Asak’s Dogs

The Hounds of Asak that appear in THE SONG OF THE SWORD are related—but not identical—to the hounds kenneled by the cult of Dekata in northeastern Lorj. The beasts that attack Donzalo are not from his world, but drawn from another by the sorcerer Radal. From Asak’s realm itself, perhaps, though Asak would have little interest in raising such creatures.

The goddess Dekata might, and she dwells in that same world as her father, the world of the Ildin gods. Those hounds from another world could have any origin. There might even be divine blood somewhere in their ancestry (deities are known to have sex with just about anything). It is certain that blood is shared by the packs of both world. Someone would have taken one or more of the dogs through a gate, one direction or the other. Or both; there could well have been breeding back and forth. But the Dekatan dogs of Exura, the world of Donzalo and much of my other fantasy fiction, are much more like the canines we know—ultimately and simply, dogs.

Thus, it is not surprising that Marana befriends a couple and takes them home with her at the conclusion of THE JEWELS OF THE ELEMENTS. The heritage of those dogs is spread widely over the centuries to come. I suspect some of it is to be found in the ‘warden dogs’ of Count Mussago, including the one named King he gifts to Donzalo’s son.

As to the Dekatan kennels, it is likely the dogs there were dispersed after the Great Devastation, and their lineage melded into that of other breeds. And, now and again, those pale green eyes that mark that heritage would show up and make their owners wonder.

Cabell

J.R.R Tolkien did not care for the work of the popular (in his day) writer of fantasy, James Branch Cabell, dismissing it as boring. Now I can find criticisms enough of my own for Cabell’s writing; I would also have to admit my forays into fantasy owe more to him than to Tolkien.

It is true that I might never have discovered Cabell at all had not the popularity of Tolkien, and fantasy in general, led to the reprinting of many classic fantasy novels in the late Sixties and the Seventies. Dunsany, Eddison, Morris—all perhaps left their mark on me. Dunsany, in particular, who is a far more subtle writer than Cabell.

Of course, I do love ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and ‘The Hobbit.’ They are great novels in themselves and have some of the best world-building ever behind them. Tolkien set the bar for epic fantasy.

Cabell wrote anti-epics. His protagonists launch quests in pursuit of illusions. This is not to say he was cynical (or not too cynical); he seems rather fond of those illusions, of chivalry, of romantic love, while not taking them quite seriously. They provide a foundation on which he may build his witty tales and expound his sometimes dated (and sexist) views. But he is just as interested in exploring the fundamentals of existence as Tolkien—just on a more personal level.

Though all that is of interest, it is style and structure that more attracted me to Cabell’s fiction. There are complexities beneath the text that can be explored (though they needn’t be for enjoyment), anagrams, word games, intricate allusions to sources both real and invented. Some of his stories in actual historic settings veer close to the sort of thing Woolf did in ‘Orlando’ (or maybe vice-versa?).

If I were to make one great criticism of James Branch Cabell it is that he tended to write around ‘ideas’ and a bit of an agenda, rather than starting from the story itself. He can seem to be focused on illustrating and proving some point. That is rarely conducive to great writing, but he managed to keep it from getting too much in the way. None of his novels are, perhaps, ‘great’ but several are quite good.

Which ones? The famous—and infamous—‘Jurgen,’ of course, the novel that made his name. ‘Figures of Earth’ might actually be better, though a bit similar. His retelling of the Sleeping Beauty tale, ‘The High Place,’ is, to me, his strongest offering as a cohesive story, as well as being perhaps the most humorous. ‘The Cream of the Jest’ hasn’t as much of a plot but is conceptually complex, epitomizing his worldview. Almost all his work, incidentally, is available free from Project Gutenberg.

Some might label Cabell’s books frivolous or superficial. I suspect Tolkien did! They are also very American, which separates him from the important British fantasists of his time—even the humorous ones such as Bramah. Ultimately, he is a bit peripheral to the fantasy mainstream, yet he has certainly influenced many who followed (such as Gaiman). My own writing would not be the same had I not discovered and read Cabell when relatively young. Yes, he’s one of those ‘early influences’ all writers have.

I do recommend investigating a title or two, whether one is interested in fantasy—either reading or writing—or not. James Branch Cabell is a moderately important figure in Twentieth Century American literature, a popular author in his time and acclaimed by the intelligentsia before they moved on to the next fashion. I moved on too, but his work remains a part of my foundation.

Muscles

Once upon a time I wrote for fitness and bodybuilding magazines. This was mostly back in the Eighties through the early Thousands. I didn’t make a living from it—still had to have a day job (or a night job, much of the time)—but it did help ends meet. This was before I got my location recording business going, which sent me off in a different direction (getting onto the internet had a lot to do with all that).

I never, of course, got on with the Weider publications. They mostly used staff writers. Second tier magazines did buy my stuff, particularly the now-defunct MuscleMag International (which gave Weider a good run for its money for a while) and Natural Bodybuilding. I’m posting some cover shots for a few issues in which my work appeared. Note the woman draped over the muscle star on each; mustn’t let folks get a whiff of homosexuality!

Journalism of this sort was a good training ground. It gave me a foundation for when I turned to fiction. It can not be denied that my work still tends toward journalistic brevity and language (though also being a poet brings some other tools to the job). One stop along the way in my writing journey—I have some of the articles in my files and could probably work them up for some sort of publication. They definitely need revision—they might have been acceptable to the editors of those magazines but they seem amateurish to me now!

But there is little point in writing about that sort of thing now. Time has limits and other interests demand my attention. However, you may be sure that I still lift daily. Bodybuilding remains a central part of who I am.

What Were They Thinking?

I will never tell you what is going on in a character’s mind. Unless that character is the first person narrator and then, of course, they are likely to be a most unreliable source. They will tell what they think they are thinking, though their actual motives might be quite different. The same is largely true for a close third perspective.

As for what others might be thinking, we can only give the point-of-view character’s guess on it. Or the narrator’s feelings, if we go more or less omniscient. Trollope would do this; he would only suggest reasons for a character’s actions, when he chose (which he did from time to time) to break the fourth wall.

Aside from the point of view problems, I simply dislike attempting to psychoanalyze anyone. It tends to come off as simplistic and not truly believable. Moreover, such attempts at pop psychology are likely to become quickly dated. Better to let the reader figure things out!

MEF

MEF stands for Modern Epic Fantasy. Yes, I invented it. It also conveys my feelings about most of it. ‘Mef,’ I say, when perusing a book by Martin or Sanderson. If those ridiculous movie poster-style covers don’t keep me from opening it in the first place. I might say even worse things than ‘mef.’

But we won’t use those here. I don’t write MEFs. The closest approach would be the four books of Donzalo’s Destiny. Some might call them an epic, but they are not as expansive as most books with that label, nor is there the world-threatening evil one frequently finds in such novels. My fantasies are really every bit as character-driven as my mainstream work, and the magic and world-building is always secondary. Or tertiary, or some further remove.

Perhaps this is why I find myself writing more of that mainstream fiction these days. I don’t need fantasy to say what I want. This does not mean I do not enjoy it and its writing. And yes, the magic and world-building.

The truth is, despite all those novels I’ve churned out, I do consider myself first a poet. This does reflect in my prose; of this I am quite aware. I prefer the lean yet imaginative language of good poetry. I like metaphors and ambiguities. Unlike the typical plodding MEF!

People of Color in Exura (and my stories)

Quite a few of the characters in the stories that make up the Annals of Izan—both in the world of Exura and elsewhere in the infinite worlds—are ‘people of color.’ I’ll not speak now of gods and fay and such who might came in variety of hues, some not at all what we might consider normal. Rather, allow me to speak of the mortal humans of Exura, where most of the tales are set.

There are black people, or what most might call black. It should be noted at once that these are not of African descent (except in the sense we all are) but have Oceanic and Australoid ancestors. These passed from our world through the gate located somewhere in the vast South Pacific. Melanesians, Papuans, Aboriginal Australians—all found their way through in small numbers, as did other Oceanic folk. Needless to say, there was plenty of mixing. The folk I name the Baxac (or Bazu) are definitely a dark people. They are also a people who spread widely. The mercenary general Ildor, father of the sorcerer Radal—the primary antagonist of the Donzalo’s Destiny books—was of Baxac ancestry, his immediate origin being the isle of Lorj.

There was plenty of mixing there, too, although Ildor was notably dark. All the more notably when he settled among the Sharshites! His granddaughter, Fachalana, daughter of Radal and the main protagonist of the Destiny’s Daughter series, is but a quarter Lorjam and not much darker than many of those about her. There is even less contrast when she strays across the mountains to adventure among the olive-skinned Lamans.

Now dark people did pass through the gate on the other side of both worlds. That is the one located in the Ural Mountains in our world and early Paleolithic individuals would have been drawn in—the first ‘modern’ humans to pass into Exura (we won’t count earlier Neanderthals, etc. though they certainly would have passed too). Genetic evidence suggests these were a relatively dark population, quite possibly ancestral to the people scattered across northern Asia, as well as Native Americans. They remain ancestral as well to many of the scattered peoples of Exura, at least in part. I have hinted at pockets of dark aboriginal people here and there in the stories but haven’t had reason to explore the idea in any detail.

The wizards Im and Na, of the Wizardry books, are as thoroughly black as anyone in their world. Their ancestry is Australoid and Melanesian with very little else mixed in—save for the genes of the very long lived and very prolific wizard Hurasu who ruled over the isolated valley of their ancestors. He hailed from a completely other world so we can’t call him anything other than an Atlantean. Urtu, the protagonist of The Walls Between the Worlds, is a son of Hurasu, so he does look a bit different than the typical valley dweller. Still somewhat dark though and we would probably refer to him as a person of color these days.

Incidentally, in Melanesian fashion, many of the dwellers in that Valley of Visions where Hurasu ruled had the combination of black skin and blond hair. That is rare among the Baxac.

Of course, other ethnic groups found their way through one gate or another. Culture after culture rose about or passed through the Urals over the ages, Turkic and Iranian and Slavic, on back to the Mal’ta-Buret’ and Yamna peoples. I have hinted that the Mura people have some of that early Asian ancestry and portrayed them as appearing rather like Siberians or Native Americans. The (retired) pirate queen, Qala, of the Crocodile Chronicles is of Muram blood. She’s certainly not ‘white,’ like the Sharshites among whom she retires to her country estate. And her son Zedos has a quite black father—who just happens to be a god. I might talk about those some other time.

I did not go out of my way to be diverse with my characters (nor with those in my non-fantasy novels). It follows naturally from the world building. Some of the earliest of that world building involved Polynesians and shipwrecked sailors, and that grew into the seven (so far) books set among the Mora. The very concept of Exura and its gates guaranteed variety.