Greetings, subscribers!
Welcome to the first all-new bumper edition of this newly-rebranded Faneon’s Fantasy Fiction Newsletter.
In this newsletter each month you’ll get:
The latest episode of my audio fantasy serial, SAGA OF THE JEWELS (see top of email)
Fantasy book recommendations
Free and discounted indie fantasy book recommendations and sales
News about what I’ve been working on and some stuff going on with me
The written version of this month’s SAGA OF THE JEWELS episode, in case you prefer to read it
Let’s jump in!
1. Fantasy book recommendations
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING:
I finally finished THE OLYMPIAN AFFAIR, which was excellent, but huge, so I jumped into a shorter book, THE LAST DRAGON SLAYER, an indie and one that I discovered on a website years ago and has been on my TBR pile for ages. I picked it up because apparently it’s more than just the usual sword-and-sorcery romp but engages with some philosophical ideas around meaning and faith. This is something I’m trying to do in SAGA OF THE JEWELS (if you haven’t seen much of that in it yet; watch this space…) so I’m trying to read examples of other books that do it well. Unfortunately, while there is some really interesting stuff in this book I have found some real problems with the writing, so I’ll be writing a review when I’m done.
So this month I’m also recommending THE DRAGONBONE CHAIR by Tad Williams, which I have been listening to as an audiobook for over a year! If you haven’t heard of this, from the late 80s, it’s one of the best of the American Tolkien imitators because the writing is actually good, and it has real heart. GRRM cites it as one of the influences on A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE, though it’s not ‘grimdark’—I think that’s more for the multiple warring kingdoms and POVs. I also find it interesting because Williams has a Christianity-analogue in his fantasy world which he uses to explore some theological themes. However, be warned if you attempt this book (and the whole trilogy and series of which it is part) that it is an extremely slow burn. Like, it takes a loooong time for anything to happen in this book, which is probably why it has taken me so long to listen to it—that and the fact that the audiobook is 33 hours long! For this reason I am not sure I will carry on with the others when I finish—though Jo has read them and says they are really good!
FAENON RECOMMENDS…
Another fantasy author I’d recommend who deals with philosophical-theological ideas in their fiction (other than Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, of course) is Ursula le Guin. I actually completely disagree with most of le Guin’s Theology and it’s not to my taste, but as stories and literature her books are absolute masterpieces. If you haven’t read these classics of the genre, THE EARTHSEA QUARTET and its follow-up books, yet, about Sparrowhawk and his rise from novice at a school of magic to becoming the archmage, you need to remedy that!
What fantasy books do you know that deal with philosophical-theological themes and do it well, exploring or saying something profound without being heavy-handed or preachy? If you know of any, please inform me in the comments or by return email!
WHAT JO’S BEEN READING
Jo finally finished THE SHADOW CASKET, and I had told her I had enjoyed Jim Butcher’s WARRIORBORN and THE OLYMPIAN AFFAIR so much that she decided to go straight ahead and read those too. This did mean that for some of December we were reading the same book (on our separate Kindles) but I managed not to spoil any of the big twists…at least too much! Jim Butcher doesn’t need any more publicity than he already gets in the fantasy book world, but these epic steampunk books are just so much fun I can’t help but recommend them again.
2. Discounted indie fantasy books
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WEDDING OF THE TORN ROSE is a fast-paced fantasy adventure with mystery, action, and magic.
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3. What I’ve been working on
Last month after an extended period of plotting I started carrying on writing SAGA OF THE JEWELS season 3 (currently at 45,000 words) and of course immediately departed from my planned-out plot…
I also wrote a brief little pseudo-satirical article on depression and writing, ‘The Utter Precariousness of All Writing, Everywhere, Ever’, which you can read right here on this substack.
Oh, and ICYMI here’s a little late Christmas present for you: a recording of my free AUDIO short story ‘I hate flying’, set in the world of my young adult novel WEAKLING:
IN OTHER NEWS…
In December the 5yo turned into a 6yo, so naturally we had a party. At her request, we hired the 21st-century equivalent of a magician, i.e. a scientist, for a science party! The party provided by the ‘science party’ company was all about the different states of matter, so there was solid carbon dioxide / dry ice, children almost freezing their digits, massive bubbles, bath-bomb making and huge amounts of fun. It was great! Here’s the 6yo turning a solid into a gas, but not in the way she usually does!
Now, on with the Saga…
4. Saga of the Jewels Season Two Premiere: The Council of Nuthea
Previously on Saga of the Jewels…
The life of seventeen-year-old RYN, bookish son of a wealthy landowner, changes forever when his hometown is destroyed by the EMPIRE and everyone he has ever known is killed. Ryn discovers that the Empire are seeking TWELVE PRIMEVAL JEWELS which grant the power to manipulate different elements, and that his father had been hiding the FIRE RUBY. Ryn sets out to take revenge on the Imperial General who killed his family and retrieve the Fire Ruby, and along the way meets NUTHEA the lightning-slinging princess, SAGAR the swaggering skypirate, ELRANN the tomboy engineer, CID the wizened old healer, and VISH the poppy-seed-addicted bounty hunter. Together the adventurers decide to find all of the Jewels in order to stop the evil EMPEROR from finding them first and taking over the world. The companions now find themselves recuperating in Nuthea’s homeland, where after much travail they have thus far succeeded in retrieving the Fire Ruby, now borne by Ryn, and the Lightning Crystal, now borne by Nuthea…
EPISODE 22. THE COUNCIL OF NUTHEA
As Princess Nutheanna Kaleutheanna looked out from the throne at her assembled, white-toga-clad councillors and recently made friends seated before her, despair and hope warred in her heart.
Her mother’s burial ceremony that morning had been beautiful.
Nuthea had watched in the Temple of the One as the attendants had carried the heavy white-stone coffin, cut in record time by the finest stonemasonesses of the Queendom, down the steps into the Royal Family Crypt, its lid adorned with the sculpted prone form of Queen Materea, her huge hands pressed together in prayer and her pale eyelids closed.
They had heaved it onto its place on the stone shelf, above Grandmothers Lissa and Effi and Sunis, while the sacred song had been sung. The High Priestess had said the final words of commitment to the One, and as the door to the crypt had been closed Nuthea had cried silent and bitter tears.
New tears pushed at her eyes now, but now was not the time for weeping.
The faces of her countrywomen looked up at her tight-lipped and expectant. They had been deprived of their Queen, their leader, only yesterday. Their capital had been infiltrated and Manolian blood spilled in this throne room, something which had not happened in a hundred years. And the Emperor of Morekemia had come close to seizing the Lightning Crystal for himself.
And it had all been her fault.
I must be strong. I’ll make it up to you, Mother. I’ll redeem myself.
“Countrywomen,” she spoke clearly into the echoing hall, hoping that the tremor in her voice was not discernible, “I have called this Council because, as you know, of late terrible events have taken place within these walls.”
She nearly added, ‘and I am responsible for all of them,’ but she held that back too. Her countrywomen needed someone to look up to, to lead them, not to admit weakness and fall apart in front of them. Her birthmother had taught her that much. She took a deep breath, and continued.
“As you know, these things happened because Emperor Kivesst of Morekemia has learned of the ancient Primeval Jewels, one of which we guard in this great Queendom, and which he almost came close to seizing for himself.”
Her hand went to the Lightning Crystal that hung from the chain around her neck. It was unusually cool to the touch.
“Indeed, he would have succeeded, were it not for the intervention of my companions, whom I acquired on my journey beyond Manolia, which I made to gather information about the Emperor’s plans.”
Another gloss on the truth; misleading but necessary. The One forgive me.
Nuthea nodded towards her friends who sat in the front row of the wooden chairs to indicate whom she meant.
“In particular, we have Ryn of Efstan here to thank. Ryn defeated the Imperial General who had taken the Crystal and lent us temporary use of another Jewel, the Fire Ruby, to subdue the General’s forces.”
She held out a hand towards Ryn.
“Please stand.”
The boy did so, hesitantly, awkwardness quirking his mouth.
“Ryn of Efstan, I salute you.”
She began to clap, and her countrywomen soon joined her, the smatter quickly building to a mighty, thunderous applause.
Nuthea met Ryn’s eyes for a moment as she clapped, but he looked away almost at once. The boy’s cheeks had turned as red as the fire that he was able to cast. He was sweet, in his own way. And he had done something great by defeating Vorr, saving her country. Maybe there was more greatness yet to come from him…
She glanced along the row to Sagar, sat next to Ryn. The skycaptain’s jaw clenched as he stared straight ahead and clapped. Of course, he had helped too—and Elrann, and Cid, and Vish—but Ryn had been the one to kill the Imperial General, and therefore he deserved to be singled out for special honour.
The skycaptain was very handsome even in his jealousy, Nuthea found herself noticing. The set of his jaw was pleasing and he had a kind of rugged, brazen self-confidence that Ryn lacked and which scared Nuthea a little, if she was honest, though she was also strangely drawn to it.
She held up a hand for silence and the applause faded instantly.
Ryn sat back down.
“Countrywomen, while a battle was won yesterday, it is with deep sadness that we must acknowledge that a war has begun. Now that the Emperor of Morekemia has learned of the existence of the Jewels, in his lust for power he will surely stop at nothing to obtain them all. We thank the One that Ryn was able not only to protect our Lightning Crystal from the Empire, but also to take back the Fire Ruby from them, which he now bears. The Empire’s loss of the Ruby will protect us from future invasions, overt or covert, to be sure. But it is only a matter of time before Emperor Kivesst locates another Jewel, which will again endanger not only us, but the whole of Mid. It is for this reason that I have made the decision to depart as soon as possible with my companions in search of the remaining Primeval Jewels.”
A gasp went up from her councillors, who had not been in this hall yesterday when she had announced the same intentions to her friends.
One of them raised a hand. Colana, austere in her white toga, with a stern face and a proud, high forehead underneath silver hair. Nuthea nodded to her, indicating that she was granting permission to speak.
“But Princess Nuthea, how can you do this?” said Colana for everyone to hear.
Anger flashed in Nuthea’s breast at once. How dare she question me so openly and quickly? Even if she had been one of her mother’s most senior advisers.
“The Matriarchy has just lost Her Queen;” Colana went on, “we need you to remain here and govern, not to charge off on a journey around the world with a ragtag crew of misfits you only just met in search of some legendary artefacts which you may or may not be able to find. You need to be coronated and remain here to lead, for the good of the Queendom.”
A number of other councillors nodded and murmured their assent—lots of the older ones, Nuthea noted. So they looked down on her. They looked down on her because she was young. They looked down on her because she had run away from her arranged marriage. They looked down on her because she had brought men into the throne room. They saw her as a silly, reckless child.
Well, silly and reckless I may be, but a child I am no longer.
How could Colana think that challenging her could change her mind? If Nuthea backed down now, she would lose all authority with her Mother’s Council—her Council, she corrected herself. She gritted her teeth. No, this challenge would only strengthen her resolve.
Nuthea held up a hand again to silence the murmuring. Anger roiled in her so hot that she worried that sparks might leap from her fingers, or even a full discharge of lightning, but thankfully none appeared.
Her countrywomen ceased murmuring. She still had some authority then. At least they still knew how to obey the commands of royalty, even if they were questioning them so openly.
“I thank you for your counsel, Colana,” Nuthea said graciously from her throne, “which is received with gratitude. However, my mind is made up. I have thought it all through and I will not be swayed in this matter. The safest place for the Lightning Crystal to remain is with me. And if I take the Crystal with me on my quest, there will be no reason for the Emperor to attack Manolia again, as it will not be here for him to try to take. Furthermore, it makes most sense for me to be the one to lead the party that is to seek out the rest of the Jewels and keep them from the Emperor. As you know, as well as bestowing the gift of elemental projection, the Jewels amplify that gift in those who bear them, and as the last surviving member of the Royal Family I am the most trained and proficient in the use of lightning-projection. What is more, I have been educated in the Lore of the Jewels since I was a child.” Was a child. “Therefore, it makes the most sense for me to lead the search party. And my new companions will come with me.”
She nodded towards Ryn, then at all of her friends one by one.
“Ryn is Ruby-touched, and has already proved himself by defeating an Imperial General. Captain Sagar is Shell-touched with air-projection, and commands the swift airship Wanderlust on which we will travel. Lady Elrann has shown her loyalty to our cause and talents with pistol and whip on more than one occasion, and possesses the skills required to maintain our vessel. Grandfather Cid is Diamond-touched and knowledgeable in the ways of healing magic, and what’s more a fellow Oneist with deep knowledge of Jewel Lore. And lastly Shadowfinger Vish, who has turned from the Emperor to commit himself to our service, is a highly trained fighter with an understanding of the Empire’s inner workings. All of them have shown themselves true by helping us to repel General Vorr’s incursion. I will travel with them to find the remaining Primeval Jewels.”
She had tried to say it as a definitive statement brooking no further argument, but her councillors broke out into murmurs again. Nuthea ground her teeth.
Another councillor put up her hand. Mariana. White-haired and even older than Colana, but more kindly. Nuthea nodded at her.
“Forgive me, Princess, but who will govern Manolia in your stead, while you are away?”
“A sensible question,” Nuthea granted. “I have thought about this also, and made my decision. Step forward, Kathuna.”
From her place standing as one of the two guards at the foot of the dais, Kathuna took a step forward in her bright golden armour.
More gasps, and now not just murmurs but open protest from the councillors. Dissent.
Colana’s voice rose above the others. “Kathuna Kassisi is not even a councillor or a minister! She is a soldier!”
Her voice clearly expressed everyone’s else’s objections, so they quietened to see how Nuthea would respond.
Colana had spoken out of turn, and not even addressed her with her title and the informal use of her first name, as she had done before, but Nuthea chose to ignore this.
“Exactly. As a soldier and not a councillor, Kathuna has the advantage of not being embroiled in any of the politics of the Council. She will govern without bias. I have known Kathuna my whole life; she is my oldest friend, and I trust her implicitly. I know of no-one better to lead Manolia while I am gone. She is best positioned to guess my will in matters of state, and if she cannot, I trust the judgment of her own will. The royal family of Manolia are warriors, are we not? Kathuna is a warrior, and now Crystal-touched too, and she will serve as an excellent regent in my stead while I am away.”
The white-toga-wearing women began grumbling again. This time Devara’s voice rose highest, the councillor in charge of overseeing military affairs. “This ‘quest’, Princess—would it not be more prudent to send our army to seek out the other Jewels?”
“No. Nothing would give away the location of the Jewels to the Empire more than sending our army after them. As far as we know, the Empire currently only know of the whereabouts of one of the other Jewels, one that is guarded by another people, in Farr. Others are hidden, or lost, and we must do everything we can to prevent the Empire from finding out where they are. This will be a mission of diplomacy and stealth for a small group, not open warfare for an army.”
Now the High Priestess, who also sat on the Council in her white robes, spoke up: “Princess, if I may? Let us say, hypothetically, that you succeed in gathering all of the Primeval Jewels together, which would take a very long time in itself. What will you do when you have gathered all of them together? The Jewels were meant to be shared among the peoples of Mid, not collected together. Are you not setting out to do precisely what you are seeking to thwart the Morekemians in doing?”
More nods and murmurs. The objection had been wise. Nuthea spoke her answer carefully, weighing each word.
“The Prophecy, as we interpret it, states that if a person gathers all of the Jewels together they will be granted unfathomable power. Now, for the first time in living memory, a malicious power has not only learned of this fact, but begun to acquire knowledge of the location of some of the hidden Jewels.” And all because of me, Nuthea added in her head. That is why I must do this. “My quest is not for one person to gather all of the Jewels together to wield their power for themselves. I seek only to warn, to safeguard, to protect. When we find the Jewels, we will be sharing them out among ourselves. We have two already, borne by myself and Ryn of Efstan. We will keep them from the Emperor for as long as he seeks them, and perhaps, one day, when this threat has passed, we will be able to return them to their respective peoples, or to hide them anew.”
The complaints from the councillors were like the breaking of a storm.
Colana took her turn to represent them again, speaking louder than all the rest. “Princess, this is arrogance! Hubris! Delusion! As regards the Jewels that are guarded by other peoples, how do you think you will persuade them to hand them over to you? And for those that remain hidden, how do you think you will find them? They have been lost for years.”
Fury fizzed in Nuthea’s chest. She wanted to fry Colana with a lightning bolt right there on the spot, but she held herself back. How dare she speak to me like that?
“Thank you for your insights, Councillor Colana.” She was aware that her tone made it sound like she was actually saying ‘Go and stick your head in a bucket of dung, Councillor Colana’, but there wasn’t much she could do about that. “However, if anyone has a chance of finding the Jewels, it is us. As I have said, we already have two. What is more, Grandfather Cid Previa of Erm here, a fellow Oneist, has sought the Jewels before, for benevolent ends, and succeeded in finding some of them, before he abandoned his own quest and returned them to their hiding places. He may be the most qualified person in the whole of Mid to help us look for them. In any case, I remind you that Manolia is not a democracy, but a Matriarchy. My mind is made up. I depart at once. Kathuna will reign in my stead, until my return. The Council is dismissed.”
She stood up, daring her councillors to defy her.
Colana, Mariana, Devara and all the rest of them looked up at her, various degrees of reluctance written in their faces.
Go on, the One take you. You are my councillors, not my fellow ministers.
At last Mariana stood, bowed her head to Nuthea, and began to walk towards the doors.
The others followed, filing out of the throne room.
Thank the One, Nuthea thought.
When she had watched the last of them, Colana, exit the throne room, leaving only her traveling companions, Kathuna, and her guards, Nuthea descended the steps of the dais to join her friends.
“Well, I think that went well,” said Elrann.
Nuthea could not suppress a smirk.
“You handled them admirably, Granddaughter,” said Cid.
“Thank you, both of you,” Nuthea replied. “All of you. They may not like my decision, but they have no choice in the matter. Kathuna, I meant what I said. You will do an excellent job of reigning in my stead until I return. I have every faith in you.”
Her golden-haired sister-friend bowed deeply. “Thank you, princess.”
“The rest of you: it is time for us to go.”
“Alright!” said Elrann.
“About time…” said Sagar.
“Which Jewel will we be going after first?” said Ryn. “Which is the one in Farr?”
Nuthea glanced at her other guards. “It is better that as few people as possible are aware of this, but as it turns out, we shall be hunting for the Earth Emerald first.”
“Why that one?” said Sagar.
“Hey, she knows what she’s doing,” said Ryn.
“I know she knows what she’s doing, pup, but I want to know how she knows she knows what she’s doing.”
“It is the obvious course of action,” said Nuthea. “It is the only other Jewel that we know of that we know the Empire are also aware of already. We know that much from Vorr, from when he…” She blinked at the memory. That had been the moment that...no, it was too painful to think about. “...from when he revealed that to us. It is unlikely that the Empire are aware of any of the locations of any of the other Jewels yet. I have consulted on this with Grandfather Cid.”
“So where exactly is this ‘Earth Emerald’ anyhow, princess-girl?” asked Elrann.
“It is held in Shun-Pei, the capital city of Farr, known colloquially as the Crossroads of the East.”
“Oh, goodie! I’ve not been there in a long time!”
“How do you know that?” asked Ryn. “How do you know that’s where the Earth Emerald is?”
“Well,” said Nuthea, “in the case of the Lightning Crystal and the Earth Emerald, the secrets of their whereabouts have not really been very well kept. These two jewels have been guarded by the ruling powers of the respective peoples they have been associated with—the Manolians and the Farrians–for years. Although in theory they were supposed to be being guarded in secret, they have been used, and exposed. It’s no coincidence that Manolia has been defended by lightning, and that Shun-Pei is built on a huge outcropping rising out of the earth like a man-made mountain. When you add to that that travellers travel, and envoys exchange knowledge, and people talk, then it’s not so hard to put two and two together, if someone knows about the Jewels.”
Sagar said, “What makes you think that the ruler of Farr is going to be happy just to hand over the Earth Emerald to you?”
“I am confident that when I explain to him the current situation with the Empire–that they have learned of the Jewels and are seeking them–he will see reason and commit the Earth Emerald into our care.”
Sagar just looked at her, raising one eyebrow above his handsome face.
“Alright…” said Nuthea. “I’ll grant you that this may in fact prove to be quite difficult…”
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Saga of the Jewels Season Two Premiere: Episode 22. The Council of Nuthea