#THE SPIRITWALKER TRILOGY

[kateelliottsff]

The History of the World Begins in Ice

I’m delighted to announce that, in Summer 2024, Fairwood Press will be publishing a collection of stories and essays from the Spiritwalker (Cold Magic) universe, titled

THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD BEGINS IN ICE:

Stories and Essays from the World of Cold Magic.

That’s right! A collection of fiction and non fiction from and about my Afro-Celtic post-Roman icepunk adventure set in an alt-fantasy 19th century Earth alongside a perilous spirit world, and including Phoenician spies, well-dressed men, revolutionary-minded women, and of course lawyer dinosaurs.

The collection will be published in a trade paperback edition and an ebook edition. It will contain eleven stories and eleven essays, as well as an introduction by N.K. Jemisin.

Each story will have an illustration by a different artist. The collection will include “The Secret Journal of Beatrice Hassi Barahal” with all 28 of the original Julie Dillon illustrations, previously published only in a 300 copy chapbook edition. Here’s the narrator of the trilogy, Cat Barahal, as drawn by Julie Dillon.

Nine of the eleven stories were previously published. The other two are being written specifically for this collection.

If there is enough interest, Fairwood Press will produce a limited edition deluxe hardcover edition with two extra color plates (by Julie Dillon), a fold out triptych (by Kelsey Liggett), and a chapbook insert of the infamous smut chapter, “Chapter 31.5,” from Cold Fire. I can’t promise exact figures (and recent cost of paper increases may mean my guess is way out of date) but likely in the $40-50 range for a book of about 100,000 words.

You can express interest here (comment below or reply via email) or by writing directly to Fairwood Press. If you are interested, please (if you can) write in as soon as possible since creating a deluxe edition will take additional work, monetary investment, and time (that we would be delighted to take on).

Pre-order information will come as soon as it is available.

I first started thinking in autumn 2018 about producing this collection with a Fall 2020 publication date to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the publication of Cold Magic. Events conspired against me at the time, by which I mean I didn’t have the energy or time to move forward with it.

So I am incredibly thrilled to work with Patrick Swenson and Fairwood Press to bring this long-dreamt-of project to life and share it with all of you Spiritwalker fans.

[agardenandlibrary]

I finished Witchmark! The beginning was a bit bumpy but by the first quarter I was fully invested and had to tear myself away to do silly things like the dishes and my job.

And that's the first book I've finished this year! Nice to start on a high note. I guess I'll have to read the next 2 to see how it turns out for Kingston.

Also, hilarious kudos for CL Polk for calling this the Kingston Cycle and making bicycles the main mode of transport.

Also also, if you liked Witchmark, you should try the Spiritwalker trilogy by Kate Elliott!

[morhath]

I really relate to Cat in the Spiritwalker trilogy b/c "here please eat this fruit that is New To You that I have already cut up for you while we talk about radical politics" is a move that would ABSOLUTELY work on me

[readtilyoudie]

Captive in the Underworld by Lianyu Tan | Clara’s Soldier: A Retelling of the Nutcracker by Brittany Fichter

Dark Olympus Series by Katee Robert

Hate To Want You by Alisha Rai | Howl’s Moving Castle Series by Diana Wynne Jones

The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff | The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare

Love In Color: Mythical Tales From Around the World, Retold by Bolu Babalola | Love Lessons in Starcross Valley by Lucy Knott

The Mortal Instruments Series by Cassandra Clare

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Playing Hearts by W.R. Gingell | The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

Red, White, And Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston | Reluctant Royals by Alyssa Cole | Romancing the Inventor by Gail Carriger

The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas | Spiritwalker Trilogy by Kate Elliott | Stalking Jack the Ripper Series by Kerri Maniscalco | The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi | The Starlight Crystal by Christopher Pike

This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone | To Sir, With Love by Lauren Layne

A Villian's Ever After Series

Wicked Villains Series by Katee Robert | Wilderwood Series by Hannah F. Whitten

[nzbookwyrm]

Furious Heaven, being a sequel to Unconquerable Sun, is a middle book in a series. How has the writing of this been the same, and different than other series that you have done?

My goal with each of the three books of this trilogy has been, and continues to be, to shape each individual volume as if it is a standalone. Unconquerable Sun completes several of its major plot threads and, I believe, ends at a satisfying point. If I’ve done my job right, the reader will feel they’ve read a complete story and ALSO wish to read more.

Middle volumes are peculiarly hard. It’s important, in my opinion, to avoid “adding more beads onto the string” -- that is, just to add more incident without complicating or expanding on the original elements of the story. A middle volume can add layers, unexpected twists and outcomes; it can deepen the characters and guide the reader into new landscapes and unknown dangers only hinted at in book one. That’s how I worked with (for example) Shadow Gate (Crossroads), Cold Fire (Spiritwalker), and Poisoned Blade (Court of Fives), which are all second volumes in trilogies that make the story bigger and show the reader new places and new conflicts.

With Furious Heaven I specifically wanted to do my best to make the story readable by someone who hadn’t read book one, while also having it build on what had come before. This meant finding a way to open the book as I would if it were my first look into the world, while concurrently reminding the returning reader of the things they recalled or liked about the characters and situation. It’s important to re-introduce the reader regardless, even if the story continues from a cliff hanger, because in many cases there will have been a break since they read the first book. A middle book needs to get the reader’s feet under them as quickly as possible before it charges ahead, but it does need to offer that grounding.

In addition, given the publication gap between book one and book two, and the likely gap coming for book three, I wanted the book to come to a close at a place that would leave the reader feeling they had gotten many things they wanted, and could manage the wait. So no cliffhanger but rather, I suppose, implicit promises about what lies ahead.

The book was challenging to write, very complex, and, in the end, really rewarding.

[fantasybooktournament]

The Heretic moves on

Character reveal below the cut

Radical Mouthpiece is Beatrice Hassi Barahal from The Spiritwalker Trilogy by Kate Elliot

Mystery Fantasy Book Character Tournament

Round 2: Poll 1

Please do not tag or comment with character name, book title, or authors.

Radical Mouthpiece

Has visions, willing to put her life on the line for equal rights. Wanted by many factions for her visions, but unwilling to let herself be used. Learned to sketch to make sense of her visions. Her cousin is her closest friend.

The Heretic

He is just a neurodivergent teenager who inadvertently encounters, adopts and vibe checks god. He later enacts world peace and becomes a library.

[timemachineyeah]

why are we making animated anything into live action anything when we could be making fantasy books into animated series

[gnattersofagnome]

Book Review: The Spiritwalker Trilogy

(Cold Magic, Cold Fire, Cold Steel by Kate Elliot)

When I started reading Cold Magic I actually thought that I wasn’t going to finish it. I initially struggled to form an attachment to any of the characters, but I was still intrigued by Cat’s mysterious abilities and I wanted to see how the story of her trying to save her cousin would play out. Next thing I know, I’ve gotten to the end of book one and the characters had just snuck up on me until, despite my earlier reservations, I’m thinking “well now I have to know how that’s going to play out!”

The rich world Kate Elliott creates, filled with cold mages, trolls, spirit creatures and more is a well-thought out, structured place. The history doesn’t overwhelm, and is easily made sense of through the musings of Cat as we follow her along while she is thrust into this unexpected struggle for freedom and survival.

Like Cat, we learn more about the other characters as the story continues and Elliott reveals them to be complex individuals, with plenty more to them than first impressions might expect. The most prevalent example being Vai, the pompously vain cold mage we first met when he is married to Cat. As is hinted at during the end of Cold Magic he is much more than he presents himself to be and, like Cat, in Cold Fire I found myself much more endeared to him, despite his massive and somewhat off-putting ego.

Throughout the series Elliott provides detailed descriptions of the surroundings and the character appearances. This level of detail helps to further the intense chemistry between the characters, and ensures the reader always knows where they are or what’s going on within each scene. (Personally I found a few of these passages dragged on a little, but I get impatient sometimes and just want to get back to the action 😜)

The complex strands of plot are woven together extremely well, allowing for Cat’s friends to disappear and reappear as required while still remaining important to her story and helping her out in different ways. Despite remaining in Cat’s point of view, Elliott manages to maintain a delicate balance of allowing readers to understand the different points of view that the other characters have on societal mores and how things should (or shouldn’t) be changed.

I particularly enjoyed the sometimes sly humour; especially that which was sneakily sarcastic, or simply Cat, Vai, Bee and Rory poking fun at each other as they go about their adventures. **Slight spoilers in the next sentence** One of my favourite things was the bit in Cold Fire with Cat’s binding and the resulting questions having to be answered with questions thing. Particularly the scenes between her and Vai when he’s using it to annoy her. Much laughter happened with that (as well as some Whose Line Is It Anyway? flashbacks🤣).

Like Cat with her husband, the further into this series I explored the more I began to enjoy it. Despite covering death threats, kidnapping, rebellion, and a war (among other things) it always manages to maintain a positive tone and a level of humour; although some of the things I find funny probably aren’t strictly supposed to be.

Would I read it/them again? Unsure, but with a lean towards more likely to than not.

Would I recommend it/them? Definitely. You’ll know from looking at the blurb whether or not it’s something you might be interested in, but if there’s even a kernel of “yeah that sounds cool” in you then why not try it? Maybe you’ll be like me and be pleasantly surprised at how much you enjoy reading them.

[captainceranna]

Mor Spiritwalker stuff!  My attempt at character clothing design for Andevai. 

Since this book series is set an alternate Europe, where the cultural influences are more African and Celtic, then it makes sense that the clothing choices are not your traditional Victorian era fashion.  So this is my attempt at that!  There will probably be more, since i’m not 100% happy with it

[astreiants-archive]

if we prosper only through the suffering or death of another, then that is not prosperity.

make me choose: @rykemedows asked cat barahal or cat barahal

[thestylishvelociraptor]

Comfort Reads aka books I love to re-read, including both series from years ago and more recent discoveries.

'm constantly reading new things, so if I choose to re-read something, it means I'm going to keep going back to it:

Everything by Tamora Pierce published before 2006

The Tiffany Aching series by Terry Pratchett

The Spiritwalker trilogy by Kate Elliott

The Fall of Ile-Rien series by Martha Wells

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

THERE ARE OTHERS BUT NOW I CAN'T THINK OF THEM

[longsightmyth]

What are some fantasy books that you think have the best world building?

Wheel of Time, A Song of Ice and Fire (yes I know: it is consistent internally whether I like it or not), The Keltiad (though that's... sort of sci-fi), A Memory Called Empire (...same), The Remnant Chronicles, Dune (to my chagrin), The Winner's trilogy, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, the Spiritwalker trilogy, The Risen Kingdoms, Rivers of London, Discworld, Dragonriders of Pern (also sci-fi, sorry)(don't read the todd ones), Green Rider...

God I hate to say the black jewels because I don't LIKE the black jewels for SO MANY REASONS (also it's gross) but it's pretty internally consistent and you know how the world works. (Don't read the black jewels)

I like worlds where you can extrapolate what's going to happen in a social situation because you have enough context for the society (or societies) and the universe. It means I have to live through fewer convoluted explanations about why something was a clever move because I understand enough about social mores (especially) that I can figure it out myself.

[agardenandlibrary]

Also on the podcast recently (link in pinned post)

Witchmark by C.L. Polk

Miles is hiding from everything. (While still living in the city of his birth lol. I don't think you tried all that hard, buddy) When a poisoned man dies in his hospital and begs Miles to solve his murder, Miles must accept the help of a handsome stranger. He risks losing everything he's built for himself.

Together, Miles and Tristan set out to solve the intertwining mysteries of murder, malady, and missing souls. Miles must face the past he’s run away from in order to discover the truth, about himself, his family, and about the country that he loves.

I really liked this one! I'm looking forward to the rest of the trilogy.

More like this:

The Spiritwalker trilogy by Kate Elliott

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

[kateelliottsff]

Out today (Oct 10, 2017): THE BOOK OF SWORDS (ed by Gardner Dozois), an anthology of epic fantasy stories.

My story “’I Am A Handsome Man,’ Said Apollo Crow” is set in the Spiritwalker universe. It stands alone (no need to have read the Spiritwalker trilogy (Cold Magic, etc). However those who have read the trilogy will recognize some familiar faces.

[sixth-light]

just read your post where you wrote how “ ‘what if no European colonial empires’ ... doesn’t solve all problems with worldbuilding” and cited Temeraire as an example & i was wondering if you had talked about Temeraire elsewhere or wanted to elaborate on this at all because i found it really interesting (have been trying to get a handle on how i feel about the arc of the entire Temeraire series!)

ok confession time: I never finished the Temeraire series because I got bored and I have also hit peak BEC towards the author, so I doubt I ever will finish it.

but in general what I was getting at is that even though the series is about a world where dragons mean there aren’t colonial empires in the same way, it wants to have its cake and eat it too w/r/t also recalling Napoleonic war fiction (in the most literal way of having a Napoleonic war!) so it’s still fundamentally depicting a Eurocentric world and worldview in a way that doesn’t escape what it theoretically says never happened there. you don’t get a Europe that produces the Napoleonic wars without everything that came before that. either dragons have fundamentally changed the shape of the world or they haven’t.  

there’s also something I’ve never quite got a handle on in how it posits that dragons would have stopped colonialism, like...dragons as the series uses them (flying, firebreathing magic horses) are fundamentally a creation of Western fantasy. and the problem with colonialism wasn’t that colonised peoples weren’t smart or powerful enough or didn’t have dragon friends, it was colonialism as a philosophy and as a practice. 

anyway, if you want World Tour With Dragons And No Colonialism A Natural History of Dragons does it better, and if you want Magic Fundamentally Changes World History Kate Elliott’s Spiritwalker trilogy does it better. 

[emblazonet]

Tagged by @tsulean list 10 different female faves from 10 different fandoms and then tag 10 people!

Keladry of Mindelan from the Protector of the Small

Cimorene from the Enchanted Forest Chronicles

Ahsoka Tano from Star Wars

Sailor Venus/Minako Aino from Sailor Moon

Eowyn from the Lord of the Rings

Zanja na’Tarwein from the Elemental Logic series

Cat Bell Barahal from the Spiritwalker Trilogy

The Unicorn from the Last Unicorn

Maika Halfwolf from Monstress 

Mehitabel Parr from the Doctrine of Labyrinths

Tagging @zahnie @haldora @fatal-fruit @possiblydistasteful  @fallingawkwardly @rosepetalrevolution @lightningspiral @worldsentwined and uhhhh anyone who wants to do this? Let me know if you do! <3