About The Book

 Notes

  The first book in the Daughter of Crystals series, by Raederle Phoenix, is complete (in the sense that the entire story is written out and half-way edited.)  For Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) of 2010 I wrote out much of the second book.  I expect there to be five books in the series, but it's not determined.
  I'm creating an illustration for each chapter, as well as the cover, and several accompanying maps.  Whether or not I'll actually be able to include all of my own illustrations in my first publication is yet to be determined.  The background on this webpage is my artwork as well as the banner, and some of it is for the book.  

Title

  The title of the series is "Daughter of Crystals," but I have not actually named the individual books officially.  "Moons of Blood" was the title I was working with for the first book, but I've decided I don't want to use that for various reasons.  Some ideas I've had are; "A Lord's Daughter," "Genetic Destiny," "An Artist's Perspective," "Eshana's Furry Familiars," "Galaxy of Crystals," "Legends of Earth," and "Woman on the Moon."  Yet none of those really quite say all that I want the title to say about the first book.

 No Spoilers!

  Don't worry. You won't get any spoilers from me, or anywhere on the site.  At the very least, there would be ample warning.  Personally, I hate spoilers.


Plot

The plots and subplot complexities include (but are not limited to);

The civil war of a nation that is spread across a planet and its five moons.
The war with an opposing nation that is much larger.
Many characters not being what they seem to be in race, in intention, and in rank.
The main character's interesting and unconventional heritage.
Mythical creatures with strange powers and a role closely entwined with the main character.
The main character's confused and complicated love life.
Where the empire came from and what its relation to earth is.


Themes

Crystal-based technology, based on real scientific discoveries.
Vivid fantasy landscapes told from the point of view of an artist.
Myths, legends and mystery.
Secrets, and complex webs of lies.

Genre

Fantasy.
Moons of Blood could be considered science fiction, fantasy, romance, young adult or romance.  However, I think trying to make it a "young adult" series would demean it in most people's eyes and also that some conservative folks might find it inappropriate for a younger crowd.  I think romance would be misleading since Eshana's escapades are only one of the many things going on in the story, even if they do play an important role.  And while science fiction would be accurate, "fantasy" encompasses the novel better.

Audience

I'm not particularly aiming this story towards a certain age-group or gender.  That said, I am making sure that it's not inappropriate for a younger crowd.  It's something I expect teens to be able to enjoy because it's fast-paced, action-packed, and vivid.  It's something I expect young adults to be able to enjoy because they will be able to relate in a number of ways, and be able to appreciate the intricacy of the world I've created.  It's something I expect older folks to enjoy as well, especially if they are really into readying fantasy books as it is.