The Elder Ones: Sea Spray

    Sea Spray, available on the Amazon Kindle Marketplace, is my first published novel. I consider it to be a contemporary epic fantasy piece of writing, and there are a lot of confusing themes contained within. The premise of the story is a tried and true formula. It is akin to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings in the sense that it is an ensemble adventure piece, but it has the scope of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire when it comes to the breadth of the story.

Regarding the World

The world of The Elder Ones is a device of my own making. It was not an easy process to undertake, and it took me four years to build the world and the characters in it to my high standards. For it, I spent the better part of a year crafting the language of the titular Elder Ones, and that is something that is ever on-going. I do not expect to ever finish a full dictionary of words for them in my lifetime, but I am proud of what I have accomplished in the short period of time I have done it all in.

The Characters of the World

    Character plays one of the biggest roles in the entire planned decalogy of The Elder Ones, and the entire plot revolves around not the issues caused by the antagonists, but how the main cast reacts and adapts to the shift in the balance of power. It is the relationship between the cast that provides the majority of the tension of the novels, especially in Sea Spray.

A Summary of Part One

As part of my 2018 plans, I fully intend to include everyone in the public in my creative process. Their ideas and suggestions are the most important thing to me, and I consider my novels to be more of a group project than anything. As such, included below is a summary of Sea Spray (I sent it off to a publisher a while back), which I hope entices people to want to read the full story which one can purchase from https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0795TB37R

Sea Spray’s cold open concerns the arrival of the main antagonist of the novel. He destroys the town and in the next chapter, we cut away to two centuries later. The world lives in relative peace. The arrival of the loathed King Atheron Ochenar in the port city of Druusys sets a chain of events in motion. That night, The Firstborn attacks the city. Only half the people make it out.

The story splits into two stories. One concerns the group of Commander Aurelee Faustren, the apprentice Gaelìn, the assassin Abygail Qilbyrn, and Duke Aeron Stonewall, who seek a way to prevent the coming apocalypse. They journey north to the isle of Wyrmsgard. They learn from Master Ignar that to defeat The Firstborn, they must kill the other eight Elder Ones. Their quest starts with The Last. They leave Wyrmsgard after the death of their mentor. His son Olaf and daughter Lyra now accompany them. Aurelee decides a direct approach is the best course of action. The Last attacks them. He kills Admiral Az-al Denghu and sinks the Tyr’s Bounty. The survivors call an audible and head to The Long Dark.

While that occurs, the King journeys back to the capital, Buulan, though after an attack by bandits, he finds himself crippled. It is in Mercer’s Forest that captain Juurynn Faustren meets Mercer, a guardian of Terrus. The two send Atheron on his way to Buulan. Mercer seeks to use Juurynn as his next host.

In the Long Dark, the natives capture the group. Aby comes across an old friend, Ashton Wyland, as she figures out a way to rescue the others. Gaelìn comes across the avatar of the Firstborn, who tells her they are the same soul, only fractured. After a brief scuffle, the All-Maker buys time for Gaelìn to escape. She comes across Aby and Lyra and the three make their way to regroup with the other three at a stone bridge. While most make it across, Stonewall stays behind to cover their escape. Aurelee watches in horror as he makes the ultimate sacrifice, destroying the bridge and plummeting to his seeming doom. The group runs toward the exit, but Ashton reveals his true colours. He doesn’t get a chance to act on them. Gaelìn faces down the avatar of the Firstborn. She banishes it for a time, though this awakens her powers.

During the escapades in The Long Dark, Atheron works alongside his uncle, Kylnarr Auroch and new allies from the east to eliminate his current government. The more damage he does to those around him, the more unhinged he becomes. He doesn’t care what the result of his actions are. His obsession lies with waking the Goddess Istarri.

Juurynn follows Mercer’s advice and encounters Istarri’s Prophet and Mercer’s brother, Mathias. They engage in a brief duel. Juurynn wins and saves the King’s family. He and Mercer follow Mathias to Buulan, and they fight once more in the throne room. During the duel, Atheron figures out the last key he needs to find Istarri’s hiding place. Juurynn escapes and Mercer instructs him that they need to head to Druyaan Peak.

After the Long Dark, and a brief respite in a strange ally’s house, the group hasten their journey to Tor’s Landing and the Last. When they arrive in the city, a lengthy battle occurs inside a storm of The Last’s making. The group split up into pairs. The fight goes sour. They look to be overwhelmed before Gaelìn unlocks her full power. With the assistance of Lyra, the Last falls and before he dies, he reveals where the group needs to go next.

The book ends with Gaelìn feeling the effects of the power of the Firstborn as she invades the young apprentice’s mind. Yet, from here, Gaelìn determines that even the Firstborn is afraid of Istarri.

The Future of The Elder Ones

As it stands, The Elder Ones Part 2: Earth Splitter is around twenty percent completed and I have the intention to finish it in 2018. I will continue to post more about it as I continue to work on it.

My next post (which will be on Sunday February 4th) will concern a retrospective of my week of writing under my new schedule.

With many thanks,

Timothy