David Drake

Cover art: Donato. Click on the image to see the full cover spread.

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 series is separate from religion) is based on that of the Mediterranean Basin in classical times. Its core was probably Egyptian, but it borrowed heavily from other cultures (including Jewish elements). What I call words of power are the voces mysticae which were written or spoken to bring the request to the attention of demiurges. continue reading…

Dear People,

I’m going to start with something positive: I’ve now seen a cover comp for THE LEGIONS OF FIRE, the first of four books in my new fantasy series, due from Tor as a May, 2010, hardcover. I’d seen a black and white version, but that gave me no inkling of how very impressive the cover would be in color. continue reading…

Dear People,

I’m well into (about 60K) the rough draft of THE LEGIONS OF FIRE. This is the first book of the new fantasy series for Tor. When asked, I picked The Books of the Elements as the series title because I thought it sounded good and I sincerely hoped that it would fit the series as it developed. Now that I’m this far along, it seems to be fitting pretty well.  continue reading…

Dear People,

I’ve turned in THE GODS RETURN, the final book of the Crown of the Isles trilogy and of the whole Isles series. I hadn’t fully appreciated that till a friend congratulated me on completing my largest project thus far. That took me aback, because though GODS is a substantial book at 145, 595 words, I’ve written novels of over 200K. Then I realized that he meant the nine-book series as an entity–and that he was right.  continue reading…

Dear People,

First, a note on the format. Thirteen of the thousand-plus subscribers couldn’t read #40. They tended to be computer professionals who had, I suspect, very advanced electronic security. (Nothing had changed at our end.) People who have similar problems in the future will be directed to the website, where a copy of this and future newsletters will go up as soon as they’ve been sent to subscribers.  continue reading…