The other day, one of those Facebook “year ago” notices showed up on my feed, and it felt like a punch to the kidneys. I don’t recall exactly what it was, but it related to my excitement for the imminent release of Elenya’s Saga. And… that obviously hasn’t happened yet. I launched this site in October, again thinking I was close to launching my series. And… it still hasn’t launched. So, why not?

I work to advance my writing almost every day. It hasn’t always been Elenya’s Saga that got my attention. The audiobook for Lifeweaver launched! Lifeweaver also got a new print edition and updated eBook! I have done a  (maybe final?) round of revisions on the first four books of Elenya’s Saga. Each book improved by leaps and bounds. Bondsword’s War got the biggest update with a stronger start and other improvements. Last night, I finished revisions for Chosen’s Ascension, and I feel great about it. I continue to work on artwork and assets to create polished print and eBook versions. In short, I am keeping busy. Elenya’s Saga is coming, and hopefully soon.

The revisions to Bondsword’s War elevated that book from being the weakest in the series to possibly the strongest. Bondsword’s War is in final draft form. The final revisions came about because I kicked off one final round of beta reading. Unfortunately, life gets in the way, and volunteers’ lives don’t revolve around my novels. I hope to get all nine books through this last round because this beta reader did amazing work. Health challenges and a busy life have slowed that down. Regardless of what happens there, I owe a huge thanks to that reader for the work done on Bondsword’s War. I applied a similar thought process to books two through four, but I hope to hear from the beta reader who did so much good on Bondsword’s War. Thus, there may be another set of revisions for the rest of the series.

The writing rocks. I love writing. The struggles come elsewhere. I haven’t yet started with a final line editor to help with that last polish. For example, capitalization is one of my weak points. I can be inconsistent, and I don’t have the brainpower to worry about the correct capitalization for summoner while I’m focused on story and character. Elenya’s Saga deserves a level of professionalism beyond what I did for LIfeweaver twelve years ago. I don’t know how long that process will take.

Then there’s planning a launch and working out marketing. I have always been a pretty private person with a very limited online and social media presence. Now I have to go from zero online presence to having a mailing list, and followers on Instagram, and Youtube and Tiktok and…. Aaaah!!! It’s overwhelming. Somedays I feel paralyzed by my incompetence. I published Lifeweaver and did nothing to market it. I don’t want to do the same disservice to Elenya’s Saga.

I plan to wait until I have at least the first three books finished. I’ll have final eBook files and the final printed editions on my bookshelves before I launch. That wait is going to kill me. The enthusiastic, emotional side wants to publish what I have right now. Figuring out the launch and the marketing is the biggest, scariest unknown in all of this. The first three months are the most important. I hope to figure that out, and it may ultimately be the deciding factor for when the series launches.

So there you have it. I am not idle. The writing progresses. The marketing stalls. I hope to release new books soon, but want to line everything up to do this series justice. As such, I don’t know when it will be released yet.

Here goes. The obligatory discussion of Tom Bombadil. A rite of passage for any self-respecting fantasy nerd. I won’t speculate about Bombadil’s nature, origins, etc., because Tolkien himself is on record saying he is an enigma. Instead, I want to discuss the purpose he served in Tolkien’s narrative. Many criticize his inclusion in the books. I understand the criticisms. I hope that I can explain the reasons why Bombadil works, and works brilliantly.

Tom Bombadil is a powerful literary foil with Frodo. He’s the very first character Frodo meets after leaving the Shire. Bombadil rescues Frodo twice, once from the tree and once from the barrows. In both cases, Frodo’s vulnerability and ignorance contrasts with Bombadil’s absolute dominion and deep understanding.

Shortly after Frodo leaves his sacred boundary, the Shire, we see Bombadil unwilling to cross an arbitrary line that is his boundary. Frodo gives up everything in a self-sacrifice, and Bombadil remains in his sheltered, self-centered world. The contrast is particularly painful given how Bombadil should have been the perfect savior for their predicament with the ring.

The objection Gandalf raises to offering the ring to Bombadil further shows how Bombadil and Frodo are opposites. The same attribute that qualified Frodo to bear the ring disqualified Bombadil: character. Gandalf essentially said that Bombadil would not take the ring seriously enough to be a safe guardian. What a damning statement about Bombadil’s character. How could a deific being that loves living things NOT care about something that threatens all living things? The same character flaw behind Bombadil’s refusal to leave his home makes him ill-suited to bear the ring: self-centered indifference for the rest of the world.

Bombadil underscores two tragedies. Frodo’s tragedy is obvious. Bombadil’s tragedy is subtle. We see a tragedy in Bombadil’s absolute capacity going to utter waste. Imagine how much suffering Bombadil could have averted.

Tolkien’s mentions of Bombadil demonstrate his intent. Two mentions have already been discussed: the beginning and the Council of Elrond. Tolkien’s final mention also serves his purpose. Right before the Scouring of the Shire, Gandalf leaves the hobbits behind to go spend time with Bombadil. This subtle name-drop reminds us that Bombadil remains, stagnant and unchanged. Tolkien’s subsequent writing shows how much the hobbits have grown, and we see the depth of what Frodo gave up.

Bombadil is polarizing for many Tolkien readers. I understand many of the complaints people have about Bombadil. His inclusion feels like an interruption to the narrative. He would have been a disaster in the film adaptations. Imagine the hobbits fleeing the wraiths, only to find Robin Williams in yellow boots and a blue jacket, singing and dancing. Yeah, it would have been awful. I like what The Rings of Power did, giving us Bombadil in a different context that worked in that medium.

I love how Tolkien included Bombadil, and how he used him to show deep, poignant themes without hitting us over the head with them. He works as a powerful demonstration of who Frodo is, by showing us Frodo’s sharp opposite.

It finally finished the review and approval process! Jim Dixon did an absolutely amazing job, and the story really comes to life with his great narration. I couldn’t be happier with the results.

https://www.audible.com/pd/B0GHZS61N2

In setting up the print edition, I decided to do a new cover. The old cover is a great illustration, but it didn’t hit the mood and tone of the novel (grim-dark). The print and audiobook editions of Liveweaver are close This new cover is a step in that direction. This one was also designed with the intent to work well in a square image format, which is the cover shape for audiobooks.

The recording of Lifeweaver’s audiobook is done! Jim Dixon did an incredible job, and both of us are really excited to share it with everyone. I have decided to do a new cover. I love the painting for the current cover, but some helpful feedback points out that it doesn’t communicate the tone and style of the book to a potential reader. Lifeweaver is a gritty, intense story with a grim and dark world, so the cover probably needs to capture that a bit better. The old cover is now an interior illustration. I will soon update the e-book and also have a print version!

The print version is almost all done. I have finished laying out the interior. As part of this work, I designed the scene breaks and chapter images. I think it is beautiful to see how it should print. Hopefully, it won’t be too expensive with a print-on-demand service. These updates also apply to the e-book, and if I understand correctly, anyone who has purchased the e-book will automatically receive the updated version.

I really love a unique touch added to the updated formatting. Aitrox is almost ever-present in this narrative, so each chapter gets a portrait of her as the chapter image. I portrayed five moods, hoping to convey her different responses to things in or around the chapter. In reality, I would need several more moods, but I had to draw the line somewhere.

I’m back for another discussion about Robert Jordan’s sprawling epic, The Wheel of Time. In an alternate universe, maybe my trepidation would be justified. Alas, I’m kind of blogging for an audience of two readers maybe— Hi Mom! Someday, perhaps my books will find an audience, and some fans will discover these old posts.

Anyway, I ramble. On to the topic of The Wheel of Time and Jordan’s choice to revive the Forsaken. That choice points to my biggest, deepest frustration with the Wheel of Time series. I take issue with the power balance between good and evil in the series.

Power balancing is always hard, especially in epic high fantasy. Readers crave an underdog. A story will struggle to generate page-turning tension in a world where good outmatches evil (maybe I’ll ramble about C.S. Lewis or Tolkien’s good-is-greater narratives at some point, but not today). Robert Jordan’s world presented as a cosmos with balance between good and evil, sort of a yin and yang kind of world… until it didn’t.

The Dark One has every advantage. That doesn’t inherently make a story bad. The original Star Wars Trilogy (episodes 1-4) succeeds on the strength of an overwhelming underdog story. The reason it didn’t work with the Wheel of Time is because it consistently robs all the narrative victories of any meaning.

Part one already discussed how that happened with the Forsaken. However, Robert Jordan’s universe led to an ending that I found profoundly unsatisfying. The series ended, not with a victory, but with a can kicked down the road. The Dark One essentially gets to try as many times as he wants, knowing that good cannot win. Rand’s victory was no victory, just a delay of the Dark One’s inevitable triumph. Humanity is doomed to retread the same conflict with each revolution of the series’ eponymous wheel. The ending is thematically consistent with the repeating cycles of the Wheel of Time. It’s just miserably unsatisfying, like we’re Phill Conners stuck in Punxsutawney. Groundhog Day worked because Phill grew with each cycle and eventually escaped. I would have found a similar conclusion to Jordan’s cycle far more compelling as an ending.

 Ok. Deep breath. I can do this. I can write a blog post discussing The Wheel of Time books. Robert Jordan did so many incredible things with this sprawling, epic series. Reading Eye of the World inspired me to improve my world building after writing my first disaster, um, I mean novel. He showed the fantasy world that we can move beyond the amazing foundation Tolkien gave us. Yet, I learn from identifying the strengths and the weaknesses of the authors I read, and Jordan is no different. In this post about The Wheel of Time, I am going to address a big mistake (in my opinion) and how that mistake leads us to the first of my two primary issues with the series. Part two will come later, where I will discuss my other complaint, which this mistake highlights.

 Robert Jordan should not have revived the dead Forsaken. There. I said it (wrote it). Why did I zero in on that choice? Reviving the Forsaken directly leads us to the two issues I have with this series.

 When I read Eye of the World and Rand killed a Forsaken, that was an awesome moment that rewarded the reader for their time spent in the book. Books two, three and five give us similar satisfying moments. They gave me as a reader payoff in progress and purpose. While there may have been hints about their deaths not being final, I missed them amidst such a massive series. Then in book six, we learn that the Dark One just reweaves the Forsaken into new bodies. I was ticked! Why? You had fourteen of these god-like opponents! I guess that wasn’t enough. I guess that Jordan needed an infinite supply of Forsaken.

It wouldn’t have been so bad if it had come at some cost for the enemy. Had we gotten an Empire Strikes Back kind of epic narrative that culminates in the remaining Forsaken triumphing and opening the way for the return of their fallen partners, that would have been incredible. Learning that the Dark One just does it with seemingly casual ease sucked. This wasn’t a plot twist. It was a betrayal of a contract he had established through five books. In one scene early in book six, Rand’s triumphs in books one and two were wiped out, and I wondered why I bothered.

Robert Jordan showed right there that he seemed incapable of reigning in his story. I believe the series would have had a much more satisfying arc if the Forsaken had stayed dead and the stakes had risen with each book as the Dark One engaged more directly to offset his losses. Let us see how Rand’s progress pokes the figurative bear, simultaneously improving his odds while increasing his danger.

I’ve heard fans talk about “the slog” referring to some of the slower middle books in the series. In my opinion, the slog stems from the same fundamental problem. Jordan could have reigned in his narrative better and avoided writing himself into a corner that required an entire book in the series that amounted to set up with no satisfying climax.

 I’ll talk about the way the revived Forsaken points to another frustration I have in my next post. I want to reiterate that I have tremendous respect for Jordan’s work. I would be honored to have my writing likened to a writer of his caliber, and thrilled to have a writing career even remotely as successful.

Who is more heroic, Frod or Sam? It’s a common question among us fantasy enthusiasts (nerds, geeks, take your pick). Don’t get me wrong, I love Sam. Even Tolkien praised him and lauded his heroism. As I make a case for Frodo, please resist the temptation to feel like any of it takes away from Sam. There’s plenty of hero pie to go around in a story as epic as The Lord of the Rings.

Frodo’s detractors always get hung up on Frodo’s final moments at Mount Doom when he takes the ring for himself. All right, let’s talk about that. In the Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf tells Frodo to throw the ring into his fireplace. He then observes that Frodo wasn’t willing to do so. This is not a demonstration of Frodo’s weakness, but of the Ring’s power over the mind. The ring already won. Even in Bag End, the heart of Frodo’s domain, his safe bastion from the world, the ring’s will usurped control. Gandalf had to have known that the ring would be exponentially more powerful at the Cracks of Doom, the heart of Sauron’s power. Gandalf took a tremendous leap of faith.

“There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides that of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, in which case you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.”

Either Gandalf was reckless to send Frodo on the quest to Mount Doom, or profoundly wise. Tolkien makes his intent clear in The Silmarillion when he states that Olorin’s (Gandalf’s) wisdom was the primary force that led to Sauron’s defeat.

According to Tolkien Gandalf was no fool. In his wisdom, he knew the ring would overpower Frodo at Mount Doom after seeing the ring overpower him in the Shire.

Readers often detract from Isuldur for falling to the ring’s power at the Cracks of Doom. The film’s portrayal of Isuldur does not do him any favors. Yet, Isuldur was an incredible hero. He resisted Sauron in Numenor, saved the White Tree, and led a few faithful to Middle Earth. Isuldur is literally the savior of the line of Numenor.

At the Cracks of Doom, the ring had no rival, especially among mortals. At the heart of its power, no mortal could have destroyed the ring. Only the influence of the higher will that Gandalf knew to trust in could destroy the ring. As such, no fair-minded fan of the books can detract from Frodo’s heroism because of the ring’s unassailable power.

Readers often overlook the profundity of Frodo’s sacrifice and his courageous willingness to take it on. Frodo understood that leaving the Shire with the ring had portentous implications. Even so, he never faltered. We see Tom Bombadil, a being eminently capable of dealing with the ring, refuse to leave his comfort zone, even when the safety of all living things was at stake. At that moment, we watch Frodo, eminently incapable of dealing with the ring, sacrificing everything he loves for others. The contrast is again made at the Council of Elrond. Surrounded by legends and heroes, Frodo steps forward and volunteers. That is heroic.

Frodo bore the burden of the ring beyond his breaking point and kept going. No other in all of Middle Earth knew the burden Frodo bore. That is heroic. Frodo carried the hopes of all that was good in Middle Earth on his shoulders until it crushed him. He paid the ultimate price, robbed of peace in Middle Earth for the rest of his life. As I said in the beginning, there is plenty of hero pie to go around in The Lord of the Rings. Frodo often gets served up a tentative, meager first serving of this figurative hero pie, and that’s a shame. He’s a hobbit! Let’s make sure he gets his breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, lunch, afternoon tea, and supper, all with big helpings of pie. He deserves it.

Welcome to DanStaten.com where you can keep up to date about Dan’s new series Elenya’s Saga. What is Elenya’s Saga, you ask?

Elenya’s Saga is a high fantasy series in a rich, complex world with multiple cultures and magic systems. It’s a fantasy epic presented in nine focused, digestible parts. Think Stormlight-lite; a series of nine long novellas or short novels. Dan initially intended it to be a trilogy, but wrote parts that stayed focused on one character’s story and theme at a time. When the time came to interweave the different threads together, Dan realized that he had something unique and special as nine smaller novels. Each novel sits with a character, telling a personal, focused story while revealing the broader saga of battling gods vying for control of all creation. Each part has a full build, climax, and resolution, with themes and progression that work best when not interrupted by the interleaving of other storylines. The format creates fun parallelisms in the storytelling, and the moments when everything converges hit differently in this unique format.

Dan plans to release each novel in eBook and print formats. He is also exploring the possibility of producing audiobook releases of Elenya’s Saga. Hopefully, there will be good news to report on that in the future.

Once part one, Bondsword’s War, goes live, the goal will be to release every six weeks until the series is fully published. In the meantime, you can check out an older novel Dan has written, Lifeweaver. Dan is actively working on an audiobook production of Lifeweaver, and expects to also produce and publish a print edition in the future.

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