J.F. Lewis | It's Exactly Like Lord of the Rings Except...

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.

About J.F. Lewis

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.

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About OATHKEEPER

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.