One of the hardest things to do as a writer is take existing tropes and make
them fresh and
new. When I was writing my first novel, STAKED, the genre seemed to be filled with sexy vampires
who appeared to
be fueled by ennui in at least equal measure to the blood they were forced
to endure. Being
undead was synonymous with being young and beautiful, blood tasted like
wine,, everybody
could dance, and as long as you wore sunscreen and drank a little of the red
stuff now and
again you could live forever on a cloud of infinite cool and Fung Shui. I
decided to take a
different approach… to come up with vampires that were different. Let’s not
even mention the
weregecko ninjas.
Eric, the anti-hero protagonist of the Void City series, became a vampire in a world
where undeath is
ugly and complicated, but he’s the kind of guy who doesn’t complain about
it. He faces
existence with a sense of humor, unflinching honesty, and a big middle
finger to anyone who
has a problem with him. His romantic interests are all doomed to fail
because, well, as Eric
would put it “A relationship with a vampire is like a friendship between a
dog and a chicken
nugget. The only real question is how many bites it will take.”
Fang the ‘Stang was born because, in a world with Eric in it, he was
inevitable. Of course
Eric would end up binding a fat chunk of his powers to his 1964 ½ Mustang
convertible,
because that is the sort of thing that happens to Eric. Sure, a flesh-eating
classic American
pony car is cool, but where do you park it, and how many miles to the gallon
do you get on a
full tank of werewolf?
When I transitioned to epic fantasy and started writing the
Grudgebearer Trilogy
, I was faced with creating a whole world that needed to seem familiar
and real, but be
detailed and unique. As readers, we tend to look for easy ways to relate to
things. In other
words, if it has pointy ears it’s an elf. So, one look at the cover of GRUDGEBEARER, and it
would be easy to assume Kholster to be an elf instead of an Aern, because
whose ever heard of
an Aern?
But the Aern who are so central to the Grudgebearer Trilogy are an even bigger
divergence from the norm
than my vampires. Imagine metal-boned carnivores, existing as a semi-hive
mind dominated by a
leader (Kholster) who insists they have free will. Breaking an oath unmakes
them. Constantly
shedding and growing new teeth like sharks is normal to them, as is having
eight canine teeth
(four on the upper jaw and four on the bottom). A whole subsection of their
culture developed
to handle the need to keep track of the weapons and armor they forge from
their metal bones
and those of the dead. They have bronze skin, red hair, and eyes that work
more like video
game displays than biological eyes. They’re a lot like golems… But they have
pointy, wolf-
like ears, so “elves,” right?
Even the Zaur, the reptilian “army of evil” you’ll meet in GRUDGEBEARER are very
different once you get to know them a little better in OATHKEEPER. Turns out
they have very understandable motivations… Yes, things might have been
easier for all
involved if they’d stopped to explain themselves clearly rather than
attacking, because
everyone always takes time to explain millennia old grudges and abuses
before… Wait. They
don’t?
Having read all of that, it may not surprise you when I tell you that my
elevator pitch for
the trilogy is: It’s exactly like Lord of the Rings, except there are no
hobbits, there is no
ring, and Legolas kills and eats anyone who gets in his way. That isn’t
completely accurate,
but it usually gets a laugh, which might be more important anyway. So,
especially if you
enjoyed the bad-ass anti-heroes and crazy hijinks of Void
City,
you'll be right at home in a world featuring heroic genocidal dictators who
do their own
laundry and heroines who would make Imperator Furiosa proud... which is what
you'll find in
Grudgebearer
Trilogy. If you'd like to hear more from a creative curmudgeon,
track me down at jflewis.net and good luck
in the giveaway.
GIVEAWAY
What is your favorite new spin on a genre trope? Leave a comment below
and be entered to
win one of two copies of OATHKEEPER! Open to US/Canada.
J.F. Lewis is the author of The Grudgebearer Trilogy and The Void City
series. Jeremy is an
internationally published author and thinks it's pretty cool that his books
have been
translated into other languages. He doesn't eat people, but some of his
characters do. After
dark, he can usually be found typing into the wee hours of the morning while
his wife, kids,
and dog sleep soundly.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
Rae’en has taken her father’s place as First of the practically immortal
Aern, a race
created by the Eldrennai as warrior-slaves to defend them from the magic-
resistant reptilian
Zaur. Freed from all Oaths by Kholster’s death, Rae’en decides to wage war
on the Eldrennai
anyway out of rage and grief.
The war between the Eldrennai and Zaur has begun. Bloodmane, leader of the
now independent
mystic-warsuits, has underestimated both the sheer numbers of the Zaur and
their field leader
General Tsan. As the warsuits prepare to assist the Eldrennai in the defense
of their Watch
cities, the Zaur warlord, Xastix, launches the bulk of his forces at the
Vael in an attempt
to cut off all outside help.
Prince Rivvek, having been accepted as an Aiannai (Oathkeeper) before
Kholster’s death must
claim the Eldrennai throne by completing the Test of Four so that he can
enact his plan to
save as much of his kingdom as possible. Meanwhile, his brother Prince
Dolvek hatches a plot
to enlist the aid of the plant-like Vael to defeat the Zaur horde who are in
league with the
decapitated head of a dethroned deity.
5 comments posted.
wow the pic on the book is great and then i would love to have sone book mark of the one you did
(Desiree Reilly 11:13pm June 20, 2015)
This series sounds great, I'll definitely be checking it out. My favorite spin on
the vampire trope is Lara Adrain's Breed vampires - they're descendants of
aliens which explains a lot of the vampire idiosyncrasies.
(Barbara Elness 3:33pm June 21, 2015)