Myths & Legends of Substack: 6 Writers Who Have Changed Fiction on Substack
Part 2
It has been assumed that this would be merely a part 1 & 2 thing, but I’m starting to think this set of reviews is evolving into more than that. I’ve been reading far more than I expected so I’m going to warn everyone, there may end up being other parts (I’m not sure, yet I must be honest).
That being said, let’s start analyzing.
First off the first story I’ll be offering commentary about:
This is an interesting tale by
one in which we follow a young feral child, as she deals with ghosts and a savage warlord who is grief-stricken and gone mad because of that grief.The story itself is fairly straight-forward if bleak. Dark-Fantasy is a genre that Kathrine has come to dominate hereon Substack, with the good lady able to capture a tone similar to that of Dragon-Age Origins & Awakening (and the quality of the first game of the duology of Dragon-Age).
Romance always plays a large role in her stories so that they are equal parts Romance stories or ‘Romantasy’ as some call the sub-genre. That said, hers are ‘Dark Romantasy’.
Thematically she tends to explore ideas of belonging, as her lead is without a family in contrast to her love interest Marcian. The fact is he’s an almost orphan as is she, with her father sick and demented as he has sought to preserve his lover’s corpse for all time, even as he pitiably takes and vents his fury and grief out upon his only family left; his daughter.
There is also the theme of duty and the questioning of to whom do you owe your allegiance and duty to? The idea being if you’re abused you ought to revolt and either remonstrate the abusive lord or family member or failing that break off from them.
There’s a great deal more to this story and I do recommend it. Though, in my view some revisions might be in order mostly surrounding Marcian as a character as I found him quite awesome, interesting and courageous.
That said the motifs and themes were quite good, and Elaine’s prose and world-building are always top-notch so that someday she’s gonna be a bestselling writer (I only hope she doesn’t forget about the rest of us along the way lol).
is a stalwart writer. He’s writing a kind of fantasy-magi-tech-final fantasy type of story here with sky-sailors and sky-pirates and the like. I’d ordinarily say this isn’t my cup of tea but with my obsession with the Saga of the Jewels, I think my fans would call foul on that.Wiess with his stirring dialogue, fascinating world-building does a great job drawing you in.
Sure, his story is still in development but one can already see what he’s aiming for. His is a story no less the equal of Saga of the Jewels. I must admit to quite liking the crew just as much as Faenon’s cast.
Wiess is a strong hand on the captain’s wheel so to speak, and his prose is solid. The trouble is that the algorithm never seems to quite favour him so that he doesn’t get the growth he so richly deserves (just an aside). The character of Rhyslin in particular is a stand out to me, I’m a great fan of mages and I quite like him in particular. I like that he’s at times gruff, polite and even at other times exasperated seriously I do recommend him.
The only thing I could do with in Wiess’ stories would be a tad more descriptions, so that we can learn a little more about the world and character surroundings but other than that his stories are well-written and deeply layered.
’s got too many great epics to pick just one, so I settled on a newer one that I posted about in one of the most recent Warrior Wednesday/Sword & Saturday events.Oscar is a fascinating writer. One of the best around, in another time and place he’d have already developed a long career as a fantasy-writer. So that it is a veritable crime that he has not yet been published and that to an extent he’s mingling with those of us just starting out on the career path.
Nonetheless here he is, brilliant, skilful with his word-play and as ever clever and descriptive in his world-building. His is a skilful pen as mentioned. I quite like his world and would love to read more, and have plans to keep on reading Redd Oscar. What I’ve read of his universe it is a beautiful and well-developed one, with an abundant number of tales, myths and legends.
The Bard’s Tale follows some scrappy, some scummy and some interesting (okay they all are) fellows on the search/hunt for some treasure. These guys are pretty devious and the frame narrative is one of the most amusing I’ve seen in awhile.
It involves Rein, a patron at a bar who has mesmerized his hosts, and awed them with his story-telling capabilities and his tale. At no point do you get the feeling Rein isn’t clever enough, or skilled enough at oratory to pull off such an accomplishment. To the contrary time and again he mixes some threats with a silken tongue that could lull even one as violent as Vlad or Oda Nobunaga into listening to him.
At the end Duncan (Not Nick Fury) comes to Rein with an offer to join the Not Avengers Initiative (I’m joking here to an extent). To get the joke and join in on it read Redd Oscar’s awesome Bard’s Tale which has a surprise or three at the end including a pretty cool monster reveal.
The Santara Comentaries is a story I have a ‘love-hate’ relationship, I mean I love how good it is but hate that it was so short.
This is a story that surprised me as it gripped me from the first word.
showed he definitely knows what he’s doing with a very particular skill and deft hand he guides us into the world of Santara where heroes are true and maidens pure, and harlots not so much and where our Narrator, usually is in the third person his is not.Meet Yu, a man at times on the run sometimes not, a man who recounts his tale in a semi-older style semi-modern. The world he inhabits is a weird mix of Asian archipelago and Roman-imperial grandness with pistols and other such nifty stuff. Normally I like things set in stone, give me one of these but not all of them together….. yet he pulls it off dunno how.
In terms of Archetypes we have Drusus who is very much a warrior, Yu is a warrior himself but as he has memory problems (and an impressive memory for lore and knowledge he picks up along the way lol) he is however something of a savant.
And it is this impressive quality to Michael’s writing; the ability to combine intelligence with the warrior archetype that marks his stories and sets them apart from a great many others. If I was to say, give a prompt and say ‘give me a savant, wise warrior in the mould of Bowen’ I’d have to immediately say ‘NOT YOU MICHAEL’ because he’s already done it.
Seriously zero complaints, he describes things well, sheds lore onto us readers who get to go for a real ride through his world and he combines all these things with a flowing prose that combines the best parts of Asia with the best parts of old British & American literature. At times reminiscent of Twain, at other times of Walter Scott, and still other times of Stephenson, then Yoshikawa, there’s something special about the Santara Chronicles. I’m at chapter 15 or so, and still reading voraciously. I might just start over like with Ben’s story as soon as I finish, I like it that much.
The story of Taiven is about Glismera, an Elf-maiden who wields a sword is dealing with internal demons and kicks ass. One interesting thing in recent weeks herein the Fantasy Fiction
section has been watching not only start out but also grow. He’s written some superb essays that blow my own out of the water in my view, and also written some great fantasy fiction worthy of the name.His Glismera character shows he can write action really well, along with trouble characters that for anime fans may bring Edward or Alphonse Elric to mind, or even for those unfamiliar with anime the likes of Odysseus might be an apt comparison, given the tormented and yet fascinating nature of Odysseus.
Glismera is beautiful, clever and driven all good qualities for a character to have and she is also the Shieldmaiden or Battle-Maiden archetype (both terms are acceptable), and is exactly what you’d hope for from a fictional Elf-maiden.
Corder has an interesting style, more Howardian than Tolkienian, and it is one that anyone reading knows will go very far someday. His world though not as fleshed out as others yet, if one judged just from the few chapters involving Taiven, as it is not as described is still worth exploring. Doubtless as more chapters come out, we’ll see more of the world.
There are of course other characters, all of them interesting with Glismera’s relationship with Ilvan in particular interesting. Playing true to archetypes and motifs and thematic ideas is a forte of Corder, and his prose is fairly good thouhg he could stand to add a few more descriptions here and there and lore details but even that I’d say in moderation as one must be careful not to ruin the careful construction of his prose and stories. As his is a very Howardian style, and to add too much to it could tip the balance.
But over-all he is quite good and another highly recommended writer.
’s Epic story The Shield of Locksley is beautifully written. Rarely have I ever encountered a writer more sensitive, with as good a gift for descriptions or who draws me in better than he. Ben is interesting as a person, writing since the 70s for long than I’ve been alive and yet with more talent, more wisdom and honestly more experience than almost anyone else I’ve ever met.His world is that of King Arthur and Robin Hood so that it’s not entirely fantasy as Arthuriana is its own genre in my eyes. That said, I hope he keeps doing it as his story is awesome.
His story follows a hero by the name of Locksley, a genial sort we first meet in the midst of danger as his castle is being besieged by dreaded Saxons. Locksley must slip away and embark on a grand quest to reclaim what is his by right and to avenge those he has lost.
I can tell you this right now, even though I’ve not read the whole tale I’m deeply impressed and affected by this tale. It’s one of those which you can never quite forget about though it was but one chapter. What I cannot understand is how Ben has gone unpublished hitherto now, he’s brilliant.
Galen serves as a kind of rescuer and potential Druid mentor to our heroic prince, who may in fact be a ‘Scottish’ (Pictish) Prince from a very northern petty kingdom. Over-all the story is quite exciting and brilliant already, with themes of sacrifice, loss and also family tied together already in the first chapter. Highly recommended!
But here’s the best part about Ben; now his stories are mostly behind a paywall, but for a full-year of his rapidly updated, well-written stories he’s offering a primo 6$ deal. 6$ for a year full of historic, fantasy epics and the like may not seem like much but trust me when I say I’ve the goal of signing on myself soon as I’m very curious about his Arthurian and Locksley stories.
I’m fascinated by the idea of reading stories set within the lifetime of a possible ancestor to Robin Hood. So do check him out, sign up for his 6$ special if you like his style and read away.
Some of these are poems, and honestly they’re pretty darn good ones, others are fascinating little vignettes and short-stories. What I can tell you after reading a little through them, and fully reading others is that
not only collects good stories but also compelling characters and a sense of beauty.His dialogue is snappy, but not in the annoying Hollyweird way, but true ‘snappy’ if ever that term ever meant anything. It is the sort of ‘snappy’ dialogue that both Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie were known for. It is quite remarkable to be reading his book and find oneself thinking this could have been written in the 1920s, one definitely has a sense of an England from the 1900s or 20s.
It is remarkable and yet there’s a compelling element such as this to his Counseling of Yen story, where we see his lead Yen. The character doesn’t feel like Sherlock, but like a newly returned soldier turned hard-boiled lead except he’s not in the seedy American criminal underbelly but a Christie novel as stated. It’s quite thrilling.
This story in particular ends in a well-described fight an internal battle which deals with themes of good versus evil but also living vs the undead.
What is more is that Winston understands that thematically undeath is a desecration of life. Nothing good can come of it and nothing should come from it of that nature. All undead should be evil for a story to make sense. And this is what makes it so good; the rich characterization, the sticking to themes and the triumph after a hard-earned battle.
Over-all not only is he one of the most prolific collectors of stories but Winston Malone can write as capably as any early 20th century bestselling writer could.
I always enjoy reading your analysis!
Took me some to respond thanks to time difference. It came out right at the dead of night for me, and just around the time for the Spain v. France Euro game, lol. But anyways, glad I made the list. I consider sci-fi to be my primary genre, so to see my fantasy making the Substack elite is pure joy.