#author: meredith ann pierce

[velvetbunniie-archive]

thinking abt the darkangel trilogy again. oh, the agony of it. the call to service the world because the “god” in charge of it put it off for too long & she decided to bully you into doing her hard work for her. wise woman? if you were not already pearl dust, i’d be killing you again.

[jeannereames]

Hero Alexander vs. The Real Alexander

Moving to the second half of a recent question:

And if I'm not wrong, you mention at one place that you don't "heroize" Alexander. That's interesting, since he's often worshiped as a mythical hero. Why did you move away from that?

As a writer (and a reader), I’ve always been intrigued by the challenge of humanizing the “inhuman” (which can also include the ridiculously talented).

When I fell in love with Tolkien as a girl, I wanted to know what it would be like to be an elf, to have magic, to live that long, etcetera. Maybe that’s also why I always preferred Marvel superheroes over DC. Their hallmark was to make the fantastic (mutants, etc.) more human.

Now, I love me some traditional mythopoetic fantasy, but I’m no good at producing it myself. What is mythopoetic style? Peter Beagle, Patricia McKillip, Nancy Springer, C.J. Cherryh’s sidhe novels, my friend Meredith Ann Pierce … and of course Tolkien himself, where magic is real and magical creatures are…well, magical. Inhuman. Elves … not hobbits. Like a fairy tale…a myth (hence “mythopoetic”).

Anyway, I love reading that, but can’t write it to save my soul. When I write epic/historical fantasy (and I do see SFF as my home genre), it’s closer to anthro SF than to any mythopoetic style. My current MIP (monster-in-progress) is a 6-book series set on a secondary world where two branches of humanity survived, one of which, the Aphê, have super-convenient prehensile tails. 😊 The character journey for one of the protags across the first three novels is to recognize the Aphê as human and fallible rather than as a “noble savage” wise people. (Yes, questions of “What does it mean to be ‘civilized’?” are among the series themes.)

When it comes to historical fiction, I take the same tack. Alexander is interesting to me because he was a real person who accomplished extraordinary things.* What might he have been like in real life?

Making him too perfect—good at everything, no/few mistakes (just misunderstood), always honorable, etc., bores me. That’s the Alexander of his own marketing campaign. (laugh) It was adopted and refined by some later historians such as Arrian, and Plutarch in his rhetorical pieces (less in the Life but still there). That’s why I’m not a huge fan of Renault’s Alexander, and generally prefer her other Greek novels. Manfredi and (sorta) Pressfield do the same. Tarr and Graham also keep him deliberately at a distance to allow him to remain heroized, but it bothers me less because he’s at a distance. (Btw, I do not dislike Renault's ATG novels; they're just not among my favorites, either on Alexander, or of hers.)

Yet I’m not a fan of the other approach, either: to “humanize” him by taking him down a notch—making him NOT all that, just lucky (Lucian, and Nick Nicastro). Or by upending the heroic narrative altogether and turning him into a megalomaniacal “wicked tyrant” ala Pompeius Trogus/Justin or Seneca (and Chris Cameron).

I want something (and someone) more relatable, even while letting him remain truly astonishing. To humanize the “inhuman.” I realize that’s a challenge as, the moment we do humanize him, it removes him from the realm of the hero, which in turn makes it harder to allow him to be “all that.” For some, any fault is “too much”—the proverbial clay feet—because they’re desperate to have an idol, a hero…not a person. So the haters come out when, for instance, Simone Biles pulled out of the Olympics for mental health and the Twisties. How dare she!

I’m interested in the person. Even if Alexander wanted to be Herakles Take II, he wasn’t inhuman (divine). He was just a guy, and for me, the fact he was “just a guy,” yet still accomplished all those extraordinary things, is the most remarkable part.

I’ll conclude with what I wrote at the end of the author’s note in the back of Dancing with the Lion: Rise (also available on the website):

In the end, whatever approach one takes to Alexander, whatever theories one subscribes to, more or less hostile to the conqueror, we are left with the man himself in all his complexity and contradiction. The phenomenon called “Alexander the Great” has evoked vastly different interpretations from his era to ours. It’s tempting to seek internal consistency for his behavior, or to force it when it can’t be found. Yet no one is consistent. Even more, history itself is distorted by those recording it in order to serve their unique political narratives, whether then or now. Conflicting politics create competing narratives, and histories of Alexander were (and are) especially prone to such distortions. That, in turn, brings us back to where we began: history (like historical fiction) is about who we are now, and what it’s possible for us to become. So Alexander was neither demon nor god, whatever he wanted to believe about himself. He was a man, capable of cruelty and sympathy, brilliance and blindness, paranoia and an open-handed generosity. As remarkable as he was, he was human. And that's what makes him interesting.

--------------------

* That some of these extraordinary things would be—and should be—reviled by modern standards is part of the uncomfortable contradiction, and legacy, of the ancient world. This is something I also try to depict in the novel. So there is never a “simple win” in a battle. There’s something ugly shown in or as a result of every single one. On purpose. Battle is, and should be, deeply disturbing.

[greatatuintheworldturtle]

So to atone for accidentally reblogging a TERF post talking about female authors, I would like to sincerely and unironically make a post recommending female authors. Let's all add our faves:

KA Applegate

Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Xiran Jay Zhao

Meredith Ann Pierce

Gillian Flynn

@onbearfeet

@great-art-and-a-purple-tongue

@gracekitty

[theresebelivett]

so lovely @letsgrow tagged me months ago lolllll and i'm finally doing it!!! so you are only able to keep 20 of your books, only one book per authors / series. So what books are you keeping? So in no particular order, here goes mine! (also this may be easier for me than others cause i'm a Library Bitch and probably own fewer books than one would expect for a former english major lol):

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (yes my favorite book of all time also has my first name, i'm so cool)

The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith

The Brownstone by Paula Scher (i must have certain books from my childhood close to me at all times)

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

i actually have the first three books of the Vampire Chronicles as a single volume so THAT COUNTS AS ONE BABYYYY (but i'd pick Queen of the Damned if i had to pick, that's my faaaaaave)

D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Myths by Ingri d'Aulaires

Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam (another children's book and i've got a tattoo from this one baybeeeeeee)

The House with a Clock in Its Walls by John Bellairs

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (my copy is very old and very important to meee)

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (another children's book i have a tattoo from!!!)

Amphigorey by Edward Gorey

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (IF I'M FORCED TO PICK BETWEEN THE THREE UGH)

Dare Me by Megan Abbott (my favorite currently working author so this was TOUGH but that's the one that started it all for me and is probably my fave, The Turnout a close second. read megan abbott. goddammit)

I Spy Christmas: A Book of Picture Riddles by Walter Wick (i literally snuggle up and reread this every december)

Treasure at the Heart of the Tanglewood by Meredith Ann Pierce (ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS AS A KID AND I'VE NEVER HEARD ANYONE ELSE TALK ABOUT IT EVER IN MY LIFE????)

A Psalm for the Wild Built by Becky Chambers (i only read this a few months ago but it made me feel so safe and heard that i can see myself rereading it whenever i'm having a tough time now)

Dangerous Angels by Francesca Lia Block

Books of Blood: Volumes 1-3 by Clive Barker

oh god okay i'll tag some ppl but if we're moots feel free to assume i tagged you: @asirensong, @dclarkadmin, @spiderslyre, @lesbin, @anneofgreengaybles, & @newwave-cowboy

[rayless-reblogs]

20 Book Challenge

I saw this challenge on a post by @theresebelivett. The idea is you pick 20 of your books to take with you to a desert island, but you can only pick one book per author and series. Here are two further guidelines I set myself: They have to be books I actually own, as if I really am gathering them up under my arms and heading to the island; and I'm defining "book" as a single volume -- so if I just so happen to have 100 novellas squashed between two covers, it still counts as one book.

We'll go alphabetically by author.

Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre. An old standby, a classic, I can jump into it at any point.

Daphne du Maurier: Rebecca. Have only read it once, but loved it and I suspect I'll get more from it each time.

Clare B Dunkle: The Hollow Kingdom. If I can only take one book from this excellent and unusual goblin series that captivated me in the mid-2000s, it'd better be the first one.

William Goldman: The Princess Bride. This book had an outsize influence on my own writing. I can quote a lot of it, but I wouldn't want to be without it.

Shannon Hale: Book of a Thousand Days. I love the warmth and humility of its heroine Dashti. Plus, Shannon Hale very kindly wrote a personal response to a fan letter I sent her years and years ago, so her work always has a special place in my heart.

Georgette Heyer: Cotillion. I don't actually own my favorite Georgette novel, but the funny, awkward, and ultimately romantic Cotillion is definitely not a pitiful second-stringer.

Eva Ibbotson: A Countess Below Stairs. Countess was my introduction to Eva's adult romances, and she is the past master of warm, hardworking heroines who should really be annoying because they're way too good to be true, but somehow you just end up falling in love with them.

Norton Juster: The Phantom Tollbooth. I first read this when I was like eight, and even for an adult, its quirky humor and zingy wordplay hold up, no problem.

Gaston Leroux: The Phantom of the Opera. Can't leave without Erik, nope, the French potboiler has got to come. Perhaps I will spend my time on the island writing the inevitable crossover fanfic, The Phantom of the Tollbooth.

CS Lewis: Till We Have Faces. Faces is my current answer for what my favorite book is, so I'm taking that, though it feels criminal to leave The Silver Chair behind.

LM Montgomery: The Blue Castle. As much as I love Anne and Emily, it came down to Blue Castle and A Tangled Web, and I'm a sucker for Valancy's romantic journey.

E Nesbit: Five Children and It. Probably the most classic Edwardian children's fantasy, though still a hard choice to make. Nesbit is another author who had a huge influence on me as a writer.

Robert C O'Brien: Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. A childhood book I'm really sentimental about. I should re-read it.

Meredith Ann Pierce: The Darkangel. The first in the archaic lunar vampire trilogy. This will always be frustrating, only having the first in the series, but if I can only read the first, maybe I'll forget about how angry the third novel left me.

Sherwood Smith: Crown Duel. At one time, this swords-and-manners fantasy duet was one of my absolute favorite fandoms, and clever me has both books in one volume, so I don't have to choose.

Anne Elisabeth Stengl: Starflower. My favorite of the Tales of Goldstone Wood series. We'll have to test whether I can actually get sick of Eanrin.

JRR Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings. I've never actually read it through as an adult and, look at that, I have a three-in-one volume. Cheating!

Vivian Vande Velde: Spellbound. I've read much of VVV's YA fantasy and liked a lot of it, but none more so than The Conjurer Princess and its fast-paced tale of revenge. The Spellbound edition includes the prequel and a bonus short story, so I'm good to go.

PG Wodehouse: The World of Mr Mulliner. There are some hilarious novels I'm leaving behind here, including all the Bertie Wooster stuff. But there are some absurdly fun Mulliner stories and this edition is like three hundred pages. That'll keep me happy for a long while on my island.

Jack Zipes (editor): Spells of Enchantment. This is an enormous compilation of western fairy tales. I've owned it since 2004 or so, and I've still never finished it. Now, on my island, I'll no longer have the excuse.

Tagging anyone else who feels like doing this!

[stormears]

Top 10 fantasy writers?

Oh man had to really spend time thinking about this one. I have more favorite fantasy books than favorite writers. Some writers I might switch around in the ranking on any given day, but welll...not the first one..

1-Meredith Ann Pierce. My favorite. My queen. I know her from the Firebringer trilogy, an epic tale about a unicorn prince fulfilling a prophecy. Her prose is just sumptuous and and elegant. A tender Thanksgiving turkey for my brain. Her descriptions are dreamy and epic, truly written like a legend of old. Any paragraph from this trilogy makes me sigh with appreciation. A writing style for the ages.

2-E. E. Knight. Author of the Wheel of Fire series, about a trio of dragon siblings who grow up separated, leading vastly different lives, until they reconnect as adults who have disparate ideas on dealing with humans. His books left in me awe of how FULL they were, how detailed and intense and long each sibling's life felt. For every book I read, I felt I'd actually consumed two, and been taken around the world in the process. GOD what great books.

3-David Clement-Davies. For "Fire Bringer", an epic about red deer with a Jesus-like prophecy, and less so for "The Sight" about wolves with a prophecy. I liked the deer one more. I'm really about these "epic animal goes on epic journey with epic prose" stories. Fire Bringer characters imo lean a bit tropey and cheesy, but I enjoy them as they and their conflicts are still treated with intense l seriousness, my kinda tone. I admire his mysterious world and atmosphere, if not necessarily all his characters. Still. "Rannoch had passed into eternity" has lived in my head rent free since 2009 ish.

4-Naomi Novik. For the Temeraire series. Come on. I'm a dragon girl through and through. I can't not bow down to a series with tons of speaking dragon characters. I'm not usually into historical fiction, but I think blending it with dragons is a bold and unique choice, and I'm always down for uniqueness. I'm impressed by the variety of dragons and their treatment in the wide world, and how the wide world is so deeply and frequently explored and societal behavior between nations compared and commented upon. She put SOOOO MUUUUUCH work into this series. My only complaint about Temeraire ever is that the dragons don't get much visual description. Usually just, "a [species name] appeared and it said and did this" and I don't get told if it's red or blue or spotted or has long legs or is baring teeth or grinning. The descriptions of dragons are curiously thin. I wrote a tumblr post complaining about that once and now I can't find it.

5-Richard Adams. Of course, my man, my king who art now in heaven, who wrote my very favorite book, Watership Down. Just an impeccable story. To me, it's a perfect story. Maybe that's why I've never tried to look up fic about it haha. Like so many people I'm totally in awe of its rabbit centric world and their stories and behavior and how they navigate the world and how they speak in English accents that are weird to me. I love Hazel and Fiver talking about what's coming. I love Cowslip's creepy warren. I love the beautiful lovely down. I love Bigwig fighting Woundwort inside Watership Down and telling him "my chief told me to defend this run" and Woundwort is briefly SHOCKED that big, tough Bigwig himself is not the chief. I will remember and quote El-ahrairah stories for the rest of my life. Prince with a Thousand Enemies...but first they must catch you...not a day goes by that a mother does not offer her life for her kittens, not a chief for his warren...the field, Hazel, it's covered with blood. I LOVE U WATERSHIP DOWN I WANT MY FIRST TATTOO TO BE YOU!!!!!

6-George R. R. Martin. Idc if this is an overrated answer, he rocks, he's on top of the world for good reason. He has Knights' feeling of "fullness" but 10x and with 20x more characters. I'm so impressed with how intricate each character and political plot is, how far-thinking he'd have to be in creating this world. I remember when reading these books, I'd get SO engrossed in each character POV I'd be angry when the chapter ended because I didn't want to leave that character, then start a new chapter and get really into THAT character...rinse and repeat until end of book.

7-Anne McCaffrey. More dragons lol. My bff introduced me to her books, which might count as more sci-fi but idc. She created a well realized world where dragons have a function in a pastoral society and particular ways they and their riders function...so neat...too bad the characters themselves are kinda flat as hell haha. It's like the MC of each book is my boring ass tour guide through a cool as hell setting.

And that's all lol I can't think of any more since I'm too sleepy! As you can see I have a preference for dragons, TALKING dragons and worlds where dragons or special/magical animals are important to the people that live in them. I'm still 12 inside.

Big thanks to Haelth for giving me the most self-indulgent question of the year.

[nanbookinsp]

so I’m realizing I don’t read much manga ... does anyone have recommendations for their fav manga?

especially if it has fantastic 3D characters and LGBT characters (especially if they’re adults); I also love sci-fi/fantasy--my favorite authors are Ursula K. Le Guin, Nghi Vo, Meredith Ann Pierce, and Sarah Ash, if that helps?

[labtrinthine]

Adding one to this list that I very rarely see recommended, even though it was goddamn amazing and I *STILL* reach for it even though it's older than I am.

The Darkangel Trilogy by Meredith Ann Pierce.

I cannot stress enough how much I love this series. It starts out very much like your everyday YA series with a "diamond in the rough" teenage girl who ends up being someone special, along with her "love interest" who is a cursed prince. It deviates quite quickly, and the author wrings everything out of you during the course of this trilogy. The adventure is well-paced and the emotional upheaval is fucking *poetic*. And the ending is *chefs kiss*.

I need a high fantasy book series to obsess with since Harry Potter took over my childhood and teenage years and I no longer support she who must no be named, I need a new one to obsess over with sooo…

Bookblr I SUMMON THEE!!!!

[sunderedstar]

@blitzlowin​ /cracks knuckles/ i do this for u. there is no order to this list, but here we go -

the jasmine throne - 2021, epic fantasy. fantastic. lesbeans. just gorgeous worldbuilding, and the main characters Priya and Malini are likeable and smart while they’re maneuvering around each other and the other moving pieces in a colonized country under the thumb of an empire that’s rapidly taking a turn towards war. the cover for book 2, the oleander sword, just dropped, and I’m dying.

-

the luminous dead - 2019, scifi/horror. lesbeans, with even more emphasis on the morally grey aspects this time. absolutely fucking terrifying - the threats in this alien caves are very real, stacked with the psychological tension of having someone above control the caving suit that keeps you alive while underground for weeks at a time and the economic pressures of being trapped on a dead-end planet, leaving you no choice but to keep delving deeper...and deeper... 

again, the worldbuilding is insane. I reread it periodically and can never get over how well-paced the beats are. this is the kind of merch you get:

-

iron widow - 2021, scifi/fantasy. the bisexual poly love triangle we’ve all been screaming about. I describe it as an inverse Pacific Rim, but you won’t get why until pretty much the final pages. all three of these have had morally dubious protagonists but in iron widow Zetian GOES OFF AND WE LOVE HER FOR IT. she’s chaotic furious. she’s unhinged in the best way. “May he stay unsettled.” the author themselves has described this as accidentally furry Dragonball Z with giant Pacific Rim robots and monsters, essentially. I have absolutely no idea what will happen with book 2 but I know it’ll be balls-to-the-walls insane (complimentary).

-

the outside - 2019, cosmic horror scifi. lesbeans. humanity is ruled by AI gods throughout the stars, the angels are cybernetic post-human cogs in a repressive machine, and Yasira accidentally makes a scientific leap that invites in a disruptive, heretical, reality warping presence that destroys a space station. things spiral out of control from there. the second book didn’t hit as well for me (mostly because mysteriously it was half the length it needed to be? it goes from a novel to a sequel novella almost, so not sure what happened there) but the outside is 9/10.

-

the world gives way - 2021. scifi. you will cry. like that’s it, it’s a short little novel written entirely to gut you. that is all.

-

murderbot - scifi. I feel like everyone by this point has heard about/read murderbot by this point, but the fact is I can’t in good conscious leave it off a rec list. there are six books, now, a mix of novellas and one full length novel about Murderbot, and Martha Wells (bless her for this and for the Books of the Raksura, her series full of bi poly shapeshifters) apparently has a contract to write at least three more murderbot books so we’re set for life basically. Ms Wells has never let me down ever, in her life -

-

the darkangel trilogy - 1982-1990. scifi/fantasy, though you may not realize the scifi at work at first. 

okay. okay listen. listen. hear me out. you read the first book description. it sounds like a traditional dracula hetero set up. Aerial and her mistress are kidnapped by the darkangel. it has an almost fairy-tale kind of logic to the magic system. it ends with Aerial literally exchanging her heart with the darkangel’s to save his life, causing him to fall in love with her. 

meredith ann pierce then spends the next two books deconstructing the consequences of that choice, as Aerial finds herself more and more estranged from the rest of the humanity-adjacent people of her world - including the darkangel himself - and becoming a sorceress whether she wants to be or not, inextricably linked to the sci-fantasy workings that keep their world turning under the light of a [spoilers] COMPLETELY IRRADIATED EARTH. ultimately she has to make a choice to give the darkangel his own choice back, and take up a responsibility that will leave her cut off from her humanity entirely but for one person who stays with her to the very end. meredith ann pierce’s meld of scifi and fantasy is what I aspire to - the worldbuilding is so subtle at first that you don’t even realize what’s happening until it happens. 

(do I like to imagine it ends on a slightly lesbean note because of that last part? maybe so...)

-

tgcf/heaven official’s blessing - 2017, now being published officially in English starting with book 1 in December this year. putting the g in LGBT. before, I could have linked to the free online English translation, but everything has been taken down since it was licensed officially for publication. Xie Lian ascended to godhood 800 years ago, and through a series of catastrophes and extremely traumatic events was banished, ascended again, got banished again in even more disgrace, and spent the rest of that time wandering the world, luckless and alone, until he finally...ascended again. but the evil and mysteries that plagued him 800 years ago haven’t gone away, either. (MXTX also did MDZS/Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, the basis of the Untamed show.)

[dogstarblues]

honestly not just a YA issue I’ve seen some insanely boring fantasy that’s just ripoffs of bigger series or a rehash of tropes that have already been done to death in the 90s

my dear i said in my post everythings already been done. rehash of tropes is not my problem its the execution. and YA has a specific writing style that is rampant. which is why i specifically said YA as an AFTERTHOUGHT. theres boring fantasy and then theres a hollow sentence and dialogue thats barely passable. like i know abt terry goodkind! one of the most egregious cases of direct ripoffs and a garbage cobbling of tropes!

but the thing abt YA fiction these days is that its all the same stylistically. i got so excited by Raybearer and A Song of Wraiths and Ruin (what the FUCK does that title mean btw) and Children of Blood and Bone bc i thot that authorship of color would revitalize a marketing group with deeply incestuous stylistic writing. and you know what? its the same shit with african-influenced flair! utterly disappointing. much of YA has a lack of craft. just LOOK at sjm. many of the newer writers dont challenge their audience. bc YA is abt marketing. you know whose from the old guard who has bangin' dialogue? Holly Black! ill still read her work bc shes been at the craft for a long time. even her earliest work was complicated and dark, and at many points, lovely. you know whose out here being challenging? courtney summers and melina marchetta. look at donna jo napoli or francesca lia block or meredith ann pierce if you wanna see real stylistic differences or challenging themes in writing with the targeted high school age group.

queer YA too, yes queer YA still sounds like the same shit. bc a lot of ppl who write YA only read other YA authors who do the same shit! its WILD.

however that post wasnt abt YA it was abt fiction writers at LARGE who have frail egos and insecurities that ignore craft in favor of suffering under the delusion that what theyre making is entirely singular, that what they can produce is unique. and i did say that isnt the point of writing. or at least, it shouldnt be. the point should be: because you love to create. the goal can factor in, yes! like im making a series of short stories that i want to get published abt black queer and trans characters who are somehow directly or tangentially connected to a university for studying magic. studying magic at school? its been done! a series of interconnected short stories? its been done. see: brides of rollrock island. but im not making it bc i think its so unique that i dont want to be influenced by other writers and it has to be protected. im making it bc i love my craft and i want others to engage with what i love. i want to share myself.

im also writing a fanfiction rn for the first time since at the latest 2015. why? bc im in a discord for fans of a 900page literary fantasy and they love to share what they create bc they love the material so much that they study the book to develop a sense of dialogue and characterization and try to present that in their fanfic. bc they want to do it justice! bc they care abt craft! its a tiny fandom! the most hits ppl get on their fic is 217! there are only 50 fanfics for the book at most on AO3! but they do it bc they love writing and adore the material. the discord is popping off every hour of the day and theres only 111 ppl on it. but theyre creating! and i love writing and i think this act of close-reading the material will help me develop my writing!

it wasnt abt YA. it was abt writing.

[velvetbunniie-archive]

gentlemen, there are some brave souls on ao3 that have given their lives to write some darkangel fics. i will return after i’ve finished writing a bit for the day.

[jeannereames]

An interesting post, and very true. The best fantasy worldbuilding does present competing ideas about the way the world works. TBF, not all types of fantasy lend themselves to this sort of thing (mythopoetic works such as Peter S. Beagel's or Meredith Ann Pierce's). But sprawling epic and historical fantasy does.

In my own current WIP (Master of Battles), not only did two different branches of humanity survive, but within each, are different cultures/religions. And even within cultures, there are competing systems. So Ision's father, who was trained at philosophy, is far more skeptical about traditional religion, while his mother belongs to one of the few evangelical religions (no, not a Judaism, Christianity or Islam copy), and is very (fanatically) devout...although her half-brother (the Gua-Ren) isn't. Ision himself leans more to his father's take, but because of the conflict growing up, comes to adopt many of the views of his lover, Teo's, people, from Four Rivers, even while maintaining traditional sacrifices because it's required. So he's a big ball of religious syncretism. Ha

My biggest concern when writing something sprawling like this is the tendency for some readers to grab onto the first example of ___ they meet, and assume all ____ will be like that. To some degree, that's human nature. We do it frequently, so the one French person we met through work becomes the Mouthpiece of All French Attitudes. (ha) But if we later actually visit France, we might learn our workmate was rather atypical.

Same thing applies to fiction, especially anything that promises to be a long series. If the author is any good, the characters and cultures will be diverse. Everybody from ___ will not be alike and everybody professing ___ will not agree. Although it may not be until book 3+ before the readers meet some of the divergence. Patience is a virtue, when reading a series.

on worldbuilding, and what people think is going on

there is one facet of fantasy worldbuilding that is, to me, the most interesting and essential but i don't see it come up in worldbuilding guides or writing prompts or anything, and that is the question of:

what do the inhabitants of your world believe about how the world works, and how are they wrong? a lot of fantasy media will set up their cosmology, gods, magic systems, planar systems, concepts of the afterlife, &c., and proceed as though the inhabitants of the world know and understand them.

from someone whose entire academic career is focused on studying human culture in various regions and time periods, with a focus on belief systems (religion, occultism, mythology, folklore): that sort of worldbuilding is unrealistic and missing out on so much fun.

people are always seeking new understanding about how the world works, and they are mostly wrong. how many models of the solar system were proposed before we reached our current one? look at the long, turbulent history of medicine and our various bizarre models for understanding the human body and how to fix it. so many religions and occult/magical traditions arise from people disagreeing with or adapting various models of the world based on new ideas, methods, technologies. many of them are wrong, but all of them are interesting and reflect a lot about the culture, beliefs, values, and fears of the people creating/practising them.

there is so much more to the story of what people believe about the world than just what is true.

to be clear: i think it's fine and important for the author to have a coherent explanation for where magic comes from or who the gods are, so they can maintain consistency in their story. but they should also be asking what people in the world (especially different people, in different regions/nations and different times) think is happening when they do magic, or say a prayer, or practise medicine, or grieve their dead. it is a rich vein for conflict between individuals and nations alike when two models of the world disagree. it is fascinating how different magic systems might develop according to different underlying beliefs.

personally, i think it is the most fun to spawn many diverse models of the world, but give none of them the 'right' answer.

(bonus points if you also have a thriving academic system in the world with its own theory, research, and discourse between factions! as an academic, it is very fun to imagine fictional academic debate over the topics i'm worldbuilding. sometimes i will be working out details for some underlying mechanic of the world and start imagining the papers being written by scholars researching it)

[the-iron-orchid]

5, 7, 14, and 49 from the writing prompts?

5. Books or authors that influenced your style the most.

The Coldfire Trilogy, by CS Friedman. The Mordant's Need books by Stephen R Donaldson. The short fiction of Tanith Lee inspires me greatly, as well as her Birthgrave trilogy and The Secret Books of Paradys. The Darkangel Trilogy by Meredith Ann Pierce. The inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin.

7. Favorite author.

Definitely Tanith Lee. I ran across her work when I was honestly a bit too young to understand it (I was an incredibly voracious reader as a child), but still it really grabbed me. She was strongest as a short-story author, her longer (and later) works can be rather disjointed, and she could wax over-lyrical, but her early sci-fi and fantasy are quite brilliant at times.

N.K. Jemisin is a close second of a more modern bent.

14. What’s the most research you ever put into a book?

Probably the many hours I spent researching historical archery (short bow in particular) for a single scene where the merc protagonist in a fantasy setting teaches her career sex worker boyfriend the basics of using one. The work is unlikely to ever see the light of day, but dammit, I care. 😆

49. What do you find the hardest to write in a story, the beginning, the middle or the end?

Definitely the middle. I usually have a strong idea of how I want to start and how I want to end, but the middle needs to be sketched out quite a bit more.

The rewrite is notably different in that even I don't know precisely how it is going to end, though it's currently thoroughly plotted out through Book XIV (Temperance) and partially through XVI (The Tower), so the middle is kind of taken care of already? 😅

[theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin]

Hello! Hope you’re having a great day! I love your work! Anyways, I came around here to ask if you have any book recommendations, or any favourite books (or authors)? I know you like PKD, Ray Bradbury, and Frank Herbert’s (DUNE DUNE DUNE) works already, so you don’t have to include them. ALSO: I really do love your writing, you have an amazing way with words and all your stories have awesome plots and are just generally awesome!

Have I mentioned Dune today?

I kid, I kid. Glad you like my work so much, that’s always very flattering and nice to hear.

Now, let’s poke around my bookshelf and see what I can come up with on the fly.

Authors:

Vladimir Nabokov (anything by him is wonderful if horrifically disturbing)

Patricia A. McKillip (I recommend 99% of what she’s written so you pretty much can’t go wrong. I’m particularly fond of “The Riddlemaster Trilogy”)

Meredith Ann Pierce (she hasn’t written nearly as much as the other two but of what I’ve read of her I’ve enjoyed all of it. I recommend “The Dark Angel” trilogy and “The Woman Who Loved Reindeer” (seriously, I know, even with that title)).

Franz Kafka (admittedly I’ve only read various short stories, “The Metamorphosis”, and “The Castle” but I loved all of them) 

Catherine M. Valente (she sometimes falls prey to purple prose but on the whole I’m a fan of her works)

Ursula K. Le Guin (I’m a huge fan of her science fiction works, not so much her fantasy though I’ve never really read Earth Sea. “Lathe of Heaven” and “The Left Hand of Darkness” are some of my favorites for her)

Margaret Atwood (particularly the Oryx and Crake books though I do also like Handmaiden’s Tale)

Books:

The Bartimeaus Trilogy by Jonathon Stroud

His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges

“I, Claudius” and “Claudius the God” by Robert Graves (though honestly I prefer the Masterpiece Theater adaptation and would recommend it over the books)

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupers

The Stranger by Albert Camus

The Princess Bride by William Goldman (I’d say it’s equivalent to the movie, the movie is a near perfect movie and I can’t say I can point out any flaw in it)

The Earth Abides by George R. Stewart

The Giver by Lois Lowry

Watership Down by Richard Adams

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King (for god’s sake though, bail at book 5, BAIL AT BOOK 5)

“Alice in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass” by Lewis Carroll

“The Destination: Void” series by Frank Herbert (not quite up there with Dune for me, but when  you have an AI ship that thinks its Jesus in deep space for centuries you get some seriously weird shit that’s worth a read.)

[dragons-bones]

For the writer meme: 15 & 18 please ✨

15) why did you start writing?

oooooh that’s a doozy. per my mom, I’ve been writing since at least elementary school, so it’s hard to say exactly why other than a bit of a twee “I’ve always had stories to tell” statement. I love exploring character concepts, I love creating worlds and settings and the rules that apply to them (and how those rules can be bent or broken).

I suppose for fanfic, looking at the vast majority of stuff I’ve written over the years, I like to explore the spaces between canon; what happens during the lull in the plot, in the space between side quests, in the time we don’t see on screen. I like what ifs, too, and certainly I read plenty canon divergence and fixit fics, but I really enjoy the opportunity to also work with canon; I find it a really fun exercise and a different way to stretch my creativity.

18) were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? what were they?

oh gosh, that’s another doozy. I mean, I’d argue that every author one reads can and will influence one’s writing; for me, there’s plenty of books and fic where I went, “oh, I love that turn of phrase!” or “I really like how they use description to convey small bits of characterization” or “how did they make that so creepy I love it.” basically, I note, subconsciously and not, what I like, and I’ll either consciously see if I can incorporate it to evolve my style, or sometimes it sneaks in.

authors and works off the top of my head that have stood out to me and have influenced at least how I try to write:

The Firebringer Trilogy by Meredith Ann Pierce (there’s a rhythm and lyricism to her prose that I always adored, and this is probably the biggest source for why I’m generally very comfortable writing non-humanoid characters)

The Dragon Chronicles by Susan Fletcher (my first conscious memory of foraying into fantasy, with memorable heroines, none of whom fall into the “Strong Female Character” stereotype now that I think about it. absolutely responsible for my love of dragons. with the Firebringer Trilogy, the reason why so many of my lady OCs have green eyes)

Aaron’s Allston X-Wing series books (why do I love Shenanigans? this man. why do I love Shenanigans that turn around into heartbreak not long after? THIS MAN! RIP, sir, I still sob over Ton Phanan.)

Ursula Vernon (I was an avid reader of her Digger webcomic and her humor and unique worldbuilding has always stuck in my head; I loved reading the accompanying descriptions to her art when she uploaded on DA back in her freelance days, and there’s an irreverent but sincere, heartfelt quality of her characters that I just adore.)

Brandon Sanderson (HIS WORLDBUILDING. HIS MAGIC SYSTEMS. THE LOGIC, THE FORESHADOWING, THE DEFT MANAGEMENT OF A HUGE CAST, I JUST--*tugs at hair*--SIR HOW.)

Seth Dickinson (okay I still haven’t gotten around to reading his Baru Cormorant books but he did do the Book of Sorrows codex entries for Destiny: The Taken King and just *SHAKING EYE EMOJI*. also, just, anything the Bungie staff in general write about the Hive and the Darkness. it hits me real good in the eldritch-loving part of my brain, but most of the inspo from this tends to go towards my original ‘verse Mistwrought rather than my fanfic)

Yoon Ha Lee (JUST. THE DESCRIPTIONS. THE WORLDBUILDING. THE CHARACTERS. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN OF NINEFOX GAMBIT IS PERMANENTLY SEARED INTO MY BRAIN. THE PRECISION OF LANGUAGE. DID I MENTION HIS CHARACTERS. “Thank you for the light.” SIR, HOW DARE YOU. I REALLY NEED TO READ PHOENIX EXTRAVAGANT ALREADY.)

Tamsyn Muir (this woman’s ability to ping-pong memes between fucking memes and heartwrenching prose is both enraging and awe-inspiring. her ability to foreshadow is insane, like Sanderson is great at it but I would argue Muir may be better. the way she DESCRIBES things is incredible. “pole-axed” is generally how I felt after finishing Gideon the Ninth and then Harrow the Ninth and honestly that’s what I would like to leave someone feeling one day with my own words.)

there’s...definitely more but I’m already frothing at the mouth and getting dangerously unhinged so I’m gonna cut it off there. please feel free to drop into my askbox or DMs if you ever want me to scream more or in detail, i have Many Feelings about books ‘n things.

[tousleheadedpoet]

not-tagged by: @greatshell-rider but I am so bored. I’m sooooo bored

nickname(s): poet

height: 5′6″

hogwarts house: hufflepuff

last thing i googled: isvm (I was at work and needed to find out what it stands for) (information security vulnerability management)

song stuck in my head: still Wellerman lol

number of followers: 359

dream job: hmm I think rn I would like to be a field biology intern in Florida or maybe like Brazil. Identify some plants. Save some frogs. complete tasks in the sunlight. omg that sounds so incredible right now

lucky number: 12

favorite song: currently it’s pale white horse/where is your rider by the oh hellos. I consider them two halves of the same song!! if that doesn’t count second place is uhhhh your voice by les friction

favorite instrument: pipe organ. it’s so versatile! and loud! and I can play it which is definitely a factor. like electric bass is also very cool but I cannot do that

wearing: fleece leggings and skull sweater. I am cold

aesthetic: sort of like a dark mori/ecogoth thing I guess

favorite authors: mmm Sanderson ofc, Meredith Ann Pierce, T Kingfisher, Neil Gaiman, Erin Morganstern, Diana Wynne Jones

favorite animal sounds: cat purrs. and the redtail hawk noise

random: I have 10 containers of plants in my 1 room apartment but I need more. I’m starting to shrivel. It’s so cold outside whyyyyy is the botanical garden still closed