S is for scope and stakes

First, I’d like to apologize for being late with this post. S was supposed to be up on Saturday, but life’s been a bit rocky for me lately. I’ll try to get the rest of the posts up on time. Too close to the end to give up now. Now, on to the actual post:

The scope of a story is what makes it epic. It’s larger than life — in stakes, in distance, in time. (Or in the number of characters or books, but that’s not necessary.) As a friend of mine said on my “G is for good vs. evil” post (over on my LJ, which my blog cross-posts to), there are epic stories that are not fantasy (or SF), such as North and South by John Jakes. ( Read the rest of this entry » )

Originally published at Erin M. Hartshorn. You can comment here or there.

T is for Throne of the Crescent Moon

If you love the Tales of 1,001 Nights (also known as The Arabian Nights), you must read the books of the Crescent Moons Kingdom, by Saladin Ahmed. So far, only the first book is out — but that means you don’t have to work hard to catch up. You just have to exercise patience waiting for the next one. This is epic fantasy with a medieval Middle East bent, rather than the medieval European bent that is so common — khalifs, ghuls, djenn, and the pleasures of cardamom tea.

The main character is the last real ghul hunter, more than ready to retire, called on “one last adventure.” His assistant is a holy warrior, who is often appalled at his teacher’s behavior and amazed that his prayers are listened to. Oh, there’s also a teenage girl who shape-shifts into a lion and who has been ostracized by her people. And a Robin Hood-esque character called the Falcon Prince.

Lots of fun, lots of excitement, and lots of danger!

---

This is a post for the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge. My theme is epic fantasy, and blog posts will cover authors, books, tropes, themes, or anything else I can think of to fill the alphabet. Check out some of the other bloggers participating or follow my blog by e-mail if you like what you’ve read.

Originally published at Erin M. Hartshorn. You can comment here or there.

Rain, rain . . .

It was a mild winter, and the spring’s been pretty dry. Like humidity that felt almost normal to me (17%) and warnings for fire danger — not what I expect here on the green East Coast. Storm moved in this weekend, though, and it poured last night. Today was mostly drizzle and overcast, but there’s a bit more rain forecast for the week.

For this, my flowers are grateful — half my daffodils never opened because it was so hot and dry. And so am I.

What are you grateful for today?

Originally published at Erin M. Hartshorn. You can comment here or there.