''Crown of Stars'' is a series of
epic fantasy
High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot. Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Press, ...
novels
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
by American author Alis A. Rasmussen, under the pen-name
Kate Elliott Kate Elliott may refer to:
* Kate Elliott (actress)
Kate Elliott (born 30 December 1981) is a New Zealand television and film actress. She was born in and currently resides in Auckland, New Zealand.
Kate played the role of one of the "Libera ...
. The series consists of seven novels.
Novels
Novels in the series are:
* ''King's Dragon''
(1997)
* ''Prince of Dogs''
(1998)
* ''The Burning Stone''
(1999)
* ''Child of Flame''
(2000)
* ''The Gathering Storm''
(2003)
* ''In the Ruins''
(2005)
* ''Crown of Stars''
(2006)
Storyline overview
''Crown of Stars'' is set in Novaria, a continent inspired by
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...
. Over the course of the novels it is revealed that 2,700 years prior to the present a war erupted between humanity and a race of elf-like beings called the Ashioi. Human sorcerers were able to banish the Ashioi homeland to another plane of existence, but in doing so unleashed a vast cataclysm upon the world that devastated much of humankind. Humanity recovered, initially under the rule of the mighty Dariyan Empire, and later under its successor states, guided by the wisdom of the Daisanite Church (which is based on
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...
).
The story opens with the kingdoms of Wender and Varre, unified under the rule of King Henry, threatened by both external and internal threats. Sabella, Henry's elder half-sister, is fomenting rebellion against his rule in Varre, whilst the inhuman Eika have invaded from the north, raiding the north coast and threatening the city of Gent. In King Henry's court there is intrigue brewing as Henry has not chosen an heir from his three legitimate children, and it is well known that he favours his bastard son Sanglant, who by the law cannot inherit the throne.
The series follows the fortunes of two young people, Alain and Liath, as they are drawn into this web of intrigue, eventually learning that the banished Ashioi homeland is being drawn back to Earth, but its return will spark a cataclysm as great as the one that accompanied its departure.
Historical parallels
''Crown of Stars'' is heavily influenced by real history, particularly that of Europe in the early medieval period. In an interview Kate Elliott acknowledged that many of the cultures in her world are drawn directly from real-world sources:
Chronicles Network interview
/ref>
*Alba is Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
* Salia is France
* Varre corresponds to The Low Countries
The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...
* Wendar is Germany
* North Mark is Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establishe ...
* Eikaland corresponds to Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
and Sweden
*Polenie is Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...
*Salavii are the Slavs
*Austra corresponds to Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
* Ungria corresponds to Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...
* Karrone is Switzerland
* Darre is Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, while Aosta is not the city but the whole of Italy
*Arethousa is Byzantium
* Quman represents assorted steppe tribes (Tartars
Tartary ( la, Tartaria, french: Tartarie, german: Tartarei, russian: Тартария, Tartariya) or Tatary (russian: Татария, Tatariya) was a blanket term used in Western European literature and cartography for a vast part of Asia bound ...
etc.) or the Golden Horde
The Golden Horde, self-designated as Ulug Ulus, 'Great State' in Turkic, was originally a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate established in the 13th century and originating as the northwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. With the fragment ...
* Hessi merchants are a parallel of Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
traders
*Ashioi correspond to the Aztecs
The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl l ...
* Kartiako is Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the clas ...
* Jinna is Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkme ...
* Andalla is Iberia
The Iberian Peninsula (),
**
* Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica''
**
**
* french: Péninsule Ibérique
* mwl, Península Eibérica
* eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula
A peninsula (; ) is a la ...
Origins
Elliott had long been a major fan of J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''.
From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...
's ''The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an Epic (genre), epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 c ...
'' and had planned to write a similar long epic fantasy, but decided to do something a bit different first by writing science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Paral ...
, most successfully in the 'Jaran universe. During this time she planned her epic fantasy storyline and drew on real-life history for inspiration. After deciding to take a break from the Jaran series, she began work on Crown of Stars.
The series was originally envisaged as a trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wo ...
, with a sequel trilogy to follow. This expanded to four volumes, and then Elliott chose to split the fourth volume in two after difficulties emerged in the writing process. The series then expanded to six volumes. However, after completion of the sixth volume the publishers decided that at 430,000 words it was too large to be published in one volume, so it was split into two books published four months apart. Thus the series became seven books long.
References
External links
Interview with Kate Elliott
conducted at Chronicles Network (April 2005).
{{Kate Elliott
Fantasy novel series
DAW Books books