their voices.  It was home.

Then those stories came to a natural resting point and I decided to create a new series in a totally new world with very different characters, which begins with Ice Forged.  And the process of breaking in the new boots began again.

This time around, however, I knew what to expect.  I knew it would take a while to hit my stride, to feel at home.  I gave myself time to get to know the characters and their world.  I sat with the story, explored the culture, and questioned the characters in my mind, and they became real to me.  It’s a gradual process, like learning to feel at home in a new city.  For a while after you move, everything seems strange.  Then one day, like magic, you know where you’re going without thinking about it. And you realize that you’re home.

Just as I went through an adjustment moving from one series to another, I know readers of my first six books will also feel a little displaced.  The worlds, characters, and cultures are very different, but I believe they are each intriguing in their own way.  Yes, there’s a pang when you miss a favorite character, but my hope is that the concept of Ice Forged and the new series will intrigue readers enough to get past the “new kid on the block blues” and that they will move into the new neighborhood with me and share the adventure.

There are lots of stories I still hope to tell in my world of the Winter Kingdoms, but the plot line takes a natural break for a while, and as readers of my books can attest, I’ve put my characters through an awful lot—they deserve a chance to put their feet up and have a few beers.  Duty will call them back to action soon enough.

In the meantime, c’mon over to my other world and explore the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga, beginning with Ice Forged. It’s full of new favorite characters you haven’t met yet, a whole new world to explore, and an impossible quest (or two).  Their story begins with the end of the world.  Come join the adventure!

Gail Z. Martin’s newest book, Ice Forged: Book One in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga (Orbit Books), launched in January 2013.  Gail is also the author of the Chronicles of the Necromancer series (Solaris Books) and The Fallen Kings Cycle (Orbit Books).  For more about Gail’s books and short stories, visit www.AscendantKingdoms.com. Be sure to “like” Gail’s Winter Kingdoms Facebook page, follow her on Twitter @GailZMartin, and join her for frequent discussions on Goodreads.

Read an excerpt from Ice Forged here: http://a.pgtb.me/JvGzTt

 

BookLifeNow

The Beginning of The End (Of The World)

By Gail Z. Martin

BookLifeNow asked me about the story behind the first chapter of Ice Forged, so here we go!

Ice Forged begins with a murder.  Blaine McFadden murders his father for molesting his sister.  Ian McFadden has had it coming for a long time.  He’s an abusive bully who beat his sons, killed their mother, and believes he’s entitled to anything he wants from anyone.  After years of enduring his father’s abuse, Blaine is finally pushed too far.  Ian McFadden dies.

We step into the middle of this family drama at its climax.  Blaine expects to die for his crime. He figures his death is a small price to pay for his sister’s safety and for an end to his father’s abuse.  He doesn’t count on mercy from the king, who decrees exile instead of execution. Now, instead of a quick death, Blaine is shipped out to a notorious prison colony in an arctic wasteland, where death isn’t to be feared—it’s to be courted.

I chose to begin the book at this point because it shows us who Blaine McFadden is.  We see what he’s willing to give up, what he values above all else, and just what he’s made of.  By stepping into Blaine’s story at this point, we also see his homeland, creating a contrast between the world from which he came and the world into which he is being thrust.  And when the world that sent Blaine into exile comes crashing down as a result of a devastating war and a doomsday magical strike, the fate of civilization depends a man it threw away.

Gail Z. Martin’s newest book, Ice Forged: Book One in the Ascendant Kingdoms Saga (Orbit Books), launched in January 2013.  Gail is also the author of the Chronicles of the Necromancer series (Solaris Books) and The Fallen Kings Cycle (Orbit Books).  For more about Gail’s books and short stories, visit www.AscendantKingdoms.com. Be sure to “like” Gail’s Winter Kingdoms Facebook page, follow her on Twitter @GailZMartin, and join her for frequent discussions on Goodreads.

Read an excerpt from Ice Forged here: http://a.pgtb.me/JvGzTt