Annals of the Auran Empire: Bringing Fantasy Fiction Back to the Table
Once upon a time, when Dungeons & Dragons and Guns N’ Roses were all a group of lads needed to occupy a weekend, bookstore shelves held some of the most beloved fantasy tales. Dragonlance and the Forgotten Realms weren’t simply game settings. Weis, Hickman, Greenwood, Salvatore, and many others turned them into worlds full of stories, characters, and adventures that captivated a generation of readers.
I believe that tradition deserves another run.
We’re in luck. Autarch’s forthcoming Annals of the Auran Empire offers an opportunity to help make it happen. Set in Alexander Macris’s Adventurer Conqueror King System (ACKS) universe, the anthology features nine stories, each centered on a magical item from the ACKS II Treasure Tome. Contributors include Nebula Award finalist John C. Wright and six members of the Alpha Mercs writers’ fellowship.
I’ve had the opportunity to observe this project from the start.
Alpha Merc Zane Voss organized a sit-down with Macris about writing fiction in the Auran Empire. A few discussions later, an anthology was planned. Nineteen Alpha Mercs submitted pitches and writing samples. Macris selected six: Zane Voss, Sam Robb, Ruth Clara, A. Kristina Casasent, B.K. Gibson, and Nathaniel McIntyre.
Those writers refined their stories through peer critique before completing Autarch’s editorial process. I had the pleasure of reviewing all nineteen submissions and reading the six pre-editorial manuscripts. It isn’t only my desire to see this sort of fiction in print again that drives my backing; I’ve seen the quality and effort that went into it firsthand. I’ve not read the other three tales, but knowing Macris (and Wright), they will not disappoint.
I can’t share the details of the contracts, but Macris’s investment in the writers was beyond ordinary professional expectation. Speaking of professionals, Nathaniel McIntyre can now call himself one. His story, “Siege on the Borderlands,” represents his very first fiction sale.
First sales are the sort of thing enabled by people taking a chance. Those risks are worth backing. Projects like this give developing writers a chance to move from improving manuscripts among peers to delivering them to a professional publisher.
That’s one part of a virtuous cycle enabled by successful RPG tie-in fiction. Good stories introduce readers to compelling worlds. Growing audiences create demand for more stories. That demand provides opportunities for writers, strengthens independent publishers, and encourages other creators to pursue similar undertakings.
Autarch brings an established gaming audience, a developed world, and a publisher willing to exercise independent creative judgment. The stories I read gave me reason to support the undertaking on its merits, as well as to welcome the opportunity it creates for writers.
One successful anthology won’t recreate the fantasy publishing landscape of the ’80s and ’90s, but it will make the next anthology or novel more likely. And the next one after that. Independent creators have what it takes to make it a reality, but will they? Only if we back them.
Annals of the Auran Empire will launch on BackerKit soon. Follow the project for launch notifications and download the preview of Chapter 1 of John C. Wright’s “Shadowblade.” When the campaign launches, back it. I will.
Explore and support: Annals of the Auran Empire on BackerKit · Autarch · Archon
Disclosure: I am a founder of Alpha Mercs, six of whose members contributed to this anthology. I participated in early discussions, provided manuscript critiques and guidance, and submitted an unsuccessful pitch. I received no compensation for my involvement. Rightbacker receives no payment or affiliate commission for this recommendation.