Tag Archives: Fall of Fair Isle

June 3, 2015 · 10:48 pm

Author Copies Squee Day

It can take a year to write a book then several years to get published.

With the Fall of Fair Isle the trilogy was written late 90s early 2000s, published, then it drifted into obscurity. People would turn up at events with well-worn copies asking me to sign them, or more often desperate to find a copy of the third book which had sold out.

Now the trilogy has been republished by Solaris and was released in March. It took ages for my copies to reach Australia and then I was flat out with family emergencies (it has been a horrible 18 months) so I only got around to unpacking the box today.

After all the time and effort we poor authors put in you can see why opening a box of your new books is one of the things we look forward to. Apparently, so does my cat.

Here I’ve opened the box and set it up for a nice picture. (not too much household mess in the background LOL)

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Then one of the kids interrupts me. There’s a minor emergency, an assignment is due today and we’ve run out of paper.

Disaster averted, I come back to find Sassy cat inspecting the box. You know boxes have a fatal attraction for cats.

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‘What?’ she says.

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‘Yup, this is the spot. Think I’ll have a nap right here.’

 

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Mind you this is the cat who sheds everywhere and being white, she leaves a noticeable trail of fur.

So there you have it. My big girl squee day and the cat steals the show.

 

PS. A big thank you to Clint Langley for the cover and to Solaris for releasing the book as an omnibus. Readers can get the whole trilogy in one big door-stopper!

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August 4, 2014 · 10:28 pm

Fall of Fair Isle cover squee

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Solaris have sent me the Fall of Fair Isle cover, artwork by Clint Langley. (Release date: March 2015) This is an omnibus reprint of my original trilogy, which was published 1999 – 2003.

FINAL_THE FALL OF FAIR ISLE

 

This trilogy is set 600 years after The Outcast Chronicles:

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And tells the story of Imoshen, named after Imoshen the First of Fair Isle. When her island is conquered she must find a common ground with the invading Ghebite general, Tulkhan, to save her people from oppression. To add to her troubles, her betrothed who she believed dead, has survived. Like Imoshen, Reothe is a throwback to the original T’En and he is determined to win back his island home and the woman he loves.

The story is both intimate and epic. Unlike many books The Fall of Fair Isle starts after the great battle and follows Imoshen’s struggles as she maneuvers to preserve the peace without compromising her ideals.

For a long time it was hard to get copies of book three of the trilogy, now thanks to Solaris it will be released with a brand new cover that captures the intrinsic conflict, one woman’s battle to preserve her people’s way of life.

 

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November 12, 2013 · 11:47 am

Fall of Fair Isle

I can now talk about what is happening with my original trilogy, Fall of Fair Isle. (Back when it first came out the trilogy didn’t have a name but readers may remember it as The Last T’En).

Solaris Books, will be releasing the trilogy as an omnibus print edition, due for publication mid 2015, and it will also appear in e-book editions. This trilogy was not released in the UK and the third book was very hard to get so it will be lovely to have a new edition with (I hope) a wonderful cover by the talented Clint Langley, who did such a good job on The Outcast Chronicles.

3covers72dpi copy

 

The Fall of Fair Isle tells a more intimate tale than The Outcast Chronicles. It begins where most fantasy books finish – after the great battle.

After the Ghebites invade Fair Isle, Imoshen (named for her ancestor, Imoshen the First) is the last surviving member of the royal family. She has to work with General Tulkhan, the Ghebite invader,  to save herself, her people and her way of life. Hers is a matriarchal society, his is a patriarchal society where the men can take three or four wives. The Ghebites fear the T’En, who they regard as closer to animals than True-men.

As for the T’En, when Imoshen the First led her people to this land, she told them to take partners from the locals, so that they would blend in and be accepted. The T’En inter-bred with the original inhabitants of Fair Isle, who were descended from the Ancients (a race of mystical beings) and their blood was diluted until there are very few pure T’En throwbacks. Six hundred years of this has changed the way the T’En gifts are expressed in full-bloods and half-bloods and much knowledge of old T’En lore has been lost. (They call the mystic plane, death’s shadow).

At the core of the trilogy is an exploration of gender politics, as Imoshen and Tulkhan try to find common ground. Despite their differences, they fall in love. To add to the complications, before the invasion Imoshen was betrothed to Reothe, the last of the T’En males. She broke her vows to him, to bond with General Tulkhan. Furious, Reothe leads the rebels in a bid to retake Fair Isle and claim Imoshen. She has to choose between Reothe, who wants to restore the T’En and create a new Golden Age and Tulkhan who is the best of True-men.

 

 

 

 

 

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