Hanging the Moon

 

Waiting on a Bright Moon by Neon Yang - Art by Ann VanderMeer

With the Eclipse just a few days off (sign-by-sign scopes for you here) I thought it would be fun to explore lunar cycles in Fantasy Fiction. I've used these cycles of the moon in all of my novels, as markers of time, signals for powerful events, prophesy, worldbuilding, enhancements of magic... and, I'm not alone.

As we explore other Fantasy, you'll quickly see how authors utilize these luminary events, going back to Bram Stocker's Dracula. 

There was a bright full moon, with heavy black, driving clouds, which threw the whole scene into a fleeting diorama of light and shade as they sailed across. ... Whatever my expectation was, it was not disappointed, for there, on our favourite seat, the silver light of the moon struck a half-reclining figure, snowy white. - Dracula Chapter 8, page 78

Diaries of an Urban Panther

Carrying on the tradition, we this these 'bright full moons' in our very own Amanda Arista's Diaries of an Urban Panther, and a plethora of other Urban Fantasies like Patricia Briggs' Moon Called.

The Wise Man's Fear

And then, there's The Man Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, particularly the story within the story about a boy who falls in love with the moon. You'll find that gem in book #2 of the Kingkiller Chronicles.

From Goodreads:

“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”

My name is Kvothe.

I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.

You may have heard of me.

 

The Left Hand of Darkness

Of Course, I must mention Ursula K. Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness. It's a different paced story, compared with a lot of contemporary Fantasy/SF, but the moon in her world holds sway over shifting gender, and not just identity but physicality too. 

I can't imagine what puberty in Gethen would be like.

Avatar the Last Airbender

Day of the Black Sun

In the genre of graphic novels and shows, Avatar - the Last Airbender offers up an entire mythos around Eclipses. These powerhouse lunations, which occur in cycles of two-four a year, can affect a bender depending on their element. 

For example, solar eclipses have no enhancing effect on waterbending but the full moon, lunar eclipses do. Those solar eclipses that are neutral for waters render the firebender powerless... but only for the eight-minute pass of exact conjunction. Interessting!

The Gathering of the Lost

The Wall of Night Series

And last but very special to me, an all-time favorite, our own Helen Lowe's Wall of Night series. As a writer, she pays attention to the moon, using its cycles to mark time, support the worldbuilding and add cooling colors and texture to the scenes. 

For example, I love the way this passage situates the reader, and Malian, in time.

... above her head a full moon was rising, white and luminous over the tower’s crown. Malian frowned, remembering the quarter moon over Jaransor. “Where am I?” she whispered. - The Heir Of Night: (p. 398). 

And from The Gathering of the Lost, this example highlights the festivals and ritual celebrations in the storyworld, adding credibility, and stunning visuals to the culture.

“Don’t you celebrate Summer’s Eve on the River? The festival honors Imuln in her aspect of Maiden and is always held on the first new moon of summer..." - The Gathering Of The Lost (p. 168). 

Finally, we see the moon in one of her most ancient roles, as a prophetic symbol instilling hope, for some, fear for others. 

“Imuln! Great Imuln!” The rest of the fort’s defenders were pointing at the sky. “Imuln’s moon rises to our aid!” Carick steadied himself—and saw the horned sliver, pale and new, lifting above the black rim of the hills. The crescent on Jehane Mor’s brow blazed in answer and a cry of dismay ran through the horde. But the beast-men forged on, their jaws stretched wide to rip... the fort apart. The moon overhead floated higher, casting a pale silver track to Carick’s feet. - The Gathering Of The Lost (p. 258). 

Stunning!

***

Now it's your turn. What Fantasy novel do you cherish that hangs the moon? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

xxKim

* * *

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

Kim can be found on  AKWilder Twitter, Facebook 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!

A Hero's Journey - Ursula Le Guin

 “People who deny the existence of dragons are often eaten by dragons. From within.” - Ursula K. Le Guin. Image by David Lupton. 

On January 22, Ursula K Le Guin passed away. It felt to me like the library at Alexandria burned to the ground. The only thing that helps is knowing I can read and reread her books for the rest of my life.  She has taken so many of us on a hero's journey, and lived her life as nothing less.

Photo by Eileen Gunn

“We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel... is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become.”
― Ursula K. Le Guin

Le Guin inspired millions of readers and writers, not only with her magical storytelling but her 'revolutionary' ideas. She blasted through genre and gender biases at a time when few women wrote speculative fiction (save under a nom de plume) and speculative fiction was not considered remotely worthy of literary recognition. Le Guin, with a handful of other writers, changed all that.

"There are very real differences between science fiction and realistic fiction, between horror and fantasy, between romance and mystery. Differences in writing them, in reading them, in criticizing them. Vive les différences! They’re what gives each genre its singular flavor and savor, its particular interest for the reader — and the writer.

But when the characteristics of a genre are controlled, systematized, and insisted upon by publishers, or editors, or critics, they become limitations rather than possibilities. Salability, repeatability, expectability replace quality. A literary form degenerates into a formula. Hack writers get into the baloney factory production line, Hollywood devours and regurgitates the baloney, and the genre soon is judged by its lowest common denominator…. And we have the situation as it was from the 1940’s to the turn of the century: “genre” used not as a useful descriptor, but as a negative judgment, a dismissal." - Ursala Le Guin in conversation with Michael Cunningham

"I felt obliged for so many years to protest, to rant about those distinctions — genuine and useful ones — being misused as value-judgments. Now the judgmentalism is dropping out of them, and that’s great. I don’t have to worry, I don’t have to rant. Whew!"

When I first read the Earthsea books as a child, my eyes opened to new possibilities, a future where I could aspire to write. Living that future now is a privilege I wouldn't be experiencing without Ursula Le Guin and other authors who helped along the way.

She set so many examples. One was for dealing with rejections - how not to give up. Her words and advice kept me from crumpling at those first checks. You can read a rejection letter she received from an unnamed publisher for her submission of The Left Hand of Darkness. Enlightening!

“Light is the left hand of darkness
and darkness the right hand of light.
Two are one, life and death, lying
together like lovers in kemmer,
like hands joined together,
like the end and the way.”
― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness 

Who remembers the wonderful film, The Jane Austen book club? The character Grigg, played by Hugh Dancy, is open to reading Austen. He doesn't care if it's a 'girly' genre or old. He's interested. Curious. But when he tries to share his love for SF and Fantasy with Jocelyn, Maria Bello's character, she scoffs at him, even though she'd never read any herself. He asks if she's heard of Ursula Le Guin. "What a wonderful writer she is," he says. Eventually, Jocelyn tries out this genre author and falls in love... with both Grigg and Le Guin!

Maria Bello and Hugh Dancy in The Jane Austen Book Club

The year the film came out, 2007, Powers was published, a young adult novel that follows the adventures of a runaway slave with amazing powers of memory. The book won Le Guin her sixth Nebula award for best novel. She was shortlisted with Terry Pratchett for Making Money, Cory Doctorow for Little Brother and Ian McDonald for Brasyl. You can read more about her achievements here.

“Only in silence the word,
Only in dark the light,
Only in dying life:
Bright the hawk's flight
On the empty sky.
—The Creation of Éa” ― Ursula K. Le Guin

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”

― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness 

Read more on Ursula K. Le Guin, 1929 – 2018 at Helen Lowe's Blog, and please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.

Journey well, Ursula Ursula Kroeber Le Guin.
xxKim

Kim Falconer's latest release comes out in 2018 The Bone Throwers, book one in the Amassia series, writing as A K Wilder. Find her new page on Facebook - AKWilder Author and on Twitter as AKWilder.

Her latest novel is out now - The Blood in the Beginning - and Ava Sykes Novel.

Learn more about Kim on Facebook and chat with her on Twitter. Check out her pen name, @a.k.wilder on Instagram, or visitAKWilder on FB and website.

Kim also runs GoodVibeAstrology.com where she teaches the law of attraction and astrology. 

Kim posts here at the Supernatural Underground on the 16th of every month, hosts Save the Day Writer's Community on FB and posts a daily astrology weather report on Facebook.