Nicholas Bruner
Fantasy, Science Fiction, and Young Adult Author
What I’m Reading: Toric’s Dagger
I was looking for a fantasy book with a bit of a twist, and thought Jamie Edmundson’s Toric’s Dagger looked like a fun heist novel–something like a team of fast-talking professional thieves out to steal valuable weapons.
And it does start out that way, with a heist going wrong in the first couple chapters, and introducing us to some of the main characters. But after that, it shifts into a story of medieval political intrigue involving nearly every kingdom in the land of Dalryia. Still, it’s quite good, even if it turned out not to be exactly what I was expecting.
Mother Ink Now Available!
Next time a crow leads Lono away from the Observatory, she’ll know better than to follow…
Seventeen-year-old Lono wants nothing more than to become a Sister at the Observatory. After all, she’s been an acolyte her whole life—she doesn’t know anything else. But on the day of the ascension ceremony, a disturbing vision changes everything. She winds up outside the safety of the Observatory walls where a crow leads her to a boy in need of help.
The boy, Aku, is on a mission to deliver a mysterious key to a man in the city of Atlantis.
Worried he won’t make it on his own and her efforts to save him will be in vain, she joins Aku. Along the way, a disgraced scribe hiding dark secrets and a reptilian biped trying to get home join them. This misfit group has no idea what’s in store, but the dark, ominous clouds should be an indication they are walking into their doom…
Lono never expected to face the ultimate evil in a fight to save a city—will she make it out alive, let alone make it home?
What I’m Reading: The Way of Kings
My brother sent me Brandon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings a couple years ago with his highest recommendations, but I’ve been put off until now by the sheer length of the book. It’s a bit more than a thousand pages, and I just don’t have time for that! I finally got around to reading it, and I’m glad I did. This is epic fantasy in every sense, and an incredible achievement in world-building.
The book takes place on the world of Roshar, where fierce highstorms–powerful thunderstorms that can destroy structures, and people left out in them–have shaped the landscape. The highstorms fuel magic in Roshar, as well, most notably by “infusing” gems as they pass by–just leave your gems outside when a highstorm approaches. Be careful they don’t get taken, though, as gems are the currency in Roshar, as well as the lamps, for an infused gem produces a magical glow.
Last Days of Atlantis: Status Update, 28 April
This past week, I’ve felt a bit in the doldrums in my work on the third novel in the Atlantis trilogy. This often happens when you get to the middle of the book, once you’re past the initial burst of energy with starting a new project.
It’s happening to me now because I realized I had taken the wrong approach in several related scenes in the section I’m working on. I hadn’t given one set of characters anything to do, so all the action progression depended on another set of overworked characters. I had also put one character in the wrong place, and forgotten about her relationship with another character. So I had to re-write much of three chapters.
Yet my sense of losing momentum is actually a false perception. I added more than 3,000 words to my word count, and I set myself up for more progress. Writing a novel is such a long process that there are inevitably good days and weeks and bad days and weeks (sometimes months). With experience, you learn that your moods come and go, but as long as you keep sitting at your keyboard and plugging away, you’ll get to your destination eventually.
Stats below. Remember, title of the first book in the series is Mother Ink and you can read about it here.
Read MoreLast Days of Atlantis: Status Update, 21 April
Okay, I’m trying to make status updates on The Last Days of Atlantis trilogy a regular, weekly thing to keep interested readers in the loop. Have I made any progress in the past week? Yes, a bit! Details below. Remember, title of the first book in the series is Mother Ink and you can read about it here.
Top Five Songs to Inspire Science Fiction Writers
In earlier posts, I suggested Five Songs to Inspire Writers, Five Songs to Inspire Fantasy Writers, and Five Songs to Inspire Horror Writers. Now we’ll move on to science fiction.
Robots. Spaceships. Aliens. Intrepid explorers traveling to the farthest reaches of the galaxy in pursuit of knowledge and adventure. If that’s what you want to write, the following five songs are sure to provide the inspiration you need.
Read MoreLast Days of Atlantis: Special Announcement and Status Update
I’m proud to announce the upcoming publication of my new epic fantasy trilogy
The Last Days of Atlantis!
I’ve been at work on the trilogy since the beginning of COVID, and am now on the rough draft of the third book. It’s by far the longest, most-involved writing project I’ve ever taken on. We’re fast approaching the time when the first book will come out, hopefully this summer. The title of the first one is Mother Ink and you can read about it here.
Now that the books are so close to appearing, I want to start tracking for readers where I am on each one.
Plus, I get to use the nifty new plug-in I discovered that creates little progress bars to show how far along you are on your projects. Check it out below!
Read MoreNew cover for The Love Machine!
All a sixteen-year-old up-and-coming rockstar needs is a Love Machine—and Alva’s invented one.
Alva’s a genius sixteen-year-old inventor and a wannabe rockstar. He’s invented a Love Machine, but he’s about to learn the cost of using it might be higher than he ever imagined.
The Love Machine: So simple it could be included in a cringe infomercial. All someone has to do is hold a button on the device near someone’s left ear for sixty seconds. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. In return, the target falls in love with the user for one day.
But when Alva loans the Love Machine to his fellow band-mates, their dates go off the rails. One friend even winds up humiliated and beat up.
Can the boys in the band use their power for good? Or will the Love Machine ruin every relationship they try it on? And what happens if the guys have a falling out? Between being rockstars, unlucky in love, and making messes in their relationships, they might just discover a Love Machine causes more problems than it fixes. But can they fix what they break before ruining lives forever?
