Incredibly Thought Provoking Indie Fantasy YOU Need to Check Out

So, I finished Philip Chase’s Edan Trilogy and I have thoughts - quite a few of them! 

So, if you don’t know, the Edan trilogy was written by Philip Chase, a professor of English Studies. So, he is an expert on Old English literature as well as other works such as the Icelandic Sagas, Irish and Welsh myths. Given that I've read a LOT of that material, although I am not an expert in it like he is, we nevertheless have a lot in common since we're also both major fantasy nerds.

So, the Edan Trilogy is set in Eormanlond, a continent in a larger fantasy world, and in this land, the kingdom of Torland, has decided they want to go on a holy crusade to bring about the Kingdom of Edan - a holy paradise - to everyone else, whether it’s by the sword or not! Ruling Torland is the greedy, manipulative and cynical king Eormanric, paired with his exact opposite: the extremely devout and pious supreme priest, Bledla. So already you have a fascinating and compelling villain duo to set in motion the continent spanning conflict.

Dayraven is our main guy, from a small kingdom known as The Mark, and he is swept up into a huge adventure after he is cursed by an Elf and cast out to the wide world. During the course of this grand adventure across three books, Way of Edan, Prophet of Edan, and Return to Edan, we encounter a very realistic medieval campaign of war and conquest, through a steady progression of grueling, bloody skirmishes here and there, in the way such battles were often actually played out in the medieval period. Chase shows this campaign as it would look for the people on the ground and "in the trenches". It's grueling, punishing, and brutal, but Chase never strays into it being gratuitious. He has a lot to say with this story and is not interested in sugar-coating the savage realities of war.

More Than Just a War Story

But this story is not just about the evils of war, colonialism, and religious bigotry--though there is plenty of comment on that. In very smooth and polished prose, Chase uses this war-torn backdrop to explore much deeper themes--if you are observant enough to notice it, because unlike, say the 100 years war, this world has magic. Here’s where things get really unique and interesting. The magic in the Edan trilogy is based on empathy–both good and bad. I’ll let you sort out what that might mean. It’s also heavily inspired by Buddhism and ancient mystic traditions around the world that see the universe existing both in a temporal realm of forms, time, and space, but in a ‘realm of origins’ which is where the magic comes from if you’re a wizard in this world, or an elf (the elves in this story are very not Tolkien-like elves). The realm of origins, evoked via ancient songs, always comes with a danger of losing oneself in a place of eternity, outside of time, life and death. It’s really cool. 

The Edan story also has a unique spin on the classic “fantasy trilogy” idea, in that the main conflict of the war is resolved by the end of book 2. After which you might ask yourself–where is he going to go with this? I really admire Chase for doing what he does next, which is shift gears and take a rather dark turn. Now, don’t worry, this isn’t grimdark, there is hope and good. But it’s definitely in the vein of classic Anglo-Saxon poetry…and if you know you know. Overall, for me it’s 5/5, highly recommended. It’s lyrical and gritty, sublime and sad, but always with MUSCLE.

A Thought Provoking Meditation on War, Time, Personhood, and Reality Itself

I have not stopped thinking about the expertly crafted trilogy that is the Edan series. Even after having finished it, new elements of the story have opened up in my mind to put further thought into. But it's not purely a thought piece. The Edan trilogy is written to be accessible to a wide audience. The language is straightforward and easy to grasp, and the characters relatable and likeable, the villains suitably nasty without being oversimple.

For me, I think the most outstanding aspect of the Edan Trilogy is the magic "system". Anyone familiar with my writing will know that I definitely dislike the idea of systematizing magic because it's freaking MAGIC, people. I'm not saying you shouldn't have some idea of how the magic "works" and what its limitations might be, I'm just saying that spelling out these rules like an engineer or a mathematician kind of misses the point of magic, which is a way to explore the mysterious, the unknown, the Divine. Chase really GETS that, and on such a deep level that he has even incorporated mystical ideas that have many real-world parallels into it.

Fantasy Fans Need to Check It Out

The Edan Trilogy really is a quality fantasy series, and if you're one of the Imaginarians who enjoys fantasy, Sci-fi, and/or horror, you should give it a try. And of course, if you haven't already, after you read Dr. Chase's trilogy, check out my book King of the Forgotten Darkness (https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/roundfire-books/our-books/king-forgotten-darkness-novel)

Finally, I have a longer review of the Edan Trilogy where I get deeper into my thoughts on the magic system here:

Never Stop Dreaming!

EG