Spirit and Water and its massive doses of epic fantasy
Spirit and Water may not hit the 70,000-word mark. But it’s got no shortage of epic fantasy, especially if you’re a sucker for darker tales.
There’s plenty of low fantasy in Spirit and Water’s sister works, but Book II in the Cymraeg Tales eats, sleeps, and breathes epic fantasy, even if the word count for it and its predecessor, Spirit and Fire, is on the lower end.
One reason for the lower word count stemmed from my wish to give readers a chance to dive into their favorite genre who didn’t have a time commitment. With so many fast-paced lifestyles and endeavors a lot of people in my social network alone have, it’s tough to commit to a series like Wheel of Time or Game of Thrones.
So, why not create a work that screams epic fantasy with a darker twist but a shorter word count? Plus, the tropes that many of us know the genre for are alive and well. Let’s go through them, along with some character concepts.
Epic fantasy tropes are all over the place and they pack a punch
Conforming to reader expectations, Spirit and Water and the entire Cymraeg Tales series contain chosen ones, prophecies, kingdoms, and, to fit into dark fantasy, tyranny, suffering, and perpetual warfare.
In Spirit and Fire, Prince Caer Cymraeg knows that a hallowed group of Elemental Masters called the Chosen Nine are prophesied to stand up to and defeat the brewing Tamurian Empire. Caer, whose parents have allied with Tamuria, risks his own social status to locate the Nine.
While he’s not the point-of-view character in these books other than the prequel novella, his actions set the series in motion. Once he runs into someone he believes belongs to the Chosen Nine, he grows obsessed with locating all of them so they can finally throw a dagger into Tamuria’s war machine.
Sure, this means cutting ties with Tamuria, and it’s a dangerous maneuver, considering the way they overrun smaller nations. And it’s not like Caer’s kingdom, which boasts his family’s namesake, Cymraeg, is much of a match for Tamuria. But with the Nine, things would get more interesting.
Characters tie into the tropes well in appearance and role
If I had to choose my favorite character here, it’d be Aisling (pronounced Ashlynn), a thirteen-year-old girl who first appears in Spirit and Water. Aisling is a wonder girl whose beauty takes Caer and Company by surprise, given her ivory skin, sapphire eyes, and blue and white hair. She carries that old-world fantasy charm, but so does Dianna, who you’ll meet in Spirit and Fire.
Dianna is one of many characters conceived in a virgin birth, something she reveals early in Book I. This came as a shock since Dianna’s mother, Catriona, doesn’t look a day older than twenty.
Speaking of Catriona, she’s our soothsayer whose visions link Spirit and Water and the rest of Cymraeg Tales to the Renegades Epic. You’ll meet Catriona look-alikes in my other series, particularly her descendant, Freyja, who first appears in Wind Master.
Overall, I’m throwing everything at you if you’re a sucker for epic fantasy tropes of all kinds. Of course, there’s even more, like complex political systems, magical systems, and lore via a book called the Sacred Texts that transcend time and space.
If this all sounds like a good time to you, check out Book I, Spirit and Fire, and enter the dark, dreary World of Eidolon. Things may look bleak here but don’t worry. My characters will offer you, the reader, a glimmer of hope.
