Crown of Stars (series)
Encyclopedia
Crown of Stars is a series of epic fantasy novels by American author Alis A. Ramussen, under the pen-name Kate Elliott
. The series consists of seven novels.
. Over the course of the novels it is revealed that 2,700 years prior to the present a war erupted between humanity and a race of elf-like beings called the Ashioi. Human sorcerers were able to banish the Ashioi homeland to another plane of existence, but in doing so unleashed a vast cataclysm upon the world that devastated much of humankind. Humanity recovered, initially under the rule of the mighty Dariyan Empire, and later under its successor states, guided by the wisdom of the Daisanite Church (which is heavily influenced by Christianity
).
The story opens with the kingdoms of Wender and Varre, unified under the rule of King Henry, threatened by both external and internal threats. Sabella, Henry's elder half-sister, is fomenting rebellion against his rule in Varre, whilst the inhuman Eika have invaded from the north, raiding the north coast and threatening the city of Gent. In King Henry's court there is intrigue brewing as Henry has not chosen an heir from his three legitimate children, and it is well known that he favours his bastard son Sanglant, who by the law cannot inherit the throne.
The series follows the fortunes of two young people, Alain and Liath, as they are drawn into this web of intrigue, eventually learning that the banished Ashioi homeland is being drawn back to Earth, but its return will spark a cataclysm as great as the one that accompanied its departure.
Alba = Britain
, Salia = France
, Varre = The Low Countries, Wendar = Germany
, North Mark = Denmark
, Eikaland = Norway
& Sweden
, Polenie = Poland
, Salavii = Slavs, Ungria = Hungary
, Karrone = Switzerland
, Darre = Rome
, Aosta = Italy
, Arethousa = Byzantium
, Quman = assorted steppe tribes (Tartars etc) or the Golden Horde, Hessi merchants = Jewish traders, Ashioi = Aztecs, Kartiako = Carthage
, Jinna = Persia.
's The Lord of the Rings
and had planned to write a similar long epic fantasy, but decided to do something a bit different first by writing science fiction
, most successfully in the Jaran universe. During this time she planned her epic fantasy storyline and drew on real-life history for inspiration. After deciding to take a break from the Jaran series, she began work on Crown of Stars.
The series was originally envisaged as a trilogy
, with a sequel trilogy to follow. This expanded to four volumes, and then Elliott chose to split the fourth volume in two after difficulties emerged in the writing process. The series then expanded to six volumes. However, after completion of the sixth volume the publishers decided that at 430,000 words it was too large to be published in one volume, so it was split into two books published four months apart. Thus the series became seven books long.
Kate Elliott
Kate Elliott is the pen name of American fantasy and science fiction writer Alis A. Rasmussen .-Writing:Although Rasmussen's first novels The Labyrinth Gate and The Highroad failed to become bestsellers, additional publishers liked her manuscripts but wanted a fresh name unconnected with the...
. The series consists of seven novels.
Novels
- King's Dragon (1997)1997 in literatureThe year 1997 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Tom Clancy signs a book deal with Pearson Custom Publishing and Penguin Putnam Inc. , giving him US$50 million for the world-English rights to two new books . A second agreement gives him another US$25 million for a...
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- The Burning Stone (1999)1999 in literatureThe year 1999 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*June 19 - Stephen King is hit by a Dodge van while taking a walk. He spends the next three weeks hospitalized...
- Child of Flame (2000)2000 in literatureThe year 2000 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* February 13 - Final original Peanuts comic strip is published...
- The Gathering Storm (2003)2003 in literatureThe year 2003 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Peter Ackroyd - The Clerkenwell Tales*Atsuko Asano - No...
- In the Ruins (2005)2005 in literatureThe year 2005 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*February 25 - Canada Reads selects Rockbound by Frank Parker Day as the novel to be read across the nation....
- Crown of Stars (2006)2006 in literatureThe year 2006 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Literature:*Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Half of a Yellow Sun*Chris Adrian - The Children's Hospital *Martin Amis - House of Meetings...
Storyline overview
Crown of Stars is set in Novaria, a continent heavily inspired by medieval EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Over the course of the novels it is revealed that 2,700 years prior to the present a war erupted between humanity and a race of elf-like beings called the Ashioi. Human sorcerers were able to banish the Ashioi homeland to another plane of existence, but in doing so unleashed a vast cataclysm upon the world that devastated much of humankind. Humanity recovered, initially under the rule of the mighty Dariyan Empire, and later under its successor states, guided by the wisdom of the Daisanite Church (which is heavily influenced by Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
).
The story opens with the kingdoms of Wender and Varre, unified under the rule of King Henry, threatened by both external and internal threats. Sabella, Henry's elder half-sister, is fomenting rebellion against his rule in Varre, whilst the inhuman Eika have invaded from the north, raiding the north coast and threatening the city of Gent. In King Henry's court there is intrigue brewing as Henry has not chosen an heir from his three legitimate children, and it is well known that he favours his bastard son Sanglant, who by the law cannot inherit the throne.
The series follows the fortunes of two young people, Alain and Liath, as they are drawn into this web of intrigue, eventually learning that the banished Ashioi homeland is being drawn back to Earth, but its return will spark a cataclysm as great as the one that accompanied its departure.
Historical parallels
Crown of Stars is heavily influenced by real history, particularly that of Europe in the early medieval period. In an interview Kate Elliott acknowledged that many of the cultures in her world are drawn directly from real-world sources:Alba = Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, Salia = France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Varre = The Low Countries, Wendar = Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, North Mark = Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Eikaland = Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
& Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Polenie = Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Salavii = Slavs, Ungria = Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Karrone = Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Darre = Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Aosta = Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Arethousa = Byzantium
Byzantium
Byzantium was an ancient Greek city, founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas . The name Byzantium is a Latinization of the original name Byzantion...
, Quman = assorted steppe tribes (Tartars etc) or the Golden Horde, Hessi merchants = Jewish traders, Ashioi = Aztecs, Kartiako = Carthage
Carthage
Carthage , implying it was a 'new Tyre') is a major urban centre that has existed for nearly 3,000 years on the Gulf of Tunis, developing from a Phoenician colony of the 1st millennium BC...
, Jinna = Persia.
The writing of the series
Elliott had long been a major fan of J. R. R. TolkienJ. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
and had planned to write a similar long epic fantasy, but decided to do something a bit different first by writing science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, most successfully in the Jaran universe. During this time she planned her epic fantasy storyline and drew on real-life history for inspiration. After deciding to take a break from the Jaran series, she began work on Crown of Stars.
The series was originally envisaged as a trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
, with a sequel trilogy to follow. This expanded to four volumes, and then Elliott chose to split the fourth volume in two after difficulties emerged in the writing process. The series then expanded to six volumes. However, after completion of the sixth volume the publishers decided that at 430,000 words it was too large to be published in one volume, so it was split into two books published four months apart. Thus the series became seven books long.
Interviews
- Interview with Kate Elliott conducted at Chronicles Network (April 2005).