Tag Archives: fantasy

The Dragon of Time

Book One

Gods and Dragons

By Aaron Dennis

Gods, Dragons, a mercenary with a blade and no memory of his past…. The world of Tiamhaal is alight in war. Men ruled by kings slay their opposition in the name of their God, but there are others who claim the Gods are little more than scorned Dragons of ages past. Scar has come to find the truth, but is the truth an absolute certainty, or is it just the skewed memory of a forgotten kingdom?

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Gods, Dragons, a mercenary with a blade and no memory of his past…. The world of Tiamhaal is alight in war. Men ruled by kings slay their opposition in the name of their God, but there are others who claim the Gods are little more than scorned Dragons of ages past. Scar has come to find the truth, but is the truth an absolute certainty, or is it just the skewed memory of a forgotten kingdom?

Prologue-

Most people worship the Gods, if haphazardly, but there are some who claim that the Gods are liars, that they are not Gods at all. It is strange to conceive of an ephemeral voice, which grants magical powers, as anything but a God, and there is no proof otherwise. A great many men have gone to war over such a premise, yet the worst of war combines the arrogance of kings with the ignorance of pawns.

The nonbelievers are easily cast aside by dutiful worshipers of their respective deity, but all too often a man who worships Gyo, God of the Sun, finds himself staring down the blade of a woman who worships Drac, God of Fire. These contests have flared into a war that engulfs the entire world of Tiamhaal. There are many who wish for peace, yet there are many more who desire only destruction. Zoltek, Negus of Usaj, a country on the southern edge of Tiamhaal under the worship of Zmaj, the All God, threatens all those around him with his magic, his men, and his cunning.

Most recently, Zoltek has hired a pale mercenary to assist in waging war against King Gilgamesh of Satrone, a worshiper of Kulshedra, God of Truth. This mercenary calling himself Scar has no memory of his origins and seeks only to understand the world around him. In exchange for his unique talents with a sword and his sharp mind, Zoltek has promised Scar he will discern the truth from behind that hazy memory. Zoltek claims to speak to Zmaj on behalf of Scar, but only if the country of Satrone is felled in a bath of blood.

Chapter One-

Zoltek, tribal leader of the worshipers of Zmaj, the All God, ordered a small portion of his army to amass on the outskirts of the Kulshedran territory called Satrone. Small trees grew sparsely around a clearing. A tributary from the river Inliil sloshed over small stones. Urdu, son of Zoltek, stood before the tributary. The setting sun cast shadows over his form.

As with all the tribesmen in the worship of Zmaj, his was a swirling skin. The dark brown hue was enveloped in patterns of purple and blue melting into one another over his body. With his helmet off, the skin of his head and face held eloquent patterns, too, like colored water pouring over his visage. Urdu’s widely spaced eyes were fierce.

“I should lead this charge,” he grumbled.

Warriors clad in black leather, and gripping their menacing, steel weapons, chatted among themselves. One older Zmajan acknowledged the brash, young man’s words.

“Don’t be foolish, Urdu. Your father put Scar at the forefront of the vanguard for a reason,” the older man said in a raspy tone.

Portions of his color adorned skin showed over the unarmored areas of his body. His helmet, also black leather and with rams’ horns mounted on the sides, hid the patterns on his aged face. Urdu stormed over to the man with a scowl.

“You dare talk down to me?” he howled.

“Show the general some respect,” another man chastised.

Urdu glared at his fellow tribesmen then returned his attention to General Dumar.

“I’m the better fighter, not Scar.” Urdu judged the strange man sitting cross-legged on the ground.

The massive one called Scar did not so much as stir. Eyes turned to the only light-skinned man there; he was pale as a ghost. Sunlight glinted off Scar’s muscle creased stature. A great many healed over wounds were his namesake.

“This one does not even know who he is,” Urdu yelled to his kinsmen. “Look at him. What tribe is he? No hair on his body whatsoever. No marks. Those gray, lifeless eyes give nothing.” Turning to the scarred warrior, he barked. “Who are you?”

The hairless man still did not stir. He wore little armor; brown, leather leggings adorned his thighs. Worn boots covered his feet, and a chunk of steel protected his left shoulder across to his sternum. He was a frightening sight to behold. An odd blade stood—tip buried in the soil—before him.

“Answer me!” Urdu was practically frothing at the mouth.

“Hey, stop it,” Dumar growled. “The sun will set soon, and we march against the tribe of Kulshedra. There is no time for squabbling.”

“Not to mention your outburst will give our position away,” another tribesman advised. “If we want to break their perimeter, we require stealth.”

“I care not about such trivialities. We are strong, and we are many. We will wet our blades with Kulshedran blood. Zmaj has blessed us,” Urdu argued. Then, he approached Scar. “Tell me, mercenary, you don’t really believe you’re fit to lead this charge; a timid, Godless ghost.”

Barnaby, a Fantasy Musical

Remember when Lisa Simpson played the protest song?

It was the 17th episode of the 4th season and called something like Last Exit to Springfield.

So, then, this guy, Julian W. made an original song based on the protest song.

Hear it here

For some reason, the embed link is disabled, but you can just click the link to hear it.

What does any of this have to do with my latest work, Barnaby, a fantasy musical tragedy?

Well, I had that song, or the music, stuck in my head, and wrote a fantasy musical tragedy. The italicized portion of the following text are to be sung to the protest song, like a chorus or whatever….

Barnaby, a fantasy musical tragedy by Aaron Dennis

Music…by…. The Simpsons, I guess.

Written February 11th of 2017

Since it’s cool to make your own song based on the protest song, I hope someone makes an actual musical out of my story. Go for it. I don’t care, just credit me, Aaron Dennis, and www.storiesbydennis.com

Barnaby, a fantasy musical tragedy

 

Let me tell you a story, a story of friends. They were both warriors. They were both men.

Brave men can fight. Brave men can love. Some’ll remember. Some have regret.

Twenty years they were brothers. Twenty more they did fret. What caused dissention? What made them hate?

Jore has a wife. Barnus did have one, too. Jore’s son is Jorey, but he don’t have a clue.

 

The farming town of Hemm was an old community. Everyone knew everyone, and everyone knew Jore and Barnus. They had grown up together and even joined the guard in their youth, but around their twentieth year, after Barnus wedded the beautiful Leyla, the friends had a falling out.

 

Time and again, when they met in town, away from the vast fields of wheat, from the sheep farms, they crossed words. Sometimes, they crossed fists, but of late it was young Barnaby, Barnus’s son, who cast wicked glares at Jore.

 

Barnus praised his son’s courage and loyalty and taught him the sword. Still, word in Hemm was that Jore had always been the better fighter, and that was the reason for the friends’ falling out, yet others suspected something far more sinister. Finally, when insults and fisticuffs proved nothing, the two men agreed to duel in the town square at sunset.

 

When winds blew too sweetly, emotions raged on. Two friends had shouted, but none had drawn blood.

Glare of sunlight did bring all men from afar. The time for just words had gone and had come.

With teeth bared and howling, Jore pulled free his blade. Singing and laughing, Barnus stood firm.

 

All had gathered in a sweaty circle under a hot wind to watch the men fight in Hemm’s square. Jore was the first to lunge and strike with rapier, but Barnus easily parried. Back and forth, they went, time and again. One swung. The other dodged or parried. Then, came first blood.

 

Barnus grunted; the pain in his shoulder searing hot. Blood soaked into his tunic, and before long, as Jore pressed the attack, and men cheered and women cried, Barnus was sent to the ground.

 

Young Barnaby—a man as old as his father was when he and Jore had had their split—grew wide-eyed. He and his father met eyes for only a second; Barnus scurried away, got to his feet, parried a blow from behind, spun, and slashed at Jore, who easily disarmed him.

 

When Jore lunged for the death blow, Barnaby ran into the fray and knocked his father to the ground, free from the deadly strike. Quickly, he kicked his father’s sword into his grip and challenged Jore.

 

“Leave it alone, boy,” Jore admonished.

 

“Why? Are you frightened of me?” young Barnaby grinned and slashed.

 

Jore easily parried and stepped back, but Barnaby came again and again.

 

“That’s right, son. Barnaby, show Jore who the best swordsman is!” Barnus praised.

 

Some of those in the crowd cheered for Barnaby. Others scorned Barnus for letting his son fight in his stead. Figuring there was no honor in such a display, Jore demanded Barnus return to the fight, but before anything was settled, Barnaby drew blood.

 

“Let the boy have his fun,” Barnus shouted.

 

“Stop it,” Jore begged. “I don’t want to hurt you. It’s your father whose head I want. Look at him! You call him a man? He cannot fight even his own battle!”

 

Townsfolk did laugh, and townsfolk did jeer. When Jore called for peace, they only did sneer.

Barnaby was as great as his old man was feared. Now, it seemed only Barnus was scorned.

He looked at his son, a man of resolve. Shaking his head, he called it all off.

 

“Alright, Son, you’ve had your fun. Bring back my blade, and I will end it,” Barnus demanded.

 

“No, it is also my honor at stake,” the boy replied through clenched teeth.

 

A smile crept across Jore’s face. Horror washed over Barnus’s. As young Barnaby lunged, Jore dropped his sword, and steel went through his heart.

 

A young man was a killer. An old man was wronged. All those who knew; they said it was love.

Jore had then looked up, he saw Barnaby. The young man, he smiled and reveled in blood.

Barnus knelt down by his old wounded friend, and he asked him oh why? Because I have sinned.

Their life was a lie. They both knew it true. Friendship still mattered. Life was yet cruel.

 

Barnus drew his sword from his friend’s chest. Immediately, he begged the townsfolk to help him carry Jore to the doctor’s home. Barnaby remained confused and pressed his father for an explanation.

 

“I have done that which you could not,” the young man claimed.

 

“Foolish boy, this was my fight, not yours. You’ve no idea what you’ve done.”

 

The young man tried to argue, but his father remained silent on the matter. Once everyone was gathered around the dying Jore, who lied motionless in bed and barely breathing, a woman stumbled in with her young son. The boy was small and frail, but he walked over to Jore and held his hand. The woman gripped her son’s shoulders and cried.

 

“It wasn’t meant to be like this,” Barnus told her.

 

He was shedding tears as well.

 

“Father, you cry for this man, and you scorn me, yet I have upheld our honor,” Barnaby shouted.

 

Years had prevailed, years of deceit. Leyla had two loves, but bore child from one.

One wept regret, and one then swore blood. Leyla professed her child know not Jore.

Yet a man holds his love, his love in his heart. Shame is kept hidden deep down and dark.

A man and his son should parted be not. Jore preached his love. Leyla declined.

‘Twas Barnus who raised another man’s son. Anger and lies. Love, scorn, and hate.

 

During the commotion, as haggard faces revealed disparagement for Barnus, he pulled his son aside. Barnaby was so angry and disillusioned with the entire ordeal, and Barnus so morose, that he felt the imperative need to explain that twenty years prior, his mother had lain with another man. It had been kept a secret from most, but there were some who knew; Jore was Barnaby’s father, and he, himself, had never been able to sire a child.

 

Tears streamed from the young man’s eyes. Everything became so clear. He never truly understood the animosity between Jore and his father; he knew only of their hostility, and since day in and day out Barnus had upheld those feelings, Barnaby thought fighting Jore, the man who turned out to be his real father, a matter of course. Anger, sorrow, hate, love, regret, all the emotions a man harbors washed over his soul.

 

“You knew,” Barnaby suddenly said. “You knew, and you let me fight him? You taught me to hate him, and you have made me a fool, father.”

 

“I have, and I, too, am a fool, but when your mother did pass, I had to keep you blind, for my love of you is pure,” Barnus admitted.

 

Heartbroken, Barnaby turned to back to the room filled with grieving people. The young boy who had held Jore’s hand was staring; his younger brother, a boy who knew nothing of deceit.

 

“You kilt’ my paw’. When I’m big an’ grown, I’m gone kill you, Barnaby.”

 

“Hush up, Jorey,” his mother cried. “You don’t know what you’re sayin’.”

 

Betrayal and heartbreak, secrets and lies; fleeing his home, Barnaby did not cry.

Brave Jore had passed on, yet his spirit remained. Brave Jorey, he searched for a virtuous campaign.

Hemm was plagued by fear, sorrow, lies. Twenty years passed. No truth had prevailed.

People are frightened of veracity. It’s easy to scorn, weep, and deceive.

No one told Jorey: relinquish your hate. The feelings he harbored were an escape.

One day in a field in a town with no name. An old man was killed by love and by hate.

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Calling all voice actors, voice over artists, and book vloggers!

How would you like to keep doing exactly what you’re doing, not a change a damn thing, and earn more money? Did I get your attention?

earn money with affiliate marketing

earn money with affiliate marketing

You’re brilliant, patient, and have a sonorous voice. You use it to convey emotions. It’s your art that elicits our passion, dreams, and aspirations, and rightfully so, you use your talent to earn a living. This is why I want to call your attention and preface the following information by saying that books are turned into movies, television shows, motion comic books, and video games, all of which need voice actors.

Many of you have YouTube accounts, and you showcase your wonderful talent. Every time you read something, a script, a novel, a short story, a review, anything, you post the video to YouTube, and your channel draws numerous visitors and subscribers.

By utilizing Google AdSense and other third party advertisers, you generate income, and that’s great. Sometimes, you sell your services to companies like Audible, and you perform readings of books, but what if there was an additional way to augment your income, which required absolutely no more work, no more effort, than what you’re already putting into your occupation?

What if on top of augmenting your income, you were also able to create more and more videos to showcase your stunning talent? You also want to get more likes and subscribers to your YouTube channel, right?

Peep this reading of The Dragon of Time, Gods and Dragons.

This book and performance was the winner of a book reading, but what if you had a chance to read this book, any book, out loud and upload it to your YouTube account. Your performance certainly sells that book to interested readers, right? You certainly deserve compensation for your efforts, don’t you? With more videos, you’ll surely get more likes and subscribers to your YouTube channel, and that means more exposure, more income.

What if you were paid every time that a book sold a copy? What if every time that a book sold, you earned a dollar? A dollar isn’t much, but if you add that dollar to the income you already earn from ads, it’s a great bonus, especially if you sold multiple books regularly. Ten books a day is suddenly ten dollars a day, that’s an additional $300 a month…not to mention that the additional likes and subscribers means more revenue from Google AdSense.

Here’s what I’m doing, and here’s where I want you to participate and earn more money by reading books, performing, selling books, and getting more likes and subscribers to your YouTube channel.

Smashwords books have affiliate referral links on their buy pages. Down at the bottom of the Smashwords page for They Lurk Among Us, Lokians 2, the second book of the Lokians scifi series, you can plainly see a URL, and you can also see that you can earn 25% of the sale. Not all Smashwords authors provide such a high referral income, but I do, and sometimes, I offer more than 25%, but never less, so if you perform a reading of They Lurk Among Us, Lokians 2, and people see your performance, and they buy They Lurk Among Us, Lokians 2 through your referral link, you earn a dollar from the sale, and you earn more money than just utilizing Google AdSense.

smashwords affiliate marketing aaron dennis

smashwords affiliate marketing aaron dennis

Now, imagine performing a reading of hundreds of books, books you don’t even have to purchase because you can download free samples of the books, and choose your preferred section to perform. For absolutely no cost, you can download a free sample of any of my books, perform a reading, and place your referral URL in that YouTube video, and then when people buy that book because of your performance, you earn more money.

Easy income, right? Free income from downloading free samples of great books!

There’s no hassle, no cost, and you’re just doing what you already love doing, speaking!

You do need to make a Smashwords account, but the account is free, and then your special referral URL automatically appears at the bottom of every book’s buy page, and all you do is place that URL in the video description or in the video itself.

In order to receive your compensation, you just link your Paypal account to your Smashwords account; it’s all free, it’s all easy, it requires no additional work or money, and there are thousands of free stories you can also download and read—all genres; scifi, fantasy, romance, horror.

How much fun would it be to just read stories for a living?

Here’s a link to my page on Smashwords, so that you can see all of my stories, and they are of numerous genres.

Many of them are free, but if you perform a reading of those titles, and upload your performance to your YouTube channel, you can earn easy money through the ad revenue. Then, to augment your earnings, you can download the free portions of my priced books, and perform those readings, too. Just add the referral URL to your video, and when people buy the book through your link, you get paid.

Sounds easy? Sounds too good to be true? Sounds like affiliate marketing? It is easy easy. It is not too good to be true. It is affiliate marketing—affiliate marketing simplified.

No third party software, no pay per click, no extra work or effort, absolutely no cost to you, but you get all the benefits; you get a free story or sample, you get to stretch your vocal muscles, you get to showcase your talents, you get to add videos for more ad revenue, and likes, and subscribers, and you get to enjoy fantasy, scifi, horror, romance, whatever, and you get free money whenever anyone purchases a book through your link.

You can do this for any book you want, but remember that most Smashwords authors won’t be giving you 25% or more of their sales, but even the customary 11% is nice.

Think about it. If you’re already a YouTube hit, everyone will come to view your readings. If you’re not a YouTube hit…yet, you can certainly become one by adding numerous performances—just imagine having hundreds of videos on your YouTube account all from various genres; scifi, fantasy, horror, romance, whatever you want, and so you can showcase your range, and all the while, you earn tons of cash and exposure.

You already love voice acting. You are an actor, a voice actor, and if you so choose, you can showcase your acting talents by staging actual performances with a group of friends—group readings, whatever you want. There are no limits to what you can accomplish with this wonderful opportunity, and we all benefit.

Maybe, you’re not a voice actor. Maybe, you’re just a reader, a lover of the written word, and you enjoy reviewing your favorite books on your book review vlog. You can still earn an income through both Google AdSense and Smashwords referral URLs—affiliate marketing simplified. Like I said, we all benefit.

I benefit because you’re giving me exposure. You benefit because you earn a cut of my profits, you earn more through more ads, and voice actors can certainly land more jobs from the added exposure. To top it off, fans of reading benefit from learning of new material.

If you’d like more information, you can check out this post as well.

You can also see that more and more people are searching for simplified affiliate marketing—more people are finding ways to earn money by doing what they love, free from the shackles of laborious jobs.

You definitely want to jump on this before the competition gets heavy, and I promise you, in about six months, a year, everyone will be reading books on YouTube, selling books on YouTube, reviewing books on YouTube.

Look at all the book review vlogs! It won’t be long before all the book review vloggers learn they can earn an actual living by doing what they’re already doing—selling books to consumers by reviewing them in vlog format. I also know people are taking advantage of streaming, so stream some readings, and provide the referral URL on your website, blog, or social media accounts!

Yup, this isn’t just a call to professional, voice actors; this is a call to anyone with a voice, anyone who enjoys reading, anyone who enjoys reviewing, speaking, acting.

Start earning more money today by reading books, streaming, making videos, and making vlogs. It’s your performance, your art, your interest, your passion that sells books, so earn more by doing what you already love, and at no cost, no additional effort.

Book review vloggers, when you review A Song of Ice and Fire, does Bantam pay you? Does George Martin? No, but people, your fans, certainly by those books because of your praise. Does J.K. Rowling pay you whenever you read or praise Harry Potter on your review site or review vlog? No, but I will; every time you review a book, and it sells, it sells because of your hard work, and you deserve a cut of the profit.

Start earning more money today. Streaming, blogs, vlogs—the internet is designed for you to take advantage of what you love doing; you can earn more doing what you love and without having to beg people to donate to your crowdfund campaign, or YouTube channel, or website, or whatever.

Now is the time to break away from the mainstream crap. This is the indie age, an age where anyone can earn money by providing the world a service, and your service is one of the best. Show the world what you can do, what you enjoy, get exposure, and start earning more money.

 

What did Tolkien add to the fantasy genre that weren’t already elements of mythology?

Since Quora likes to collapse my answers in an effort to keep me quiet, I’m copying and pasting some of the Quora Q and A’s in which I’ve participated. Here’s a question from Quora.

Question: What did Tolkien add to the fantasy genre that weren’t already elements of mythology?

Addendum: It seems that preexisting mythologies such as Norse mythology had a lot of the same elements as modern fantasy and inspired Tolkien.  What were Tolkien’s contributions that made him the father of modern fantasy?

Answer: I agree with the whole premise.

Tolkien just mished-mashed it all together, and the readers made it a success.

Frankly, I think Tolkien is a crappy writer and Martin, too, for that matter.

They added no elements that weren’t a part of the Arthurian Tales or tales of Vikings. I think both writers suck, but until now, no one has offered anything of value. That’s the problem. Readers need a new writer to rally behind.

Now, after my seething answer, allow me to elucidate.

There are no original ideas. There are only original presentations. I’ve said it before, and I won’t tire of saying it.

No writer out there today, be it Tolkien, Martin, King, or anyone else has new ideas, original concepts never before presented in stories of any genre. Yes, there can be new elements.

If, for instance, someone writes a new novel today, a sci fantasy along the lines of Final Fantasy, but in novel form, and they include something like social media, yes, that’s a new element you won’t find in Germanic Folklore, or even most current novels, but it’s a new presentation of an existing idea–communications.

See what I mean? A writer needs to find something new, but it’s a new presentation, not a new idea.

What makes a writer great, or a story great, is the presentation of the correlated ideas, not the ideas themselves.

Yes, there are readers of fantasy who consider Tolkien and Martin great writers, but compared to whom?

What other writers are there of that genre for average readers? Le Guin? She’s actually underrated, and many die hard fantasy fans prefer Le Guin to Martin or Tolkien when it comes to fantasy books. Then, there’s Jordan, who is also widely underrated.

Also, don’t forget that before the Harry Potter movies, The Lord of the Rings movies, and The Game of Thrones T.V. series, none of those writers were as popular as they are now.

There was time when only nerds and dorks read The Lord of the Rings, but after the movies came out, everyone went back and read the books.

There was a time when only children read Harry Potter, but after the movies came out, everyone went back and read the books.

There was a time when only nerds and dorks read A Song of Ice and Fire, but after Game of Thrones came out, everyone went back and read the books.

Unfortunately, the Earthsea miniseries ran Le Guin into the ground, and now she’s begging people for a kickstarter campaign to help her fund her documentary.

Are you kidding me? Is she not a successful writer?!

There are two things to take away from this post.

  1. There really are no new ideas.
  2. People will only be able to enjoy that which they find.

It has become increasingly difficult to find material worth reading, especially in the fantasy genre. Truthfully, there are numerous unknown writers like Barnitz who are far and away better than Tolkien and Martin, but if no one is making movies or shows out of their short stories, novels, and series then few people will find those great books without a great deal of leg work.

Sure, everyone thinks Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and A Song of Ice and Fire are the best of the best, but are they? Or are they just the most popular?

When writing a novel, should I create a fantasy world or just use the real world?

self aggrandizing aaron

Since Quora likes to collapse my answers in an effort to keep me quiet, I’m copying and pasting some of the Quora Q and A’s in which I’ve participated. Here’s a question from Quora.

Question: I am writing a novel with elements of fantasy including cloaked figures of murdered victims. Should I create a fantasy world or just use real world?

My answer: There is no simple answer, but there are some simple questions.

What do you want?

What do you enjoy?

How much thought have you given your new writing project?

How original or authentic do you want to be?

I’m also a fantasy writer, and I like to include a handful of brand new concepts, but also include some of the tried and true ones. It works for me, and I enjoy my work.

When writing a novel, short story, anything at all, the first and most important question is: for whom are you writing?

The answer must be: for yourself.

Yes, you must also have a target audience in mind, but that comes about much, much later. First, a writer must consider what they want to do, what they enjoy, and then it’s time to put the thoughts down. In the end, those thoughts might not create a novel, but a story of a different length. In the end, that story may not truly be a fantasy or any other genre, but a blend, which can always be referred to as speculative fiction.

Often times, things don’t go according to plan anyway, and the great thing is; your story is not a finished product out to the public until you’ve decided it’s done. It is a first draft until you publish; it is not etched in stone.

So, let’s assume, you start off with a cloak and dagger murder story within the confines of the current world when suddenly, you feel like including fantasy elements. No big deal; include those elements, and just keep going.

Later, in the editing process, you can either add all of those same elements throughout, or you can cut them if they didn’t pan out.

Whatever you do, write for you, edit for your audience, and just try to have fun. You can change all kinds of things during the editing process, and then, if you feel you need an extra pair of eyes, or maybe you feel that your book just isn’t everything it can be, hire an editor.

Hire me as your editor. I’ll help you transform all of those sequential thoughts, ideas, and scenes into a story your audience will enjoy.

My editing services can be found here.

What is a prologue and why do I need one?

self aggrandizing aaron

A prologue is an introductory segment of a body of work. Writers can implement a prologue if there’s some back story, which requires explaining before a reader jumps into the main story. Sometimes, in a series, the prologue gives a quick recap of the previous book, which helps readers dive into the second book without having read the first, or it just refreshes the memory for those who have read the first book.

Perhaps, one of the most popular and familiar prologues of all time is the one from Star Wars, a New Hope. Strange that a movie had a prologue; movie goers generally want to watch a scene unfold rather than read it, but it seemed as though the story needed some explaining before the viewer dove in, but was it necessary? Did it even accomplish its job?

No, it didn’t. In fact, the New Hope prologue is one of the worst prologues of all time. Not only does it provide zero information, and not only was that lack of information irrelevant, but the information that was provided had little to do with the plot, characters, and setting; the prologue didn’t even set the mood for the story.

Let me ask some questions.

Who is the empire?

What have they done that’s so bad it has inspired rebellion?

What are the empire’s goals?

Who are the rebels?

Against what are they rebelling?

What are their goals?

Has anyone tried peace talks?

Who are the aliens?

From where did the Jedi originate?

Now, before you go answering any of these questions, remember that when the movie first came out, none of the other movies existed, and so, certainly, some questions have been answered later on, throughout the series, but many of these questions could have been easily addressed in the prologue, since they decided to include one to begin with.

In other words, while a prologue is far from necessary, if a writer chooses to use one, they must implement one properly.

I recall my first prologue, and it was nothing more than an info dump. I spent five pages—and I mean five, computer pages, 8.5 by 11, not some 6 by 9 book pages—five pages of boring, monotonous, facts all leading up to the story. It hadn’t occurred to me to explain the facts in the story. I thought I needed to lay out all the complicated factors, which resulted in the story’s plot, but that’s not storytelling, that’s just reportage, and a writer, or an editor, has to know when to use each.

Once I learned how to write, and how to spin a yarn, I rewrote the story in question. I do not have the original prologue, but I have the updated version, and while it is still a dry account of facts, which lead into the story, the whole of the spiel was cut down from nearly 3,000 words—a short story in itself—to 458 words.

Check it out-

Man yearns to explore, learn, perceive, and break beyond the bonds of limitation. Great, philosophic minds pondered such implications, giving rise to questions with no answer. Who are we? Why are we here? What is the meaning of life? Are we alone in the universe? Can we reach for the stars?

That first segment sets the mood, an inquisitive mood, which showcases the philosophic dreams of mankind. The last two questions also help to reinforce the fact that the following story is of the sci fi genre, which is, of course, obvious by the title, cover, and blurb.

A decade into the Twenty First Century, a space exploration program known as NASA retired their shuttle, stating their space station, the ISS, was sufficient to advance man’s knowledge of space; no more flights to the moon were needed, probes were built to reach other planets, yet a question was raised; was NASA truly marooning their scientists in Earth’s orbit? Was there, really, no shuttle in reserve for emergency protocol?

The second segment provided just a bit of back story, but it also opened a conspiratorial line of questions, which also helps to set the mood, as the story is quite conspiratorial in nature, but that becomes more apparent in the novel itself.

What no one knew was that a new vessel had already been designed and produced. A drone shuttle carried equipment to the ISS, building materials, and there, the engineers constructed new probes. Launching them from beyond Earth’s gravitational pull allowed the tiny machines to explore without immense fuel requirements. New studies had commenced.

The third segment answers some questions, but it also redirects the readers’ line of thought. They are taken from the context of the known and plunged into the possibilities, which must be considered for the story to make sense. Furthermore, the possibilities are reasonable; building probes on the space station and sending them out from there does cut the fuel requirement, since they don’t have to fight gravity. A little science has been mixed into the fiction.

Survey satellites were then built and released to specified coordinates. Their role was to relay any information gathered by probes back to Earth. It took little time to obtain great findings. Less than a year into the program, the probes detected abundant deposits of precious minerals in asteroids both inside and outside the solar system. The next step required mining probes to retrieve the deposits. A new age began when humans no longer needlessly harvested their own planet’s resources.

Again, this segment answers potential questions, but it also creates some hope. Regardless of your political beliefs, is it not true that there is an abundance of resources available off world? How cool would it be to live in a world where precious metals are mined from asteroids and flown back to earth? Are you not already curious about this particular story?

A few decades down the road, survey probes revealed more than just resources; asteroids, moons, and planets were deemed acceptable for colonization with little cost or effort, however, there was always the obstacle of time. A journey from Earth to the closest sites meant decades of travel. Great minds set their combined efforts on the task, and a solution was proposed; send colonies to midway stations on small asteroids.

Here, the first idea tackled is that of colonizing with little cost or effort. In our world, today, as of 2016, such a thing is obviously quite costly, but the prologue states that it isn’t, and since the writer states that such is the case of this particular, sci fi adventure, the reader must accept the statement at face value. Furthermore, there is a reasonable solution presented to a problem most of us are aware exists; we cannot travel to even the nearest solar system, which is about four light years away. It takes almost a year to reach Mars! Another assumption is turned to fact by this segment, though. Since a couple of decades have passed, one cane assume the year is somewhere around 2040, and by then, we’ll certainly be able to reach the nearest planets in no time, so sending colonists to midway stations is the reasonable solution. This entire segment picks up from the last one; it obliterates the reader’s current knowledge of space travel and replaces it with the story’s version of space knowledge.

It was no surprise to NASA that very few volunteered. Many citizens of Earth were comfortable and happy in their lives. A move to a colonial life in space was practically permanent, and traveling for years only to live in the desolation of space was frightening. Then, the military stepped in, looking to soldiers for support. Project Safe Haven was announced.

Once more, the reasonable solution; no way anyone, especially someone living on earth during a time when resources are brought in from off world, wants to spend five, ten, twenty years traveling to an undeveloped colony, which might not even function, but if soldiers are ordered to do so, they’ll do it. This also sets up the story. For one, it implies that soldiers aren’t fighting against other countries. Secondly, it is a sound assumption that if the military started the colonies then each colony is a military base. Naturally, all the newer colonies will be military installations, so there’s a trend started by this segment; the military has control. This is a military, sci fi adventure.

In the year 2111, almost fifty years after the first successful colony, Admiral John Lay, the overseer of Safe Haven, commissioned Captain Riley O’Hara to lead a team of scientists and engineers aboard the Phoenix, a vessel orbiting a planet called Eon. The new ship and the new crew were set to break new ground; The Horizon Project was employed to begin colonization of the first planet outside the Sol system. O’Hara was beyond psyched.

Finally, readers have the last nugget of Intel. They know the year. They know the place. They know the reason. They know who the protagonist is, but there’s also something overlooked. If it’s been nearly fifty years since the first, successful colony, were there failed colonies…? As they say, the stage has been set, and now readers aren’t just prepared for the story, they are a part of the story.

I always believe it is imperative that a writer writes out every, single, little, tiny detail, even if that turns into an info dump. While the story is being written, while it is being discovered, piece by piece, by the writer, it becomes necessary to jot down all pieces of the puzzle, but, it is during the editing process, which is so far beyond proof reading, that an editor must remove all the extra pieces of the puzzle.

When placing together puzzle pieces, and you see the picture on the lid is a cat, the cat is all you really care about. You don’t care about the half of a ball of yarn in the top corner. You know it’s a corner piece by the shape of the puzzle piece. The same goes for stories, I think; the prologue is the shape, and the rest of the story is the cat, and each piece of the puzzle completes the story.

Let’s look at another prologue. This one is 223 words. It’s the prologue to one of my novellas. I don’t usually use a prologue for a body of work that’s under 70,000 words, but I really needed to set the stage for this story because it is very outlandish-

Fear, despair, rage, lust; these are base feelings, emotions, which run through the essence of man. It is odd to say that no one has sat back and questioned the value of these emotions, but it is even more odd to ask why no one has done so. Certainly, it can be agreed upon that people have questioned the purpose of life, but to what extent?

I’m sure you see a trend in my writing; I wax philosophically. First and foremost, this prologue states: if you don’t want to think, don’t read this book.

Is there more to life than money? More than sex? Whoever pursues a life without such great pleasures? Most men, normal men, crave the deep darkness of the Id, the passion, heat, and flame of the most immediate gratifications, yet in the end, everyone leads the same life, suffers the same pitfalls, repeats the same thoughts and conversations over and over again, and all while considering themselves unique.

This jabs the first point further. Hopefully, it does raise the question; if we’re all so unique, how come we can be so easily analyzed by psychological formulae? Why is it that all our friends have the same problems, the same complaints, and why is it that we do repeat to our minds the same dialogue over and over again? Perhaps it is this stagnant repetition, which has mired our lives…? Again, the stage is set, bearing the question, but what else is there?

Now, let me tell you that a Shadowman is never concerned with such trivialities. A Shadowman sneaks between the world of light and dark; as such, he cannot possibly fret over the mundane, for while he traipses through the world of men, his eyes are perennially on the prowl for something more abstract, something ephemeral, something incomprehensibly inhuman. Now, I’m going to tell you the story of my life, but not my life as a man in the world of men; the story of my life as a Shadowman.

I’ll bet you’re ready to find out what a Shadowman is. In just three paragraphs the eerie mood has been provided. The reader’s mind has been opened, and if not, the reader has left, and that’s okay; not all stories are for everyone.

The one you thing you’ll notice about this prologue versus the previous one is that no information has been provided in this one. The first prologue basically provided a history lesson before presenting the story. This prologue pulled you from the confines of the known in order to provide an inkling that there is an unknown out there waiting to be discovered.

Finally, I’ll present a prologue that recaps a previous title. It runs at 541 words, which makes it one of my longest prologues, but I’ll discuss it detail-

An amnesiac mercenary called Scar appeared in the middle of the territorial disputes of Tiamhaal. He brought a whirlwind of change, the kind of change no one expected. That man was in actuality the avatar of Eternus, the Dragon of Time, a being outside the realm of human comprehension. Eternus was the universe, it was the ineffable creator of all that was, but having taken a liking to a particular world, it sent a portion of itself to the world of men.

The protagonist is immediately introduced as is the world. The readers also know that this is a fantasy adventure revolving around men and dragons. Furthermore, the mind has been assaulted by the fact that the creator of existence is a dragon, and that the dragon sent himself as a man to the world in order to do something.

Crafted from the clay at the edge of the world and fashioned from the eight, guiding principles of man, Scar, the mercenary, was sent to slay the Dragons, and so he was named Sarkany, the Dragon Slayer, yet his fashioning was not without flaws, and he lost his memories. Finding himself traveling aimlessly, seeking only to learn of his origins, Scar was beset by Dracos, the followers of Drac, Dragon of Fire, and then he was manipulated by Zoltek, Negus of the Zmajans, followers of the Dragon of Destruction, and finally, the warrior was sent by King Gilgamesh of Satrone, a worshipper of Kulshedra, Dragon of Truth, to the ruined kingdom of Alduheim where a forgotten memory lay buried in darkness.

You might be able to tell that the story, or the prologue, at least, has been written in a manner that imitates Biblical tones, so not only has the stage been set, but the production has also been set; readers know they’re in for something that reads somewhat archaic. On top of that, a great deal of what transpired in the first book is explained, but rather than being provided as a bland reportage, it is a story in and of itself. There is also proof that the world is at war, and that the protagonist is in the mix to do something outlandish, yet there is an air of mystery- the forgotten memories.

It was there that he and his men found a paladin, a warrior named Ylithia, who fought in the name of Mekosh, a true God, the God of Severity, and even though paladins had always maintained that the Dragons were posing as Gods, most people of Tiamhaal had never taken them seriously, yet what was witnessed beneath the rubble of Alduheim united them in their efforts to reveal the truth to their kings and queens. The leaders of every tribe had established their own countries under the name of their Dragon Lord posing as God; constantly, they fought for territory, supremacy, religious beliefs, and even peace. Things changed when warriors of Kulshedra, Scultone, Fafnir, and Tiamat joined forces with Scar and Ylithia, but their plan to bring to light the lies of Dragons was short lived; Scar and Ylithia fell in love and left kings and pawns to squabble amongst themselves.

Now the underlying order of the novel, or the series, in this case, has been provided- Dragons have posed as Gods, but there are real Gods, and there are warriors who have chosen to listen to the real Gods rather than the Dragons. Also, readers know that in the previous novel, the protagonist fell in love, and that created some sort of problem.

The two abandoned Gods and Dragons for a life of peace, but the spurned King Gilgamesh had other plans, and he sent his men to kill Scar, yet he was away, and it was Ylithia, who was cut down without mercy, and for that act of betrayal, Scar took his sword, joined his old friend, Labolas, invaded the impregnable palace, Inneshkigal, and killed Gilgamesh before all the Kulshedrans of Tironis. Upon the king’s death, Scar was transported to Drangue, where he battled the mighty Kulshedra, a misty whorl of a Dragon, and the Dragon Slayer took the beast’s soul.

Several details are provided, yet still in an entertaining fashion. This story, which is just a prologue employed to rehash the previous title, or explain to people joining the show a little a late, reveals what happened when the protagonist abandoned his ordained duties, yet the discord was resolved, if by gruesome means. What readers don’t see is the abundance of information regarding the key players, because that belongs in the narrative, the actual story. They do, however, learn that the hero has rejoined the battlefront and killed a dragon and somehow stole its essence. Having mentioned such a thing entices a reader to wonder why stealing the dragon’s soul happened, how it happened, and what can be done with the soul; it engages the audience’s mind.

Since then, the Kulshedrans have lost their powers—the ability to augment their armor through Dragon’s magic—and they struggle to maintain their borders, their culture, their lives, but Scar is far from finished; he owes someone a debt of blood, and so he has journeyed back to Usaj, the land of destruction ruled by the mighty Zoltek. In Meshoptam, capitol of Usaj, Scar, the pale skinned, seven foot giant in black, leather armor, has slain the Zmajan, royal guards and come face to face with an old foe….

Finally, the readers are caught up. Everything from the previous book, without the minutiae, has been provided in story form. They know the hero, they know the villains, they have an idea as to why some people worship dragons—they do provide magic—and they know what’s about to happen.

In short, prologues are mood setters, and sometimes, they also provide pertinent information. They must be entertaining, however, and they must be brief; people bought a book to read a story, not learn and memorize facts. I have even seen some prologues lay out a cast of characters. DO NOT DO THAT. No reader will ever commit to memory the names of fifty characters and their scant descriptions. Why would they? They haven’t read the story, so they don’t care about the cast yet.

If you, as a writer, wish to provide a cast of characters, names of planets, or fictional countries, or races of aliens, or what have you, place that at the end of the book as an appendix. Personally, I do enjoying flipping through back pages and reading those kinds of details, but I’ll skip them if they’re at the beginning of the story; I’ll probably even skip the story because it’s intimidating to so much as think that I might have to memorize details just to be able to participate in the story. It also makes me wonder if the story is lacking; I mean, it must be if the writer has to provide such details before starting.

Finally, to tackle the last question, do I need a prologue?

No. You never need a prologue. Everything that a prologue does can be done in the first chapter of a story. I wrote a Skyrim fanfiction, and it just starts with chapter one. There was no need to dive into what led the dark elf to question magickal theory; I just presented his case through character interactions, but should you choose to implement a prologue, make sure to edit the prologue just as you do the story; cut everything that doesn’t need to be there.

Thanks for reading. If you have comments, concerns, feedback, or whatever, don’t hesitate. I’m always open for discussion. In my next post, I’m going to tackle a mainstream novel and discuss why sentence fragments cheese my corn.

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