Prophet of Edan - Book Review 

Glad you enjoyed it! Yeah, back when Professor Chase first revealed his map, I made an analysis that the fact that there was a “need” for a wall (“Sirukinn’s Wall”) next to the MASSIVE Mountain Range between the Wildlands and Sildharan, suggested a less than friendly relationship between the two nations… Some other interresting nuggets I caught back than: With names such as "The Sundering Sea" and "The Savage Sea", along with the big Mountain Ranges of Osham and Marar, the "Anglo Saxon" nations of Torrland and The Mark and the "Norse" Nation of Grimrik are somewhat boxed in by rough-sounding seas and mountains, with only the Balnor Pass, the Mikla ("The Great/Big") Sound and Ellond as natural crosspoints. As such, I was not surprised by Professor Chase’s statement of Ellond as a Multicultural Nation/Border Kingdom between Torrlond and Sildharan. On the other hand, the "Celtic" Nations and "Indian" Nations had a lot of cross-cultural connections on the map: 1) With only a couple of named Gulfs between them, sea travel for trade/cultural exchange between the South-Western and the South-Eastern looked highly plausable. 2) Most of the forests on the whole continent have "-wyn" endings (which have multiple meanings in several Germanic and Celtic languages: "Wine", "White", "Joy" etc.), even in the "South Asian" Southeastern Nations (The Mark being one partly exception, were they had been replace with the more Anglo-Saxon "-weald" (hinting on a change of culture, as Chase have mentioned, which makes sense with it being more cut off by Torrland from the other nations as mentioned), another being the Ironwood in the Wildlands, sementing their isolation from the more "civilized nations"). 3) My first thoughts upon seeing Asdralad, having visited the Hebrides and having a few friends from Sri Lanka, was a) "Dirgal could be the name of both an Island between Irland and Scotland, and an Indian Ocean Island" and b) “that looks like the lovechild of the Hebrides and the Maldives”! Slightly less serious: The Sea of Morthul's lawyers might want a talk with the Professor, as from of the map it should be a natural trading (and possibly turist location), as a natural crosspoint between several cities with its connecting rivers. But, everybody knows, that in fantasy, people and places with "Mor(t)” in their name, has a rather, oh what is the word, oh yeah, "bad" reputation... 😅 I must admit that at the start I got major “Empire Strikes Back” vibes, and for a couple of pages I was a bit afraid that our dear Dayraven would morph into a Luke Skywalker/Frodo Baggins Haversack-Young Grasshopper clone, but I ended up thouroghly enjoying the story, especially after the Council of Kiriath: Loved seeing the “Gang” back together, even for just a few pages! While I would have loved to see even more of Sildharan, Sundara and Golgar, Thulhan was a highlight of the story: The Dual Temples of Oruma & Anghara (representing Death & Life) reminded me of the Taj Mahal (& the “Proposed Black Twin Taj Mahal” Myth that I heared when I visited it). The Mix of Domes and life-like statues, I found similar to a fusion of two Indian periods: the Early Modern Age Muslim Mughal Empire India (famous for it's dome-architecture, Taj Mahal being a prime example, but also ban on human likeness in its style) mixed with the Indo-Greek Kingdom of Antiquity (Successors of Alexander the Great, famous for introducing life-like statues into South Asia). Dayraven’s Travel through the Osham Mountain was another highlight, taking me back to being on tracking in Nepal, could literally hear the Lonely Planet/Globetrekkers Theme! And I don't know what line made me laugh the most: The line about Tiran’s Mother or Jhaia's weapon of Guilt! 😂 Urd and Faldira felt to me as if Gandalf/Radagast and Galadriel had been envisioned for “Earthsea” by Ursula K. Le Guin! Even before the Torrlonder attack on the Asdralad, the white clothes of Asdralad reminded me of how white symbolize purity, but also death in many Western and Asian Cultures! Similar, I could not help but think of the Asdralad Army's Black & White uniforms, as a nod to the Ying-Yang of Daoism, again tying Asdralad as a love letter to Le Guin's “Earthsea” and as a counterpoint to the grey kirtels of the Torrlonders, a colour used by “Historical Badguys”, such as the Confederate States and Germany during in both WW1 & WW2, on their uniforms. Turning to the Torrlonders: I caught Eofor, “Boar”, the name of a Geat warrior in “Beowulf” and slayer of Swedish King Ongentheow (Egil Vendelkråke in Norse Sagas) and Duke Uwain to Ywain/Owain, the Knight of the Round Table, based on Owain mab Urien, King of Rheged, from the poems of the bard Taliesin. The Lingworms was a nice nod to our Scandinavian Lindworms, and added to the “Beowulf meeting the Vietnam War” feeling from book #1: Aerial supremacy, King Balch, aerial supremacy! That said, Munzil has to be my favourite new addition to the series in this book: While I would not quite call myself “Pro-Ilarchae”, I definitly would say that the chickens came home to roost for Sildharan! I understood a fair bit of Ilarchae as German-ish, I believe Hochna is German for “Snotty” 😆. Skuld, like Urd, is the name of a Norn/weaver of destiny in Norse Myth, Gorm is the name of a Danish Viking King, Erzil hints to both Etzel (the name Attila the Hun in German Myth) and Özil (a Turkish last name) and Surt to Sutr, the Fire Jotun causing Ragnarok and the destruction of Asgard! Furthermore, the character of Surt reminded me of Attila the Hun, but also as a darker take on Beowulf (his tribe being named the Fire Dragons, and his focus on glory combined with the loyalty he fosters among his men as a “Ringgiver”), and of Darth Vader/Kylo Ren from Star Wars in his dark armour: Especially when Kung Fu Catching a spear in midair(!), which reminded me of Richard Wagner’s «Parsifal», were the evil wizard Klingsor throws the Holy Spear at noble Parsifal, only for it to stop and float above Parsifal’s head, before he grabs it and destroy Klingsor and his Castle by making the Sign of the Cross! I talked to the Professor about it, and he mentioned “The Saga of Njål” as more direct reference for the midair spear catch! Other tidbits: The Norse Execution Method Blood Eagle! Wolfhides: The “Ulfhednar”, the berserker bodyguard of the Viking unifier of Norway, King Harald Hårfagre/Finefair. And the Grey Wolves are a sacred symbol in Turkic Mythology. The White Dragon for Torlond: A nice nod to the Saxon White Dragon fighting the Celtic/Welsh Red Dragon in «Historia Brittonum»! Turning to the Religions: The Realm of Origin brought Plato’s “Theory of Form”to my mind, while Imharr Silverhand was a cool nod to Nuada Airgetlám of Irish Mythology and Tolkien's Celebrimbor (as well as Johnny Silverhand from “Cyberpunk”)! The World Tree Laeroth with 9 worlds is of course a nod to Yggdrasil in Norse Myth, while Hringvolnir the First Dragon and mother of monsters is a mix of Norse Nidhogg, Mesopotamian Tiamat, Greek Typhon, Christian Lucifer and Tolkien's Morgoth! The Battle of Bolthar (according to Agon) or Regnor (according to Orvandil) vs Hringvolnir, is a nice reference to the many versions of Chaoskampf, a thunder/storm god fighting a dragon, found around the world, with added elements of poor Ymir's fate in Norse Myth. The Andumic Chthonic God Orumo/Orm being replaced by the Ilarchae Sky God Regnor/Roknar as head deity for the (early) Torrlonders, Ellonders and Men of the Mark, reminded me to how maybe an early Chthonic version of Poseidon (as a God of Death tied to those that drowns at sea and by earthquakes) in Mycenaean Greece, was after the Bronze Age Collapse replaced by the Sky God Zeus as the Head God in Greek Mythology. Similarly the Ilarchae Chthonic Psychopomp God Seidvar (Charon the Ferryman of the Dead with hints of Heimdal as Father of men) seems to have fused with the Andumic Chthonic God Orumo and then split into a Traveller’s God (Sithfar) and a Chthonic God (Orm) for the (early) Torrlonders and Men of the Mark, in a fashion similar to how Hermes and Pan from Greek Myth have a common origin as one Proto-Indoeuropean Diety.

Nice review! The artwork on these covers of the Edan Trilogy are very unqiue