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Fantasy Novel Excerpt and Appeal
Aug. 9th, 2009 10:52 am"I am reminded of the dictum of Charlemagne III, that in war one must be generous, and always give the enemy more battle than they want. In this case you gave the enemy more cooperation than he wanted."
I need some help with this book. It is set in a world physically like ours, but with magic; history has taken a very different course. The time is contemporary, but they are just getting automobiles, so technology is between one and two centuries behind ours, depending on the field. The empire of Charlemagne remained intact for several centuries after his death. Today, the primary source of unease in the world is a nation which split from the empire a few hundred years back. This is Carolina, roughly equivalent to Germany in our world. The rest of the empire is now known as the Compact, and the home of the school mentioned below. It is roughly France, Spain, much of Greece, Italy and bits of several other nations. Unfortunately, while the land is currently at peace and prosperous not everyone in it is content with the status quo.
The setting for most of the story is an academy for magical instruction. While it is a civilian institution, it is supported by the government in return for magical aid in time of war. A new teacher has recently arrived, part of a program by the current Grand Regent (the speaker, above) to expand the types of magic studied and taught. The story mostly alternates between the new teacher and a young student, giving two primary points of view to what is happening.
My working title is _Academy_. I would like suggestions for another title, one to be used for submission and - hopefully - publication. I currently have over 83,000 words written. Once finished I would also welcome readers. That, though, will probably not be for a few months.
I need some help with this book. It is set in a world physically like ours, but with magic; history has taken a very different course. The time is contemporary, but they are just getting automobiles, so technology is between one and two centuries behind ours, depending on the field. The empire of Charlemagne remained intact for several centuries after his death. Today, the primary source of unease in the world is a nation which split from the empire a few hundred years back. This is Carolina, roughly equivalent to Germany in our world. The rest of the empire is now known as the Compact, and the home of the school mentioned below. It is roughly France, Spain, much of Greece, Italy and bits of several other nations. Unfortunately, while the land is currently at peace and prosperous not everyone in it is content with the status quo.
The setting for most of the story is an academy for magical instruction. While it is a civilian institution, it is supported by the government in return for magical aid in time of war. A new teacher has recently arrived, part of a program by the current Grand Regent (the speaker, above) to expand the types of magic studied and taught. The story mostly alternates between the new teacher and a young student, giving two primary points of view to what is happening.
My working title is _Academy_. I would like suggestions for another title, one to be used for submission and - hopefully - publication. I currently have over 83,000 words written. Once finished I would also welcome readers. That, though, will probably not be for a few months.
