The song of Aldor has three verses to be sung.
Much the same as any well-structured piece, whether presented by royal bard or tavern drunk, the verses flow chronologically. Each verse represents an Age of approximately one thousand years. Within them, there is life and death, love and hate, heroes, villains, and those in between.
The ending of each Age and dawning of the new is preceded by either great victory or great calamity. The end of the First Age was marked with the coming of the Fae. Prior to their intrusion into the realm of man, the land of Aldor had not known of magic. After its introduction, the world of man was never the same. Some say that it was for the better; others, for the worse. Only time will tell…
The Second Age was known as the age of magic. With magic came progress. With progress came abundance. With abundance came greed and the desire for power. The faerie, who had at one time been looked upon as man’s saviors, had now taken on the role of overlords. Magic had become so prevalent and its uses so common that the unthinkable started to take form. Humans were being born with innate magical gifts, abilities that had only previously been attained by those trained in the art of transferals, crystals that had been brought over from the Realm of Fae.
With this new revelation came the founding of the first Wizard Order and the eventual rebellion that led to the Faerie Wars and the driving of the Fae from the realm of man. The breach between realms was sealed, and Aldor prospered. Greed, however, was not a trait exclusive to the Fae. A few of the more powerful wizards, including the First Wizard himself, Aerodyne, began to pick up where the faeries had left off, believing their power gave them the right to rule.
Mankind was divided into two groups: those with magic called the ven’ae, and those without magic called the jun’ri. The jun’ri quickly became subservient to the ven’ae, and they found themselves forced into serfdom and bondage. The new class division caused a further dividing of the wielders. There were those who believed that no one should have authority over another merely because they were born with or without magic. A rebellion started to form within the wielder and wizard ranks.
Those wizards following Aerodyne delved further and further into the darker side of magic. They began experimenting in ways that even the fae dared not as they looked for ways to suppress their fellow wielders.
The end of the Second Age was wrought with violence as one sect of wielders and wizards fought against the other in what has been termed as the Great Wizard Wars. Aerodyne and his followers were eventually defeated, but not before they had shed themselves of their corporeal forms. They were imprisoned deep underground within the Pits of Aran’gal, in a place known in the ancient tongue as The Tomb of the Abandoned: Taerin nu’Cyllian. There they would remain, locked away for as long as the magic holding them in place endured.
After the Wizard Wars, Aldor was left in ruin. The jun’ri rose up and with the use of faerie collars called durmas, giving them the ability to suppress a wielder’s gifts, they found a way to control the wielder population. The White Tower, which had been the seat of power for Aerodyne, was used instead as a way to purge magic from the land.
The dawn of the Third Age was known as the Great Purge. It was a very dark time. Wielders were collared. Their magic, along with their lives in many cases, were ripped from them. During this time, High King Tollin divided Aldor into five provinces in order to keep the land from falling under another tyrannical rule. Those kingdoms are Elondria, Cylmar, Keldor, Sidara, and Briston.
For a thousand years, the jun’ri have ruled and the ven’ae have remained hidden. Those born with gifts struggle every day to keep them secret.
The end of the Third Age is approaching and the winds of change are blowing once more. Magic is on the rise. Those who seek to exploit it, as well as those who seek to defend it, will once again be forced to stand and fight for what they believe is right.
The last verse has yet to be sung . . .
Thoroughly enjoying the series. Halfway through the prequels. I’ve had a hard time keeping track of the characters though. Is there a list of the factions, or the main and supporting characters anywhere?
Hi Casey,
Glad you are enjoying the series. I’m afraid I don’t have any all encompassing list of characters. I do have a glossary of terms at the end of each book that gives the street tribe names and their chiefs. I also have a character glossary as well, which gives mostly new characters found in that particular book.
Sorry if that’s not more helpful.
All the best,
Michael
Ah, that would make sense. I’ve got them all through audible. Guess I’ll have to pick up the physical copies as well then.
Cheers!
I am a huge fan. These stories keep me occupied while driving. I love how well written they are! Tim Gerard Reynolds makes them come to life. I will listen to anything he reads, which is how I found you. I love the mixing of Fae, humans and how magic came to humans. Beautifully blended in all ways.
Thanks Kitty.
Glad you are enjoying the books. And you are correct, Tim does a wonderful job with the narration. I hope I can continue to keep you entertained. Have you listened to the prequel series yet: “Street Rats of Aramoor”? I strongly recommend you do as it ties in with the Aldoran Chronicles, leaving golden nuggets you don’t want to miss. Tim Gerard Reynolds narrates them as well.
All the best,
Michael
I’m a big fan. I love a well written tale with memorable characters & a background setting that takes on a life of its own. Add a history to hang it all on, a well developed magic system and some great maps to show the way, and I’m all in. Keep up the great work, Michael! Looking forward to more of Ayrion’s story and the whole Aramoor saga. Thanx for the great read!
Hi Tony,
Glad to hear you are enjoying the stories. I’m with you. I enjoy a well crafted world with characters I can feel connected to. Although, I’m finding that authors now-a-days seem to be skimping out on the visuals. If you can find one that carries even a single map, it generally looks hand-drawn. I tend to go overboard with mine. 🙂
I hope I can continue to entertain.
Michael
Any chance a developer approached you to make a game based on Aldor? Perhaps a TV series or movie?
Hi Peter,
I’ve had a couple of companies over the past couple of years reach out for possible RPG, considering how well my series lends themselves to it with its larger world concept and vivid world building. I’ve even had a couple producers look at optioning film/tv rights, one that worked for Cinemax and was doing some GRR Martin productions. But, I don’t want to dip my toes into those fields (especially tv/movie rights) until I have more books out in the series. I would hate to end up in the same predicament that George Martin did with the tv show surpassing his books and writing his story for him.
That being said, I’m always interested in listening to offers to get a better feel for what options are out there. Nothing is off the table…as shown by my partnering with this merchandising company. If it makes sense, marketing wise, to do it…I’m always open.
Love it! I, also, rate White Tower, Shackled, Banished, and Hurricane among those with Tolkien and other great epic fantasy novels. I especially enjoy your manner of weaving the different characters into the this story, and the history that you have given us, as well as the depth of character of the major persons that will impact the entire storyline. Your action scenes are dramatic and gut wrenching, the scenic detail is vivid. You have been providing me with a panoramic visualization that catches my mind and transports me into your world; thank you. I anxiously await the posting of Book 2 and I am sure will be panting to get Book 3 long before it is even close to being completed.
Thanks for the feedback. I’m so glad you enjoy the series and the complexity of the world building. It’s nice to see the areas of the books that readers are connecting with. If you haven’t yet done so, I’d really appreciate a review of the books on Amazon. You could simply copy and paste what you’ve written here.
Again, thanks for stopping by. I love hearing from my readers.
I’ve waited 2 years for the second book? Are you close to being done? I want to read it so bad.
Hi Ben,
Sorry for the wait. 2018 has been a bit of a set back. After publishing the first two books in my new offshoot series, Street Rats of Aramoor, I ended up going back with a team of editors and re-writing all my published books. The White Tower was a beast to work through, and I’m just now finishing my final copy edit of the Street Rats books.
As far as the second book in the Aldoran Chronicles series, Plague of Shadows, I’m busy working on the second draft while simultaneously having it copy edited and line edited. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to wait to publish until my audio publisher is able to re-record The White Tower. They need to get the first book completed before launching the second.
I don’t have a set launch date at this time. However, if you’d be interested in reading an early, unfinished draft and leaving comments throughout of what you liked or possibly didn’t, you could sign up to be on my Beta Team. I am planning on doing another round of beta testing on this next book once the I finish the second draft. Plague of Shadows has already completed one round of beta testing after I wrote the first draft.
If interested, here’s where you can sign up: https://michaelwisehart.com/join-the-beta-team/
All the best,
The map looks great, but its the history that I love. Awesome!
Yes, I believe its fundamental of epic fantasy to have a believable history constructed before, or at least during, the creation of the first book. Mine has changed a bit here and there as I have written the first two books, but I believe it is now a foundational element in my ongoing writing.
I agree. You’ve inspired me to write The Legend of Blue as epic fantasy. I have started with the history already.
I am adding a new Illustrated Pronunciation Guide right now as we speak. I’ll have it loaded in next couple of minutes.
Epic Fantasy is by far my favorite to read and write.