Under the Shadow – Sionnach's Online Lair

Another Review from Jennie Reads!

I was pleasantly surprised yesterday to receive another four-star review from the blog, Jennie Reads. You can read the review in it’s entirety here.

This review is for Another World’s Song, Book 1 of the Astralasphere Spiral. I thought this tip was interesting:

This is the first book in the Astralasphere Spiral. I read them in reverse which is the order I would suggest – because the second book is an incredible story with plenty of action and intrigue where the first one does a wonderful job of setting up the characters and the plots that will arise in the second book.

I think this is probably true. I realized when I released Under the Shadow that it was the stronger book of the two. Hopefully, Book 3 will be even better! I learned a lot about world building in Another World’s Song–as well as how to finish a book. (You write ‘the end’ and walk away from it. I’m almost not kidding. It’s possible to spend years fussing over a work without being able to give it up.)

Get a free copy of Another World’s Song, Book 1 of the Astralasphere here.

Just for visiting this website, get a free copy of the second book, Under the Shadow, here.

Quin

Huntmaven Quindolyn Byronwlyth Mildargn, Curatrix of the Silver Hall, called Quin by her friends and Ahryu-yi by wolves, is a character in the epic fantasy series, The Astralasphere Spiral. She has many names and is many things–a warrior, a leader, a healer, a mentor. She is a survivor who bears a curse and is haunted by a dark past.

Her kindness and bravery, her willingness to see the good in others while examining her own flaws, set her apart as one of the series’ truly heroic characters.

Loom Song

The title for Under the Shadow comes from a song composed by a Gailfen woman named Ruvella, one of Mylinka’s friends. The motif of weaving and needlework is important throughout the series, because the major Gailfendic deity is Jairra, the sun goddess who weaves the tapestry of life. In “Loom Song,” there’s the idea that Jairra weaves both good and bad into one’s life. If you’ve ever seen a loom, you know there are fibers that are stretched vertically (I stretched them across cardboard as a kid) and these are called the weft. A new fiber is threaded through, over and under, these stretched threads. The pulled thread is called the weft (or, sometimes woof.) Like a life, the thread dips down and rises up, now overwhelmed, now overcoming, over and over.

So Ruvella sings:

“So these are our lives,

And so these are our lives,

And lo, these lives are ours,

And though these threads be tangled and worn,

The Weaver’s stitch is sound,

As under the shadow and over the light

Our lives are wrapped and bound.”

Under the Shadow tests Lycian and Mylinka. They find themselves in light; they find themselves in darkness. How they cope with the plunge into shadow reveals much about their temperaments and who they really are.

Mylinka

Mylinka is one of the heroes of the epic fantasy series, The Astralasphere Spiral. When we meet her in the first book, Another World’s Song, she is a mischievous Gailfen girl on the cusp of womanhood. She lives on the legendary island of Malyndor and is the daughter of the world’s most celebrated and powerful mage, Taven, the Guardian of the Astralasphere.

Mylinka wants to learn how to wield magic, but magery is, traditionally, a male pursuit. Although Taven is not a traditional mage, the Guardianship weighs heavily on him, and he doesn’t fully support his daughter’s dreams. The bulk of his thoughts are occupied by the Astralasphere–a great, magical orb from which mages can draw power. He believes the mages’ use of the Astralasphere is damaging the world, so he is engaged in a power struggle with Lord Mage Asfret. This struggle ends with Mylinka being taken far from her home.

This is where the second book, Under the Shadow, finds here. As the foster daughter of Lord Murdoth, she takes the name Teg N’guul. In this book, she is older, and her life has made her fiercer. She is pragmatic, doing whatever she believes needs to be done to accomplish her goals. In this sense, she is something of an antihero, like Han Solo from Star Wars. She is, at her core, a good person, but a difficult life has given her a hard outer shell.

Fearless, stubborn, and complicated, she is one of my favorite characters to write.

Lord Mage Asfret

Lord Mage Asfret is one of the main characters of Under the Shadow. While Lycian and Mylinka are the book’s heroes, Asfret is one of its villains.

When we meet Asfret in the first book in the series, Another World’s Song, he is a dashing, leonine figure dressed in red velvet robes. He is angry and blustering, full of self-importance. As an adviser to Queen Livian of Khydgel, he has encouraged the criminalization of magic there–reserving its use for military purposes or in some other service of the crown.

Asfret looks a bit different when we first meet him in Under the Shadow. In the world of Cith Lor Mahl, as in our world, actions have consequences. I don’t have a picture of Asfret except in my mind. Although Benedict Cumberbatch doesn’t look exactly like I imagined Asfret, I think he would play him well. So, here’s a photo of a blond Cumberbatch–he just needs horns and an entitled smirk.

Lycian from “Under the Shadow”

Under the Shadow: Book Two of the Astralasphere Spiral, follows three main characters–the two protagonists (heroes) Lycian and Mylinka, and the antagonist (villain) Asfret. Today, we’ll meet Lycian.

UTS_cover

Lycian’s story begins in Another World’s Song: Book One of the Astralasphere Spiral, when he is the young foundling of a mage named Jahern. Although Lycian has an ability for magic, Jahern has decided that he is a wyrm–one born to magic who isn’t allowed to use it because of some curse. Wyrms are often deformed or have some outward manifestation warning of their cursed status. One of Lycian’s horns is crooked. (All Gailfen have horns, but most are symmetrical.) He also has purple eyes. Unfortunately for Lycian, they are considered a bad omen, for the demons locked in the Void also are reported to have purple eyes.

Lycian is far from being a demon, however. He tends to be honest and kind, sometimes to his determent. He loves animals and champions the downtrodden. Always, he tries to look for the good in others.

In Another World’s Song, Lycian became fully aware of his power and began learning how to use it. In Under the Shadow, he must learn how it should not be used. To me, this seemed like an important part of growing up. It’s one of the struggles not just mages, but all young adults, have to face as they come into their own. We all have power, we have only to face it.

Epic Fantasy for the Fans

This is another amazing review for Under the Shadow. There are a lot of details in this one! I loved that she included an excerpt from the book. That is a description of Jahern’s private, hidden laboratory that he deserted years ago when he went into self-exile. Jahern is Lycian’s primemaster.

Both Lycian and Mylinka suffer greatly in this story and learn much of their history, something I dare not divulge. Suffice to say there must be a Book Three.

There will be a final installment, which should release around the first of next year. Thank you, Blue Haven Press!

Source: Epic Fantasy for the Fans

Under the Shadow Book Two of the Astralasphere Spiral by Sionnach Wintergreen

This wonderful review of Under the Shadow on Jennie Reads brought tears to my eyes. With this series, I’m trying to write fantasy that is realistic and grounded in authentic emotion, so I loved that she says this book is more than just “popcorn.”

“Popcorn enjoyment is good while you’re eating but then an hour later you are just thirsty from the salt or craving sugar or something. This book, however, did not leave me with the popcorn feeling. I really got into it – could not put it down for almost 3 days. If it wasn’t for meetings and driving I could have finished in one day. The book did something that most Fantasy does not for me and that is – I cared! I cared about the characters, the place, the plot and subplots – all of it. It pulled me in and I enjoyed the stay!”

That’s just an excerpt. The whole review is lovely. Thank you, Jennie!

Source: Under the Shadow Book Two of the Astralasphere Spiral by Sionnach Wintergreen

Map of Cith Lor Mahl

Cith Lor Mahl is the world where the epic fantasy series, The Astralasphere Spiral, takes place. This is a map of Cith Lor Mahl, created by illustrator Oscar Paludi, that appears in Another World’s Song: Book One of the Astralasphere Spiral and in Under the Shadow: Book Two of the Astralasphere Spiral. (It will also appear in Jairra’s Veil, book three.)

Cith Lor Mahl means ‘the world without’–as in the world without dragons. In many ways, Cith Lor Mahl is a world bereft. It mourns the mysterious loss of its dragons even as the mortal races continue on in their lives of chatter and commerce.

Exon_map_of_AWS

Map of the Outskirts of Anjlith

This is a map of the outskirts of Anjlith, where Lycian lives in Under the Shadow: Book Two of the Astralasphere. To the right is the Garden of Lost Heroes, the massive, ancient graveyard where Lycian lives in an empty crypt with Quin and the wolves from Durnineh. (No, Lycian isn’t a vampire. He lives in a crypt because he was hiding from warmancers, and it seemed like a nice place.)

To the left, you can see Anjlith’s city wall. Anjlith is beautiful.

“Many claimed it was the most beautiful city ever built by Gailfendic hands. Long before the time of Gahlad, the great white stones that composed the castle had been mined from Mount Ilyandaire, where Jairra first touched the world, and the tall, elegant towers had been wrought with the skillful craftsmanship of long dead artisans and the magical words of an ancient mageking.”

But shadows fall even in beautiful places. Lycian, who has always held an idealistic view of Anjlith, discovers this truth in this second installment of The Astralsphere Spiral.

This is another beautiful map created by illustrator Oscar Paludi.

Anjlith_04