wheel of time

Top 5 Siege Battles in Epic Fantasy

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I found myself, the other day, mulling over some of my favorite battle scenes (and sequences) in fantasy, and realized something: a lot of them seem to be sieges. This isn’t to say that I don’t enjoy a good battlefield chapter, or that fast-paced wars don’t excite me (they do; there’s one in All Flames Cast). There are some great ones out there, from Dumai’s Wells and the Seanchan campaigns in Altara in The Wheel of Time, to the Nírnaeth Arnoediad in The Silmarillion, to the Department of Mysteries in Order of the Phoenix, and on and on.

But today, I want to talk about my five favorite siege battles (and a couple of honorable mentions).

5) The Shattered Plains in Way of Kings and Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

Am I cheating right off the bat? Maybe a little bit, but the warcamps and fighting over gemhearts and all that is definitely a type of siege. In fact, it’s precisely because this isn’t a conventional siege that it made this list. Continue reading

Drew’s Wheel of Time Reread – The Shadow Rising Part 2

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So yeah, as I’m sure many of you have noticed, this reread has taken a back seat lately. I can basically taste the ending of All Flames Cast, and the result is that I’m spending all of my free time writing instead of reading any of the four different books I’ve had going. This morning, I decided to change that a bit, so I sat down and did some plugging away at TSR.

I promise I’m not letting this reread go by the wayside. Once I finish All Flames Cast (probably in the next few days!), these posts will start happening with more regularity, once again.

So, today we’re going to talk about two of my favorite scenes in the series, and one of my least favorite. It probably won’t surprise anyone that the one I don’t like has to do with a certain young innkeeper’s daughter.

As always, spoilers for the entire series are present. The introduction post is here. You can find all previous entries here. And now, onward. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time!

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Drew’s Wheel of Time Reread – The Shadow Rising Part 1

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Welcome back to Drew’s WoT Reread! I finally got some time to sit down with TSR, do some thinking, and hammer out another reread post for all of you. So keep your little white cloaks on, people…this is when WoT gets real.

As always, spoilers for the entire series are present. The introduction post is here. You can find all previous entries here. And now, onward. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time!

Continue reading

Drew’s Wheel of Time Reread – The Dragon Reborn Part 4

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Welcome back to Drew’s WoT Reread! I realize it’s been way too long since the last installment. All I can say is that you should blame the NHL for having their playoffs right now and for hockey being so awesome. Anyway, today we finish The Dragon Reborn (finally)!

As always, spoilers for the entire series are present. The introduction post is here. You can find all previous entries here. And now, onward. Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time! Continue reading

Drew’s State of Writing – April 2015

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It’s that time again. Six months ago, I posted about Drew’s State of Writing, and talked a lot about the new things with Dcaf Copy, All Flames Cast, and updated writing schedules. Of course, for those who have been following along, you know that that schedule ended up being wildly optimistic.

As things stand right now, I’m closing in on the end of All Flames Cast. Harael’s chapters were finished in January; Eritan’s are nearly done right now, though I may need to add in another one, depending on how the timeline ends up working out with Tymun’s chapters. I’m still working on reconciling events across character arcs. Tymun has a start already, but will be getting the majority of work during the last half of April. It’s my goal to finish the first draft of this book by the end of April/early May, and get it through alpha reads by this summer so I can start revising. Continue reading