Guest blog post by David Brown - Creating a Fantasy World

I reviewed David's book Fezariu's Epiphany back in June and although not so long ago I would have said fantasy wasn't my thing he is one of a few authors who have been changing my mind on that count. As part of a blog tour David has kindly written a guest post for me, so read on to find out more about how he created the world of Elenchera for the book.

The beauty of creating your own world is the flexibility to do whatever you wish with the land, the races that live there, the languages and even the rules of science. I’m always conscious in creating fantastical elements of not writing something too outrageous that will leave readers rolling their eyes in disbelief. Elenchera has many races that can live for thousands of years but you won’t find any creations that are invincible. Even the gods that rule in the earliest Shards can be wounded and slain and indeed that’s exactly what happens to them.

Creating Elenchera I knew I would want to retain many of the standard elements that really define fantasy. Elves, dwarves and dragons are involved in the history from the earliest Shards and continue to thrive for quite some time. I also wanted to create races of my own and this is something of a challenge. How do you create something unique? I’ll be honest and say I don’t really think I have but what I have done is to take an element which may have been prevalent in previous fantasy works and redefine them for Elenchera.

Anthropomorphic races are nothing new. History records tales of such beings long before the likes of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were even starting their fantasy masterpieces. I decided early on that I not only wanted some animals in Elenchera with the ability to speak but I wanted anthropomorphic beings as well. In the early history the continent of Emeraldon sees a beautiful unicorn known as Valkinia emerge from a sparkling waterfall, a blessing from Mother Nature almost, and this unicorn creates a richly diverse race known as the valkayans. These are a combination of talking animals and anthropomorphic beings that control half of the continent and endure through the ages even when colonialism comes to their shores and they are bound and enslaved. There are so many animals in our world that it is easy to create unique beings.

Elenchera has a rich and varied history so some Shards (periods of Elencheran history) will involve different races, lands and battles. The great thing about building such a large and varied world with such a full history is that there’s always a new character to encounter!

Thanks to David for his insight, it has shed a new light on the places and races in the book for me, and it's interesting to hear some of the thought process too.

David blogs at http://blog.elenchera.com/ and tweets as @elenchera.

Fezariu's Epiphany by David M. Brown

I'm quite picky about which fantasy books I choose to read but the synopsis for this book caught my attention and had me wondering about Fezariu's story: - "The White Oak, Clarendon’s oldest brothel, lured and destroyed men by the thousands. Fezariu was different. He had never been drawn by the White Oak’s vices but the brothel had still ruined him when he was just a boy.

Salvation came in the form of the Merelax Mercenaries – Elenchera’s most prestigious hired hands. They gave Fezariu the chance to escape from his past. Immersed in the world of dangerous assignments in the colonies Fezariu longed to forget everything about his childhood but only in facing the past would he ever be free of it."

Fezariu's childhood is marred by a series of deaths and upheavals, and he becomes convinced that he is the cause of these tragedies. Sadly for him childish misapprehensions cause him a lot of angst and completely change the course of his life. He sets his mind to becoming a mercenary, to gain respect and a replacement family. However he discovers the past isn't that easy to forget and has to try and face it in order to move on.

This is a well written book and although before starting it I was a bit tentative about whether my latest foray into fantasy would be a sucess I found myself absorbed in the world the author has created. The story covers a period of decades and mainly covers key points in Fezariu's life. I thought the author's use of his letters to childhood companion Alycea, detailing his experiences during the years that aren't specifically covered, were a clever way of filling in the gaps and enhancing the story. I found in Fezariu a character I empathised with, and enjoyed his relationship with his closest friends and colleagues.

I will admit though that I did struggle a little with all the different places mentioned, trying to figure out if they were towns, countries or something larger. It didn't greatly affect my reading experience but I would have appreciated a map so I could see how they related to one another.

This was a very enjoyable read, and I can definitely say this is the sort of fantasy novel I like!

Format: Kindle, review copy
My Rating: 4*