Epic Stories
And, how they rewire us
“True it was that one could not add another word to a burnt page; that what took centuries and was forged by giants vanished in mere days, destroyed by the fool, the bootlicker, and the zealot. As it always came to pass during an artificial cultural collapse, it was the poet, the sage, the painter, and the writer who were martyred first. For without them, the thought, the smile, and the love of thy ancestors was lost.” (Src: The Black Knight)
I didn’t know when I volunteered last spring to read The Black Knight’s first Fantasy book, An Age of Lost Songs Lord of Bones, how it would challenge me emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. The cover, a glorious masterpiece of deadly, luscious tyranny, enticed me and I innocently mentioned to the author that I planned to buy the book, having not previously read the sci-fi or fantasy genres, and that I would follow with a review of the book from the perspective of an amateur. A year on and it’s still the best book I’ve read in years. As a tribute to The Black Knight, I’m sharing this with my current, larger audience.
This book was surprising in ways I’ll do my best to articulate, but let’s start at the beginning. As a lost adolescent shrinking myself inside a house full of tragedy, I hid my face in romance novels starting at age 12. Thus began an lifelong addiction that squirreled away my soul under layer upon layer of false expectations about real life and humanity. In my late 40’s, during my annual Lenten focus, I was compelled to stop reading these books and engage in the world around me instead of hurrying through life to get to the next story. I’ll write more about this at another time, but suffice it to say I felt like I’d woken up from a trance. I refused to read any fiction for years and never went back to romance novels. I read biographies, stories about famous people who are Christians, and novelized true stories. I eventually read ‘feel good fiction’ like Fredrik Backman. Up to last spring, I hadn’t read any books in at least 5 years, until feasting my eyes upon Lord of Bones.
By the middle of my first year on Substack, I had begun overlapping with a community of fiction, sci-fi, and fantasy writers and commentators like The Black Knight and The Brothers Krynn, who opened my eyes to the wonders of escaping to other realms with a fresh perspective - that of a mature adult. Now I find myself escaping briefly post by post in almost a short vacation from daily life. This bite-sized approach is how I enjoyed Lord of Bones.
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I was shocked to discover a struggle with sessions lasting more than an ‘hour-long vacation’ at a time. I was so used to short-form reading, that I had to develop a new disciplined reading practice for this book. I set a goal, schedule permitting, to read 20-50 pages at a time. I kept a journal to better immerse myself into the Ancient Neldaeri and Thulm lands, cultures, and characters. It was spectacular! Not only was I able to better concentrate and for longer periods of time, but I also began to experience this story as a theatrical epic. The imagery pulled me in, rich and imaginative like Alice through the looking glass, until I was sneaking, running, and fighting right alongside the many heroes in this story. I absolutely love that I was surprised every time I turned a corner in the scenery with them.
Spoiler alert, I’m about to get personal up in this piece about some of the events and characters. So if you prefer to see your movies without trailers, stop here and buy this book to experience it first-time, first-hand yourselves.
The Black Knight’s note from the author indicates a goal to entertain us, using the ‘love of heroism and understanding of true villainy’ to draw us into dreams of archetypical knights, sorceresses, archers, and priests in the ongoing battles of good versus evil. Imagery and settings aside, this, my friends, is a story for all time! If balance is what we feel could save mankind, then immersing ourselves inside this world even for a bit draws from us a yearning to do even the simple, everyday work of heroism ourselves. To come together to love and support one another for the hope of a better future.
This story, of heroes who form a coalition to banish the ultimate evil, uses four diverse characters built on the archetypes of the knight, sorceress, dwarf/archer, and priest from Role Playing Games (RPGs). Living in a house full of male gamers, they seemed vaguely familiar to me. Gamer or not, you’ll recognize the spiritual underpinnings of this disparate tribe as if you’ve known them before. I found this comforting in ways that our current vitriolic, chaotic, bi-polar, global communities miserably fail. The sorceress, Eirunn, is my favorite, not because she’s a woman but because she literally wears her early failures on her wrist, forever imprisoned by her own egotistical gravitas - a version of which EVERYONE carries with them in the form of regrets. Some of my favorite scenes required her to remove the band, releasing the kraken so to speak. In one such scene, she saves the life of her dwarven compatriot Gelduin’s daughter Lyra when Shog-Khaigath, an ancient evil, comes to destroy her. In this chapter, I was reminded that all our trials, tribulations, and pain give us the courage and the strength to remove our bracelets when life deems it necessary, AKA ‘hold my beer’. Rather than fear these confrontations, so skillfully crafted by The Black Knight, they opened hidden chambers of strength inside of me, where I saw that all my mistakes have taught me how to fight when the tough times come.
Throughout the perilous adventure, the four share their stories and their hopes and fears. They learn to fight as a unit, each protecting the back of the hero in front with no regard to their own safety. It’s inspiring how they use every drop of each of their talents to form an almost unstoppable force for the good of the realm. There are even some unlikely heroes in the ‘bad guy’ ranks who help the four succeed, to satisfy their own vengeful needs. Pay special attention to the daemon in the story who spectacularly gets in the way a time or two, more like an imp from lore.
My favorite passage from the story is quoted as the opening to this post. Within it is the timeless warning, 20-20 hindsight, about leaving the doors open to greed and tyranny. Many would claim that tyranny is defined within the heart of each beholder, but I believe tyranny is simply the will, capability, and intent to bury THE truth.
I love this book! Thank you, Black Knight, for single handedly restoring my sense of adventure.
I won’t spoil the ending for all the amazing people who’ll buy Lord of Bones. The Black Knight has told me of plans to write a couple more books in this series, blessing us with an epic we can ‘binge read’ during a future rainy season! I’m looking forward to the next installment and with confidence that I’m ready for a lazy day to read it in one sitting. As for this community, I highly recommend you read Lord of Bones for the sheer unadulterated joy of recalling the child-like wonder and belief in both the power of good to triumph over evil, and in the indefatigable vigor of hopeful human alliances. We still need them today, every day, as the world remains ablaze with conflict.✌️🙏
Let’s talk. Ask me anything and from the heart of an amateur I’ll do my best to respond.
Sounds intriguing... thanks for the recommendation!
I had to truncate my reading of your piece, Cori, because I ordered the book. I'll come back to finish reading in a few weeks.
I am a sci-fi/ fantasy junkie. I definitely know what you mean about reading as a vice. I don't let myself start books that I know I can't put down until I have nothing else pressing. One time when our girls were small, my husband dropped them off at daycare so I could work from home. He came back to let me know he'd backed into another parent's car because of the rain--and found me reading a book! To his credit, he never uttered a peep.
And I read your off-hand remarks about being 'a lost adolescent shrinking myself inside a house full of tragedy' differently now, in the context of your mom's death. Leave it to you to put that so poetically.
Thanks for the recommend!