LANDLAND CRIES OUT FOR A SAVIOUR...
Upon the death of her mother, Meah is pulled across the boundary that separates this world and another time and place where the dog-like Firbog have brought the mists of the greying. Under the evil Queen Berilbog they threaten to claim all the lands. With her Mother dead and her Father missing - she is on her own! Can Meah learn how to use the power of the thinking?
Will there be enough time to save both Landland and herself?
Will Meah ever find her way home again?
She must triumph over grief and sadness on her journey into a world made cold, grey, and colourless by the ravages of the greying. Meah travels into the depths of Bigriverland to find the mysterious sage, The Biggo. In the heart of Dead Wood, Meah meets Josh O'Tosh, the last of the warrior Pictish Priests.
Battling lurking homunculi and the horrors of the many-headed-winged-thing, they set out to recover the only thing that will save Landland ...her mother's Book-of-Colours.
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Mythical Roots and Parallels
Myths can provide a sound platform for the fantasy quest. For thousands of years they have given us action, intrigue, and psychological depth. And none more particular than those found within Celtic mythology with its dark forces, magic, impending battles, quest, and inner searching.
The influence of Celtic Tales
The popular fantasy genre rings loud with echoes of the sights and fights already thousands of years old in the Celtic mythology: impossibly brilliant heroes – for Cuchulainn read Conan the Barbarian – fighting evil forces in the shape of ogres, or huge armies, or dragons or vile witches and wizards – and, psychologically, the dark forces and fear within us all. (Frank Delaney 1991, Legends of the Celts)
The Greying fantasy novella contains all the essential elements found within those ancient myths: our protagonist, Teah, battles with the many-headed-winged-thing and the lurking Homunculi, she is guided by The Biggo, who has become a self-styled wizard or sorts, and Landland abounds with the magic of the Firbog, the Pictish, Faeries, and the enchantments of mysterious forests and woods. Teah grapples with the dark forces within and must journey into the otherworld. Here, she undergoes soul retrieval at the hands of Fand the faery elder, in the Sidhe of the fair folk.
Enchanted Realms and Other-worldly Time
This enchanted realm can be likened to Osian's journey to the Land of Youth, an ethereal land with orchards bearing ripe fruits, and where walls of splendid towers are adorned with precious gems. Time, too, runs it s own course in the otherworld. Fand reminds Teah, 'As to the matter of how long you have been with us, it is of no consequence. Otherworldly time is no time at all. Everything exists here indefinitely.' In the Land of Youth Niav also tells Oisin 'There is no time here, you must understand that, no sense of time – at all.' Both Teah and Oisin's stay in the otherworld takes up much real time in the world they have come from. It is only when they leave that this becomes obvious.
Like Oisin, who remains unsatisfied with his life of splendour and eventually escapes from the otherworld on a white horse given to him by Niav, Teah's soul retrieval ceremony provides a way for her to leave the Sidhe of the fair folk; for once a soul has been given back, restored, it can never be taken away again by the fair ones. However, unlike Oisin who ages hundreds of years, Teah carries on with renewed vigour. What is significant here, is that Teah emerges from an underworld into a secondary world which is every bit enchanted as the world she has just left behind. The question remains: will the primary world be the same if and when she returns home?
Ogam Script, Runes and Symbols
Other Celtic elements surface throughout the novella; Mermie and Teah find the Pictish totem pole, and the sacred Senescent Tree becomes the Ogam which is inscribed with Pictish runes and symbols. The name of Queen Berilbog's people, the Firbog, stems from the Celtic legend of an earlier race, the Fir Bholg. In our story Josh the Pictish priest translates the two Ogam-script words 'Congnamaid Echraide': 'The Big O … through him all things are written' … or something to that effect.
Pastiche, Parody, and Metafiction
Like most novels set within the genre of fantasy, The Greying utilises the above mentioned narrative themes and elements to provide a secondary-world background set within the mindscape that is Landland. Additional elements can be viewed as leaning towards pastiche, parody, and metafiction where the narrative is much more than a conventional Bildungsroman (finding oneself) novel; although this, too, is important for readers to identify with. You can read more about metafiction on my blog.
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About the author
Over the last twenty-five years, the Author has exhibited a creative bent across a range of industries including graphic design, fine arts, and trompe l'oeil murals. He has lectured in fine arts and studied Art History, Literature, Adult Education, and Creative Writing. Works include play scripts and short stories. The Greying is his first published novella, with further books planned as part of the fantasy series. He draws inspiration from myth, legend, and fairy tales.
He lives on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia with his partner Kerri, and daughter Ruby.
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