Just hold tight until things settle down.

So, releasing the Crippled King, vol 1. of the Dwarves of Illenfӓrner
This is a standalone work, but also the first in a series set in its world.
Available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Crippled-King-Dwarves-Illenf%D3%93rner-Book-ebook/dp/B0BKH4MNCT/

The life of a lone dwarven prospector is one of shame, loneliness, and a constant battle for survival. Striking it rich is the only way for Naen to save himself from leaving his bones bleached in the sun without heritage or memory. When riches finally fall into his hands, he encounters a group of indentured servants fleeing from a vengeful master. Jade, a dwarf maid leading the refugees, has her own desires for her future, and they don't include Naen. Jade and her dwarves steal his claim, but in the face of the brutal wilderness, they need help to survive, and the experienced Naen could give it. Drawn deeper into relationships with those he despises during the long mountain winter, Naen grapples with what kind of wealth he really seeks — or what kind of death. When spring comes, should he leave them to their fate and return to the wilds alone, or should he stay with these outlaw dwarves and face the coming onslaught?

Soon, he will be mocked as the King of the Cripples, and the mockery may just turn into his true heritage as the ragged refugees prepare their mine to withstand the vengeance of dwarven kings.

Just finishing up the Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin. I had actually started this a while back, kind of didn't get momentum and set it down for a long time, and just picked it back up and tore through the rest of it. The experience is kind of unique. It starts very dreamlike, the world painted in big sweeping brush strokes and lots of strangeness, only to slowly grow in resolution more and more as it picks up pace and ends up being quite a unique bit of speculative fiction.

We've been getting some errors on the Lost pathway homepage and it's because I believe we've allowed the forum software to go out of date. This means I have to perform a software update and go to the new version of the simple machines forum. Because our themes were designed on previous versions of the software they may not work moving forward. The result of this is that at some point we may see the forum under a default theme until the site can be updated further. This is just a heads up.

Another Lost Pathway Books release is out.

https://www.amazon.com/After-Wish-Dragon-Adventure-Adventures/dp/B09V5PWYKH/

After the Wish Dragon began in rough draft form somewhere around 17 or 18 years ago. It is the first in a series.

Check it out!

(P.S., the next Lost Pathway will actually feature the village down the lost pathway, itself)

So, I figured I'd make a separate thread out of these.

I've been reading fairly voraciously. I just started on the Nightwatch by Terry Pratchett and I got a Dragonlance novel, which is my first foray into that world. But I just finished a dive into two new trilogies that are relatively contemporary.

Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse.
Now, I really have read more in this world since I read two others from this same universe. But I just finished the Grishaverse trilogy and I understand they're making a series out of it. These novels were pretty engaging, although I do not think that Bardugo's writing style is on the same level with someone like Abercrombie, Martin, Lynch (Lies of Locke Lamora), or Rothfuss. Still, they are entertaining and I can see why they'd make a film out of it. The world is fairly fleshed out but the storyline of this trilogy follows closely to a single protagonist and is written in first person, which I think would lend itself easier to a screen adaptation. This world feels like there is a little less depth, and it is tied fairly closely to real-world cultures, with the main culture being Russian in style. The magic system is interesting enough. Overall, I'd give this series a 6/10 rating. I may read more in this world in the future.

Joe Abercrombie's the First Law trilogy.
This trilogy was hard to get into, and it is long. The first novel felt slow and only one of the characters was really interesting. But I slogged through it. I'm glad I did, because the story really picked up in the second novel and by the third I was very engaged. Abercrombie is a good writer, overall, and he develops characters who feel dynamic and able to undergo believable change while still remaining identifiably the same person. I don't want to give spoilers, but I was quite struck by the ending -- Abercrombie manages to subvert moral expectations within the genre to provide quite a remarkably different conclusion to the stories. I will most likely continue on to read more novels within this world.

We had a family movie night and watched Pixar's Onward (2020). Best animated movie I've seen in a while, not just because the world was up my alley (fantasy themed), but also because it was a well-told story. Highly recommended.

Those Who Dwell are a tiny people who live in a large, frightening world. Fir's tribe shelters with their squirrels in a great earthen mound beneath the towering oak. When members of two tribes go missing, Fir must set off into the unknown in the hope of stopping a war. He never expected to discover that there's more to the old story of how his people came to dwell beneath the oak — and it could change everything.

Purchase on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1671744632

https://youtu.be/R82kNJjJd5M

I found this hobbit house build inspiring. I've been dreaming of doing a fantastical project like this on my property for a long time.

Today I went to John K. King Used and Rare Books. It's a four story former glove factory in Detroit loaded wall to wall with books, books, books. It's the biggest used bookstore I've ever seen. Check out the website: https://www.rarebooklink.com/

Also, here's a video on Youtube of the store: https://youtu.be/m_QJbPQaAXA

So, I just stumbled on this really great resource. This website contains scans of illustrations from public domain books. https://www.oldbookillustrations.com/

I have just released a new book. This is the culmination of roughly 11 years of process. It is titled The Puttygut: Life, Loss, and Memory on a Rural Michigan Road. It can be found on Amazon here in paperback: http://a.co/d/0e4mSyv
In addition, it is available on Kindle for $0.99.
I am also unveiling my Amazon author page. The above title is creative non-fiction, but I will be releasing more books in the future that will be fantasy titles. My amazon author page can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/author/mcmaken

This book displays a logo and weblink for Lost Pathway Books on the cover and on the copyright page. The link is our forum here, www.lostpathway.com. Right now, I will be releasing my books with the Lost Pathway Books logo. I do think it would be fun, sometime down the road, to print copies of some of our collaborative work under the same collective, though.

I want to give props and direct others to this Youtube channel, Epic Workshop. It's a pretty inspiring look at building real-looking historical replicas out of wood. Check it out:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYZm1vNmk0x_nqGu9wHKv0A

Dear Gentlefolk and Scoundrels,

      I have been quite pre-occupied for some months now, but I am experiencing a change of winds as of late. It seems fitting that this correlates with a change of seasons.
      In the midst of this I have begun thinking about what to read next. I've been trying to find something to inspire me. I just stumbled upon this article and I consider it well done and so I share it here: https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/04/the-50-best-fantasy-novels-of-the-21st-century.html

I think I may work from this list for a little while. Of course, one of these books is one that our valiant compatriot Bear mentioned some time ago. It might be one of my starting points.

Check out this article:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristinakillgrove/2018/04/12/archaeologists-find-ancient-knife-hand-prosthesis-on-medieval-warrior/#69bb959e3915

Basically, they found a medieval skeleton who was missing an arm and appears to have replaced it with a prosthetic knife. Additionally, alterations to his shoulder and the condition of his teeth and jaw seems to indicate, according to the article, that he was maybe "'tightening the prosthesis with his teeth.'"
Now, if that isn't material for a character in a story, I'm not sure what is.

Okay, so there are a few things I think sound amazingly epic (especially if yelled) which I have had no reason (and honestly want no reason) to ever have to say. I'll list mine, but do you have any things that come to mind?

1. "We ride!"
2. "Hold the line!"
3. "Let us make such an end, as will be worth a song!"


Have anything to add?

Okay folks,

This is a big Christmas season for Sci-fi and fantasy films. Of course, we have Star Wars the Last Jedi and we also have the Netflix film Bright with Will Smith. I saw the Star Wars film yesterday at an afternoon matinee but I don't have Netflix so I haven't been able to watch Bright yet, but if anyone else has I'd be interestsed to hear. I may watch it soon.

As for Star Wars, I will admit I really liked Rogue One and I enjoyed Force Awakens though not as much.

However, I'm giving the Last Jedi a 4 or 5 out of 10. It kept jolting me out of it by ridiculous events and self defeating plot points. I think the parts with Luke were pretty good and with Rey and Kylo Ren. However, the rest of the film felt pretty B filmy to me, with too much crammed in and a narrative that avoided the hard decisions and had little by way of character development.

What did others think?

So, we got my nephews the pathfinders trebuchet kit for Christmas, but since we were seeing them for thanksgiving, we gave it to them today and constructed it. It works amazingly well, shooting from our front porch, across the yard, and landing a grape tomato on our car on the side of the road. Here's a video of it empty firing inside the house.

https://youtu.be/LbT_eFciVvM

So, some of you may know that I am interested in all sorts of strange projects. This thread is to showcase a few projects that I found on YouTube that I think are quite fascinating. The projects use LED lighting and/or Epoxy to create interesting lightscapes.

My favorite one is this use of LED lights and mushroom shapes. It creates a remarkably fantastical and whimsical lightscape for indoors.
https://youtu.be/D5LjGFkpApw


In this next video, you can see the making of an LED Epoxy "River Table."
https://youtu.be/A0lV7SLT7s4

Here's a beginner and approachable tutorial on how to make a stained glass window. What is cool about this is you could essentially "add" a window to a windowless space by putting an LED light behind the stained glass window, creating a much different atmosphere in a room.
https://youtu.be/Sz-8x8WgV1w

Here's the same guy as the above, but this time making a fake/imitation stained glass window, more in a kid's style that could go into a kid's room.
https://youtu.be/j-1VW_lHiSA

Here's a neat light made out of a crystal tower.
https://youtu.be/Jh618yi0JZY

This next one would also be great for kids. A "cloud light."
https://youtu.be/07m0e7NwzKc

I may add some more as I stumble on ones I like.

So, I had published a book with Createspace a number of years ago now. Createspace is Amazon's self publishing branch that focuses on physical books (i.e., not digital, though that is easy to integrate). I liked their service and if I was going to print books again, they'd be my first choice.

But I've been looking lately at Amazon Kindle Direct publishing. I could post my writing on there and sell it directly to kindle users at no cost to myself. Of course, marketing is the hard part of any writing endeavor. My life is engage these days in other things, and I do not entirely feel like publishing with a traditional company is the way to go for me. With Kindle, you can edit, adapt, or change anything you publish at any time and you don't give away any rights to your work. You don't have to publish it with a company and if nothing ever comes of it, be restricted in what you can do with your own work (a fear of mine).

So, I've been going through some of the books and stories and pieces I've written in the past but never done anything with. I currently have three fantasy novels and some non-fiction pieces done that I'd be interested in publishing on Kindle, and I've got other projects that could find a home there. I have a career and I don't need to worry about earnings.

But I've also been thinking about what it would be like to follow the spirit of this forum and publish projects that originate here on Lostpathway to Kindle. In our story section, we've got stories going that could be polished up and if all agree, could be released on Kindle. I could include an agreement in registration that would allow for this, or we could just get permission from each member. We don't have to get permission to use content that has been contributed to a group project in order to publish it, but we do need to share all earnings unless it has been waived. At any rate, that is all secondary to thinking. This wouldn't really be about earnings, but about getting stories out there and having fun creating something together.

I'd be interested to hear what others think of such endeavors.
Regardless, I myself plan on doing edits on my work and trying to get some on Kindle.

Ah, the Icelandic Sagas, treasures of medieval literature. While mainland Europe was preoccupied with rhyme and verse, The Icelanders preserved gritty, semi-historical, semi-fantastical mini-novels. They are our best glimpse into the lives of the vikings and the explorations of Vinland (the New World). They're also just plain fun. There is quite a canon of sagas to choose from, but here are the top 5 must read Icelandic Sagas.

1. Grettir's Saga.
This is an outlaw's tale. Grettir is essentially the robin-hood of Iceland in some ways, with perhaps more outright violence, trolls, and less of that Robin Hood flare for being such an upstanding-citizen-outlaw. Grettir, one of the most powerful warriors, almost manages to become a legitimate resident of Iceland again, all while overpowering and escaping all who tried to hunt him down and beating the more supernatural aspects of the Saga landscape — trolls. This is one of the more fantastical of the sagas, and just a plain good bit of storytelling.

2. Egil's Saga.
Egil's Saga is of interest both as a well-told tale, an interesting character study of a rough and tumble murderous viking poet, and full of historical information (one battle wherein Egil fights can be cross-checked to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, for example). Egil is one of the early settlers of Iceland, and the Saga begins with his family history in Norway, his flight to Iceland, and all his rampages in the region of the North Sea. A practically unstoppable fighter and generally belligerent man willing to go head-to-head against the will of kings, Egil's adventures are in some ways the standard of the Icelandic viking ethos of independence, ruggedness, and bloody-mindedness.

3. The Saga of the People of Vatnsdal.
This family saga is perhaps most notable because of its remarkably interesting accounts of the coming of Christianity to Iceland, foretold in the story by one of its most sympathetic main characters (this is not to say it is not full of adventure). This is a story of an Iceland meeting a new day and doing it with all the rough edges of the vikings. One more interesting scene depicts a Christian winning souls by overcoming evil berserkers.

4. Njall's Saga.
Spoiler Alert: people get burned. Njall's Saga is considered a classic, mostly because of its dealing with the laws and social norms of medieval Iceland. The Icelanders were a people, oddly enough, highly interested in laws and they had a whole system that circled around the Althing, the main law-meeting of the people of Iceland. In this saga, some brutal stuff goes down, and the ramifications must be worked out in the Icelandic ways . . .

5. Eirik the Red's Saga.
It is fairly widely known today that the Norse people arrived in North America long before Columbus. This saga recounts the activities of Nordic explorers in North America. This saga displays well the confusion of two unfamiliar cultures encountering each other for the first time. At first, encounters were peaceful, but finally, fighting broke out, replete with some unusual behavior (at one point, a pregnant woman scares away tribal warriors with quite a display of intimidation). This is the shortest saga on the list, but it is dense with interest.

Portal fantasy is a sub genre of fantasy literature that involves a pkerson being transported into another realm. This is merely a list of my favorites.


The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.
Yes, I understand that the Chronicles of Narnia are an entire series involving enough books to fill the entire series, and all but one of them (The Magician's Nephew) can be described as portal fantasy, and maybe even that one. These are the definitive portal fantasy books for me — the classic image of the wardrobe and lamp post kind of define the genre. They are not just at the top of the list in a sub genre, but they are some of the best fantasy books ever written.



2. Phantastes by George MacDonald.

George MacDonald was a massive influence on C.S. Lewis and many others, including J.R.R. Tolkien. In Phantastes, the protagonist is transported into Fairy Land and, as we learn in the book, the only way out of Fairy is through.



3. The Neverending Story by Michael Ende.

It is hard to place this book at number 3, just because I consider it one of the best standalone fantasy books ever written. Many people know of the film, but there can hardly be a comparison between the quality of the film and the book. The book is a masterpiece of imaginative literature and, I think, qualifies as a transportation to a magical world and so earns a place on this list.



4.  Lilith, by George MacDonald.

This is another MacDonald book, one of his fantasy masterpieces. In this, our protagonist is sucked into a world where Adam and Eve and Lilith are denizens, where a cat woman prowls and children shelter from waste lands. The question is whether or not our main character is willing to face the inevitable.


5. The Tower of Geburah by John White.

This is not a well know book, and White openly acknowledged that he sought to copy Lewis' idea. But I enjoyed this book (and in fact, the whole series of which this is a part) in my childhood and it comes to mind when thinking about my favorite portal fiction.

Ah, Arthurian Literature. Arthurian Literature as a tradition spans well over a millennia, arguably beginning with our earliest surviving literary or oral traditional references of Arthur (Yn Goddodin, Historia Brittonum, and The Mabinogion to name a few) in the 9th century onwards to modern day masterpieces like T.H. White's The Once and Future King (1958). The genre is full of daring, romance, comedy, and tragedy, and is bigger than the figure of Arthur himself, arguably relating to the telling of tales of high chivalry in the style of Medieval Romance. This list will encompass the wide definition of Arthurian Literature.



1.  Le Morte D'Arthur (1485) (The Death of Arthur) by Sir Thomas Mallory.

This somewhat hodgepodge collection of stories regarding King Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable is long, rambling, and is hardly the best example of medieval romance, but Sir Thomas Mallory (himself a knight with a personal tale involving robbery, roving, adultery, and castle jail break) seemed to take relish in the stories of Arthurian daring-do. The book is an expansive collection of stories and serves as a fitting introduction to the medieval tradition of Arthur.



2. The Mabinogion (12-13th centuries) by oral and scribal tradition.

This compilation of Welsh stories most likely of the oral tradition is a good look at early version of King Arthur. Arthur has had the opportunity to live through early medieval oral tradition, high medieval romance, Victorian armor-polishings and modern reconstructions. This has produced a very complex structure. The Mabinogion is part of that earliest of known traditions.



3. The Once and Future King (1958) by T.H. White.

This is perhaps the definitive modern Arthurian Masterpiece. Truly an epic, the book follows Arthur's life with great humor, tragedy, and tenderness. Keeping with the structure of the medieval romance, White re-works the tales with modern sensibilities and yet holds true to a spirit of wonderment and sorrow. While the second half might be the weakest, I set down the book knowing I had encountered a truly masterful piece of storytelling.



4. Yvain, the Knight of the Lion (12th century) by Chrétien de Troyes.

Of all the medieval writers of Arthurian Romance, Chrétien de Troyes perhaps achieved the greatest level of style. A French writer, Chrétien de Troyes wrote a number of Arthurian style romances in poem form, my favorite being Yvain, the Knight of the Lion. Yvain befriends a lion, who accompanies him on his adventures. A tale full of love, lots of jousting, and general chivalry, it is full of the Arthurian tropes that make Arthurian literature so recognizable and ready for comic portrayal.



5. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (14th Century) by Unknown.

Sir Gawain is the first book on the list that is about the exploits not of Arthur himself but of one of the Knights of the Roundtable, Sir Gawain. This book survives in an illuminated manuscript that I had the great pleasure of seeing in the British Museum. Truly a classic of medieval adventure and visual art, Sir Gawain captures the essence of a knight of the round table traveling on deeds of daring, meeting fair maidens, and overcoming formidable foes.



6. Idylls of the King (1859-1885) by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the well known Victorian poet, scribed quite a collection of Arthurian poems including classics like "The Lady of Shalott." This is the dominant contribution to Arthurian literature from the Victorian age and is the go-to for anyone who likes classic poetry an Arthur.



7. Tristan (12-13th century) by Gottfriend von Strassburg.

The tragic Tristan and Iseult legend has been treated extensively by many authors. It is one of the great medieval stories, fully indulging in tragedy and flirting with (or embracing) adultery as so many Arthurian stories did. Two lovers separated, one married to a king, the other a knight fighting with honor and tormented by shame. Gottfried engineers the story both in style and narrative better than any other writer I have read, and it is truly a tragedy of literature that he never finished the full saga. Again, this saga is not so much about Arthur, but it exists in the same imaginative landscape.



8. The Pendragon Cycle (series, 20th century) by Stephen R. Lawhead.

Lawhead's re-telling of Arthurian legend focuses a lot on the Celtic origins of Arthur's stories, intermixing other Celtic tales and legends. If you're looking for an Arthur tale with Celtic painted blue with woad and the transition between paganism and Christianity, Lawhead's rendition may be for you.



9. Historia Brittonum (ca. 828) by maybe Nennius. This is an early medieval historical account (Medieval history was sometimes as much about telling a good story as anything else) that includes information about Arthur. If you want to go back to the early tellings of Arthurian lore, this is one of your major stops.



10. Y Goddodin (7th-11th centuries, maybe) by the bard Aneirin (or so the story goes). This is an elegy recounting the brave deeds and names of a group of warriors who died at a doomed battle in Britain. It arguably contains one of the earliest if not the earliest reference to Arthur (one of the warriors is compared to him, if this is true). This is not a story about Arthur, but it is a fantastic literary work, the kind that would have been sung by a bard in the glow of a fire-lit mead-hall. It does not get the attention that it deserves.

So, my lady recently showed me this. The claim is that if you slow down a recording of crickets, you get what sounds like beautiful choir music. I've reviewed snopes on this, and some other sites, and it is a bit up in the air. It does seem to be true that you can get human-like vocal sounding tones from crickets. This recording is beautiful at the very least.

So, this German man named Joerg Sprave has a channel on YouTube (also a website: http://www.slingshotchannel.com/ ) where he makes weapons/toys that are legal in Germany which has restrictive weapons laws because he uses designs which under law define them as toys. In keeping with the slingshot idea, he tends to use rubber to power his creations, but also uses compressed air a fair amount. He has done some really interesting challenges and creations, and on top of that, he has a remarkably likable personality. I'd recommend his channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/JoergSprave

So, as anyone coming here who has been here before may notice, the design has changed.
This new, lighter design is far more mobile friendly. The design is not 100% finished. There are little details that need ironed out. But this is the gist of it so far.
I am also working on a more classic looking "dark" theme with the green background, and if you go into your profile settings to "look and feel" you can select the old design and use it again if you prefer it.

Feedback on the design is welcome and desired!

But I wanted to put this up in case others didn't know about this. My lady just found this series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redwall_(TV_series)

It's a Canadian television series that tells the stories of three of the Redwall books. So far, I have watched a portion of the third season, and I've actually enjoyed it a fair bit.

I figured I'd start a thread, as this could open up a whole new discussion. . .

I've been more into TV series in recent years than I have been movies, to be honest.

So, I recently was driving through the Appalachian mountains with my wife and looked up at a mountainside and said, "This mountain would be way cooler if there was a colony of dwarves living in it."
"How do you know there isn't?" she replied.

The idea of a colony of dwarves living underground is familiar to most who enjoy the fantasy genre. But what if an underground city-stronghold existed in the real world?

Well, it did. . . And kind of does.

Derinkuyu, an underground city, is in Turkey. The refuge, not currently populated, is well over 1,000 years old and "is large enough to have sheltered as many as 20,000 people together with their livestock and food stores."

This is not the only underground city in the area, and in fact another underground city can be reached from Derinkuyu by a five mile tunnel.

Read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derinkuyu_underground_city

So, in my perpetual researching of crazy projects, I have discovered backyard metal foundries. The following video is to a how-to on making your own backyard metal foundry to melt down things like aluminum, brass, copper, tin, bronze, etc:
https://youtu.be/hHD10DjxM1g


This is a video of someone casting a backyard brass viking axe:
https://youtu.be/OKp-GkRqMb8


And this is an interesting look at the casting and post-casting process for making a bronze age sword:
https://youtu.be/R62TPFzBQ40

This is one of the best dialect quizzes I've run into. I think there was one or so questions where it did not quite have my option, but it's a really fun quiz to take to see where your language influences are in US geography.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/12/20/sunday-review/dialect-quiz-map.html