Thursday, September 16, 2021

Spread the Magic - Fantasy Novels to RPGs

The Witcher 3 RPG

Fantasy novels have been fuel for the gaming industry for many decades, but sometimes the popularity of the story explodes exponentially when translated to the board or PC. Take Wiedmin, for example. Based on Andrzej Sapkowski's novels and short stories, The Witcher has 100,000 concurrent players a day. The Netflix series has contributed to the resurgence, yes, but the game has always been wildly popular.

Bloodborne based on HP Lovecraft literature

Bloodborne and Edge of Nowhere are two more examples of a highly successful game based on Fantasy/SF novels. These titles are influenced by H P Lovecraft's particular brand of Horror - especially his tentacled, mind-zapping Great Old Ones and other recognizable monsters. Both games received universal acclaim from critics and are lauded for the true-to-Lovecraft vivid and visceral horror elements.


Assassin's Creed based on Vladamir Bartol's Alamut.

The Assassin's Creed RPG game is credited for its historical accuracy, sans the SF/Fantasy elements. The novel was set in Alamut, a Persian fortress 60 miles from modern-day Tehran. In the 11th Century, the fortress was controlled by a missionary - Hassan-i Sabbah and his loyal assassins. The adaptation from novel to the game held firmly to all the intricate and correct details before layering in the Fantasy elements. It's an incredible story!

Hogwarts Legacy based on the Harry Potter Series by J K Rowling

Popular games are not only based on male Fantasy writers. J K Rowling's Harry Potter Series translates beautifully into open-world RPG games that have seen wild success.

And what does the future hold? Who knows, but maybe, with a bit of luck, we'll see games based on other new Fantasy Series.

The world of Amassia would translate beautifully into and
open-world RPG game.

Do you have a favorite game based on a book? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

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Kim Falconer, writing YA Fantasy as A K Wilder, is the author of Crown of Bonesbook #1 in the Amassia Series. The sequel, Curse of Shadows, is due for release in June 2022.

Kim can be found on  AKWilder TwitterFacebook and Instagram

You can Throw the Bones, read your monthly horoscopes or Raise Your Phantom on the AKWilder.com site or just drop a comment to chat. See you there!

Friday, September 3, 2021

New look, New Giveaway, same old Violet!

2021: Forced Introspection of your 20' something self

Just taking a break to let you know that the cat is back! After four years in purgatory, I am happy to release for your reading pleasure Diaries of an Urban Panther! Now available in a pretty new Ebook and Paperback format, you can relive Violet Jordan's adventures in Dallas as she learns about her intertwined destiny with a demon rising. 

Now this story might not be a new one to our avid blog readers, but it was very interesting to go back and look at this book from my 40 something eyes at what my 20 something thought was the worst thing in the world. If this book is any indication, I was very into boys, coffee, and building families. 

Which is pretty close to who I am now. Still completely boy crazy (just with a new boy, hello Charlie Cox). I still love coffee. And I still love my blood family and my chosen family as much as I ever have. 

And what is amazing about this book and this blog, is that I have learned a million things since then, and I've tried to document them here on this blog. Things about life and love, and writing. Mostly writing. 

So you could say that these blog posts over the past 11 years have been by own Diaries of an Urban Amanda. 

If you still haven't, you can buy a copy now at any online retailer. Follow this Books2read link to find your favorite vendor.


GOODREADS GIVEAWAY!

And if you are so inclined, you can also enter to win 10 signed copies with a special Violet- approved gift pack! Register on Goodreads (US applicants only 😒) Ends Sept 7th. 

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/330883-diaries-of-an-urban-panther



And if you want a little sneak peek:

Claws and Effect comes out Sept 28th. Pre-Order Here through Books2Read!


Nine Lives of an Urban Panther comes out Oct 26th. Pre-Order HERE through Books2Read!

(and please let me know if those links done work- its a cool new universal link service). 


Until next time, Keep Calm and Drink Coffee. 



Amanda Arista

Author and Human

www.amandaarista.com


Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Magic In Fantasy: Drawing On Fairytale, Folklore, and Myth

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Introduction

Here we are on 1 September—and absolutely time for a little more magic in Fantasy!

Currently, I’m sharing three books each month where the magic and/or magic systems have spun my reading wheels.

The element today’s books have in common, besides my liking their magical vibe, is that they all draw on myth, fairytale, or folklore to spin their reading spell. Arguably all Fantasy does so, but these are works where that particular aspect really caught my attention.

Consistent with previous posts, I’ll begin with an older publication and move forward to something more recent. I *believe* they’re all YA, too, but if not published as such, they certainly have that ‘feel’ to the storytelling.
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Magic In Fantasy: Drawing On Fairytale, Folklore, and Myth

The Godmother by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

In The Godmother, author Elizabeth Ann Scarborough takes a number of classic fairytales, such as Snow White (only in this case it’s Seven Vietman Vets on a sweatlodge retreat rather than seven dwarfs), Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, and Puss In Boots, and weaves them into one story, set in contemporary Seattle. The Godmother premise includes a secret order of fairy godmothers, or godmothers with magical power at least, who endeavor to undo harms and right wrongs. The godmother on the case in Seattle is Felicity Fortune, with a magical budget to work within and a great many dilemmas to set right.

Although it’s been a while since first reading, I remember my fairytale lover’s delight at recognizing the interwoven fairytales in this book, and also my admiration for the author’s deftness in stringing them together into a seamless whole. Like fairytales themselves,
The Godmother has its dark side, but it also has a great deal of humor and a light touch that I really enjoyed. I found it quite magical, in fact.
J

Another two books were published subsequently:
The Godmother’s Apprentice, for those of you who like your fairytales and folklore with an Irish twist, and The Godmother’s Web set in the American Southwest and drawing on Navajo and Hopi folklore.
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Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey

Transitioning from 1994 to 2009, and not only from the Northern hemisphere to the Southern, or even to New Zealand, but right to my home city of Christchurch, I come to Karen Healey’s Guardian of the Dead.

Guardian of the Dead
is an intriguing mix of urban fantasy brought together with Maori* legends of the patupaiarehe (fairies) and taniwha (think a cross between demons and dragons, that can be either malign or benign), as well as the myth of Hine-nui-te-Po, the Great Woman of the Night and goddess of death.

There’s also an element of Greek myth woven into the story, which makes for a fun read, magic-wise.

*Maori are New Zealand’s tangata whenua (literally ‘people of the land’, or first people).
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The Library Of The Dead by T.L. Huchu

The Library Of The Dead is a 2021 publication, set in a dystopian, not-too-distant future Edinburgh where the heroine, Ropa, is a licensed medium-cum-psychopomp. Her main work, or “dayjob” is carrying messages from the dead to the living (for a fee, of course), although she also casts out spirits and learns magic from her grandmother, who is from Zimbabwe.

Ropa’s power, in dealing with the dead, draws on her grandmother’s teaching, and she uses the music of the mbira, aka an African thumb piano, to communicate with the ghosts. Yet the magical beings she must deal with are also drawn from Scottish folklore, such as “brounies”, as well as an underground society of magicians, based in the Library of the Dead.

Sounds like fun?—I thought so, not least for the storytelling’s dynamic blend of magics. 

~*~
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Previous Posts In The "Magic In Fantasy" Series: 

January 1: Happy New Year – Ushering In A Year of Friends, Fellow Authors, & Magic Systems

January 5: 
An Interview with AK Wilder – Talking Magic In Her New-Out Crown Of Bones (AMASSIA #1) 

February 1: An Interview with T Frohock 
– Talking Magic In A Song With Teeth & The LOS NEFILIM Series


March 1:  An Interview with Courtney Schafer – Talking Magic In The "Shattered Sigil" Series


April 1:  An Interview with Kristin Cashore –Talking Magic In Winterkeep & The "Graceling Realm" Series

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May 1: An Interview With Lee Murray – Talking Magic, the Supernatural & Horror

June 1: An Interview With Amanda Arista  Talking Magic In the MERCI LANARD & DIARIES OF AN URBAN PANTHER Series

 

July 1: The Magic of Magic In Fantasy -- & A Solstice Shift

August 1: More Magic In Fantasy: Lighting The Spark


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About The Author:

Helen Lowe's first  novel, Thornspell (Knopf), was published to critical praise in 2008. The second,The Heir of Night (The Wall Of Night Series, Book One) won the Gemmell Morningstar Award 2012, and the sequel, The Gathering Of The Lost, was shortlisted for the Gemmell Legend Award in 2013. Daughter Of Blood (Book Three), was published in 2016 and Helen is currently completing the final novel in the series. She posts regularly on her “…on Anything, Really” blog, monthly on the Supernatural Underground, and tweets @helenl0we