It’s exciting to have any story published, but I’m especially looking forward to the release, on 21st September, of Quest — 22 Stories of the Hero’s Journey. An anthology published by Fantasy-Writers.org, which I’ve been a member of since 2004, it features two of my stories among the twenty-two.
A communal effort by the members, this is our second anthology. The first, The Light of the Last Day, was published back in 2014, so it’s taken a while to follow it up — but the wait was worth it.
While the previous book was loosely themed simply by many of the stories beginning with the same phrase, this one had a more specific theme: the Hero’s Journey. Using the twelve stages proposed by Christopher Vogler, rather than the seventeen in Joseph Campbell’s original formulation, the challenge to each author was to write a story relating to a specific stage. The connection could be anything from literal to punning — but each stage was to represent a separate story.
In fact, we ended up with two or three stories for some stages, while some authors (including me) contributed two pieces. Mine are somewhat contrasting tales called The Shape of a Legend and Wyrmbane.
The Shape of a Legend (Tests, Allies & Enemies)
The Shape of a Legend takes the requirement for “tests, allies and enemies” fairly literally. At first glance, it’s a high fantasy about wars and alliances between nations and the decisions of their rulers. Midway through, however, it takes a sharp left-turn into something more like fairytale territory.
The story involves a queen whose homeland and adopted country are going to war with one another. She and her husband are deeply in love but constrained by duties and obligations that push them apart.
On her way to a fateful encounter, however, the young queen, Shalla, encounters a couple of fae-folk, who put her through a series of choices — although Shalla doesn’t realise until the end of the process what she’s actually choosing.
The story is fundamentally about identity and remaining true to who you are — as well as, like any good fairy story, also being about growing up and taking responsibility. Like Sarah in Labyrinth, Shalla is tempted to retreat back into the safety and comfort of her childhood, but has to make the harder, more dangerous choice.
In the end, Shalla discovers both who she really is and what she really wants to achieve — neither of which is anything like what she believed at the beginning of the story.
Wyrmbane (The Resurrection)
Whereas The Shape of a Legend was an idea that fitted into its stage, Wyrmbane was deliberately conceived to fill the Resurrection slot, which at that point had no stories. While the stage in the Hero’s Journey is usually treated symbolically, I decided to be very, very literal about it.
In contrast to the fairytale ambience of the other story, Wyrmbane is gritty sword & sorcery. A character who has no name other than a description of what he does is doomed to endlessly slay dragons, endlessly die in the fight and be endlessly resurrected to a different world and a different dragon.
Until, that is, a dragon that’s different from any he’s met before offers him a way out. Is the dragon to be trusted? And is Wyrmbane willing to make the compromise necessary to break the cycle?
There’s an aspect to this story that wasn’t part of the planning, just something that I realised as I wrote it. Not a “this is what it really means” thing, just another way of thinking about it. But I’ll leave the reader to see it or not — I wonder how many will.
The Evolution of the Anthology
This anthology has evolved as a communal effort by the members of FWO, with stories developing through feedback and suggestions by the membership. Several stages of more formal editing were undertaken by about a dozen of us (mostly, but not all, contributors) in dialogue with the authors.
Every ship has a captain, though, and the anthology’s captain has been B. R. Turnage. In addition to formatting and designing the book, Beth created the stunning cover, oversaw the listing on Amazon, assembled an array of resources for us to use, and much more. The book wouldn’t have got to the verge of publication without her efforts.
So, on the 21st of this month, you’ll be able to buy Quest — 22 Stories of the Hero’s Journey and read my stories and the twenty other awesome pieces. It’ll be available either as a Kindle download or as a paperback, however you prefer reading your books.
On the other hand, if you really can’t wait, you can download an advance copy free, on the understanding that you leave a review. There’s no obligation what you put in it. You’re even entitled to leave a bad review — but you won’t want to.
Whichever way you do it, I hope you’ll follow the Hero’s Journey with us.
The Fantasy Worlds of Nyki Blatchley 