CSFF Blog Tour – Karen Hancock and Return of the Guardian-King, Part 2


Uh, yep, part 2. I posted part one this morning over at Speculative Faith. That post is entitled The Anatomy of a Fantasy—a Look at the Legends of the Guardian-King, Part 1.

As my contribution to the CSFF Blog Tour for Return of the Guardian-King by Karen Hancock, I decided to delve into what makes Karen such a good writer.

A large task.

I first heard of Karen Hancock in the fall of 2003 at a small American Christian Writers conference in Anaheim, California. Of the 30 or so conferees, a hand full of us, 5 or so, were fantasy lovers. One of the women was reading Light of Eidon, first of the Guardian-King books.

    Light of Eidon cover

She raved about the book.

Coincidentally, one of the teachers at the conference was Steve Laube, who as an editor with Bethany House Publishing had signed Karen to a contract. Needless to say, he raved about the book.

Not too long after, I pleaded with my church librarian to purchase a copy of that and of Karen’s first book Arena. To my delight, she agreed, and I read my first Karen Hancock.

I was stunned.

I don’t know what I’d expected, but it wasn’t the intricate world I found. I’d even read some of Karen’s pages posted on her web site, but I wasn’t prepared for the realistic world of political intrigue, religious conflict, international clashes, prejudice, and brutality I found between the covers.

That sense of reality set that book right along side any of the captivating fantasies. I was transported to Somewhere Else. I’ll give you a small sampling:

His senses keyed as tightly as if he’d just stepped back into an Esurhite arena, Abramm Kalladorne stood on Wanderer’s quarterdeck with his two liegemen, nervously scanning the leaden waters of Kalladorne Bay. As the white cliffs guarding the bay’s mouth slid silently astern, he wondered if the other men’s stomachs had just done the same little twist his own had. Probably.

It was one thing to boast of slaying sea monsters and sharing fabulous rewards in the warm, smoky haven of a Qarkeshan tavern, quite another to sail alone past a gaggle of crudely made warning buoys into the quiet, empty waters of what had once been the busiest harbor in Kiriath. Off the port gunwale, a broken mast listed in the spray-plumed rocks at the base of the western headland. With shredded canvas still fluttering from its yardarm, it stood in silent memorial to all the vessels lost to the monster since spring—six of them fully rigged merchantmen weighing over five hundred tons. Large, strong, stable ships.
-Excerpt from The Shadow Within, Karen Hancock (Bethany House)

It’s the details that make me feel as if I am there, seeing what Abramm sees: white cliffs at the mouth of a bay, leaden waters, warning buoys, a broken mast amid spray-plumed rocks, shredded canvas fluttering.

Yet none of the detail comes at me as a laundry list. It is skillfully woven around the action. In that way, it does not call attention to itself.

I’ve read some other authors who have beautiful, detailed description, but in delivering it, the story comes to a screeching halt. Not so in Karen’s books. She creates a believable place without even letting the reader know that’s what she’s doing.

Place is important in all fiction, but in fantasy? It becomes as central as the characters—or nearly so. One of the elements of Karen’s writing that makes her books so enjoyable—so successful—is her ability to bring her fantasy world alive.

Take some time in the next few days to check out what other bloggers on the tour are saying about Karen and Return of the Guardian-King, especially those new to the tour Dawn King, Jill Hart, Heather R. Hunt, Chawna Schroeder, and Becca Johnson. Also, welcome back Rebecca Grabill from a long hiatus. And note the new blog address for Robin Parrish.

Published in: on April 16, 2007 at 12:08 pm  Comments (11)