Welcome to Solandara, friends.
Solandara is a world that blends fantasy with steampunk. It is a world that was once held in peace by the Chimera and the Empress. It is a world that I now welcome you to enter.
Solandaran Reflection is a new series that I’m starting where I will share information about my new fantasy series. It will be a lot of behind-the-scenes information, but I will do my best to avoid spoilers, but if you want completely spoiler free, just skip over any entry that starts with Solandaran Reflection. Why am I sharing this here? Well, because it is still another window into who I am. The characters and the story say something about me, intentionally or unintentionally. I’ll let you decide where my inner muse is getting her information.
This is going to be a book series. The series is going to be broken into volumes of one or more books. The first volume is planned to be five books. This first series sets up the foundation for the world and revealing the stakes. It will have a solid ending that won’t leave any lose threads. There will be seeds for future books, but nothing that will disappoint if the series doesn’t continue. My reason for that is, if the first series fails, then I can end the series without regret if I wanted to. That said, I love writing, and I love how the current story is progressing, so I plan to continue, if only for my own gratification.
“Is this a kissing book?” – The Princess Bride
No, it isn’t a kissing book. At least not the first five books, and probably not others. Since I have no idea what comes after the first five, I can’t speak to the future. My books are character driven at the core. They are designed to get into the minds and motivations of the major players. I don’t want one-dimensional villains or cardboard heroes. I want to show my characters as complex and human, even if they’re of a different race. Tropes should be used wisely and with purpose. The characters and their reactions should be believable, even in the realm of fantasy.
So, with that in mind, where did Solandara originate?
My first real attempt at writing was a fantasy story that I started in 1989. I had the inspiration for it from the Nintendo game, Final Fantasy. The original. Four warriors of light, brought together, to save the world. Each warrior had a crystal symbolizing an element. Earth, fire, water, and air. Their journey transformed them, and they ultimately faced the enemy that had brought forth the elemental fiends that were destroying their world. Then, sprinkle in Dungeons & Dragons ideas, you have my original world of Karn.
Instead of having all my heroes together from the start, I was going to have them face their individual challenges and meet along the way. The first was meant to be the core protagonist. He was a prince and a reluctant hero. His younger sister was his driving catalyst, that helped spur him to action. She would join him on his quest. It was your typical “noble knight vs. evil wizard” trope, but for a 16 year old, what would you expect?
At the time, I wrote everything by hand on good old college ruled paper. It was the 80’s, after all. I had a computer, but I was often writing at school, so that just made sense. I don’t know how many pages I wrote, and I still have the three ring binders somewhere, but everything now is strictly memory.
Despite all the hard work, the story fizzled out. I had no real plot. I was just writing, and I wound up writing myself into a corner, so I let it fall by the wayside. Unfinished, but never forgotten.
Later, while I was working security, I started a new story, this one a science fiction story. This was not a “good vs. evil” story as my previous story. It was a galactic civil war, much like Star Wars, but without the space magic or the clear-cut good and evil. Both sides had their views and those views weren’t right or wrong. Both sides were good, and both were bad. But the story wasn’t about the war, it was about two people in the war. A sister and her brother, on opposite sides of the war, both believing they are correct. It was told from the sister’s point of view through a series of journal entries. I didn’t get far in it, because writing in the first person like that was very difficult, but I loved the concept. The idea that a story could be written about the characters, and that the characters are not inherently good or evil, but just making the choices they believe is best.
“Luke, you’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.” – Star Wars: Return of the Jedi
Now we move to the time when I was writing stories through a type of role playing on the comic book forum. I created a character who was an amnesiac female. Cliched, I know, but I did it because I didn’t really want to develop a full backstory for her immediately. Her backstory came about via a combination of ideas from how her role playing story evolved, and collaboration with the other players in the story. She is the one who became the Empress of the world, a role she didn’t really want. In a future Legacy Reflection, I will let you know more about her, but what’s important here, is the concept of an Empress saving the world came directly from this, which has its roots way back in the World of Karn.
The next step toward Solandara came after I had been in Second Life for a couple years. It was at a time I was doing the long commute on the bus from home to work. I had decided I would create a web comic using screen shots from Second Life. My avatar would be the main character, and my friends would be the supporting cast. Or I’d create other avatars to fill in the blanks. The name Solandara was derived from Gaelic, I believe, meaning Second Life. So, yeah, the name of the world came from the name of the virtual world that was my lifeline, and my main character was my avatar. Even more, one of the other major characters (which was an avatar I created) was named after the prince in the Karn story.
This first iteration of Solandara was started with a prophecy. A world being torn apart by elemental forces, and two shifters (shapeshifters) named Solan and Dara stood against them and saved the world, but vanished in the process. The last stand took place in a city called Atlantis, which disappeared from the world at the time. Now the gods are stirring, and a prophecy is spoken to a human prince and a furry fox queen from warring kingdoms. The prince is from an entirely human empire where technology is futuristic, and has a robot companion that has a female body (not sexualized). The queen is from a magical forest kingdom of furries. then there’s my character, on earth, who gets a necklace from her grandmother and winds up getting transported to the new world, discovering she’s a shapeshifter and is the prophesied savior of the world.
Making that was time consuming, complex, and practically unsustainable for me. So, I never even got to my character leaving earth. Despite that, the ideas were still there, and I felt I had some good ideas I could build from in the future.
“The good writer seems to be writing about himself, but has his eye always on that thread of the universe, which runs through himself and all things.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Dungeons and Dragons. Final Fantasy. Second Life. Furries. Non-sexual stories. All those certainly seem to point to the fact that I was writing about myself. There are centralized themes core to myself, and core to the story. Things such as bringing peace, and flawed characters that are neither good nor evil on their own. Their choices make them who they are. All of that converged early this year as I began working on Solandara in earnest. I wanted to take elements from my past writing, and bring them together into a new tale. A character driven fantasy on an epic scale
I returned once more to the four elements, as I had in my original Karn story. I returned to the idea that there’s good and bad on both sides, but not quite as prominent as shown in the science fiction story. I returned to Solandara. I brought the Empress idea back to the forefront. I took ideas scattered throughout the years and threw them into a blender and built a new Solandara. No longer based in Second Life, it was now just a name to signify light and shadow. Now, I present to you the Mythology of Solandara.
In the beginning, there was only the void. From this emptiness emerged two opposing forces: Solan, the radiant God of Light, and Dara, the enigmatic Goddess of Shadow. They were not rivals, but reflections of each other. They were symbols of light and darkness as well as life and death. Their unity, not their opposition, gave rise to harmony. From their eternal bond, the world of Solandara was born.
To shape this new realm, Solan and Dara created the Titans, elemental beings of immense power, each embodying a force of nature and a season of the year:
Arra, the Titan Goddess of Air, brought breath and springtime, infusing the world with vitality, wisdom, and the winds of change. She sculpted the skies and gave rise to the Aranites, winged beings who live by riddles, artistry, and contemplation.
Dotan, the Titan God of Fire, ignited the summer with passion, invention, and the forge of progress. He kindled the world’s core and inspired the rise of the Dotarrans, individuals driven by innovation, conquest, and power.
Talam, the Titan God of Earth, laid the foundations of autumn, nurturing the land with patience, harvest, and enduring strength. He shaped the forests and mountains, and from his influence grew the Talassians, a peaceful people in communion with nature and guardians of balance.
Eske, Titan Goddess of Water, cloaked the world in winter’s embrace, guiding storms, introspection, and the mysteries of the deep. She filled the oceans with life and emotion, and beneath the waves, the Eskans emerged. They were a hidden people who dwell under the water, silently remembering history and sending prophetic warnings through dreams.
Together, the Titans sculpted Solandara into a realm of wonder. From their combined essence, life emerged in many forms. Among those forms were the Chimera, mystical beings born of all four elements, created by Solan and Dara to preserve the balance the Titans had established. To unify the peoples of Solandara, the gods appointed an Empress, a Chimera sovereign imbued with divine favor, chosen to rule with wisdom and grace.
For a time, harmony reigned. Under the Empress and the Chimera, the peoples of the Titans lived in relative peace. But as the Titans grew in power and pride, their unity fractured. Arra’s aloof wisdom clashed with Dotan’s fiery ambition. Talam’s patience was tested by Eske’s emotional tides. Disagreements turned to rivalries, and rivalries to war.
The resulting Titan War shattered the world. Elemental forces clashed with cataclysmic fury. Tempests tore the skies, infernos scorched the land, oceans surged in wrath, and the earth itself trembled. The peoples of the Titans, once unified, turned on one another, driven by elemental loyalties and fractured trust. All suffered equally in the chaos.
The Chimera, once guardians of peace, fought valiantly to restore order. But even they could not withstand the fury of the Titans. Their sanctuary, Atlantis, a shining beacon of harmony, magic, and progress, was lost. It vanished beneath the sea. In desperation, the surviving Chimera fled, and the world was left fractured and grieving.
Witnessing the failure of the Chimera, Solan and Dara finally intervened. With sorrow and resolve, they imprisoned the Titans within four celestial moons, each reflecting the essence of its captive: Arra in the white moon, Dotan in crimson, Talam in emerald, and Eske in blue. With the Titans sealed, the gods withdrew from the world, leaving behind a fragile peace and a world forever changed.
Yet all was not lost. A prophecy was whispered into the winds of time. It was a promise that when the bonds of the moons begin to fray and the Titans stir once more, a Chosen Chimera will rise. Born of all elements and bearing the lost legacy of the Empress, she will walk the path of trials and transformation. Through courage, wisdom, and sacrifice, she will restore the balance of Solandara.
Most dismiss the prophecy as myth. The Chimera are believed extinct, Atlantis a fable, and the Empress merely a tale for children. But as the moons wax and wane, and omens stir in the skies, some dare to wonder if the time of redemption has come. When the Chosen appears, and her trials complete, she will ascend as Empress, restoring what was broken and uniting the world once more.
So, there you have the mythology. Ties back to Karn. Ties to the Empress story-line from the comic book forums. Ties to the first iteration of Solandara. Wrapped together in a new package, ready to give to the world. And you, my friends, are able to share in the backstory and world-building before the book hits the digital shelves.
