Julian Barr

Tag: aussie fantasy

  • Slayhemn: An Epic Fantasy Comic Book

    Hi all,

    Just wanted to say a quick word about a comic book I co-wrote with the incredible Andrew Law!

    Readers of the Ashes of Olympus trilogy will know Andrew as the illustrator for The Ivory Gate. He’s an extraordinary comic book artist, a fellow Aussie and a thoroughly decent bloke. His visual interpretations of my characters are my favourite, and we always hit it off since we met at Supanova in 2018.

    When Andrew invited me to write for a new epic fantasy series he was working on, I positively leapt at the chance. His art is so lush, with vivid colour and incredible vision. It is such an honour to work in Andrew’s world!

    What’s it all about?
    Slayhemn is a high fantasy like they used to make, with fire-breathing dragons, barbarians and sorcerers. Our hero, Ravensthorne, is an outcast. His people rejected him because he was the only one of his kind born without magic. Ever since then, he’s gotten by on his talent for thieving. Rave keeps to the shadows, stealing magical artefacts and potions to make up for his lack of innate skill. Now, he’s after the biggest score of his life: a crystal shard that will grant him the power to get revenge on those who cast him out. Guiding him on his sinister path is a strange whispering voice only he can hear. Is this quest worth his soul? When dragons born of dark magic wreak havoc across the land of Slayhemn, Rave must seek something greater than revenge or redemption. He has to unite with champions across the realms to save the world.

    What’s the tone?
    It’s an action-packed epic of enormous scope, with heroes and monsters. Perfect for anyone who wants to sit and read a great fantasy novel and wishes to see it visually come to life! Slayhemn is for fans of old-school, family-friendly fantasy. Inspired by Elfquest, Ravine, Dungeons & Dragons, Dragonheart and many more…

    Here’s a trailer!

    Where are we up to?

    Currently we are crowd-funding the project! The campaign wraps up in ten days. Things are going pretty well so far, close to 70% funded. But Andrew and I will need all the support we can get to get it across the finish line. We are offering a huge range of rewards for backers, from original art to free e-books of my Viking epic, Tooth and Blade!

    The script and interiors for Issue 1 are complete, and we are planning to get it out to backers in October. I’m also working on a special version of the script adapted for screen reader users, which provides a description for each image. We believe fantasy is for everyone and are firmly committed to making it accessible for all.

    What inspired me to write Slayhemn?

    There is a strong element of nostalgia to the project. It’s very much old-school fantasy in the grand tradition of Tolkien. More than that, though. I wanted to work on something I could share with my kids. When I was a lad, epic fantasy was my safe refuge. That’s something I want to pass on to the next generation. Andrew and I agreed very early on there wouldn’t be any adult content or gore in the comic. We wanted to move away from cynicism and just write from the heart. Though I wouldn’t say this is a children’s comic, it’s a story of good triumphing over evil, a story of a thief’s journey toward salvation, and an adventure to take readers away from their troubles. Families can enjoy it together.

    Plus, you know, it’s always a joy to collaborate with someone of Andrew’s talent! This is a true collaboration. Andrew came up with the world, the story and the characters. He brought the characters to life through his artwork, and I gave them a voice through my script. I think we complement each other quite well.

    Where can I pledge?

    If you’d like to pre-order a copy, or just support two fantasy creatives, join the adventure on our Kickstarter page. Andrew and I would love to share our story with you!

    Join the Adventure

  • Fantasy Maps

    Salvete readers and happy Easter!

    I’ve been in a very visual space this week. Along with my publisher, I’ve been looking at concepts for the cover of my upcoming novel, Ashes of Olympus: The Way Home. It should be finalised very shortly and I can’t wait to share it. All I can really tell you for now is that the cover will be red and gold, Gryffindor colours! Just as exciting, The Way Home will feature nine internal illustrations as well as an incredible map. I’ll share more on the internal illustrations as we get closer to release– here’s a teaser if you can’t wait! But for today’s blog post let’s focus on the map and the thinking that went into it.

    I love maps in books. Done properly, they can evoke a sense of space and place, making the story that much more real to readers. It’s great fun to follow your heroes’ journey on the map, and sometimes it can enrich the experience of the author’s world. A map can convey a sense of politics far more effectively than mounds of exposition. The most effective maps, I think, are those which are created to be in-world, because they become a form of world-building. A good map draws you into the story before you’ve even read a word.

    However, I’ve also read many fantasy novels where the map actually detracted from the experience of the story. I think if your reader can’t make sense of the story without the map, something has gone terribly wrong. And there are times when the map is included seemingly out of a sense of obligation. They’ve become a staple of fantasy. If you’ve got a map for the sake of having a map, it becomes grating. There are times also when they are nothing but a gigantic spoiler. If every place your characters visit is included on the map, it destroys a sense of discovery. Even worse, if they feel like something out of our world, maps can yank the reader out of the story before you’ve even started. Maps rendered on a computer are too painstakingly accurate for a medieval fantasy, for example. And having a scale in modern miles or kilometres is equally problematic– leaving aside the fact these measures might not exist in your world, the last thing you want is to take away a sense of wonder by having everything precisely quantified. The key is to create the map in a very deliberate way, keeping in mind that it’s a form of story-telling too.

    It was very important for me that the Ashes of Olympus trilogy have a map, for a number of reasons. It’s an historical fantasy which uses ancient Greek place names, eg Sikilia for Sicily and Hesperia for Italy. It helps readers connect more if have that visual link between past and present. And to evoke the sense of the past, I wanted it in an antiquarian style, with ships and sea monsters in the water. I did make a couple of concessions to anachronism in drawing up the brief. It wasn’t entirely possible to have the map come from within the universe because the majority of my readers probably don’t read Greek. And I thought it would be confusing to present the slightly jumbled geography we find in Homer and Virgil. Artist Linc Morse rose to the occasion with an exquisitely crafted design. Check it out below!

    Map of Middle Sea

     

    I particularly love the little Scylla! Ashes of Olympus: The Way Home will be available in July 2018. Sign up to my free monthly newsletter for news and previews, as well as an exclusive prologue chapter to the Ashes of Olympus series!

    Until next time,

    Valete

     

     

  • Review: Cassandra by Kathryn Gossow

    Salvete, readers!

    Given the current LoveOzYA theme is ‘country,’ it seemed a good time to share my review of the historical fantasy novel, Cassandra, which is set in rural Queensland.  In her debut novel, Kathryn Gossow interweaves Greek myths with a coming-of-age story to great effect.

    Cassandra

    Ever since she was bitten by a snake as a toddler, Cassie has experienced glimpses of the future. Her visions are as frightening as they are confusing: she sees betrayal, death, and the devastation of her family’s farm. Everybody dismisses her prophecies. As her family tears itself apart, Cassie must find a way to prevent the doom which threatens them all—even at the cost of her own sanity.

    If you’re at all familiar with the Greek myth of Cassandra, your eyebrow may be raised. The story is strongly influenced by the epic cycle of the Trojan War.

    Gossow evokes a sense of the otherworldly while capturing the storm and stress of a difficult adolescence. Make no mistake: this is not some kind of antipodean Percy Jackson, nor is it a light read. The novel deals with confronting themes—substance abuse, infidelity, sexual assault, and the breakdown of the family unit—but never descends to the level of sensationalism. Thanks to her sensitive characterisation of Cassie and her family, Gossow overcomes the challenge of crafting a sympathetic teenage character. I don’t remember the last time I read a story which captures the loneliness and isolation of youth so well, the desperation for a sense of connection.

    Life fills every page. The narrative voice captures the protagonist’s sense of curiosity and wonder. It is heavy on metaphor and simile, without slipping into purple prose. Gossow imbues her description of the Queensland landscape with sensory details. You feel the shudders as a serpent creeps over young Cassie’s skin, hear the warbling of magpies in the backyard. One of the great strengths of the novel is the sense of authenticity in its portrayal of rural Queensland of the 1980s. Cassandra is peppered with pop culture references sure to provoke nostalgia in many readers. Crank up the Midnight Oil and pop a tape in the Betamax! As an aside, I grinned like a loon at the reference to Doctor Who, which has as much significance for the younger generation today as it did during the 80s.

    This story might be considered a case of magical realism, albeit with a classical flavour. The story is chock-full of mythological allusion. The most obvious example is Cassie’s best friend, her intellectual neighbour Athena. Athena’s bearded father crafts images of humans and is a philandering troublemaker, just like his mythological counterpart, Zeus. Let’s be frank, 90% of problems in Greek myth start when Big Z can’t keep it in his pants. Yet the mythological influence is understated—Gossow’s Athena might not have a mother, but I don’t imagine her being born directly from her dad’s head as in the Homeric Hymns. The presence of the gods is manifest throughout the novel, but the supernatural elements are for the most part limited to Cassie’s visions. Even then, we are invited to view them in New Age terms—one of the keys to Cassie’s clairvoyance is her mastery of tarot. The decision to interpret ancient concepts of the paranormal using a modern one absolutely pays off. The mythological allusions are naturally integrated into Cassie’s journey toward adulthood, and never feel forced or intrusive. On a deeper level, though, I feel Gossow deserves praise for her creative exploration of questions at the heart of Greek myth regarding human agency and predestination. To what extent can humans control their own destiny? Is it a blessing or a curse to know the future? Gossow has the wisdom to avoid prescriptive answers. It is enough, perhaps, simply to question.

    As a Queenslander who is more than a bit partial to Greek myths, I’m really glad this novel exists. Cheerfully recommended.

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