It’s been a week full of writing, refining, and some fascinating reading. Join me as I delve into the progress of my current projects, tackle the art of book descriptions, and explore intriguing new literary horizons.
📚 Welcome to this week’s Author Diary! 📚
What’s in Store This Week:
🔪 Working on “Scoundrels” I’ve been immersed in developing my thief fantasy novel, “Scoundrels.” This novel is a prequel to “Dawn of Assassins,” featuring the same beloved characters but set before the events of the original story.
📘 Crafting the Book Description for “The Fall of Wolfsbane” Condensing a 108,000-word novel into a 120-word book description is no small feat! This week, I’ve been chiselling away at the book description for “The Fall of Wolfsbane.” I’ll discuss the challenges of distilling a complex narrative into a brief yet compelling summary.
📖 Reading Highlights My reading list this week has been quite diverse. I’ve dived into “TerrorTome” by Garth Marenghi, a horror parody novel that’s as entertaining as it is clever, and “Mud Ride” by Steve Turner, an exploration of the grunge band Mudhoney. I’ll share my thoughts on these reads and how they’ve influenced my thinking.
🌑 Discovering Nobledark Fantasy I’ve recently stumbled upon the fantasy sub-genre ‘nobledark.’ This discovery has been a revelation, as it perfectly encapsulates the thematic essence of my writing: flawed heroes navigating tough circumstances guided by their personal moral compasses. I’ll talk about how this genre resonates with my work and my future explorations in this realm.
Explore essential nobledark fantasy novels, featuring ‘The Greycoats’, ‘Riyria Revelations’, and more, where flawed heroes navigate grim, hopeful worlds.
In the enchanting world of nobledark fantasy, where the light of hope stubbornly persists in the darkest of realms, readers find themselves drawn to stories of characters grappling with moral ambiguity amidst grim realities.
For those eager to explore this intriguing sub-genre, here’s a list of essential nobledark reads that masterfully blend the bitter with the sweet, the dark with the light.
1. “The Greycoats” by Sebastien de Castell
Sebastien de Castell’s “The Greycoats” series is a quintessential nobledark fantasy.
It follows the story of Falcio val Mond and his companions, who are part of a once-respected order of knights.
In a world where their ideals seem outdated and almost naïve, these characters struggle to uphold justice and righteousness.
The series is a brilliant tapestry of swashbuckling action and moral dilemmas, perfect for those who appreciate a story where the lines between right and wrong are as blurred as a drunkard’s vision.
It follows the duo of Royce and Hadrian, a pair of skilled mercenaries who find themselves embroiled in conspiracies and ancient secrets.
This series stands out for its intricate plot, memorable characters, and the way it weaves a sense of hope into a world riddled with corruption and deceit.
3. “The Vagrant” by Peter Newman
“The Vagrant” by Peter Newman is an unconventional tale set in a world ravaged by demonic corruption.
The story’s protagonist is a mute, nameless wanderer accompanied by a baby and a goat.
This novel is a journey through desolation, yet it resonates with an undercurrent of resilience and the unyielding human spirit, making it a unique addition to the nobledark genre.
4. “The Demon Cycle” by Peter V. Brett
Peter V. Brett’s “The Demon Cycle” series introduces a world where humanity is on the brink of extinction, besieged by night demons.
The series is renowned for its detailed world-building and the depth of its characters, who battle not only external horrors but also their own internal conflicts.
It’s a tale that perfectly embodies the nobledark theme—a grim world where hope and heroism burn fiercely.
In this richly detailed world, Fitz navigates political intrigue, forbidden magic, and a complex web of relationships.
The series is a deep dive into the psyche of a hero who is far from perfect, yet constantly strives for what is right, embodying the nobledark ethos.
Each of these series offers a foray into the world of nobledark fantasy, where characters fight not just their enemies but their own moral battles.
They highlight the genre’s key feature: the presence of hope and a striving for good in a world that often seems to reject both.
For those venturing into the realms of nobledark fantasy, these reads are not just essential; they are a gateway to worlds where the light of heroism shines through the darkest of times.
So, are you ready to walk the fine line between shadow and light in these enthralling tales?
No wizards. No fire-breathing wyverns. Step inside the Ravenglass Universe, a nobledark fantasy world where magic is nearly gone and always costs blood.
Welcome to the Ravenglass Universe
There is a stone in this world that costs more than gold, and it will not let you look at it properly.
It is called ravenglass. Hold a piece up to a lamp and the light bends away from the edges, so you never quite fix where the thing ends and the shadow begins. Reach for it and your hand arrives before your eye agrees it should. Once worked, it sits cold in the palm. It does not chip. It does not scratch. It does not dull, tarnish, bend or break, and no hammer in any forge on any coast will persuade it otherwise. Only volcanic heat will make it soft enough to shape.
There is not much of it left. Nobody has found a new seam in centuries. Every blade, cup, ring and orb in the world was something else first, melted down and recast and melted down again, so that a merchant’s pendant might once have been a crown, and a crown might once have been an altar. Nothing is destroyed. It only becomes something else.
That is where these books start.
Magic here is old, and it is nearly gone
There are no wizards. No academies of sorcery, no wands, no memorised words of power, no helpful old man in a hat. Magic was freely available once, long ago, and then it was taken away, or spent, or sealed, depending on which priest you ask and which empire pays him. What survives is residue.
Most people live and die without seeing it work. Plenty of them think it never did.
So when the uncanny does arrive, it arrives with a bill attached. Ravenglass answers to blood and to tears, and it wants both from the person it belongs to. Blood binds it. Tears open it. And the tears have to be real – the grief genuine, the guilt earned, the shame paid in full. You cannot fake your way into this power. You have to feel something honestly first, and then you have to live with what you spent to feel it.
Magic here solves one problem and hands you a worse one. It always has.
The wyverns are sapient
Let us clear up the obvious question. They do not breathe fire. Not once, not ever, not in a single book. Any story you hear about a wyvern burning a village is propaganda, superstition, or a lie told by someone with an interest in you being frightened.
Most of them are about the size of a dog. Leathery wings, scaled hide, beady black eyes, a forked tongue and a barbed tail. They perch on rafters. They waddle. They snap at fingers they do not like.
They also talk. They remember, argue, sulk, judge, grieve, bargain and manipulate, and they will absolutely lie to you if it suits them, regardless of the superstitions that wyverns can’t lie. Many of them can press against a human mind, and most humans cannot keep them out.
A bond between a wyvern and a human is intimate, psychic and mutual, and it is not ownership. It can be earned, damaged, broken, mended or poisoned. Treat a wyvern as transport and you will find out how fast a partnership becomes a grudge. How a culture handles that question – partner or property – tells you almost everything you need to know about the culture.
An empire that builds roads and takes children
The great imperial power of the age brings law, medicine, aqueducts, schooling, engineering and grain in winter. It also brings slave gangs, hostage-taking, public executions and the quiet erasure of anything that came before it.
Both of those sentences are true. I am not going to resolve them for you.
Some conquered peoples grow to prefer the roads. Others count their dead. Priests of a faith that forbids killing bless armies on their way to kill, and mean it kindly. Believers are right about some things and catastrophically wrong about others, and no god in these pages will step out from behind the curtain to settle the argument. Faith comforts and faith excuses. Usually in the same chapter.
What I promise you
The world is harsh. Institutions are compromised. Good intentions fail, violence leaves scars that do not fade by the next book, and nobody gets to use magic without paying for it out of their own body.
But this is not misery for its own sake. People here still choose courage when cowardice is cheaper. They still show mercy inside systems built to punish it. Those choices matter precisely because the world makes them so difficult.
Hope bleeds. It never dies.
Where to begin
The series in this universe share the rules, the ravenglass and the wyverns, but they stand on their own feet. One follows assassins. One follows hostages. One follows the young and the bonded. You can start anywhere, and reading one will quietly sharpen the others.
