The Flames of Shadam Khoreh (The Lays of Anuskaya) (80 page)
Read The Flames of Shadam Khoreh (The Lays of Anuskaya) Online
Authors: Bradley Beaulieu
I recently (it’s May of 2013 as I type this) stopped by John Scalzi’s The Big Idea to help promote The Flames of Shadam Khoreh. The notion is you talk about the big idea in your book. Its central theme. Most people talk about a single book, but I chose to talk more about the series as a whole.
So what’s the Big Idea? The Lays of Anuskaya isn’t about our world. It isn’t about the conflict in the Middle East. But it was born there, certainly, and so it’s hard to escape some parallelism. I suppose if I had to formulate the roiling of inner desires that led to these books, I’d say it’s a plea for us to look further than today.
It’s a plea for peace, as told through a tale of war.
Acknowledgements
Books are not written alone. They have many supporters, some silent, some vocal. This is my attempt to thank as many of them as I can.
To my wife, Joanne, who carves out time for me to do this crazy thing I love, thank you so much. This thanks also extends to my children, Relaneve and Rhys. Every single ounce of effort I put into you is rewarded by the pound.
To Ross Lockhart, I’ve said it in private, but I’ll say it here as well. Your help to me in the process of getting this trilogy from its raw written form to final product has been invaluable. Thank you for being a champion of this work, both within the halls of Night Shade books and in the wide, scary world of publishing.
To my agent, Russ Galen, as time goes on, I respect your insight more and more. Thank you for believing me enough to take on a fledgling writer and shelter him forward to an actual, honest-to-goodness writing career.
To the people of Wellspring II Electric Boogaloo (Brenda Cooper, Debbie Daughetee, Kelly Swails, Holly McDowell, Kameron Hurley, Greg Wilson, Vincent Jorgensen, Grá Linnaea, Stephen Gaskell, Eugene Myers, and Chris Cevasco), thank you so much for reading those early pages and sending the ship off in the right direction. To Debbie and Brenda go an extra helping of thanks for reading the entire novel, warts and all. What I had was roughly formed clay, and you helped me turn it into a sculpture. Full manuscript reads of such a long book are golden, and you have my deep gratitude for taking it on.
I’d also like to thank a few of my many mentors who’ve helped me along the way. To Orson Scott Card, thank you for running your Literary Boot Camp in 2005. I learned so much, not only from your books on writing, but from your incisive talks and comments on writing. And to my Clarion instructors, Chip Delaney, Michael Swanwick, Joe and Gay Haldeman, Nancy Kress, Holly Black, and Kelly Link, thank you for running the most intense six weeks (writing-wise) of my life. No one can fully appreciate what Clarion gives them while they’re there at the workshop. It takes years afterward to absorb it and put it into practice. But your efforts were greatly appreciated. Clarion took me farther than I ever imagined it would.
To Holliann Russell Kim, I don’t know what I would have done without you. I’m so grateful you were there all the way. Thank you for taking this journey with me, and for lending your keen eye to these sorry pages.
To Aaron J. Riley, thank you for taking a few notes and some words and turning them into such a gorgeous cover.
To Ryan Leduc, thank you for your generosity to Worldbuilders and for providing the inspiration for Rodion Ledokov, a fine addition to this tale.
For last, I save Paul Genesse, who has always been such a great supporter of this story and who helped immensely with this final book, particularly getting the ending to the point where it would honor not just the threads playing out in this novel, but the entire trilogy and beyond. My thanks, Paul, for your friendship, encouragement, and advice.
Kickstarter Acknowledgements
There are many people who had a direct influence in making this dream a reality. Namely, those who participated in the Kickstarter for this novel. Thank you for all your support and enthusiasm.
Soroush
Lou Anders, Aidan Moher, David Annandale, Bryce Dayton, Howard Andrew Jones, Adam Rakunas, Paul. A. Addison, Ian Wolfe, mundanename, Ruth Coy, Johan Törnroos, Jason T., Jake Di Toro, Matt Dickinson, Isabelle Baikie, Misty M Radig, Jack Vivace, Roman Kalik, Daniel Lückerath, Kristyn Willson, William Groenendijk, Reiko Yukawa, Yaron Davidson, Allen W Snyder, Casey Fiesler, Jessica Eden Petersen, Cody Reichenau, David Hanson, Galena Ostipow, Christian Steudtner, Nathan Duby, Courtney Schafer, Michael Cummings, Jeremy Kenneth Colton Chamberlin, Yohay Kaplan, Jim Martin, Don Schlising, Gregory Lincoln, AmyK, Andrew Zimmerman Jones, Philippe Sylvain, Brandon Zarzyczny, Oliver Graf, Sean Silva-Miramon, Alma Vilic, Maxwell Alexander Drake, Raphael Reitzig
Rehada
Dave Gross, Christine Rost, Gopakumar Sethuraman, Doug Smith, Brian M., John Hornor Jacobs, shh, Wesley Chu, Lesley Ralph, Steven Saus, Greg Frenette, Joseph Hoopman, R. Storey, Pierre, Dino Mascolo, Dimitris Tzanerakis, Blair MacGregor, CE Murphy, Andy Muir, Michael Bentley, Nick Simpson, Stephenie Sheung, Megan Peterson, Caroline Kierstead, D. Kevin Stilwell, Jr., Matthew McKee, Jacob Poindexter, Jon Shoop, Brian Becker, Joe Dicker, Or Raifman, Adam Rajski, Rob Danforth, Noel Coughlan, Graeme Williams, Mathew A Howell, Frank Johnston, Samantha Holloway, Matthew Jones, Louis “luigibrosse” Carlioz, Robert Moulden, Captain Harbatkin, Jay O’Donnell, Greg Close, Donny Davis, Christophe Morvan, Todd Alan, Iliyan Iliev, Fiona Nicholson, Jeff Zahnen, Roman Pauer, Paul E. Horsman, Alek Kahlo, Kevin J. Maroney, Aymeric P., J. Strohschein, Dana, Matt Phillips, Troy Pollex, Evaristo Ramos, Jr., Asri Jaffar, Patrick Ellis, Juan Hamers, Guy Lee Byars, Jonathan Laidlow, Carol J. Guess, Ryan Lawler, Todd Tyrna, Guillaume C Levesque, Kent Henry, Karen S. Conlin, J.M. Beraldo, Evgeni Kantor, Greg Levick, Matthew B. Aguirre, Michael Benicek, Jason “Kuma” Brinkerhoff, Ivan Yagolnikov, Magdalena Fabrykowska-Młotek, Allen Donnelly, Ann Lemay, Carlos Knippschild, Matt Hurlburt, Steve Lord, Sreevidya Subramanian, Storm Writer J.M. Martin, Lori Lum, Chris Hyde, Jeremiah Tolbert, Brian Cheek, Nathan Duke, Angela Rivera - Ghilbrae, Jami Good, Jeff Salyards, Nathan Hall, Yvonne Chung, J.R. Murdock, Kevin Kastelic, Nathan Wagoner, Russell Duhon, Henrik Reuther, Barry, Karen J. Grant, Steve Carroll, Adam & Jayce Roberts, Joel Cunningham
Ishkyna
Michael J. Sullivan, Ewa Malc, Leticia Lara www.fantasticaficcion.com, Michael Dunnington
Mileva
Charles Schultz, Harry Giovanopoulos, Todd Bogenrief, Jerry Gaiser, Stephen Abel, Patrick H. Crim, Matt Jebus Jones, Raghu Tirunarain, Zuhur Abdo, Martin Greening, Kathleen Hanrahan, Derek Silver, Pam Blome
Khamal
Michael R. Underwood, Shauna Roberts, Joshua Palmatier, Barbara Webb, R. Patrick Taggesell, Keith Kahla, Doug Sturtevant, Carol Klees-Starks, Christopher M. Cevasco, Loretta Wilkinson, Scott Ladewig, Steve Hick, Rodney Rappaport, Marian Makins, Matthew Briganti, Wooz, Mihai Adascalitei, Aaron Bated, Dain Eaton, Jacob Kesinger, Derek Brine, Aaron Willis, Chris Kenth, Ty Wilda, Nico “The Chosen One” Kolstee
Ghayavand
Conner Ferguson
Muqallad
Fred Kiesche, Matthew S Caron, Patrick Boyle, Joanna Staebler-Kimmel, Sally Qwill Janin, EEJ, Pat Hartman, Paul Weimer
Sariya
A Daily Dose of R&R, Harry R. Ince
Shadam Khoreh
Mike Koshel, Ingrid Emilsson
Atiana
Mark Aaron Smith, Brad M. Saenz, Steve Drew, Bill O’Connor, Eldritch, Mihir Wanchoo, Eric Toczek, David Wohlreich, Kerry Brooks, David Lars Chamberlain, Adam J Leonard, Charles DeMoss, Michael Lenzo, Ryan “Rodion” Leduc, Michael Tynan, C. Joshua Villines, David M. Johnson, Chris McLaren, T.J. Olson, Paul Genesse, Andrew W. H. House, Shahid Hasan, Keith West
Galahesh
Matt Baguley, Bruce Villas, David Whitman, Andrew Mullin, Jennifer L Spadafino, T. Lewis Jr
Nikandr
Jason Chen
About the Author
Bradley P. Beaulieu fell in love with fantasy the moment he started reading
The Hobbit
in third grade. From that point on, though he tried reading many other things, fantasy became his touchstone. He always came back to it, and when he started to dabble in writing, fantasy—epic fantasy especially—was the type of story he most dearly wished to share. In 2006, his story, “In the Eyes of the Empress’s Cat”, was voted a Million Writers Award notable story, and in 2004, he became a winner in the Writers of the Future 20 contest. Other stories have appeared in Realms of Fantasy, Intergalactic Medicine Show, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and several DAW anthologies.
Brad lives in Racine, Wisconsin with his wife and two children. By day, Brad is a software engineer, wrangling code into something resembling usefulness. He is also an amateur cook. He loves to cook spicy dishes, particularly Mexican and southwestern. As time goes on, Brad finds that his interests are slowly being whittled down to these two things: family and writing. In that order…
For more, please visit www.quillings.com.
The adventure begins in
Among inhospitable and unforgiving seas stands Khalakovo, a mountainous archipelago of seven islands, its prominent eyrie stretching a thousand feet into the sky. Serviced by windships bearing goods and dignitaries, Khalakovo’s eyrie stands at the crossroads of world trade. But all is not well in Khalakovo. Conflict has erupted between the ruling Landed, the indigenous Aramahn, and the fanatical Maharraht, and a wasting disease has grown rampant over the past decade. Now, Khalakovo is to play host to the Nine Dukes, a meeting which will weigh heavily upon Khalakovo’s future.
When an elemental spirit attacks an incoming windship, murdering the Grand Duke and his retinue, Prince Nikandr, heir to the scepter of Khalakovo, is tasked with finding the child prodigy believed to be behind the summoning. However, Nikandr discovers that the boy is an autistic savant who may hold the key to lifting the blight that has been sweeping the islands. Can the Dukes, thirsty for revenge, be held at bay? Can Khalakovo be saved? The elusive answer drifts upon the Winds of Khalakovo…
The adventure continues in
West of the Grand Duchy of Anuskaya lies the Empire of Yrstanla, the Motherland. The Empire has lived at peace with Anuskaya for generations, but with political turmoil brewing and the wasting disease still rampant, opportunists from the mainland have begun to set their sights on the Grand Duchy, seeking to expand their empire.
Five years have passed since Prince Nikandr, heir to the scepter of Khalakovo, was tasked with finding Nasim, the child prodigy behind a deadly summoning that led to a grand clash between the armies of man and elder elemental spirits. Today, that boy has grown into a young man driven to understand his past – and the darkness from which Nikandr awakened him. Nikandr’s lover, Atiana, has become a Matra, casting her spirit forth to explore, influence, and protect the Grand Duchy. But when the Al-Aqim, long thought lost to the past, return to the islands and threaten to bring about indaraqiram – a change that means certain destruction for both the Landed and the Landless – bitter enemies must become allies and stand against their horrific plans.