At time of writing, it’s the start of October, officially one of the best months – it’s in autumn, which is an automatic head start – but November’s going to be even better. You see, the first week in November sees the release of Legacy of Steel, second book in the Legacy Trilogy.
For those who don’t know …
… Firstly, welcome. I’m not sure how you found this blog, but I’m glad you’re here …
Legacy is my debut trilogy from Orbit Books. It began last year with Legacy of Ash, continues in a few weeks with Legacy of Steel and concludes next August-ish with a book whose title I’m not allowed to tell you just yet (I don’t make the rules, sorry).
A World of Strife
As to what the Legacy Trilogy is? It’s a second world epic fantasy, which means it’s a grand tale set in a world a little like our own. Historical inspiration is drawn from Regency England, the Roman Empire, Persia and Dark Ages Britain, to name but a few.
Gods and magic are real, as are a number of fantastical creatures, and Otherworld, the Realm of the Dead, bleeds through into the lands of the living. It has moments of darkness, and others of pure joy. Treachery is balanced by heroism. There are battles of the sword, and battles of the soul.
Choices, Choices, Choices
That’s a flavour of the setting, but what about the story? What is it about?
Well, every book in the Legacy Trilogy is a tale of characters wrestling with decisions made by their forebears. It’s about the weight of tradition – about how good deeds beget cruelty, and selfishness sometimes becomes great kindness.
I say ‘a’ tale, but really it’s more than that. Each book in the trilogy has a number of story threads, following different characters through tumultuous times – opportunities, to borrow from Tolkien, in which they can show their quality. On the grand scale, we’re dealing in wars, revolutions and uprisings. On the personal, we have men and women confronting their own personal futures – who they are, as opposed to who they want to be.
As you can probably tell, we’re not talking about movies-as-books, but TV seasons. There’s a lot going on, with many interweaving plotlines and characters.
Tone & Content
One of the goals writing the Legacy Trilogy was to create an adult fantasy epic, but one equally readable for who I was as a teenager and who I am today.
Built as the stories are around the conflict of nations and factions, there’s a lot of death, but it’s seldom graphic and never gratuitous. Other content warnings include self-harm, suicide and emotional abuse. However, there’s no sexual content, and the rare curse words are of the mildest sort.
Comparisons to the Legacy Trilogy
We readers love our comparisons, don’t we? And with good reason – it helps us find our next great love (fiction-wise, anyway).
So what’s the Legacy Trilogy like?
I’ve always described it as a fantasy epic with debts to Bernard Cornwell (thanks to the Sharpe series, Cornwell’s one of my biggest writing influences) and looking at the reviews for Legacy of Ash, a lot of readers agree. Legacy also draws a lot of comparisons with Game of Thrones, though I can’t speak to the accuracy as I’ve neither read nor watched George R R Martin’s epic.
As to other influences on my writing style? Cornwell aside, I have to tip the hat to Tolkien for worldbuilding, and Timothy Zahn for character and prose.
Taken together, that means that you can expect the Legacy Trilogy to have rich world, immersive battles, insidious politics and characters you’ll love (or love to hate). But don’t take my word for it: I’ve linked some of the reviews for Legacy of Ash, and there are plenty more on Goodreads.com.
This Has Run Awfully Long …
You ever have that feeling when you write something and it runs a lot longer than you thought? Well, I’ve done something eerily similar to that.
I was going to talk a bit about Legacy of Steel, but I guess that’ll have to wait until next time.
See you then!
LEGACY OF ASH (available now)
A shadow has fallen over the Tressian Republic.
Ruling families plot against one another with sharp words and sharper knives, heedless of the threat posed by the invading armies of the Hadari Empire.
The Republic faces its darkest hour. Yet as Tressia falls, heroes rise.
‘A hugely entertaining debut’ John Gwynne
LEGACY OF STEEL (pre-order)
A year has passed since an unlikely alliance saved the Tressian Republic from fire and darkness – at great cost. Thousands perished, and Viktor Akadra – the Republic’s champion – has disappeared.
While the ruling council struggles to mend old wounds, other factions sense opportunity. The insidious Parliament of Crows schemes in the shadows, while to the east the Hadari Emperor gathers his armies. As turmoil spreads across the Republic, its ripples are felt in the realms of the divine.
War is coming… and this time the gods themselves will take sides
