AUTHOR’S NOTE
In Blight, the reader gets to experience the rituals of the maston order. Many early readers wondered where the details came from, so I would like to point inquisitive minds to the works of the Jewish historian Josephus. I read many of his works during my master’s program at San Jose State and found his account of ancient traditions to be quite fascinating. He describes the rituals of the Essenes, one of the various Jewish sects of his day, and you will find that I even used the Greek version of their order (Essaios) in the book as well. I did try to focus the world-building on ancient traditions that are documented in the sources and in religious texts. All of the oaths Lia makes, for example, come directly from Josephus. The concept of “oath magic” is a theme I have used in my other books as well – that one can harness great powers not through deep study and training but through deep covenants to handle power with restraint.
Of the trilogy, Blight is my favorite for many reasons. It was fun to write, first of all, and allowed me to expand on the relationships explained in the first book. I have always been an admirer of the middle parts of series. The Empire Strikes Back is my favorite Star Wars film, and Elfstones of Shannara is my favorite novel of all time. Both were the middle stories of a trilogy. I especially enjoyed writing the scenes with Lia and Colvin as their relationship became more complex. There are some moments in the book that were taken from my own life – memories that my wife and I have shared as teenagers – such as running down a hill in Rancho San Antonio County Park in a rainstorm in February our senior year in high school. The monastery there is my own personal Muirwood. Others were more recent, such as a family excursion to Calaveras Big Trees State Park in California, which inspired scenes in Pry-Ree.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeff Wheeler is a writer from 7-10 p.m. on Wednesday nights. The rest of the time, he works for Intel Corporation, is a husband and the father of five kids, and a leader in his local church. He lives in Rocklin, California. When he isn’t listening to books during his commute, he is dreaming up new stories to write. His website is: WWW.JEFF-WHEELER.COM