Behold the magnificence that is The Bone Season Tenth Anniversary hardback edition from
@BloomsburyBooks ! Signed by Samantha Shannon 's own hand!

#books #livres #fantasy #ChooseBookshops #Edinburgh #Edimbourg #SignedBooks #TheBoneClock #FantasyNovels #SamanthaShannon #bookstodon #bookshops #librairies

At last! My Vyrdigaan Prophecies series of fantasy novels is complete. The fourth and final novel, "Chimera Obscura," will be published in the next few days. All four novels are available in ebook and paperback formats. The covers on the versions for sale include a banner at the top displaying the title of the series and the number of each book in the series.
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#virianchronicler #vyrdigaanprophecies #fantasynovels #probytsprogress #thedonovandestiny #theforbiddensorceress #chimeraobscura

Meet Lord Fhalo Erguvan, a supporting character from "The Forbidden Sorceress", third of my Vyrdigaan Prophecies series of fantasy novels. He is a teenager when he first appears in the story and in his fifties at the end. These images show a teenage version and an adult version.
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#virianchronicler #vyrdigaanprophecies #theforbiddensorceress #fantasycharacter #fantasynovels

Meet Lord Edil Modjian, the lead male character from "The Forbidden Sorceress", third of my Vyrdigaan Prophecies series of fantasy novels. He is a teenager when he first appears in the story and in his fifties at the end. These images show a teenage version and an adult version.
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#virianchronicler #vyrdigaanprophecies #theforbiddensorceress #fantasycharacter #fantasynovels

Meet Lady Edeeshah Modjian, the lead female character from "The Forbidden Sorceress", third of my Vyrdigaan Prophecies series of fantasy novels. She is around six years old at the start of the story and in her fifties at the end. These images show a teenage version and an adult version.
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#virianchronicler #vyrdigaanprophecies #theforbiddensorceress #fantasycharacter #fantasynovels

#introduction part II.

I am into #fantasynovels, not so much #scifi. i like #DoctorWho, and #OwlHouse #GravityFalls and #amphibia

I am a #ConsoleGamer

anything else? just ask...and hello!

"The Donovan Destiny", second of my #vyrdigaanprophecies series of fantasy novels, is now available in paperback format. I've also updated the ebook version to match the paperback.
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#virianchronicler #vyrdigaanprophecies #feniangalaxy #thedonovandestiny #fantasynovels #sorcerers #secretsocieties #espionage #secretagents #fantasy

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C1JD9G2R

"The Donovan Destiny", second of my #vyrdigaanprophecies series of fantasy novels, is now available in paperback format. I've also updated the ebook version to match the paperback.
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#virianchronicler #vyrdigaanprophecies #feniangalaxy #thedonovandestiny #fantasynovels #sorcerers #secretsocieties #espionage #secretagents #fantasy

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Donovan-Destiny-Vyrdigaan-Prophecies-Book-ebook/dp/B097J5WXXT

My first step in editing "Atop the Trees, Beneath the Mountains" needs to be a high-level pass where I address all the notes I left for myself.

You know, the sort of thing where I wrote ((future Sara will figure this out)) and then laughed to myself because I got out of puzzling something difficult.

Now I am Future Sara, and I am *real* mad at Past Sara.

A lot of these notes are simply places where I noted possible inconsistencies, though. Using a fantasy conlang means that I get pretty fluent in my own languages, but less-used terms (like names of regions) don't stick in my head as well, and I never want to stop writing to look it up. Is it the Edsa Mountains? Edsha? Edja? Which sound did I end up using for that S? Am I using lo:sa'lvaren rules or Interlingual rules?

In a rough draft of 322,000 words, these kinds of corrections, final decisions, and minor rewrites might be...plodding.

Another to-do in this "phase" of the project is to look at the conlang itself, and the names I chose for characters. I made the conlang of lo:sa'lvaren before I wrote almost anything else, and I designed the language in tandem with worldbuilding. Hence I was making choices about the language based upon an initial set of rules and priorities. I was thinking about things like, how does this language reflect the culture's colonialist ways? How do I use this set of "sounds" that I like from Tolkien/esque conlangs like Quenya in ways that are novel and authentic? I did a lot of generation and regeneration, changing prefixes and suffixes, and etc etc etc. And I use lo:sa'lvaren words fairly freely in the text to describe concepts without a direct obvious parallel in IRL Western culture.

But now I'm getting to the point where this is a Real Book, and Real People are going to read it. The way that the words *look* is different from how they are *pronounced*. I have a great lo:sa'lvaren accent. Nobody else possibly could.

* Do I want the names easier to sound out?
* Should names sound more like common names in my neck of America? Example (not from my book): a fantasy character named Elyja is memorable because a brain easily transposes it to Elijah. A character named I'edasve (which is in my book) is not as memorable.
* Do I want to change or limit diacritics for ease of reading?
* Are all the terms used necessary, or would it be better to use English approximates, or even compound words adequately describing the concept?

To illustrate the kind of decision I haven't yet made, I'm considering the common words xilcadis and sins'os.

Patricians in the Republic hold seats in xilcadise, each of which has a sins'os. A xilcadis is a palace complex including the palace itself, small secondary estates owned by the a'lve|lder of Houses under its purview, and a city where only manumitted Low A'lvar and High A'lvar are allowed to live. A sins'os is a village attached to a xilcadis, a slums, where bonded Low A'lvar live in order to support the xilcadis.

I have used these terms throughout the course of the book, but little is lost if refer to things specifically rather than broadly (palace OR city OR manors). Alternatively, palace-complex as a compound is clearer and easier to remember.

Even if I continue using a conlang word, xilcadis is weird for English speakers to read. It made sense to design the word that way when I was generating the language by my rules. But now do I wanna go back and spot-change it? It doesn't HAVE to follow the rules. If I want, I can do an entirely aesthetic overhaul of lo:sa'lvaren.

Then again, committing to these changes steps away from one of the *other* reasons I designed the language as-such: I wanted it to feel foreign and distancing for readers. I want them to feel very fish-out-of-water with the A'lvar, so that when readers reach other cultures, it's easy to feel a lot cozier by simply making the language *easier*. Still--from an accessibility (and marketing) standpoint, the book starts off among the A'lvar, with their lofty opaque language of strange words, and that is a tough nut to crack.

So yes, that is the phase of editing I am at right now. A 322,000-word book written over three years shouldn't take three years to edit. But. It will be a bit of work.

#AtopTheTreesBeneathTheMountains #amWriting #amEditing #WritingCommunity #WritingFantasy #FantasyNovels #HowToWrite #HowToEdit #HowToUsePostsOnMastodonToProcrastinateRealWork

The latest S&S #Roundup is out. Issue #5 - lots of great links and interesting discoveries. Send me your projects for next week's edition. #swordandsorcery #heroicfantasy #fantasynovels #conan
https://tulefogpress.substack.com/p/s-and-s-roundup-5

Anyone know of any novels about a fantasy world undergoing an industrial revolution? Similar to the crpg Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura. Just really curious.

#ttrpg #ttrpgfamily #ttrpgcommunity #fantasynovels #novels #books #fantasy

He's coming to get you ... in your window and in your bookcase! "The Window Man", second of my #viriancompanions series of fantasy novels, is now available in paperback. This is another of my personal favourites among my own novels, so it's a huge deal for me.
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#virianchronicler #thewindowman #spies #assassins #prophecies #fantasynovels #fantasyart #paperback

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSJG7STZ

Short #BookReviews: A Woman Police Detective Across Dimensions #Marked @dawbooks @SAndrewSwann #fantasynovels
https://deborahjross.blogspot.com/2023/01/short-book-reviews-woman-police.html?spref=tw

Would recommend for fans of Naomi Novik, Susanna Clarke - books like Shades of Milk & Honey, The Midnight Bargain, even Howl's Moving Castle.
#Bookstadon #FantasyNovels

Finally got around to reading #Babel by R.F. Kuang. I am always a bit cautious about books with this much hype around them, but this one definitely lived up to it for me.

As book readers, words are magic and Kuang makes this literal in her critique of Western imperialism. She manages to thread the needle between scholarly stuffiness (there are copious footnotes) and thrilling page turner almost perfectly.

I only had some slight quibbles with some repeated phrasings that I feel could have used one more edit and it did occasionally feel like the book was clubbing you over the head with its themes. But that is splitting hairs on what is a fantastic and engrossing standalone #SFF novel.

Easily jumps into the top echelon of new books I’ve read in 2022.

#NowReading #Bookstodon #Fantasy #FantasyNovels #Books

Another two of my paperbacks arrived today. That makes six #VirianChronicles so far. I'm still working on getting the seventh one re-formatted. #virianchronicler #fantasynovels #paperbacks

i'll do my #introduction

hi i'm ace. i'm an eightpoint 'refugee' against my will. i'll do my best to get along with people but I promise nothing at this point.

I'm a 39 year old pre-op trans woman who receives no governmental aid of any kid so much crowdfund to mutual aid.

I'm a #furry into #roleplaying, #fantasynovels, #prowrestling and watching law and order

I currently use a Duet 5 Chromebook until i can afford a desktop again.

so...hi.

So the bookstore does not have the book I wanted to get my 10 year old for Christmas in stock. Oh well, it'll be great for his birthday in summer. But now I need a different book for him.

Suggestions for a 10 year old who reads like a 12-14 year old and likes magical fantasy stories that aren't scary?

The tricky bit is he's read a lot of books already so finding something I can confidently say he hasn't read (and is in the bookstore) is going to be a fun balancing act.

#KidLit #FantasyNovels

So the bookstore does not have the book I wanted to get my 10 year old for Christmas in stock. Oh well, it'll be great for his birthday in summer. But now I need a different book for him.

Suggestions for a 10 year old who reads like a 12-14 year old and likes magical fantasy stories that aren't scary?

The tricky bit is he's read a lot of books already so finding something I can confidently say he hasn't read (and is in the bookstore) is going to be a fun balancing act.

#KidLit #FantasyNovels

So the bookstore does not have the book I wanted to get my 10 year old for Christmas in stock. Oh well, it'll be great for his birthday in summer. But now I need a different book for him.

Suggestions for a 10 year old who reads like a 12-14 year old and likes magical fantasy stories that aren't scary?

The tricky bit is he's read a lot of books already so finding something I can confidently say he hasn't read (and is in the bookstore) is going to be a fun balancing act.

#books #FantasyNovels