The Forging of the Sword

[rune]

My initial Review -

A story which introduces the reader to Calvyn, a teenager from a farming community who through chance meeting and tragedy embarks on a journey with a mysterious old man, Perdimonn.
I felt this first book mostly involved Calvyn growth and choices. The relationship between Calvyn and Perdimonn was enjoyable, I found they interacted well and I felt these scenes were well written.
Magic was used well and meaningfully in the story, this in turn lent belieavability to the world created for this series.
And I found the magical altercations between Perdimonn and Selkor the most exciting.
However, I did feel a little disappointed when Perdimonn and Calvyn split up, as I liked these two characters equally and when they embarked on their own journeys the story focused mostly on Calvyn career as a trainee soldier. Despite not finding fighting and war themes as interesting as magical themes, I did feel the soldier training quite entertaining at times. The author included wit and tension to this plotline which kept me engaged.

Demar is one of the darkest character's in the story, and is briefly introduced at the beginning of the story. However, I always felt detached from this character. I would have liked to see him more fleshed out making him a stronger presence. For me, it would have given his part in the story more credence, as I didnt feel he was a real threat to Calvyn, or Thrandor.

[rune]

Hoping to use this thread for a detailed discussion about this book Please can all who get involved in the discussion remember to mark any spoilers. As I am sure a few will come up



Possible Spoilers-















My first reflection will be on the first chapter. We're introduced to Demar when he battles a Dragon and finds the talisman.

Personally I felt very confused after this chapter, none the wiser as to who Demar was and what the significance of his finding was. The mystery of the talisman didnt concern me too much. However, I did feel I needed to know a little more about Demar at this point to get a better idea of how he would impact on the story.
This info didnt come later, after Calvyn was introduced and only through his story do we learn how Demar ended up wandering in the wilderness.

I'm wondering what others felt about this introduction to the series and to Demar?

[rune]

Got a question for Mark about the magic in this book


I felt it was well used and integrated well into the world of Thrandor. It was nice to see you use this magic as a mystery and a hook and not just rely on the war element of the storyline.
It was also nice to see everything not given away in the story. Sometimes books for YA can explain everything and give away too much. I understand there probably needs to be a bit more explaination for the target audience, but feel giving away all the mysteries can loose peoples interest. So I was pleased to see you didnt do this

Anyhow, I was curious as to were you got the ideas from or what you had in mind when you created the magic for your world?

[Mark Robson]

Originally Posted by rune

Got a question for Mark about the magic in this book


I felt it was well used and integrated well into the world of Thrandor. It was nice to see you use this magic as a mystery and a hook and not just rely on the war element of the storyline.
It was also nice to see everything not given away in the story. Sometimes books for YA can explain everything and give away too much. I understand there probably needs to be a bit more explaination for the target audience, but feel giving away all the mysteries can loose peoples interest. So I was pleased to see you didnt do this

Anyhow, I was curious as to were you got the ideas from or what you had in mind when you created the magic for your world?

The magic in my world is actually a blend of other writers' ideas. I wanted to have something subtly different to anything I had seen, but that included some of the more traditional fantasy elements. Runes have been associated with magic in many different fantasy stories, including LOTR, but I didn't want my magic systems to rely on runes alone.

In keeping with other disciplines, I wanted there to be an element of mental discipline involved in magic. As the series moves on, you do get to learn more of the magical system, particularly in First Sword, where Calvyn spends some time at the academy in Terilla. The two elements - learning and mental discipline - are equally required to make magic. The idea of a basic mental exercise to fill your mind with the colour white drove me mad for weeks, as I actually tried to do it! Needless to say I did not succeed! I know that many others who have read the book have also tried it.

The mental element of magic is a derivative of the Eddings 'The Will and the Word'. However, I think it is dissimilar enough not to make people instantly compare the two forms.

As in 'The Belgariad' and 'Master of the Five Magics' by Lyndon Hardy, I wanted each arcane art to work differently. Therefore, I had sorcery work as more of a force of will/mind power and wizardry work differently again. As wizardry is often associated with the raising of demons - though not in the Belgariad, as that was the realm of the magician - I thought I would keep with that trend. Demons by their very name are perceived as forces for evil, which made the men who summoned them more likely to work for forces of evil. This seemed elementary, though Jonathan Stroud seems to have bucked the trend with his Bartimeaus Trilogy. There is always more detail that could be worked into a magical system. I didn't want to overexplain mine for fear of building in contradictions - it is completely made up after all!

[rune]

Thanks for answering that question for me I liked the ideas of the rune's being used. I actually use Rune stones myself for doing readings, hence my nickname

I find it a fascinating idea to encorporate them into a magical system.
It must be hard to think of something quite unique because of the numerous fantasy books written. However I did feel the magic fitted in well with your story, and liked the approach.
Have you ever read Mark Anthony's Last Rune series? There is a similar theme in that series that uses rune's as part of a magic system. I like that series alot too

It must be difficult to come up with ideas for stories. I use to write for fun and tended to get inspiration from some of the caravan trips I went on. I would think up a world and creatures depending on where I was staying and how it made me feel

You mentioned other authors works. Did you get inspiration for this story from other works. Or did you get ideas from your own environment?
Just wondering because of the army theme. With your force's background (I read you were use to be in the RAF), did that influence you?

[Mark Robson]

Originally Posted by rune

Thanks for answering that question for me I liked the ideas of the rune's being used. I actually use Rune stones myself for doing readings, hence my nickname

I find it a fascinating idea to encorporate them into a magical system.
It must be hard to think of something quite unique because of the numerous fantasy books written. However I did feel the magic fitted in well with your story, and liked the approach.
Have you ever read Mark Anthony's Last Rune series? There is a similar theme in that series that uses rune's as part of a magic system. I like that series alot too

It must be difficult to come up with ideas for stories. I use to write for fun and tended to get inspiration from some of the caravan trips I went on. I would think up a world and creatures depending on where I was staying and how it made me feel

You mentioned other authors works. Did you get inspiration for this story from other works. Or did you get ideas from your own environment?
Just wondering because of the army theme. With your force's background (I read you were use to be in the RAF), did that influence you?

My! Lots of questions.

I've not read Mark Anthony's Last Rune Series, but will bear it in mind for the future. I recently read the first of Kelpie's 'Rune of Unmaking' series, which is another that incorporates runes into the magical system. 'Black Trillium' was another, I think - but it was a long time ago that I read it, so I may be wrong. Runes and runic languages are used widely in fantasy, so you picked a very appropriate handle for such an avid fantasy reader.

I drew inspiration for this first book from many sources. Other fantasy works that influenced my story - consciously: Eddings - The Belgariad, Tolkien - Lord of the Rings, Elizabeth Moon - The Deed of Paksenarrion, David Gemmell - many titles, and Anne McCaffrey - The Dragonriders of Pern. Subconsciously: Star Wars - you will have to read the rest of the series to see if you can see where!

Aside from other books, I also drew a lot on my personal experience of the military. It is true that the military methodology in this book is modern, but set in a medieval world - this is the joy of fantasy, though. You can get away with all sorts of things in a fantasy setting. In many ways I felt that using modern training techniques and language made the characters and the military life more accessible to the readers of today. The characters did things that the readers could relate to, and in my mind that served to bond the readers more closely with the characters. Whether I achieved my aim ... well the jury's still out on that one.

In subsequent books, the military theme is not so strong as I experimented with other environments and storyline themes. It was intentional that my characters should make the break from the almost exclusively military setting - perhaps a subconscious desire of my own, though I'm not convinced. It is amusing in some ways that a parallel can be drawn, as I now make the step away from the military life to write for a living. It is also amusing that my publisher wants me to bring my writing full circle and write more about the military to enhance the marketing opportunities of tying my background to the titles.

I'm glad you enjoyed my debut work 'The Forging of the Sword'. I think the series went from strength to strength as my writing improved in leaps and bounds with each new book. I look forward to seeing what you make of the other titles.

[rune]

Originally Posted by Mark Urpen

My! Lots of questions.

I've not read Mark Anthony's Last Rune Series, but will bear it in mind for the future. I recently read the first of Kelpie's 'Rune of Unmaking' series, which is another that incorporates runes into the magical system. 'Black Trillium' was another, I think - but it was a long time ago that I read it, so I may be wrong. Runes and runic languages are used widely in fantasy, so you picked a very appropriate handle for such an avid fantasy reader.

I drew inspiration for this first book from many sources. Other fantasy works that influenced my story - consciously: Eddings - The Belgariad, Tolkien - Lord of the Rings, Elizabeth Moon - The Deed of Paksenarrion, David Gemmell - many titles, and Anne McCaffrey - The Dragonriders of Pern. Subconsciously: Star Wars - you will have to read the rest of the series to see if you can see where!

Aside from other books, I also drew a lot on my personal experience of the military. It is true that the military methodology in this book is modern, but set in a medieval world - this is the joy of fantasy, though. You can get away with all sorts of things in a fantasy setting. In many ways I felt that using modern training techniques and language made the characters and the military life more accessible to the readers of today. The characters did things that the readers could relate to, and in my mind that served to bond the readers more closely with the characters. Whether I achieved my aim ... well the jury's still out on that one.

In subsequent books, the military theme is not so strong as I experimented with other environments and storyline themes. It was intentional that my characters should make the break from the almost exclusively military setting - perhaps a subconscious desire of my own, though I'm not convinced. It is amusing in some ways that a parallel can be drawn, as I now make the step away from the military life to write for a living. It is also amusing that my publisher wants me to bring my writing full circle and write more about the military to enhance the marketing opportunities of tying my background to the titles.

I'm glad you enjoyed my debut work 'The Forging of the Sword'. I think the series went from strength to strength as my writing improved in leaps and bounds with each new book. I look forward to seeing what you make of the other titles.

I've not read much of Eddings, Moon or Gemmell they didnt engage me for various reasons.

My personal feelings here I do hope you don't focus your series mostly on the military story, as I prefer a more wider spread in fantasy novels. One of the reasons I dont like Gemmell is just because it's all fighting and wars. Of course I'm a girl so nothing surprising with my choice

Did you do any research into Runes when you started this series?