The things you can expect when you teleport to the world of “Royal wars”
I want a reader to close the book after finishing the reading and say: What a journey!
Royal wars is the first complex series, first complex story, that I have created. It was almost fifteen years ago when I was a kid in primary school. Inspired by The lord of the rings, me and my friends wanted to play a game, a child game, which soon turned to very mature board game, where we were able to play roles of characters like Aragorn, Gandalf and others. First Royal wars was just plain copy of The lord of the rings movie, but as time was passing, my passion towards the series, towards epic fantasy genre and storytelling in general changed much and I was able to create unique worlds.
Now, almost fifteen years after, Royal wars is a book soon to be translated and published in English. I wanted to tell you more about its universe. The world where we place our stories is one of the most, if not the most, important thing regarding epic fantasy. I started playing many games, watching movies and reading books from the genre, but if the world felt distant or difficult to understand, I would give up on that title. That’s why I want, even before the book goes out, to familiarize you with this universe.
First of all, it’s important to note that it’s set in a time similar to European medieval period. Something like The lord of the rings and Warcraft franchises which inspired me the most in those early days. I’m sure you’ll agree that most epic fantasies are placed in similar setting. I don’t know if some people got bored of it, but I know there is still a lot of space to place unique stories in it.
A thing that was usually a turn off for me in many fantasy settings was the magic. In many titles there’s a strong focus on magic and its importance which often creates confusion and lack of understanding of main things regarding the story. I don’t like it and I decided to free my novel of such things. Not that I didn’t implement magic at all, but I put a less focus on it. That’s why I liked Game of thrones setting. Less magical elements or elements that require some explanation to be understood and properly related to the story. In Royal wars, sorcerers are powerful and their rarity only boosts their importance.
When it comes to fantasy creatures, there are some of them, but not in a large number. Same goes for different races. Humans are primary and most numerous race, but there are some others and one of them will be introduced in Invasion.
As the title suggests, the series are focused on conflicts between different kings and nobles. There are a few kingdoms in Bestania (which is the name of the whole world) with a different relationships among themselves. But usually the war is not the main part of the plot. Main characters are people caught in a conflict between kings or nobles. Invasion, in particular, is focused on a large scale war between the domestic kingdoms of Great continent and foreign unknown invaders.
Kingdoms of Great continent are divided on two sides: East and West. They were once in a war which ended by agreeing to peace which marked the spot from which the new calendar had begun. There were no serious conflicts since then, but there were always some spy games and plots below the surface. When invaders attacked the continent, some kings sought the opportunity to damage their allies, the other kings, while neglecting the threat from the invaders. The situation will get even more dramatic as the kings from one front turn against each other.
The main reason why invaders surprised the whole continent with their arrival is hidden on the map. It’s literally hidden on the map. The known map, used in almost every part of the world, showed the Eastern sea on the eastern side of Great continent as the edge of the world. There were nothing across the sea. And everybody believed it. Then the barbarians came. New questions emerged along with a suspicion that there are some lands across the sea. Lands to conquer. But first, kings had to defend themselves from the furious barbarian army.
This all might sound as a complex political novel, but despite having some of those elements, it’s still an adventuring story which follows the individuals and groups of them, traveling the world and doing small tasks which usually turn out as crucial in the large picture. From the very start I wanted to write a novel which will send the readers on a journey. A travel in their mind to all the locations I made up in my own imagination. I want a reader to close the book after finishing the reading and say: What a journey! I want you to feel that because I was feeling it while I was playing the narrative game with my friends and again while I was writing a book. Not just while I was writing, but also editing and translating.
In some future articles I will introduce you to some specific things, like characters, some events or locations. I don’t want to overwhelm you with details, but I want to briefly show you what can you expect if you decide to dive into this adventure. I’m still translating the book and I hope everything will be finished before the fall this year. As you probably know, after I translate the book, editing and proofreading will be required and all that will take some time. But when I look back to how many years I spend developing the whole project from the very beginning in a form of a simple narrative game till now when it’s a novel, I see a great journey and I want you to feel it too. Thank you for reading this article. If you are interested in my translation process or the novel, stay tuned. Follow me here on Medium and on Twitter. You can also ask or suggest some topics you want me to write about regarding the novel or the process of writing and translating.
A question for the end. What are your favorite books from epic fantasy or fantasy in general?
