It was always going to end up epic. The first line of description for the finale to The Mangy Wolf Saga, imaginatively titled, The Return Of The Cat, pretty much reveals the heart of its writer. Having travelled here via a humorous side swipe at Young Adult fantasy and Game of Thrones style house politics, it’s now time for a loving laugh fest at my favorite genre, the epic fantasy, a la Lord Of The Rings, the granddaddy of them all.
So why am I a fae groupie and weaver of all things magically weird and wonderful? We’ll get to that, but first, where does this fit in for my middle-aged Chosen One and her mangy wolf?
Let’s face it, epic fantasy tends to err on the bonkers side anyway. If it’s not the quest style countless escalating obstacles, it’s the revolving scenery and the way out of left field characters, such as elves, orcs, dwarves, goblins, dragons, et al or, in my case, an array of shifters. It’s no accident that my two new characters are a mad mage cat and a fire breathing serpent.
So far, so epic. But, if I’m honest, my true fascination with this type of epic fantasy tends to lie in the battle of dark vs light or, to distil it down to its essence, evil vs good, which, for me at least, is about as deep a theme as you can get. In a dark world, I want to believe that good will eventually triumph and why, much like my ageing Edi, I long to be part of the solution in the shape of destiny.
I suppose we all want our lives to have meaning on an epic stage and this Storyteller sincerely hopes she can be her true self in more than just her imagination.