Tag Archives: Classics

Newsletter #71

NEWSLETTER 71: November 6, 2012 Dear People, I fully intended when I wrote the immediately previous newsletter (70) to simply relax for a month. Believe me, I needed it. But my main form of relaxation is to read stuff, and … Continue reading

Posted in Newsletters | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Newsletter #71

Newsletter #70

NEWSLETTER 70: September 18, 2012 Dear People, I finished the novel! The title is now MONSTERS OF THE EARTH. I changed the title at the last moment from Demons from the Earth because I realized that though there were demons, … Continue reading

Posted in Newsletters | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Newsletter #70

Another Method of Plotting

Written for the Tor/Forge July 2011 Newsletter Last year when Tor asked me for an essay to accompany the publication of The Legions of Fire, the first of my Books of the Elements fantasy series, I explained that riding a … Continue reading

Posted in Essays, Out of the Waters | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Another Method of Plotting

Cross the Stars

AFTERWORD: WHERE I GET MY IDEAS If you decide to write about far-famed Achilles, make him active, hot-tempered, inexorable, and fierce; let him deny that laws were made for him, let him think his sword rules all. –Horace, The Art … Continue reading

Posted in Essays, Hammer's Slammers | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Cross the Stars

Who were your influences?

Who were your influences? One strand is pulp fiction–literally, stories from the ’30s and ’40s collected into anthologies in the ’50s when I started reading SF and fantasy. Robert E. Howard in particular, then when I got to college the … Continue reading

Posted in FAQ | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Who were your influences?

The Legions of Fire

The Legions of Fire is the first of a quartet of fantasies in The Books of the Elements series from Tor. First and foremost, The Legions of Fire is a novel about a fictional city named Carce (pronounced CAR-see) and … Continue reading

Posted in The Legions of Fire | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on The Legions of Fire

The Gods Return

The religion of the Isles is based on the Sumerian triad of Inanna, Dumuzi, and Ereshkigal.  The fact is of more significance here than it has been in the previous books of the series. The magic (which in the Isles … Continue reading

Posted in The Gods Return | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Gods Return

The Mirror of Worlds

I’ve based the religion of the Isles generally on that of Sumer: the sacred triad of Inanna, Dumuzi, and Ereshkigal. The words of power, however, are the voces mysticae of the documentary magic common in the Mediterranean Basin during classical … Continue reading

Posted in The Mirror of Worlds | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on The Mirror of Worlds

Master of the Cauldron

Those of you who’ve read previous books in the Isles series will note some repetition in these notes, but I go to a good deal of effort to make each book accessible to people who’ve never read anything of mine … Continue reading

Posted in Master of the Cauldron | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Master of the Cauldron

Goddess of the Ice Realm

As is the case with most of my books, a good deal of the background to Goddess of the Ice Realm is real. The general religion of the Isles is Sumerian, though in some cases I’ve interpolated cult practice from … Continue reading

Posted in Goddess of the Ice Realm | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Goddess of the Ice Realm

Birds of Prey

BIRDS OF PREY was the first novel I tried to write. It was a very long time before I succeeded, but I think in this case the wait was worth it. While I was still in law school I got … Continue reading

Posted in More Books | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Birds of Prey

Mistress of the Catacombs

The common religion of the Isles is based on Sumerian cult and ritual.  That is, the Lady equates with Inanna; her consort the Shepherd equates with Dumuzi; and the Sister fills the place of Ereshkigal, Queen of the Underworld. Religion … Continue reading

Posted in Mistress of the Catacombs | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Mistress of the Catacombs

Servant of the Dragon

The (common) religion of the Isles is based on Sumerian cult and ritual, but the magic itself comes from the Mediterranean and is mostly Egyptian in its original source.  The voces mysticae which I’ve referred to as “words of power” … Continue reading

Posted in Servant of the Dragon | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Servant of the Dragon

The Classics

The photograph is a ruined caravansary from southern Turkey, some days’ journey east of Adana. The building was constructed during the Seljuk period–old, probably from the 1st millennium AD, but post-classical. It’s a stopping place for caravans, where merchants could … Continue reading

Posted in The Classics | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Classics