Annals: Year 24
A Dustsong story fragment and codex entry—and recommended reading
From the Annals of the Vaporous Realms
In the northernmost stretch of the wandering wastes, unseen spirits tormented a pack of jackals so fiercely that the beasts ransacked a nearby desert-folk camp. These children of dust lost half their water-pouches in the debacle and soon became sun-sick. Yet, the Wright favored them in their plight, for they happened upon an unfamiliar watering hole. There, two of the women were astonished to discover roses in bloom, which they took as a portent. The entire clan rejoiced at their salvation and adorned themselves with blooms. From that day, the women of the clan bore seedlings from oasis to oasis across the northern wastes, planting and tending them, and the men protected the women. Other desert-folk came to call their kind the Roses of the Waste.
Codex: Roses of the Waste
The Roses of the Waste were a desert-folk clan of the wandering wastes. They were known for their hospitality, mysticism, and reverence for desert flora.
The Roses were twelfth of the thirteen clans that followed Len Ghremson out of the wastes. They made their home in the eastern quarter of Danoh-town upon its founding, and there they stayed, caretakers of the shrines and temples, until the final cataclysm of the first epoch.
Author Note
My favorite Substack reads of the month, fiction and nonfiction, are listed below. But first—
Kickstarter (Crowdfund) Campaigns!
Amanda Auler, author of the Mothmar Trilogy ("chosen one" with a twist, in an Ice Age setting), has released the final volume on Kickstarter. Lovely editions of all three books are available only for a few more hours. (You can also read Amanda’s recent post about the campaign here.)
On that note, here's the prelaunch page for the Kickstarter the Brothers Krynn and I put together, for the heroic fantasy anthology we're editing! It launches Monday and runs for the month of June, with the book (in the final stages of editing) to be delivered by the end of the summer. Please follow the campaign and (next week) back it if you can. There's a worldwide ebook tier, with signed paperback options for the U.S. and Canada.
Recommended (Substack) Reads
And now, my favorite reads from May:
M.D. Boncher writes North American medieval fantasy, what I would call "sword and spirit," similar in intent to my Vaporous Realms. He does for the Upper Midwest what I aim to do for the Southeastern seaboard in Westsong, New England and environs in Northsong, and Texas and its neighbors in Eastsong. Check out this introduction to M.D. Boncher's fantasy world: "Welcome to the Akiniwazisaga Union!" (Also, from his adult-oriented sci-fi story-world, "Nightshade and the Sky Pirates.")
The Man Behind the Screen on affordable non-AI book cover options
Eric Falden's finely crafted finale to his Anecdotes of the Samyuzot
The Haunting of Guaritori Diolco, an inventive and intriguing fantasy serial by Bill Hiatt
Patrick Lawrence on "Tolkien and Sub-creation"
Stephanie Loomis's insightful essay on busyness and rest, "The Goodness of God When We Feel Exhausted" (also, Stephanie's ongoing sci-fi serial)
The Man Behind the Screen's brutal, bloody, beautifully written "Morrigan"
Kathrine Elaine's intriguing new dystopian horror serial, Clouds of Blood
maryh1000's Iliad-inspired "On the Slopes of Mount Ida"
G. K. Sá Earp on "More Than Turkish Delight: Edmund and the Slippery Slope of Evil"
GMaia on "NPCs as Onions: Peeling Back the Layers"
Redd Oscar's recently concluded serial, The Atlanteans of Proxima b
The Black Knight's Lost Numbers short serial (also, "Civilization-dooming idiots and how to spot them")
Dan of the Brothers Krynn with insightful analysis and speculation on the king from Cinderella
Joe from the Brothers Krynn on different fantasy aesthetics for different cultures—a vein of thinking evident in the wistful mood and Appalachian-tinged aesthetics of my Cain and Abel story in Dustsong, for instance. (Also, Joe's article on Odysseus, Penelope, and hiraeth.)
Michael John Petty's interview with the producer of House of David (a show of which I hear good things from folks with high standards, though I've yet to check it out)
Happy reading, y’all!