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31 January 2014
Search for "dragon" on Google and you’ll inevitably be
referred to Wikipedia.
Wikipedia states that:
“A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine
or reptilian traits, that features in the myths of many cultures. There are two
distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from
European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern
mythologies, and the Chinese dragon, with counterparts in Japan (namely the
Japanese dragon), Korea and other East Asian countries."
In George and the Dragon the reader is introduced to several
of the magnificent creatures. They are classic European dragons in style. Born in realm awash with magic they are the
most noble of all the mythical creatures. They are capable of flight, magic,
precognition and all have a breath weapon. Magic also grants them such powers as limited
telepathy and teleportation.
They inhabit a parallel earth and magic can be used to force
open the gateways between their realm and ours.
This has been accomplished many times in the past and a web of magical
strands now laces between the two realms binding them together for as long as
the magic last. With the realms bound to
each other transit between them, for those with the knowledge, has become
easier over the centuries.
Dragons are split into castes dictated by size, power and their
position in society.
Dragon society is based upon a matriarchal monarchy with a
single queen ruling over all the dragons.
If a new female is born then they will become queen when they mature and
the reigning queen will abdicate and leave the realm. This is referred to as taking their last
flight. So the majority of dragons,
regardless of caste, are male.
Common dragons:
Common dragons are both the most populace and the smallest
of the dragons. They are roughly two
thirds of the size of Spitfire; a Royal dragon and one of the main characters
in George and the Dragon.
Their colouration is predominantly a single dull colour with of small patches of a secondary complimentary colour:
“A minute or two later
and three more dragons joined them. Each one a different colour. George looked
closer and realised the dragons were also patterned with a second colour. The
last dragon that landed was a deep burnt orange in colour. But George noted
that it was also speckled with patches of red. The black dragon, that had
landed first, had dark blue patterning which almost blurred into the black of
the rest of its hide. The patterning was most prominent around the point where
the dragon’s wings joined to their backs. It was also visible at the back of
their heads, near the top of their necks and at the top of their chests.”
Royal dragons:
Royal dragons are larger and less numerous than common
dragons. Spitfire’s wing span is
approximately twice that of a Spitfire aircraft and his length is about the
same.
The colouration of Royal Dragons is also more dazzling often
resembling a similar colour to that of a precious stone such as an Emerald,
Sapphire or Ruby.
Royal dragons are referred to as Princes and they fight
amongst themselves in terrifying aerial battle for the right to become the
Prince consort and mate with the queen.
Thus only the most powerful Prince gets to pass on his genes to the next
generation.
Queen dragons are similar in size to Royal dragons. Up to the point where a female dragon is
crowned they look identical of the Princes.
However, they are longer, slimmer and faster in flight.
Once they ascend the throne their colouration changes. They shed their skin and become a colour that
is more akin to pearlescent white or in some cases a very pale shade of their
former colour with a pearlescent tint.
Harbinger Dragons
On rare occasions if a Prince dragon lives long enough and undertakes
the right paths of study they may become precognitive. If their ability to scry the future is strong
enough then they will mutate.
They will grow up to twice the size of a Royal
dragon and their colouration will change to either Gold or Silver.
In the air they are graceful yet lack the manoeuvrability of
their smaller brethren. They also develop
the ability to breathe true dragonfire.
It is impossible to quench dragonfire by normal means or magic. Dragonfire will burn all it touches until it
runs out of fuel only then will it falter and fade out of existence.
Dragon beliefs:
Dragons are not religious most of them live far too long to
believe in gods. However, they do
believe in higher powers. They call them
the Fates. Dragons believe that life is
game played by the Fates and the winner of each game determines the course of
major events in the lives of dragons and humankind.
Dragon Names:
True dragon names are powerful. Translated they can seem long and verbose:
"George looked up at the dragon with sore eyes and asked in a quiet voice. “You know my name, may I ask what yours is?”
“My name, roughly translated into your language, is more like a title. I am the Emerald, fanged, flying lizard that spits fire, prince of the realm, master of the skies, feared by all!” Declared the dragon while puffing up its chest with pride."
The power of a dragons true name can be used to magically bind them. Spells of binding are woven into items such as rings, swords, spears and the like. These items can then be used to summon the dragon and force the dragon to submit to the item wielder's will. To complete the spell of summoning the item wielder must give the dragon a new name by which he will be known.
30 January 2014
“Tax needn’t be taxing.”
Said the man in the advert.
Who’s
he trying to kid. If you haven’t had the pleasure of submitting a tax return
you’d may be forgiven for believing this to be true.
In reality, however, completing a tax return is a far
different beast.
Even registering for a tax return is a taxing process. But calculating what you owe them, knowing
what you can claim for and how much you can claim is not simple. In fact it probably makes rocket science look
simple.
This may explain why there is never a shortage of
accountants willing, for a fee, to complete my return for me.
So my calculations have finally been finished today and I
can do my return by the deadline (tomorrow).
I know I’m bad, I’ve had months to complete the return but there’s always
so many more interesting things going on like NaNoWriMo in November.
So with that out of the way I can concentrate on finishing
the final edit of George and the Dragon and get on with the task of publishing
it.
Which leads me to the fact that if I
do sell copies of George and the Dragon it will make my tax return that much
more taxing!
28 January 2014
As a writer inspiration comes to me, and I expect any writer, and the most inconvenient of moments.
This weekend, for example, I was in the middle of packing some equipment into my car when a spark rattled around my skull and set the figurative light-bulb flashing. This was a spark about a book that is not even at the forefront of my thoughts.
It's tentatively titled Sam Dagger: Sky Pirate and is a pre-World War I Steam punk/Tolkien Fantasy cross-over.
The spark involved the Dwarven Capital which exists underneath South America. Although not entirely made of Gold it is resplendent through myriads of Golden Statues, Fountain and Monuments.
What about this city made me stop what I was doing, open Scrivener and start taking notes? It's name I'm not going to reveal more but it did leave me smiling.
In this case I was able to make notes but I wonder how many times I've had such thoughts only to be forgotten before I've been able to jot them down.
Should I always carry a notepad with me? Or even get used to dictating into my phone? Either option isn't perfect I don't think my fellow commuters would be that impressed with me dictating into my phone on my journey into London.
The spark involved the Dwarven Capital which exists underneath South America. Although not entirely made of Gold it is resplendent through myriads of Golden Statues, Fountain and Monuments.
What about this city made me stop what I was doing, open Scrivener and start taking notes? It's name I'm not going to reveal more but it did leave me smiling.
In this case I was able to make notes but I wonder how many times I've had such thoughts only to be forgotten before I've been able to jot them down.
Should I always carry a notepad with me? Or even get used to dictating into my phone? Either option isn't perfect I don't think my fellow commuters would be that impressed with me dictating into my phone on my journey into London.
27 January 2014
The Last Guardian by Eoin ColferMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is not Artemis Fowl at his best. Either as a character or the novel itself.
Artemis suffering from the Atalantis Complex was superior in every way to the Artemis we are presented with here.
I was so looking forward to his last foray being the ultimate of mind vs mind. Fowl vs his arch enemy. What did we get instead? Fowl spends the whole book acting as though he has an IQ of 50. Butler gets removed from the action all too easily; gone are his days of defeating trolls. Mulch has a starring role but even Holly doesn't really shine in this book. And No 1 is conveniently relocated so as not to cause problems with the plot.
In addition to this Colfer commits a major writing sin by introducing a plot mechanic purely to make his characters end up where he needs them to be. The mechanic comes does it's job and then goes again. Completely unnecessarily when he could have used any number of established characters to do that job at that part in the book. It's just not cricket and grates when you read it.
Artemis's brilliant solution was obvious from the start and if I thought of it so would have his nemesis. Holy is supposed to guess what the plan is and try to usurp Artemis but that would never have worked so the whole scene fails miserably except to get Holly out of Artemis' way.
The final twist is entirely too obvious as well.
The main plot is clever but slightly over complicated given what happens you never really feel like you're on the verge of anarchy.
It's an enjoyable read and if you like the series I would still advocate reading the book but for me it was a big disappointment.
View all my reviews
24 January 2014
You could, if you were so inclined, call this the State of play address.
My goal, new years resolution, plan, aim, or whatever you like to call it, is to try and publish four novels in 2014
Primary of these is George and the Dragon. The oldest file I can find that references George and the dragon is dated 7 December 2007. Which means I have been working on the novel for over six years. It's now 33 chapters and just over 100,000 words in length. As a comparison this is what the file contains:
George and
the Dragon.
Chapter 1 –
The rain of fire.
The summer
had rolled slowly on for George. He spent most of his days down by the river.
Actually it was more like a brook and it ran along the end of the gardens of
the great old house where he was staying. George and his mother had come to
stay with his uncle in early June. Since then he had spent his days getting up
at 8:30 having breakfast with the butler Mr Smyth, the grounds keeper Roger and
Eileen the house keeper. Then he’d get some maggots from Roger collect his rod
and a packed lunch prepared for him Eileen. George had been told that Roberto
the chef was far to busy for such things and warned to keep away from the
kitchen if he had any sense.
It was a
hot day and the water in the brook rolled slowly past. The water level had also
become lower as the summer had progressed, However, George could still sit up
against the large Weeping Willow and let his feet dangle in the cool water
while he dozed in the summer hear.
Chapter 2 –
The base
“What was
that?” Asked Flight Lieutenant Davies.
“I never
saw anything sir.” Replied
Chapter X –
The Chinaman
The train
journey to London
Reading this no it all looks a little primitive the titular Chinaman is no longer Chinese, I decided I was mixing eastern and western mythologies and so he is now a character from western mythology instead.
With the exception of George all of the names mentioned in the text above have been changed. But the three scenes that I had started to develop in that early, stuttering prose all still exist in the book.
It doesn't really give you a sense of what the book is about.
Here's my George and the Dragon synopsis:
World War II has broken out. The Germans have started to
blitz the UK and now they have a new weapon, a weapon so powerful it could end
the British war effort before it has even started.
With bombs falling dangerously close to home George Atkins’ mother,
Mary, decides to evacuate their home and go to live with his uncle in the heart
of English countryside. George’s whole
world is turned upside down when five dragons, ridden by Luftwaffe airmen,
destroy his uncle’s house. At the same
time, with thanks to his father and a group of bumbling British scientists,
George becomes the rider of an emerald green dragon he names Spitfire.
The pair and are recruited, albeit reluctantly, by a special
unit of the RAF. As the first dragon and
rider fighting for the allies, they face the biggest challenge of their lives to
save the country from defeat by the Luftwaffe and the evil leader of the Nazi’s
forces General von Vogler and his mutant dragon Blitzkrieg.
At the moment I'm completing a final edit of the novel using prowritingaid.com. This is invaluable as a tool when editing any written work.
I have also decided that the first two chapters meander far too much. So I have decided to slam them together like the protons in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and see what it spits out.
So that's the plan for George and the Dragon. I'll discuss my other novels in future posts.
23 January 2014
Leviathan by Scott WesterfeldMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
1914 and the Clankers (Germany & Austro-Hungary) and the Darwinists (England, France, Russia) are at each other’s throats. The death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand provides the spark that ignites the flames of war.
The Clankers, the steampunk (or Teslapunk) element of the book, fight in walking tanks, Zeppelins and biplanes.
The Darwinist on the other hand I think you would have to class as biopunk. They have discovered how to splice the threads of DNA to create creatures to perform the same jobs as the Clankers’ machines.
The titular Leviathan is a hybrid whale that travels through the sky like a Zeppelin. Aboard you’ll encounter bats, lizards and other creatures that perform all sorts of amazing roles.
The story throws a group of Darwinists together with a group of Clankers. There’s a good mix of larger than life support characters on both sides to keep the plot interesting and the action fast paced.
The two main characters are Deryn, a Darwinist girl masquerading as a young airship officer, and Alex a Clanker prince “in hiding” who could be the key to the end of the war.
Westerfeld has succeeded in splicing his alternate reality onto our own history with only the subtlest of changes needed. Whether you’re reading about our hero charging through a forest at night in a walking tank or the heroine running across the back of flying whale it’s easy to get lost in the world he creates.
I think he also tries to convey a sense of naivety and innocence that teenagers of a hundred years ago would have had compared to teenagers of today. Although this is more evident of the sheltered prince than of Deryn who lives her life in a naval-esque world of airmen aboard the Leviathan.
Westerfeld manages to keep the action coming thick and fast while also adding intrigue and suspense into the mix. Add a dollop of amusing language, likeable characters and a fantastically well crafted world and you have a story that I highly recommend.
Just make sure you read all three books in the trilogy.
View all my reviews
22 January 2014
What am I reading on the long and lonely commute?
Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer
Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer
I have 3 novels that have been written and are in various
stages of the editing process.
The plan is to publish these three throughout the coming
year probably in the following order:
- George and the Dragon
- Second chance at happiness
- Wynter Unending
While this happens I am also writing my fourth novel,
working title of which is: Nicholas North – Schoolboy Detective.
I’ve just been writing about a zoo which houses a collection
of endangered mythical and mystical monsters.
When describing the monsters I wanted them to sound more real, more
believable so I decided to give them species variants and use that in the
writing.
So as part of the narrative we are introduced to a pair of
Lesser Spotted Griffins, which are half Peregrine Falcon half Puma, there is
also mention of their larger cousins the Greater Golden Griffins although they
are not part of the zoo’s exhibits.
Next up on the tour is a heard of unicorns but I wanted them
to have a species identifier as well. At
first my thoughts turned to Zebras and Horse breads but then a simple solution
came to mind. I would call them Sable
unicorns. A Sable Unicorn is a heraldic
device seen on coats of arms. They are
most often displayed combatant (when paired with another creature) or rampant
(when alone) and facing either sinister (left) or dexter (right).
And so I have my unicorn species. I also have a pack of Grey Backed Eurasian
Werewolves, a screech of Peck’s Harpies (Named after Annie Smith Peck a famous
explorer).
There’s still more inventiveness to come with
Hippocampi, Cerberus Hounds (Canine Tria
Sunt?), a Baisilisk, Hellcats, Cloudcats, Nightmares, Blink dogs and many more.
21 January 2014
Part of me wanted to call this blog something different. I wanted to call it:
"Here be dragons" means dangerous or unexplored territories and was found written at the edges of the known world on historical maps.
In the sense of my own personal quest, to become a writer and have my works read by other people, I see this more as a reference to the unexplored territories within my mind. The depths of my imagination I have yet to plumb for ideas.
I'm most at home writing about Fantasy; my début novel is called;
It is about a boy who befriends a dragon called Spitfire at the start of World War II. But I am not afraid to turn my hand to other Genres. I have a romance novel written and waiting to be edited and am working on a Science Fiction thriller and a suspense short story. I'm hoping I'll be able to write something to appeal to anyone but my first love will always be fantasy.
"Here be dragons"
"Here be dragons" means dangerous or unexplored territories and was found written at the edges of the known world on historical maps.
In the sense of my own personal quest, to become a writer and have my works read by other people, I see this more as a reference to the unexplored territories within my mind. The depths of my imagination I have yet to plumb for ideas.
I'm most at home writing about Fantasy; my début novel is called;
It is about a boy who befriends a dragon called Spitfire at the start of World War II. But I am not afraid to turn my hand to other Genres. I have a romance novel written and waiting to be edited and am working on a Science Fiction thriller and a suspense short story. I'm hoping I'll be able to write something to appeal to anyone but my first love will always be fantasy.
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