Good morning, threes of fans!
It feels like ages since I wrote to you all–I think in large part because I shared that Soultainted excerpt a few weeks ago. Between that and the Heart of the Goddess chapters, I don’t think I’ve written anything new for the blog in about six weeks!
But never fear–my fingers have not been idle! For in addition to finishing a new draft of Soultainted some time ago, I have now finished a first draft of the third Ian Mac Roy story! It’s called The Confession at Tacitio, and it launches on October 20; I plan to price it at $.99, the same as the other novellas. I’ll put up a pre-order link as soon as I have a cover for it.
I will share with you all that this story got a bit out of control… I intended to write another novella in the 33,000 – 35,000-word range, and I ended up drafting a 50,000-word short novel/long novella.
A lot of that is at the front end of the novella while I was trying to figure out the actual shape of the story, so a lot of that will end up on the cutting room floor. I do think this novella will end up a fair bit longer than the last two, though; it’s a bigger story that involves two plotlines and a fairly significant character arc for my old friend Ian Mac Roy.
More about all that over the next few weeks.
For now, I’m starting a new series today: The Hero Ecosystem.
The Hero Ecosystem: A Theory
For many months now, I’ve been listening to the podcast “The Rest is History.” If you don’t listen to this podcast, hie thee to your podcast platform of choice and subscribe immediately.
The hosts are two excellent historians from the UK, Tom Holland (no, the other one) and Dominic Sandbrook, and they basically just talk about history in a relatively neutral, highly engaging way. The range of topics is vast–everything from national anthems to Jack the Ripper to world wars to Elizabethan England.
As I’ve listened to the various series, I’ve been fascinated by the role of side characters in history. Sometimes, their names are well-known or at least receive a nod in the accounts, but often, they’re largely forgotten or downplayed. But the thing is, history is less a linear progression and more a web of various interactions that feed into a crockpot of events and outcomes. It’s an ecosystem, not an assembly line.
And it got me thinking–the best heroic narratives deliver a story of how smaller, individual actions affect the final outcome.
Less Ensemble, More Infrastructure
Now listen. I love a good Chosen One narrative as much as the next fantasy reader, and there are plenty of excellent heroes in fantasy who start out underestimated, underprivileged, or unnoticed and then rise to be the center of the whole story. There are also plenty of excellent historical heroes who rise from humble(ish) beginnings to become linchpins of history.
But it’s also important to acknowledge that even the Chosen One needs a supporting cast that provide the foundation of a story for even the biggest showdown between good and evil. I mean, even Jesus had disciples.
I think a lot of times, this recognition of the practical needs of the Chosen One gets turned into kind of an ensemble approach. Groups like the Company of the Ring, the Golden Trio, or various iterations of the Five-Man Band are tremendous fun to read, but the interesting thing is that they sometimes still function a lot like a Chosen One within the narrative.
Take the Harry Potter trio.
Yes, Harry, Ron, and Hermione play unique roles in the narrative, and ultimately, it’s Harry who has to offer the final sacrifice. But the heroic arc wouldn’t have succeeded at all without Dumbledore, Snape, Minerva McGonagall, or Neville Longbottom. Sybil Trelawney’s prophecy drove Voldemort’s choices. Remus Lupin and Sirius Black counseled Harry and kept his parents’ memory alive. And Molly Weasley made sure Harry had a soft place to land when he needed it.
The point is, nothing works in a vacuum–even an ensemble.
All heroic narratives require an infrastructure, and I think history provides some excellent examples to enrich a fantasy story.
The Categories
For the sake of consolidating my thoughts and providing some structure, I’ve loosely categorized the elements of a the heroic ecosystem into several categories:
The Igniters: Great changes in history aren’t always started by a single event, but often, one event throws sparks on the kindling that’s been piling up for a long time. Sometimes it’s a single death; other times, it’s a clash of forces that cannot be resolved without a longer, bloodier conflict.
The Thinkers and Counselors: And speaking of kindling, who are the folks who pile it up? The writers, the theorists, the advocates, the trusted advisors–they provided the justification, academic support, and moral framing for those rabblerousers who are just itching to start a fight, and then they keep feeding the fire as it burns.
The Strategists and Architects: History can turn on a single event or decision, and how it’s often the planning, gambles, and decisions made behind the scenes that can determine the outcome of a crisis.
The Bridges: In writing anything with any level of scope, it’s easy to breeze right over the logistics of running a world. Who grows and transports food? Who makes sure the city functions? Who delivers letters and meets with the opposition? Sometimes, the people who just keep running things behind the scenes make the difference between success and failure.
The Spies: We usually don’t know their names until they’re dead or caught, and if the CIA’s wall of stars is any indication, there are a lot of names we’ll never know. But the operatives who work behind the scenes can be the key to victory or defeat, and they can play a pivotal role in a good fantasy narrative.
The Bulwarks: The people who don’t advance the cause–they just keep it from collapsing while the hero is elsewhere. They might be the division that holds a hill, the city resistance that keeps the enemy from gaining a secure foothold, or even the wife who keeps unweaving her shroud every night to keep the suitors at bay.
The Flankers: A whole of lot of major victories across history are the result of minor victories away from the center of battle. For instance, the 1942 bombing of Tokyo by Doolittle’s Raiders didn’t have a lot of strategic value, but it did force the Japanese to redeploy their forces, which contributed to the conditions that led to Midway.
The Witnesses: The people who write it all down in real-time or near real-time, who record these events for posterity. Without witnesses, millions of voices throughout history would be entirely lost.
I’ll confess: The further I get into The Taurin Chronicles, the more interested I am in this broader ecosystem. Working on this third Ian Mac Roy story has had me building out more of the far-flung reaches of the world and considering the tipping points of its history. I’ve dipped my toe into new countries and regions that keep inviting me to open more doors, and I’ve developed two new characters who are just begging for their own stories to be set down in pixels.
All this to say–as usual, this series will be as much about me developing my own thoughts as about giving y’all something to ruminate on.
In any case, come back in two weeks, when I’ll be delving into my thoughts around those Igniters–the martyrs, the assassins, the rabblerousers who threw a lit match on social, political, and cultural kindling.
See y’all then.