Tag Archives: urban fantasy

Turning Back to Epic Fantasy

by David B. Coe

Like Gail, I have written in several fantasy subgenres over the course of my career, most recently taking on contemporary urban fantasy (with my Case Files of Justis Fearsson trilogy) and historical urban fantasy (with the Thieftaker Chronicles, which I write as D.B. Jackson). I started out, though, writing alternate world, epic (or high) fantasy. Multi-book story arcs, set in created worlds, with lots of magic and castle intrigue, and with larger-than-life villains who threatened All That We Hold Dear. Fun stuff.

coejacksonpubpic1000I’ve recently returned to these early works. The rights to my first several series have reverted to me, leaving me free to do with them as I please. And I have chosen to reissue what I am calling the “Author’s Edits” (think Director’s Cut) of the books. For obvious reasons, I’ve started with my first series, the LonTobyn Chronicle, which I published back in the late 1990s. These books established me commercially and critically, and won me the Crawford Fantasy Award as the best new author in fantasy. They’re as close to my heart as any books I’ve written. But they were also my first efforts and they suffered from many of the flaws one finds in first novels. Hence the Author’s Edit. I haven’t changed any of the plotting, world building, or character work. But I’ve tightened the prose and eliminated unnecessary dialog tags, adverbs, and expository passages. The books now read better than they ever have.

In reading through and editing this first series, I realized that I miss writing epic fantasy. It’s not that I’ve come to dislike urban fantasy. Far from it. I believe the Fearsson and Thieftaker books represent the best writing I’ve ever done. But I had forgotten how much fun it can be to write those huge, sprawling epics on which I cut my teeth as a writing professional.

To my mind, the biggest differences between writing urban fantasy and writing epic boil down to the related issues of point of view and plotting. Urban fantasy, as I’ve approached it in my career and experienced it as a reader, tends to be more streamlined. The cast of point of view characters is usually limited to a single protagonist, or perhaps two or three narrating characters. The plotting can be twisty and intricate, but it’s also focused. Much of urban fantasy pays homage not only to its fantasy roots, but also to noir mystery. It’s not surprising then, that some of the best books in the subgenre are lean, fast-paced, and tightly constructed. As I say, I love urban for just these reasons.dcoe1

But for me, the allure of epic fantasy, both as an author and as a fan, lies in its embrace of very different attributes. My favorite epic fantasies, and all the high fantasies I’ve written, braid together many seemingly disparate storylines that coalesce as the novel and/or series progresses. By necessity, these plot threads are presented through a pantheon of point of view characters, who give the reader dfferent perspectives on the story, and bits of information that form a sort of narrative mosaic.

In some respects it’s less efficient story telling. On the other hand, when done well, epic fantasy can take on a richness and texture that make it unique among all forms of speculative fiction. I enjoy writing it because I can lead my reader through a labyrinth of plot points, hinting at key moments to come, feinting at possible paths my story might take, and telling the tale through a collection of voices, each one unique and, I hope, engaging. I can give my readers more information than any one of my characters has at his or her disposal, thus ratcheting up the tension by, for example, sending my protagonist into a trap of which my readers are aware, even though she is not.

We writers can be a fickle bunch. When I shifted from epic fantasy to urban, I did it, in part, because I was tired of writing the multi-POV, multi-plot-thread, multi-volume stories that I’d written throughout the early years of my career. I longed for that leaner voice of urban fantasy. I wanted to write stand-alone novels that more closely resembled whodunits, but with a magical twist. The Thieftaker and Fearsson books were exactly what I was after.

dcoe2Now, I find that I’m ready to turn back. Reading and editing Children of Amarid, my very first novel, as I prepared for its re-release, I found myself transported back to those days when I was writing the book without a contract, dreaming of one day becoming a published author. I had read many of the great epic fantasists of my youth: Tolkien and Donaldson, Kurtz and Kerr, McCaffrey (yes, I know — she considered herself an author of Science Fiction; I thought of it as fantasy), LeGuin, Brooks, and Eddings. Those were the authors who attracted me to this career, and when I wrote the LonTobyn Chronicle, I tried to draw upon what I saw as the finest qualities of their work. I’m not so full of myself as to claim that I succeeded with this first effort. But they were my inspirations, and fantasy, as they defined the field, was my first love.

So, now I’m back to it. I have more of my backlist to release in coming years: my five-book Winds of the Forelands series, my Blood of the Southlands trilogy. And I’m eager to try my hand at writing new epic fantasy, blending my lifelong passion for the genre with the knowledge of craft I’ve accrued during my twenty years in the business. I don’t yet know exactly what this new project will look like. But those elements of the genre that I love — magic, of course, the more wondrous the better, as well as intrigue, action, and maybe a sprinkling of romance — will all be there, along with the rich complexity that makes reading and writing high fantasy such a joy. Stay tuned!

About the Author

David B. Coe/D.B. Jackson is the award-winning author of nineteen fantasy novels. As David B. Coe, he writes The Case Files of Justis Fearsson, a contemporary urban fantasy from Baen Books. The first two books, Spell Blind and His Father’s Eyes came out in 2015. The third volume, Shadow’s Blade, has recently been released. Under the name D.B. Jackson, he writes the Thieftaker Chronicles, a historical urban fantasy from Tor Books that includes Thieftaker, Thieves’ Quarry, A Plunder of Souls, and Dead Man’s Reach.

David is also the author of the Crawford Award-winning LonTobyn Chronicle, which he is the process of reissuing, as well as the critically acclaimed Winds of the Forelands quintet and Blood of the Southlands trilogy. He wrote the novelization of Ridley Scott’s movie, Robin Hood. David’s books have been translated into a dozen languages.

He lives on the Cumberland Plateau with his wife and two daughters. They’re all smarter and prettier than he is, but they keep him around because he makes a mean vegetarian fajita. When he’s not writing he likes to hike, play guitar, and stalk the perfect image with his camera.

 

https://www.DavidBCoe.com

https://www.davidbcoe.com/blog/

https://www.dbjackson-author.com

https://www.facebook.com/david.b.coe

https://twitter.com/DavidBCoe

https://www.amazon.com/author/davidbcoe

 

 

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Join the Shadow Alliance (and Other Cool Stuff)

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Join the Shadow Alliance–it’s the most fun you can have without a secret decoder ring!

The Shadow Alliance is my street team. Plenty of contests, prizes, exclusive sneak peek excerpts and updates on what I’m working on next, and other secret members-only cool stuff you have to join to discover! And, oh yeah, Alliance members help to spread the word about my books. Did I mention members-only get-togethers at select cons and cookies? Join now, have fun, help get the word out! Sign up here

Next up–Holiday giveaway!  Win books and gift cards! Authors include me, Faith Hunter, David B. Coe, John Hartness, Stuart Jaffe, Laura Anne Gilman, Darynda Jones, Christina Henry, Jennifer Estep and Mindy Mymudes. Easy to enter, and the more you enter, the more chances to win! Happy Holidays giveaway

You can find the book giveaway links here where you can enter

To win the gift card, go to one of these participating blogs and comment!

Slippery Words  November 24th, 2015 I Smell Sheep  November 25th, 2015 Literal Addiction  November 27th, 2015 Cherry Mischievous November 29th, 2015 Drey’s Library November 30th, 2015 Tome Tender December 1st, 2015 London’s Scribbles December 2nd, 2015 Fantasy Fun Reads  December 3rd, 2015 Rabid Reads December 10, 2015

Shopping for the holidays? Books are the best presents! Vendetta, the new Deadly Curiosities novel, is available for pre-order now and comes out in stores December 29! Other new books this year include War of Shadows in my Ascendant Kingdoms Saga series and Iron & Blood, for the Steampunk lover on your list!

DEADLY CURIOSITIES-VENDETTA2

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Days of the Dead 2015: Tricks, Treats and Stuff that’s Scary-Good!

DaysofDead Banner V1 copy

Welcome to the 2015 Days of the Dead blog tour!

We are going to celebrate in style this year with excerpts, interviews, book giveaways, sneak peeks at new covers, and more!

DEADLY CURIOSITIES-VENDETTA2Three new books are coming up—and that’s just the beginning! On December 29, Vendetta: A Deadly Curiosities Novel (Solaris Books) launches—and it’s got an awesome Chris McGuire cover. Then in March, Shadow and Flame (Orbit Books) comes out—the fourth and final book in the Ascendant Kingdoms series. In June, we return to the world of The Summoner with Shadowed Path, a print (and ebook) anthology of the first ten Jonmarc Vahanian Adventures PLUS an exclusive eleventh story that is only in the anthology!

But wait, there’s more! The Weird Wild West anthology is out, with a Storm and Fury Adventure story from Larry N. Martin and me, and The Side of Good/The Side of Evil anthology/flipbook is also new—and it’s got another Storm and Fury Adventure story as well. Speaking of the Iron & Blood-related Storm and Fury Adventures, check out the FREE full novella Grave Voices on Wattpad as well as short stories Resurrection Day and Airship Down on Kindle/Kobo and Nook.WWW cover

There’s a brand new Deadly Curiosities Adventure short story, Spook House, which will be out right in time for Halloween, and earlier this year we wrapped up Season 2 of the Jonmarc Vahanian Adventures—Season 3 will start in 2016. Coming soon are the all-new Blaine McFadden novellas in the King’s Convicts series, that happens before the main action in Ice Forged (available on Kindle/Kobo and Nook). And in December, a Blaine McFadden short story, No Reprieve, debuts on Orbit Short Fiction.

A Night Sky with Moon and Trees

In fact, there is so much awesome cool stuff going on that it takes TWO different blog tours to contain it all! That’s where the Full Moon Blog Tour comes in—with even MORE great blogs from 25+ different authors (including me) so just click here or on the graphic to get started!

So what ELSE is going on with the Days of the Dead tour? Here’s the deal—different blogs will post my guest articles on different days. Make the rounds, enter the contests, be entertained and grab some fun freebies! Where? Watch for links for Beauty in Ruins, ESpecBooks, The Qwillery, SF Signal, The Book Plank, Magical Words, I Smell Sheep, Bookloons, Romance Bandits, SFNow, Fantasy Book Critic, SF World, We Geek Girls, SF Bokhandlein, Fantasy Faction, SFX, No More Grumpy Booksellers, Solaris Books and more!

What kind of freebies? First off, there’s The Swaggiest Swag giveaway. If you like bookmarks, swagpostcards and cool free stuff from bestselling authors, this is for you. I’m one of 11 authors who are giving away neat stuff for just the cost of a self-addressed/stamped envelope. Find out more here:

I’ll have three different Goodreads giveaways, one for Iron & Blood, one for Deadly Curiosities and one for The Weird Wild West. There are also giveaways on Reddit, Bookloons, The Full Moon Blog Tour, No More Grumpy Bookseller and Romance Bandits. Sprinkled along with the guest blog posts are links to excerpts for all my books and short stories, plus DOZENS of links to books and short stories by author friends of mine. Enough to keep you reading for quite a while!

Good-EvilWhat are you waiting for? You can get in on all the Days of the Dead fun on a treasure hunt/Trick-or-Treat just by visiting these sites. Check back at www.AscendantKingdoms.com and here to find all the links! And please, “like” my TheWinterKingdoms page on Facebook and follow me @GailZMartin on Twitter! And if you join my Chronicles newsletter, you’ll never miss out on something because Facebook didn’t show everyone the update!

With so much good stuff going on, it’s going to take a week just to get through it all! What are you waiting for? Dive in and help me celebrate the Days of the Dead!

And because Halloween wouldn’t be complete without some Trick or Treating, here are some excerpt links to my stuff and stories by some of my author friends!

Book swag is the new Trick-or-Treat! Grab your envelope of book swag awesomeness from me & 10 authors https://on.fb.me/1h4rIIe before 11/1!

Trick or Treat! Excerpt from my new urban fantasy novel Vendetta set in my Deadly Curiosities world here https://bit.ly/1ZXCPVS Launches Dec. 29

More Treats! Enter to win a copy of Deadly Curiosities! https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/160181-deadly-curiosities

Treats! Enter to win a copy of Iron & Blood! https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/160182-iron-blood

Halloween treat! Read two of our complete haunted novellas FREE on Wattpad The Final Death https://w.tt/1jsKqLL & GraveVoices https://w.tt/1kapSrn

Halloween Loot! Double-Dragon Publishing sampler #1 https://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/sample/DDPSAMPLE001.mobi

Good Stuff!  Double-Dragon Publishing sampler #2 https://www.double-dragon-ebooks.com/sample/DDPSAMPLE002.mobi

Win some WeirdWildWest awesomeness! https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/enter_choose_address/138364-the-weird-wild-west

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