The exciting third book in the epic fantasy Artifact War Series is now available which is great for returning readers but where should new readers begin?

The series is about doing what you believe in and protecting those you care about. It’s about friendship, love, and redemption. And a new way of doing things. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Let’s start at the beginning
Let me tell you about the massive continent of Gaia and how this is a different fantasy series. Intentionally, the Artifact War Series has many classic fantasy elements but aims to be realistic in its character portraits and is a fresh modern take on the power dynamics in a society where magic is a real and tangible thing.

A new way of doing things
When I write, I need the plot, setting, and characters to make sense. So, I left out the classic fantasy stuff that bugs me while keeping the things I love like imaginative settings and great characters.

What did I leave out?

In fantasy, from the classic Arthurian legends till today, you’ll often see plots where people look up to and obey kings or other royal figures.

Historically speaking, it made good sense for people living in a feudal society to defer to and obey the commands of those above their station. Simply because they couldn’t protect themselves from the consequences if they didn’t.

Often the same goes for the powerful magic users of the stories, however, who obey, help, and/or defer to the judgment of a royal with less magical capability.

Why would a powerful mage obey the orders of a non-mage? Someone they could kill with a flick of their hand. Usually, some excuse is given, like destiny or doing what’s right.

This I felt had to go.

On Gaia, the more inherently powerful humans, those that can wield magic, have risen to become the rulers of basically every nation.

Warfare also had to change—like a lot.

Out with the old
I didn’t want to use the tactics and strategies of medieval warfare with magic as an add-on. It’s a lazy approach to do it that way.

An example. You always see people wearing metal armor in fantasy. Makes sense, they wear the cumbersome and impractical armor because it protects them. Wrong! If spells can penetrate armor or in other ways negate the protection, why wear any?

And would you field an infantry army of footmen with pikes and swords, or a cavalry army of knights in heavy plate armor? Likely not, if they’d risk facing dragons or flying, spell-flinging mages. Unless every footman or knight wore extremely powerful magical armor and/or had magic weaponry at their disposal, it would be a slaughter.

So much of what fantasy usually throws at you don’t make all that much sense.

Starting over
As part of world-building, I knew I had to invent new ways of fighting. But how do you do that?

I decided to rethink warfare using magic as the starting point. To figure out different combat tactics that fit like a glove, working seamlessly with both magic and the setting.

One of the first things I decided was to make a world with magic but not one where everyone owns magic items. I wanted the reader to discover the rare magical artifacts with the characters, things that were truly powerful and game-changing because they were ancient and powerful. Stuff from an age long past being rediscovered as part of the story.

With that decision, I knew that everyone would not be wearing magical armor, so I had to think of a different way for non-mages to stay relatively safe and have a fighting chance in warfare.

One of the decisions was to favor ranged weapons over melee for non-mages as I also decided that most spells had a shorter range than for instance a crossbow.

Warfare is just one example of what had to change though. I had a lot of observations about stuff in fantasy that made little sense to me, around many subjects spanning from religion to fauna.

And with them in mind, I created…

The world, but not as we know it
Imagine that you live on the enormous continent of Gaia. A place filled with a multitude of small and medium-sized Kingdoms and two great rival Empires.

This is the Third Age, and the year is 1283. If it helps, you can think of this time as the latter part of the dark ages (though it’s not, as this is not our past.)

To understand the size of the continent in modern Earth terms, Gaia is over four times the height and width of the US, while its northern parts are roughly the same size as Germany plus the Benelux counties.

Inside the books, you’ll find two larger maps, one of Gaia and another of its northern parts, as well as several smaller ones for reference.

High and low standing
If you’d been born here, you’d look more or less the same. You might have the same kinds of likes and dislikes, and you could even have the same name.

But there, the similarities stop.

On Gaia, your bloodline is very important. For most people, it defines what they can do in life. The oldest son of a miller typically becomes a miller, and most people born in rural areas stay there all their lives working on farms.

Known as commoners, those born without magic are of low standing: farmers, craftspeople, day laborers, soldiers, and so on. The mages look down upon them simply because they are incapable of using magic.

Though children of mages are usually born into wealthy families, they still stay in their own circles of standing as the gift of magic is something you inherit from your parents. Magic literally runs in certain families, and being a member of the nobility is exclusive to these few mages.
The most powerful ones often end up ruling cities and nations. And all areas on the continent, except a few scattered wildlands and enclaves of “troublesome” non-mages, are under strict mage control.

Would you be able to use magic if you lived in Gaia? You better hope so, because those without magic must obey their masters. And not only that but if you don’t, you’ll be branded a heretic and dealt with harshly.

Religion, and beliefs
The rulers strictly enforce the belief that those born with the gift of magic are divinely chosen to be in charge. It is both their right and duty to control everything, including the churches and religious doctrine.

In most nations, the belief in the Magical Spirit as the supreme deity prevails, and so does the belief that magic itself is divine and springs directly from the Magical Spirit. However, Gaia is huge, and what people believe differs between areas. More so the further away you travel.

In the Ata’stux Empire to the east, they primarily worship the words and deeds of the long-dead Omen Prophet Rulturo while in the southern Izanti Empire, they venerate their Emperor like a demigod.

In other places, they tie in ancestor worship. Here contacting the everlife is a huge thing, and so are the two death gods Mother Death and the Young Hag.

Gender and social control
Humans that are born with magic are not all equally strong or skilled. One’s magical power is not impacted by gender, however. But as most lands are controlled by men, this has led to one of the biggest divisions between nations: “do we allow those that are not men to wield magical power?”

In some places, such as the Izanti Empire, women may freely use magic and hold the same positions as men. While in the Kingdom of Lyom, and other places far to the north, any woman who uses magic is considered a Witch, subsequently hunted down, and put to death.

Often the local gender equality (or inequality) beliefs have become a part of religious teachings and law texts.

The fall of civilization
On Gaia, a mage or a witch can use magic from one specific discipline only. This was not always the case, though. During the Second Age, humanity covered the entire world and their knowledge of the five disciplines of magic was extraordinary.

Cities flew and magical titan constructs walked the land. Some taught the animals how to cast spells, while other humans learned how to master all the five magical disciplines, and in so doing, became All-Masters.

The War of the Titans ended all that.

The disciplines of magic
How could it all go so wrong when they were so advanced? To find the answer, you first need to know a bit about the five disciplines of magic:

Omen lets a mage peek a few hours into their own future, giving them the power to alter future events by taking different actions, light is powerful and has many offensive fire-based spells, death gives one the power to scatter anything into nothingness, strength allows you to fly and to lift, move, and fling things, and life lets you peek inside others and alter them like trying to heal an injury or influence them to adore you.

Magic destroyed the world
Imagine that you’re a ruler who’d like to conquer the world and that your ambition is held in check by mages who can see into the future. Those pesky magic users will blow the whistle on where and when you are going to strike, making it costly.

Until one day when mages in your employ discover a way to look further into the future. Now, you know the consequences of attacking better than your opponents and you can plan an effective strategy accordingly. It’s a clear advantage.

Some historians think this is how the War of the Titans began and they speculate that large-scale death magic was used, likely against armies at first, and later on against every city, village, and hamlet.

In the blink of an eye, most of the people, houses, and roads were gone forever, and so was all that ancient magical and technological knowledge. Only a few scattered groups of survivors were left alive. The All-Masters died out completely, and mages using omen and life magic became a rare sight.

Rulturo caches
The war happened more than a thousand years ago, but already today, the masters and warmages of the Third Age have rebuilt and regained much of the lost knowledge. This is because of the Omen Prophet Rulturo.

During the latter stages of the war, Rulturo hid caches of magical and mundane knowledge in places that he foresaw would remain. The knowledge in the caches allowed the survivors to rediscover lost magic, prosper, and defend themselves.

Rulturo also left behind stories, like how he tried and failed to stop the War of the Titans, and how the Witches of the Zhi’el Faction intended to destroy the world.

Add to that, long lists of proper names to use, how to govern, how to till the soil, and all matter of other knowledge that the Omen Prophet foresaw would come in handy for the survivors. In a few caches, Rulturo left parts of his prophecies for the future. Known as the Cascade Prophecies, they outline the future in verses, with several proclaiming the need to prepare to defend against a new terrible enemy. One that will arise at some unspecific time in the future.

Why Rulturo does not give specific dates or names is not known and the exact meanings of the prophecies are in question as the vagueness of the wordings causes a lot of confusion. But most scholars agree that it seems the witches will one day rise anew, hailing that a terrible war is soon to be fought.

Rulturo implores the survivors to prepare, and to win at all costs because if they don’t, this time there’ll be no survivors. The End War could be the end of all things.

Since the first of the prophecies was found, several battles and even a few wars have been fought when rulers were sure they knew who the enemy was. It’s unlikely they were right, though. Because as Rulturo writes, “the End War cannot be prevented,” and “it will shatter the Third Age.”

This series is about the shattering and the End War. And about discovery, hope, despair, omens, and friendship. Welcome to The Artifact War Series.

Language and prophecy
Oh, do check out the key Rulturo prophecy a few pages into the first book, and please use the comprehensive glossary found in the back of the books. It has background information about all the characters, magic, and many other things. And there’s an author’s note which covers the languages spoken on Gaia, like how to pronounce names and ranks.

Age, triggers, and where to begin?
The series is intended for a 16+ audience. If you’ve read only young adult or middle grade fantasy up to this point, this is still for you if you’d like something with more depth and density which revolves around themes intended for adults and which are not typically covered in books intended for a younger audience.

There are hidden bonus chapters and other free stuff in the books too, but you’ll discover that if you purchase the series. You can get the first eBook on sale right now.

I recommend that you begin by reading the eBook Omnibus Edition of Doomsayer Prince found in the shop, or if you like printed books better, buy the paperback or hardcover version of Doomsayer Prince.

Yours truly,
Rune S. Nielsen
Copenhagen, Denmark