John Gwynne
Hi Mateo, thanks for the question, and also for your kind words. I'm very happy to hear that you enjoyed Malice.
The answer to your question is yes! The ancient Romans and Caesar's Gallic War in-particular were a big influence upon me when I began writing Malice. If you hold the map of the Banished Lands over a map of ancient Europe you'll see that Tenebral loosely lines up with Italy, Ardan with Cornwall, Forn Forest with the Black Forest, and so on. Also I've tried to add a historical flavour with names - people and places of Tenebral are Latin-based. Veradis for example means 'True' in Latin. The Vin Thalun have Greek names, people of the west - Ardan, Cambren, Domhain are all Celtic, as are Benothi the giant clan. I could go on about this subject for a very long time :)
I enjoy ancient history and my writing is definitely inspired by it.
The answer to your question is yes! The ancient Romans and Caesar's Gallic War in-particular were a big influence upon me when I began writing Malice. If you hold the map of the Banished Lands over a map of ancient Europe you'll see that Tenebral loosely lines up with Italy, Ardan with Cornwall, Forn Forest with the Black Forest, and so on. Also I've tried to add a historical flavour with names - people and places of Tenebral are Latin-based. Veradis for example means 'True' in Latin. The Vin Thalun have Greek names, people of the west - Ardan, Cambren, Domhain are all Celtic, as are Benothi the giant clan. I could go on about this subject for a very long time :)
I enjoy ancient history and my writing is definitely inspired by it.
More Answered Questions
Chris
asked
John Gwynne:
I would like to apologize to you in advance.....between Malice and Shadow of what was Lost I did a coin toss to see which I should read....the latter won....now seeing the amount of people who are reading (and enjoying immensely) The Faithful and the Fallen and the high ratings and great reviews I regret this choice somewhat.....do you accept my apology?
Aravind S
asked
John Gwynne:
Hi John, First off, what an amazing set of books! I have not found a series this enthralling in quite a while! After reading a Time of Blood, all I can say is "Wow, you completely took the story to a whole other level". After your upcoming "A Time of Loss", do you have any further plans for the series? Please say "Yes, there's another follow-up series afterwards ;)!"
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