Saturday, September 3, 2011

Guess What, Guys? Epic Fantasy Rocks!

Okay, I've never liked epic fantasy. Don't ask me why, it just didn't appeal to me. But for some reason, known only to the universe, this year I've really gotten into it. I can now say that it will be forever and always my favorite genre -- I never thought in my wildest dreams that I'd enjoy it this much. Well, I guess it makes sense; I mean I read Harry Potter, like, five times, Eragon was the first book series I was a ever a fan of, and I don't read any contemporary books (with maybe the exception of Nicholas Sparks), so it all fits. I just never had the nerve to try any of the real, thick, masterfully constructed masterpieces that grace the fantasy genre.


Anyway, enough with my rambling. Writing. The real reason I got a blog in the first place. Only nine thousand words this week; which I guess isn't that bad. I'd liked to have written more, however, but school, sleep, and those darn good epic fantasy books keep interfering. It's down to a minimum of one thousand words a night, and as I might have mentioned, I write kinda slow. Also, I changed the all-too cheesy title to something of the lesser degree of cheesiness. Of Light and Lividity Book One: Lux Huh, I feel as if I should give an excerpt, but what . . . Ah ha!

             Cautiously, I walked out of the car and up to meet Jonathan. As soon as I was out of the car, I was hit with a crashing wave of claustrophobia. It was so minute a space.
            “Samantha,” Jonathan said, looking me square in the face. “I’m going to try something, but I’m going to need you to trust me first.”
            I shuffled my feet. Could I trust him? He’d hidden so many things from me, but, then again, had he told me the truth when we’d first met, I probably would have deemed him crazy; over-the-top insane, even! He’d been honest enough with me, though the past couple days. Yes.
            I took a deep breath, the air smelling like soot and decomposing fruit.
            Jonathan held his hand out imploringly to me. “Samantha, trust me?”
            I nodded, and then took his hand. They burst into flame. No, no! This isn’t what I signed up for! I struggled, trying to pry my fingers away from Jonathan’s strong grip.
            “Samantha, calm down.” He said, looking amazed at the infernos connection between us.
            Well, I certainly was not amazed. My freaking hand was on fire! I repeat: on fire!
            “It’s okay. It’s working. Stop worrying about your hand. It’s fine. Look at it.”
            I did. It wasn’t burning. The fire didn’t even seem to be affecting it.
            “Wha –” I muttered. “What’s going on?” I was beginning to get over my initial panic, and curiosity replaced my horror. I flexed my fingers, wiggling them around as best I could in Jonathan’s grip. The flames licking at my hands felt warm, comfortable even. And they smelled like honeysuckle and citrus.
            “Samantha, take a deep breath. I’m going to try something else.”
            I took a deep breath but didn’t concede just yet. I looked at Jonathan’s car. I could turn around right now, go back to Dad and pretend like nothing ever happened. Or I could stay here with Jonathan, and find out why I could do these things when no one else could. Dare I?
            I nodded. Jonathan smiled, but I couldn’t push away the fact that he looked somewhat uncertain.
            “Jonathan, what are you going to do?”
            He looked a little uncomfortable as he answered. “I’m going to try and Transport.”
            “What’s –”
            But before I could finish asking my question, Jonathan’s body became a roaring furnace of energy. So that’s why he brought me here. He wasn’t a sicko, it just seemed that he wanted answers . . . just like me.
            I looked apprehensively at what he’d called his “immortal essence”. And suddenly felt fear crash down in my stomach. I didn’t want to go with him. This new world – him; it was just all too scary. I remembered the Dark One at the Fuscus Regnum. She was real. She could hurt me.
            I turned, ready to leave, but a voice in my head stopped me.
            Samantha, you must do this. It is your calling. It is what you are. Look inside yourself, Samantha. Find your soul.
            I stopped in my tracks, my mouth hanging open slightly. It was that man, that man in my dreams. “Find your soul”? What did that mean?
            Concentrate on Jonathan. The rest will simply come. Look. Find yourself through him.
            I looked wanly into Jonathan’s eyes. The inferno seemed so familiar, like something from a lost memory. Look inside yourself, Samantha . . .
            I focused on the flame on my hand, the heat of it. I closed my eyes. At first I saw nothing, but as zoned in on the sensations – the familiarity, the light scent of honeysuckle, and . . . a face, the most beautiful face I’d ever seen. Her image seemed to float in front of me, though my eyes were shut, her placid smile and jet black hair gleaming in the ambient mist that surrounded her. I knew her. I’d never seen her before in my life, yet I knew her.
            She nodded, her hazel eyes twinkling.
            Then I saw it. Never once in my seventeen years had I noticed it, but there it was, near my heart. A flowing force of energy supplying my life. It was warm, just like the flames, and it seemed to go on forever.
            You’re doing great, Samantha, now grab hold of it and don’t let go.
            I reached out and let it fill me. At once a rushing sense of emotion and images came rushing toward my mind. A snow white house in the middle of a wheat field, eyes like that of a Dark One, and a scream; a cry for the loss of someone . . .
            “No way!” Jonathan’s voice snapped me back to reality and I opened my eyes. He wasn’t burning anymore. Instead, he stared at me, a look of shock plastered on his face.
            I looked at my hand. It was still blazing, as was the rest of me. I was a swirling mass of white-hot flame.
            “But –” I stopped. Though I moved my mouth, the voice didn’t sound at all like mine. It was too melodious, too pure, like several perfect notes struck on a tuning fork. It rang through the alley, reverberating off the weathered walls. “But, how . . . ? I’m just a junior trying to get into Yale! This . . . can’t be happening!” It isn’t possible! Yet there was no denying the absolute truth.
            I backed away in, letting go of my soul – or was it my immortal essence? I didn’t care. I couldn’t be a lux. Jonathan was a lux; not me.
            “What’s the matter?” Jonathan asked. “This is great!”
            “Great? Great!? You call your entire life being ruined great?”
            He shrugged. “If it means finding out I was a lux, then yeah.”
            “Well, maybe I don’t want to be! Besides, how do you even know I am? That was nothing! That was just . . .” Just what? I didn’t know. “Take me home please. I don’t want to do this anymore. I’m not an angel – lux, whatever.”
            “Why are you so angry? Don’t you want to find out more? Like why you had no idea you were a lux? Why don’t the Ancients know about you . . . ?” He trailed off, seeming to talk more to himself than to me.
            The truth was, now that he brought it up I sort of did. But, no. I was going home.
            “Jonathan, take me home.”
            A flicker of a figure in my peripheral vision caught my eye. Jonathan seemed to sense it too, he suddenly became rigid and alert; a scared look on his face. Someone was watching us.
            “Oh, crap.” I whispered.
            “Samantha,” he said in a low voice, not taking his eyes off the corner. “Get in the car.”
            I didn’t hesitate.
            The second Jonathan had started the car we were off, speeding down the street at a million miles an hour.
            “Jonathan, slow down!”
            He didn’t. His face was that of stony concentration, his lips pursed, his eyes focused yet seemingly terrified.
            Someone stepped in front of the car and Jonathan slammed on the brakes, skidding to an abrupt halt. Lucky for us we were in one of the smaller parts of the city and there weren’t many cars around.
            I soon realized that the person standing in front of us was Raquel; she was in my English class. I’d really only known her name from roll call, and occasionally we’d swap an amiable smile in the halls but our relationship didn’t go much farther than that.
            Jonathan sighed in relief. Who did he think it was that was following us? An image of a decrepit woman and a handsome man with multicolored eyes popped into my head, but I suppressed them.
            Jonathan jumped out of the car and ran to her, and only upon proper observation could I see why: Raquel’s cheeks were pale, tears running down them continually; her blond hair was a mess, and she could barely breath for the sobbing.
            “Raquel?” I asked getting out, too, running to her. “Raquel, what’s wrong?”
            She didn’t speak, she only pointed to her right. I looked, but my view was obstructed slightly; Jonathan was crouched down over something.
            “Jonathan, what’s . . . ?”
            He moved to the side – however reluctantly – and gave me a full outlook of the scene.
            What I saw made my stomach turn over.

 Book of the week this week is . . .(Drum roll please): The Wheel of Time Book One: The Eye of the World by the late Robert Jordan. As I might have mentioned earlier in the post, epic fantasy rocks
In case, by sheer unhealthy and unlucky happenstance you haven't heard of The Wheel of Time . . . Well, all I can say is READ IT! READ IT, NOW! Drop everything and go, no joke. 



The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

It is SO freaking amazing! I really don't know what else to say about it. It's just so good. I know I give everything five stars, and maybe I shouldn't because that doesn't help anybody, but The Wheel of Time fully deserves it. It's probably one of the biggest epic fantasy series, and mostly widely known, since Lord of the Rings. In fact . . .
"Jordan has come to dominate the world that Tolkien began to reveal."
-- The New York Times

Since the series is so widely known, I'm not going to go into much more detail than that. 
Go music!
These three songs are fully responsible for the ultimate climax of my book. I love you Hans Zimmer, you always provide such awesome writing music.

However, no matter how many awesome movies I see, for me, at least, Batman will always have the best music. 
~Jared

1 comment:

  1. Once again, your excerpt is amazing.

    I didn't get into epic fantasy until the sixth grade, so two years ago. THE EYE OF THE WORLD was the book that really got me into epic fantasy. Really great book. Read it twice, and Book 2 once. You'll love them.

    -Matt

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