“Magic,” he said, sipping his drink,” is just another kind of force. Like the weather, or a good cup of tea.” The wizard smiled over the rim of his teacup at Aredria. She held his gaze, smiling back. Her own tea sat untouched on the table in front of her. She wasn’t here for pleasantries. … More The Night of the Eighteenth
“So, you used to be famous?” Marle could hear the excitement in her Granddaughter voice. Surprisingly, it didn’t hurt as much as she expected it to. It had hurt when her son had found out, aged fifteen, but then he had known enough about the world to know how different his life could have been … More The Lost Mage
I’ve got pages and page and pages of notes trying to work out the sequence in the middle of the story. It’s the bridging piece between the beginning setup and the key middle sequence and by gods does nothing I write work. (This is also a lesson in not trying to have too many POVs, … More Stuck in the Middle
The feeling was not of anger or of hatred. It was the bone sinking, gut wrenching quiet whisper of doubt. It was the thoughts Felicity didn’t even know where there until Gerrard had pointed them out. Her snappiness. Her temper. She was scared, scared for them all, but she’d never admit it. She’d never admit … More Fear (From the Archives)
“It was all so good,” Tristan sighed, into his drink “before you lot got involved.” The bodies didn’t talk back. They never talked back. “You know,” he said, reaching over the bar and pulling a bottle from under the shelf, “I really wish that time magic was a thing. That I could go back to … More Before (From the Archives)
Fyerik groaned, holding her head in her hands as she threw up into the bucket again. “Do I really have to try again?” she groaned, sipping the fruit tea that Hyacken had put next to her bedside table. Hyacken nodded, eyes sad. This wouldn’t be the first time she had seen a Seer struggle to … More The Otherworlds (From the Archives)
Junea pulled the reigns of Ceanol sharply, bringing her to a halt. “Why did you stop?” Kanek asked, pulling up next to Junea. Garne, his horse, stamped impatiently. He was an old racing horse, and he hated standing still for more than a moment at a time. “Do you hear that?” Junea asked. Kanek cocked … More Crossing the River Ine (From the Archives)
“So, big day,” Merisa said. Gaele scowled further. She could feel the knots in her stomach already. Testing day was the worst. Testing for your robes doubly so. But this, this was worse than any testing that had come before. The testing for your patron, the supernatural being who would grant you access to magics … More Patron’s Choice (From the Archives)
I’ve previously written on why everyone should read a fantasy book at least once. But today, it’s all about the High Fantasy, why it’s brilliant, and why you should definitely be stocking some more on your “To Read” lists on Goodreads. What is High Fantasy? High Fantasy is a sub-genre of fantasy, which is based … More Why High Fantasy is Great
One of my loves of fantasy is seeing so many lady heroines kicking ass and taking names. Not all of them are the typical “warrior” archetypes, but each of them has their own type of strength which really impacted upon me when I read it. My current WIP has a number of female protagonists. A … More Why female protagonists are important in the fantasy genre
Alex.J.Cobalt 