DOUGLAS SMITH | Writing the Fantastic

In the second act of The Lost Expedition, Will, Case, Fader, and the rest of their party are driven to the Santa Cantalina monastery in Arequipa by their military escort, Major Diego Zapana.

On the drive, Diego points out the three volcanoes that overlook Arequipa:

Diego again rode beside a soldier who drove, following another APC through the streets. The third APC trailed them. “There,” Diego said, pointing past the driver to the northeast. “I promised I would show you.”

In the distance, a cone-shaped mountain loomed above the city, its snow-covered peak glowing in the just rising sun.

“El Misti,” Diego said, “our most beautiful mountain, an almost perfect cone.” He pointed further east to a long ridge of irregular peaks. “And that is Pichu Pichu. Very old, it has…what is the word?…eroded, collapsed from what it once was. And there…” He pointed to the left of El Misti. “…is Chachani. Actually, the Chachani range, as it has other volcanoes beside it.” He smiled back at them. “Chachani, El Misti, Pichu Pichu. Our three guardians, watching over us like Inca gods.”

Three guardians. Will straightened at that. He glanced at Case and could tell from her face she was thinking the same thing. Behind her, Fader slipped down in his seat, his eyes wide. “Pretty dangerous guardians,” Will said.

“Ah, but powerful, sí?”

“Dangerous and powerful,” Rani muttered, catching Will’s eye. “Wonderful.”

You can see these three volcanoes in the distance in my photo here. They are, from left to right: Chacani, El Misti, and Pichu Pichu.

In the opening chapter of The Lost Expedition, the final book in The Dream Rider Saga trilogy, the witch Morrigan returns to Castle Rushen, her childhood home on the Isle of Man.

This is a real castle, and I toured it back in 2013 while on the Isle of Man, taking interior and exterior photos of the castle, including the one to the right that inspired these thoughts by Morrigan upon entering the castle:

An arched entrance led to a narrow, zig-zag route between stone walls rising ten meters above her. Passing under a small portcullis bearing the unnecessary sign "The Ancient Portcullis," she glared at the words, resenting the reminder of her own age.

In an alcove inside the gate, she stopped before a declaration emblazoned on the stone wall in gold letters:

The Fortress of the Kings and Lords of Mann

Kings and Lords? No mention of the women who lived here. No mention of Charlotte, wife of James Stanley, Lord of Mann. Charlotte, who ruled here after her husband's execution. Ruled and held the castle, the last person in the three kingdoms to surrender to the Roundheads.

And no mention of the coven of witches who helped Charlotte defend this fortress. The witches who had lived here.

And died here. All save one.

Not that she expected such a mention. Women and witches? No man would immortalize either in those days.

Or in these days, for that matter.

Beside the golden words on the wall, a scarlet triskelion hung—three legs inscribed within a circle, equally spaced and radiating from the center—the symbol of Mann.

Click on the thumbnails to the right to see more photos of the castle, including the dining hall where Morrigan's mother appears in the fireplace, and in the same room, the tapestry that Morrigan moves aside to find the keyhole for the enchanted wall that hides the Unicorn Tapestry.

And you can read more about Castle Rushen and its history here.

At the end of Act 2 of The Lost Expedition, a critical turning point occurs when Will, Case, and the entire party tour the Santa Catalina de Sienna Monastery in Arequipa, Peru, led by Gabriel Herrada, who, unbeknownst to our heroes, is leading them into a deadly ambush in order to seize the Chakana from Will.

The monastery is a real place and, as described by Major Diego Zapata to Will, is considered to be “the jewel of Arequipa.” I toured it when I visited Peru in 2016 as part of the research I did for these books and thought that some of the readers of The Dream Rider Saga might like to see what the inside of the monastery looks like. Click on the thumbnails below to see a larger version of each.

For more photos, check out this large gallery of photos of the interior of the convent. And here is one more image: the Google street view of the entrance to the convent.

In Chapter 25 of The Lost Expedition, the conclusion to The Dream Rider Saga trilogy, Will, Case, Fader, and the other travellers check into a hotel in Arequipa, Peru where they will be staying as they acclimate to the higher altitude before moving even higher.

In that chapter, Case gives a description of the interior of the place where their rooms are located as follows:

A stone walkway led outside, past a swimming pool made to look like a rocky grotto complete with trickling waterfall. A short passageway ended in a metal gate behind which stood two soldiers, both of whom snapped to attention.

Diego spoke a single word. One soldier inserted a key into the gate’s lock. Passing through, the group entered another open-air courtyard.

To Case, she felt as if she’d passed into some fantasy world.

Stone-tiled steps led up to a cluster of doors directly ahead. To her left, a longer set of steps led up to a second area, separate and higher from the first. Beyond that, more steps rose to a third level. On each of the three tiers, the individual rooms sat at different angles to each other in a pleasing jumble.

The entire scene exploded with color. The doors were reddish-brown. The apartment walls were bright solid colors that varied throughout—brilliant white, deep-sea blue, glowing mustard yellow, rich peachy pink.

And everywhere…green.

Trees and thick bushes crowded the walkways and stairs throughout the courtyard, including tall palms whose broad, fern-like leaves sheltered the space from a starry night sky.

As readers of The Lost Expedition know, those three levels of the hotel end up providing an eerie parallel to the key mystery of the trilogy.

Anyway, I thought readers might enjoy seeing actual photos (shown here to the right) of the hotel that I based the above description on, the same one I stayed at in Arequipa on a 2016 cycling trip in Peru that provided a lot of my research for the books.

The photo with the two sets of stairs, by the way, shows the steps that Herrada is climbing when he encounters... Well, I won't spoil the story for those who haven't read it yet. You'll just have to check out The Dream Rider Saga here.

In the opening chapter of The Lost Expedition, the final book in The Dream Rider Saga trilogy, the witch Morrigan returns to Castle Rushen, her childhood home on the Isle of Man, where she searches for and finds the Unicorn Tapestry, a lost and powerful artifact of the long dead White Coven of Ellan Vannin.

The tapestry I describe in the book is closely based on an actual tapestry that hangs in the very real Castle Rushen. The real one is not made of silk and is not in a hidden chamber, but it does contain all the other elements described in the book, all of which play a major role in the story and in Morrigan's journey: the emaciated unicorn and pale maiden at its centre, and the four creatures hiding in the corners—the bat, the rat, the fire drake, and the eel.

If you’re interested in seeing the tapestry in more detail, click on the photo shown here, which I took when I visited Castle Rushen in 2013 on a trip to the Isle of Man. Finding the tapestry on that visit gave me the idea to create the magical artifact for The Lost Expedition.

I'd written earlier this year that my story "If I Should Fall Behind" had been selected for The Year's Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction, volume 2, edited by the award-winning writer and anthologist, Stephen Kotowych. I'm happy to announce that the book is now published and available for purchase in ebook and trade paperback.

My story selected for the anthology first appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction in September 2023, giving me my first appearance in my dream short fiction market. So this little tale is doing all right so far.

I'm thrilled to be appearing with some of the best Canadian speculative fiction writers, including Nalo Hopkinson, Julie Czerneda, Cory Doctorow, Kelly Robson, Gemma Files, James Alan Gardner, Eric Choi, and many more.

If you want to sample some of the best fantasy, horror, and science fiction of the past year, pick up your copy of the anthology at your favourite retailer.

I am chuffed to announce that my story "The Walker of the Shifting Borderland" has been translated into Farsi and reprinted in the online magazine Metaphor Space.

This is the first story I've had appear in Farsi, which becomes the 28th language in which my stories have been published.

On the right, you can check out the very cool illustration that accompanies the story, showing the Walker contemplating the Seas of Chaos. If you happen to read Farsi, you can also read the story online on the Metaphor Space website here.

"The Walker of the Shifting Borderland" was first published in the excellent and long-running Canadian speculative fiction magazine, On Spec in 2012, and won Canada's Aurora Award for Best Short Fiction in 2013. It will be featured in my upcoming collection (planned for 2025), or you can buy an ebook copy of the story from my store or your favourite retailer.

My Norse mythology tale, "The Last Ride," has been reprinted in the anthology, Odin: New & Old Norse Tales, published by the very excellent Flame Tree Publishing.

This is my second publication in a Flame Tree anthology, and I can testify that they are a very professional press. They pay pro rates for first rights and a very healthy rate even for reprints, and provided two hardcover contributor copies. If you're not aware, one paperback author copy is typical, so two is a bonus and hardcover copies are almost unheard of. Plus, the hardcovers are gorgeous, with beautiful shiny red page edging and bookmark ribbons. Very cool.

"The Last Ride" first appeared in the DAW anthology Hags, Sirens and Other Bad Girls of Fantasy (great title, right?) in 2006. It tells the story of Vaya, immortal Valkyrie and favorite daughter of Odin All Father, sworn to carry dead heroes from the battlefields of Earth to live forever in Valhalla.

One day, she intervenes on the battlefield to save the life of a soldier who has captured her heart, and is forced by Odin to choose between immortality and the man she loves. Vaya chooses love, not knowing that the hardest choice still lies ahead of her. Some of the original reviews:

"…exemplifies the best elements of Douglas Smith's writing. A Valkyrie falls for her hero, gives up her immortality for him then has to make that inevitable and awful choice afterwards. As always, even for such a brief time, there is so much life in these characters. I don't bother to marvel at how quickly I come to care for Douglas Smith's people anymore, it's a given. " —SF Crowsnest Reviews

"A gripping portrayal of Vaya, a Valkyrie, and the ultimate sacrifices one makes for love." —SFRevu

You can order the anthology here.

My story, "If I Should Fall Behind" has been reprinted in the urban fantasy anthology, Street Magic II, from Camden Park Press. I also had a story, "Out of the Light," in the first volume of this antho series, so that's cool.

"If I Should Fall Behind" that gave me my first appearance in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, one of the top pro markets for speculative fiction in the world and my dream market since I started writing. I wrote about that sale earlier. It appeared in their September 2023 issue and was a finalist for Canada's Aurora Award for Best Short Story this past year. The story was also selected for this year's volume of The Year's Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction, vol. 2., so it's already accumulated some nice kudos in its short life.

Some reviews of the story when it first appeared:

“The story has great emotional appeal and the plight of the two lovers is sure to touch the reader’s heart. … [A] powerful tale.” —TangentOnline

“It’s a tale of a teenager with the ability to see possible futures, using it mostly to keep himself and his lover one step ahead of the mysterious forces that have pursued them since his ability first manifested at a summer camp years before. The premise is interesting enough, but the narrative voice is absolutely outstanding and takes the story from fun and entertaining to one of my very favorites of the year. I mean, just check this out:

A three-times-tried, three-times-died fear screamed in his brain. He booted that fear away so he could memorize his death scene before this chance branch slid into the never-will-be. Memorize. Brain camera. Click.

… [The ending’s] an emotionally satisfying cap on a tremendous tale, a tale which itself is a tremendous cap on the September/October issue of F&SF.” —Tar Vol’s Reviews

“An interesting and moving story.” —Iridescent Book Reviews, New Zealand

Pick up the antho at Amazon or other retailers.