Epic Fantasy Books by Alikai Bronach

Designing the covers of The Psion Saga : myth, method, and the ninefold vision How I designed 9 high fantasy book covers in 3 weeks for under $300! When I first began shaping The Psion Saga , I knew the story would be big — not just in page count, but in scope, symbolism and emotional weight. What I didn’t realise at the time was how deeply the visual identity of the series would become part of its storytelling. The covers weren’t an afterthought or a marketing necessity. They became a parallel narrative, a mythic thread running alongside the books themselves. Across nine volumes, the artwork evolves from intimate and symbolic to cosmic and cataclysmic, mirroring Taeon’s journey and the widening world around him. And yes — the number nine was no accident. The entire structure was inspired by the Nine Worlds and the Nine Roots of Yggdrasil in Norse mythology. I wanted the series to echo that same sense of ancient architecture: a universe held together by living pillars, each with its ...

I really like this show. I watched it with one of my teenage sons and it was one of the few TV shows we've ever watched together. As a child of the 80s and 90s, I can appreciate the nostalgia of it, the good old fashioned values and togetherness of the friends. I never played D&D but I am a fantasy novelist and a gamer who has played World of Warcraft since day one (one of many digital evolutions of D&D). Click the above image to download my free  Stranger Things  Season 5 wallpaper. My friends and I were more into watching movies and playing Nintendo 64 at sleepovers, but the principle was the same. A cozy space with no adults allowed, snacks, cubbies and recreational entertainment. As for the biking all over the neighbourhood, that was something I did (or ride my horse), but my friends didn't have such affluence and usually walked everywhere. They would have loved Stranger Things , but as a youngster I avoided anything remotely horror or thriller. It wasn't until ...

How to find a good fantasy novel? There are a lot of fantasy novels available, so how do you choose a good one? Depending on your tastes, some fantasy stories will appeal to you more than others. Perhaps you are looking for something action-packed, something character-driven or something literary. Perhaps you want lots of fantasy creatures, elves, dwarves or fairies. Or maybe you are looking for something very different to the typical fantasy, but still firmly in the fantastical. In 1996, I had not yet found my ideal fantasy novel. Although many blurbs covered themes, storylines and characters I was looking for, none of the books actually did so as completely or enticingly as I wanted. That is part of the original reason I started writing  The Psion Saga . What I really wanted, and what I would have considered an excellent epic fantasy novel, was the following: Animals and fantasy creatures, especially big cats and dragon-like flying creatures A setting in which women can...

I'm writing book 7 of The Psion Saga and there are a lot of sections in the point of view of a non-binary character named Riftweaver. I relish a challenge and pushing my skills with British English while embracing logical and necessary change.  I found myself using the term 'themself' instead of 'himself' or 'herself' and having to cancel the auto correction offered by Microsoft Word to 'themselves'. I wanted to check what I'm doing is right, so I asked Microsoft Copilot this: AI prompt: With a non-binary person would this grammar be ok: Rift pulled themself up into a sitting position. Copilot's answer Yes! "Themself" is a grammatically acceptable reflexive pronoun in this case. While "themselves" is traditionally used more often, "themself" is increasingly recognized when referring to a single non-binary person . So, "Rift pulled themself up into a sitting position" is correct and aligns with inclusiv...

I am about a third of the way through DragonAge - The Veilguard, playing as a warrior. I made him look like the character from my books, Talon.  I love how expressive BioWare have made the characters, especially your hero, Rook. Before this game, my number one favourite game of all time was DragonAge Inquisition, followed up by Final Fantasy X. I have also been a long-term player of World of Warcraft, since vanilla.  I loved Horizon Zero Dawn and got partway through Horizon Forbidden West. I appreciate games like the Ark Survival series, Valheim and Conan Exiles for the setting and survival aspects, but find them a bit too hard. No Man's Sky occupied me on multiple platforms for hundreds of hours. But there's nothing quite like seeing your character up close and personal in the movie cinema-style cut scenes and live action of BioWare's masterpieces. The dialogue feels believable. The characters are well-rounded. There's sometimes a bit too much talking and not enough op...

As authors, it behoves us to know whether we are writing in British English or American English. The choice between the two often comes down to the locality of your publisher, or if you are self-publishing, to personal choice.  Pick one and be consistent. That's my advice. Because I am Australian and Australia is a Commonwealth country, I write in Australian English, which adopts British spelling, not American. It is endlessly frustrating when, despite choosing Australian English as my language in Microsoft Word, the spell check continues to put red squiggles under every word that the Americans decided to change. I found myself asking why did those pesky Americans do this? It's so inconvenient. The differences in spelling between American and British English primarily stem from historical linguistic changes and efforts to standardize spelling in the 18th and 19th centuries. Here's a brief overview of why these differences developed: 1. Noah Webster's Influence The most ...

My son and I had some fun tonight with Firefly, Adobe's AI. It's changed a lot since I last used it. The prompt: A boy who loves frogs on Saturn. The generated image: Often AI gets a few details weird. It especially struggles with hands and feet. I took it into Photoshop and used generative AI and some manual touching up with the paintbrush, healing brush, dodge and eraser tools. I first fixed the frog feet, which don't look right in the original. After fixing the AI-generated frog feet: Photoshop really struggled with the top foot of the frog on the right, so I copy-pasted its other foot and changed it a bit to deal with that. Then I noticed that the boy's right hand and foot are not looking right. So I used generative AI to fix both of those in Photoshop as well. Here's the result: There are a few other oddities I touched up quickly. Not putting any serious time into this, as it's just been for a bit of fun. See if you can spot them! Peace!

Alikai Bronach, high fantasy author (chibi-style AI generated by BING Dalle) Is it possible to write a 100K novel in four months while also working at your full time job? Yes! Absolutely! Here's how: I've been writing novels since I was 14 and am now in my forties. After having kids, I took a big break in writing, but now I'm back with a vengeance. I have a day job, but in my spare time I write. To be more specific, I plan then I write. Planning is not for everyone. I get that. For me, however, my creativity is freed when I have done the planning beforehand.  Pelsha, a member of the Kriite warriors guild (AI image generated with neural.love) When I come to write my new adult fantasy novels, I know exactly where I am going. The story tells itself as I'm going, so the plans will always change, but the essence and the logic is already nutted out. I'm going to share what I do in case it is helpful to somebody else. If not, that's OK. Each to their own. Nyno, a commo...

  This is Emperor Ciera, a skyearl, a furred and feathered dragon. He is 20 metres long and I've drawn a horse for comparison. The oldest and largest living skyearl on Chryne, Ciera is of the Keltoar breed and is over 300 years old. The battle seat on his neck is large enough to carry three people. Skyearls range in size from a large cat to a Ciera's size. They live in Tanza, the most successful Kriite nation in Chryne. Skyearls are a civilised species with their own language, culture and hierarchy. Most can speak a variety of human languages aloud. They are born with psionic powers and can use the waves to communicate telepathically with each other. Once a skyearl has bonded with a single human they become a Sleffion-kin.  In addition to using the waves for communication, skyearls can draw water molecules from the waves and breathe them out of their mouths, creating artificial clouds called shrouds. Some skyearls can also transport a hard white substance from the waves that i...