Wednesday Art - Keep Out, Alex Nice

Beneath a Brass Sky Spotlight: Caravansaries

In Beneath a Brass Sky , near the edge of the Brasslands, Ulfric and the wayfarers seek shelter in a holdover - a caravansary. There, they meet a guide that promises to see them over the Splitspines. To me, reaching the caravansary is an important moment in the story, because it represents Ulfric triumphing over the harshness of the Brasslands. Up to this point, arguably, the antagonist is the environment itself. But that's another post. Today, I want to talk about caravansaries. A caravansary is a roadside inn where travelers (caravaners) could rest and recover from a journey. They supported the flow of both commerce and information across the trade routes the sprawled across Asia, MENA, and SE Europe - especially the Silk Road, according to Wikipedia . When you arrive, expect to find markets, and farriers or smiths, and alehouses and cookshops, and perhaps gambling dens and other means of separating a traveler from their coins. In short, Caravansaries were the fortified roads

Beneath a Brass Sky (Fantasy Fiction) - Is Out!

Beneath a Brass Sky (BaBS), my new fantasy novel, is now on Amazon for 99 cents! Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LZQJNCC/ First, the Blurb: Ulfric Halehorn is a sellsword that believes in the sanctity of the contract. He’s also rekindled an old grudge, incited a riot, and landed himself in jail on enough counts to see himself hung twice. In the midst of this, he somehow managed to win a lucrative contract to transport a mysterious crate across the Brasslands to Kush. He’d be better off if he hadn’t. Days into the journey, Ulfric learns that the job is more than it seems, and that he carries with him the spark that may touch off a revolution that could burn across a city, and perhaps an entire region. Knowing this, Ulfric sees a chance to atone for breaking another contract nearly a decade ago — one that cost another city its freedom and its people their lives; an act that still haunts him to this day. But the Brasslands is a vast land, filled with fugitives, and wild beasts, and na

Beneath a Brass Sky, Cover Evolution - 3

In this revision to the cover of Beneath a Brass Sky, Michal (@kvacm - twitter) began to add color and more detail. I love the dust storm (maybe the outer bands of a wilding?) swirling around the sandstone sentinel. All through the scene is a feeling of grit, and suffering, and dread. And yet, Ulfric and Spero are drawn ever east, and the remainder of the Wayfarers with them. What lies beyond that distant peak? A hollow country, no doubt. One that swallows men up.

eli steele | author | fantasy fiction

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