BACKGROUND

The World of Faery was born on a summer family trip to Whistler, BC. The whole concept of Miguel's story came from a walk in the woods and seeing a large fallen tree. I suddenly imagined crawling under the tree only to find myself in an alternate universe...and captured by wicked faeries! I ended up spending quite a bit of my vacation time in the tiny Whistler library studying faeries and dragons. Once I returned home, the story began taking shape, only to become hung up on the character of Balor and I ended up setting the story aside.

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A few years later, I was stuck in another fantasy series I've been working on only to pick up the story once more. This time, the idea of using Chinese dragons rather than European dragons was the catalyst I needed. That led to understanding not only Miguel's character, but to the creation of the World of Faery.

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THE WORLD OF FAERY

Faery is not Earth. It is either a separate planet or an

alternate universe. However, both faeries and dragons

emigrated to Faery from Earth in the dim and distant

past. The other two primary races of Faery are goblins

and ogres. By the time of Blood of the Dragon, the

faeries and the dragons are the two predominant races.

They've pushed the ogres north into the mountains

while the goblins who remain have become servants or

slaves to the faeries. The dragons believe the other races

are too inferior to take notice of them.

 

The map shows the primary homes of the faeries

(Tir-Nam-Beo and Bruagh-Na-Boyne) and the dragons

(Cavern of the Ancestors).

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Early on in writing, I decided to use as much history and

established legend as possible. Both faerie glens (they

don't have cities) are named after actual places in Celtic

mythology while the dragons' holy cavern comes from

Chinese mythology.

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DRAGONS

The dragons of Faery originated in ancient China. Why Chinese dragons? First, European dragons have been done to death. Most of them are variations of Smaug from Tolkien's The Hobbit: very big and very dangerous. They are usually villains. The only real exception for a long time was The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffery. However, even those dragons (and the ones in the How to Train Your Dragon movie series) lack the majesty and complexity I found in reading Chinese dragon mythology. Chinese dragons are mighty but benevolent. They have distinct colors and traits that play an important part not just in mythology but spirituality as well, something that European dragons lack. Chinese dragons tend to be portrayed as more snake-like in shape and have distinct mustaches.

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The tale of why the dragons left China as presented in Blood of the Dragon comes directly from the legends of China's first emperor. Upon arriving in Faery, they maintain their Chinese spiritual roots and keep their culture apart from the "lesser races" as they refer to the faeries, goblins, and ogres. Their ability to "ascend" (granting them near-invisibility) and to travel the stars are both mythological traits of ancient Chinese dragons.

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The songs sung in the Cavern of the Ancestors are heavily inspired by ancient Chinese poetry.

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FAERIES

The race of faeries are not the little cute fairies of modern literature from the last 400 years. Just like Tolkien discovered with elves, I learned (as have other recent writers of fantasy fiction) that the faeries of Celtic mythology--or the Fae--are human sized and not only possess magic, but can be volatile and dangerous. In my series, the faeries were heavily persecuted by the Romans following the conquest of ancient Britain. The Romans hunted them for sport, driving them from Britain to Ireland. Even there they were not safe. 

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How the faeries escaped the Romans to arrive in Faery is lost in legend, and it is not clear if dragons aided them, or Celtic gods, but escape the faeries did. They were led by King Oberon mac Lir, who established the glen of Tir-Nam-Beo. Eventually, however, a group of faeries rebelled. Led by Finarvaa, they established a new glen: Bruagh-na-Boyne. By the time Blood of the Dragon begins, war has erupted between the two factions.

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In addition to the two factions, there are two types of faeries. Most are born with wings shaped like those of butterflies, but a few have wings like dragonflies. These are the changelings, who are an important part of fairy mythology, especially in Ireland, and I've made them even more important to my story. Changelings are treated as racially inferior; however, their unique shapeshifting ability affords them some measure of safety. Finaarva has taken advantage of the fear and distrust that they endure and has formed an exclusive changeling fighting force. Only those who have joined him can find some form of acceptance in faery society.

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OGRES AND GOBLINS

In Books 1 and 2, we only hear about ogres. They do appear, however, in Book 3 and will play an important role. Historically, they have become enemies of the faeries. Prior to the faeries' arrival, they lived harmoniously with the goblins. Once the faeries arrived, however, they were forced from the warmer lowlands into the mountains of the north. From there, they have warred with the faeries for centuries.

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Goblins--and one goblin in particular--who did not leave the lowlands became servants and slaves of the faeries. (The same fate awaited those who fled with the ogres, serving the much larger ogres.) Faeries look at goblins as very inferior to the other races and treat them poorly. Goblins are much smaller than faeries and those who do not hide in the forests live as servants in faery homes and palaces. In his war against Oberon, Finarvaa has conscripted many of the goblins into his army where they serve as fodder.

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