benbrockway

1.       Story Statement — Sean Ryan must leverage his engineering training and newfound abilities as a Silversmith to save two worlds.

2.       Antagonist — Lord Rueben kills King Madison and attempts to set himself up as the new ruler just when our Protagonist (Sean) arrives. Rueben orchestrates multiple attempts to assassinate Sean, who is a threat to his power. Rueben is so absorbed in his quest for dominance that he allows the zerst (monstrous antagonistic force) to gain a foothold in human lands. He has allied with Lady Vivian, Lord Cyrus, and the self-righteous Captain Nicholas, who he manipulates and discards as needed.

3.       Titles

·         Silversmith (Current working title)

·         The Altar – Book 1 of the Silversmith Chronicles

4.       Comparables —My novel is science fantasy and has secondary world-building and a closed magic system like Mistborn, The Lightbringer Series, and The Warded Man. It also has light science fiction elements like The Martian and Exo. My two comparables are Mistborn and The Martian.

5.       Log line — An engineering prodigy must combine his new abilities as a Silversmith mage and his training as an engineer to battle dangers that threaten two worlds.

6.       Character turmoil and conflict           

·         Sean finds himself on another world. As an introverted movie buff with math skills, he feels ill equipped when asked to lead a nation thru impossible odds.

·         Prior to the events of this novel, Sean was in the US Army. He killed a child soldier in Afghanistan, and guilt from this changed who he is and how he sees the world. It’s also the source of some of his bad decisions. He must face this guilt if he is to succeed. 

·         Sean is attracted to Amilia but the religion on Mayim says he must marry fifty wives and breed an army of Silversmith. He refuses this mandate and searches for another way.

·         Sean develops the ability to create Silversmith. Amilia wants him to convert her but it’s dangerous and he initially refuses.

·         Amilia is a princess/queen who wants to be a soldier. Her society tells her she should have a large body and sit and look pretty. She likes being fit and exercising with the soldiers. She dreams of being a warrior even though society disapproves. 

·         Amilia is mocked and disrespected by the Lords and Ladies but respected by the people. She is forced to be queen for a short time after the assassination of her father.

·         Amilia is attracted to Sean but refuses to be part of the Harem the religion says he must have. Even though Sean is rejecting this idea, She doesn’t want to be the reason he rejects a path that could save Mayim.

·         Nicholas is an arrogant captain and expert bowman. He is righteous but blindly loyal to an evil man.

7.       Setting

·         My protagonist transfers to a secondary world. This fantasy world is sprinkled with light science fiction elements. The world looks like an Icy Rivendell with the visual vibrancy of Pandora.  I use two moons in very low orbits as a focal point for my protagonist when he arrives in Mayim. This is what stands out in his mind and screams he is no longer on Earth.

·         My novel features a closed magic system that centers around seven types of Silvers. A Silversmith is someone who can see and manipulate these Silvers. 

·         We find that an ancient religious artifact called The Altar is an ancient piece of technology. The Altar transferred Sean to Mayim and turned him into a Silversmith.

·         The world of Mayim is stuck in the iron age due to population and geographic constraints.

·         Mayim is full of strange creatures but also has some familiar animals from Earth.  A couple of examples: giant frogs are used by some of the people instead of horses, and some plants pull up their roots and relocate.

·         Zerst (Giant venomous reptiles) are invading from the south.

·         Belquist are mind-controlling zerst overlords. They look like Wyvern. (They only appear in two scenes in book 1)

·         The Bardan are an extraterrestrial threat that attack from space and pose a threat to both Earth and Mayim. (this threat is not imminent but motivates Sean to contact Earth.)

·         My novel has castles, weapons, and other themes you would expect in Western Europe based fantasies.