The Sword and Laser discussion

I think my novel Carrot Field - published by Pressque two months ago - is the first to combine Tolkien/Jordan/Martin style Epic Fantasy with "animal fantasy". Carrot Field combines intelligent animal characters (ala The Wind In the Willows, Redwall, Mouse Guard) with a sprawling, adult fantasy epic. To my knowledge no one has ever done this before.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D...

I describe Carrot Field as an "epic fable". It took almost 20 years to complete and find a publisher for it. If you're interested there's more info here:

http://www.thecarrotfield.com/

By the way, if you have a book review blog, PM me and I'll set you up with a free PDF copy of Carrot Field to review!

It looks fun and I have added it to my lengthy queue. :)

I'm not sure if it is the "First" though. Have you read Tailchaser's Song by Tad Williams? It is an intelligent animal character with a sort of epic fantasy style to it and it came out in 1985.

But if your book is even close to Tailchaser's Song I'm sure a ton of people will love it.

Good Luck!

Jason wrote: "It looks fun and I have added it to my lengthy queue. :)

I'm not sure if it is the "First" though. Have you read Tailchaser's Song by Tad Williams? It is an intelligent animal character with a sor..."

Thanks! Tailchaser is closer to something like The Rats of NIMH, it's a very small story. My novel is literally epic :) Empires fall, huge cosmic events take place, there's 50 pages of notes in the back ha ha! It really *is* the first combination of "animal fantasy" and "epic fantasy". I'd compare it more to TW's "Memory, Sorrow & Thorn" in terms of prose quality, scope and ambition.

Very cool, I am even more intrigued now as those are the kinds of books I read the most.

Jason wrote: "Very cool, I am even more intrigued now as those are the kinds of books I read the most."

Then you'll appreciate/enjoy CF :)

The book may be superb but Carrot Field is almost certainly not a very exciting name for a novel and it certainly does not evoke the epic scope you are suggesting. I think, well, of a field of carrots.

Animals in fantasy are pretty common. Watership Down, Redwall, Wizard of Oz etc. But that does not mean it cannot be done in a satisfying way by someone else.

Ben wrote: "The book may be superb but Carrot Field is almost certainly not a very exciting name for a novel and it certainly does not evoke the epic scope you are suggesting. I think, well, of a field of car..."

Hi! Thanks for commenting. CF is very different from Watership Down & Redwall. Try the book & you'll see :) As I say, it's something new & different not a repeat of someone else's story.

The title doesn't work for everyone. But I believe that one day it will be understood, in the same way Neverland, Hogwarts and Tatooine are simply known & understood now despite the fact that they sound weird before you understand the context. I do realize that it's an unusual title but it has gotten a lot of interest just from that, which is not bad. I'll also add that I had a cover illustration designed by an excellent artist but my publishers decided against that; in my opinion, the title works better when you actually see the animal characters alongside the more classical fantasy type characters, it makes more immediate sense.

Try the book and see what you think :)