I’m Eric Falden. This is my forge…
... where I hammer out my stories.
I am a lover of history, narrative, and the fantasy genre.
Outside the Forge, I’ve already made a career with my wordsmithing—as an educational writer, historical academic editor, corporate marketer, and a managing editor—but I’ve only recently begun publishing fiction. The Forge is my way to craft that fiction for you and the rest of my beloved readers.
You can expect posts every other Tuesday.
If I’m not sending you an entertaining story, then I’ll be exploring the fantasy genre through the lens of history and narrative analysis. Sometimes that means challenging stereotypes about medieval political systems, or discussing the relative merits of magic systems.
I also offer commentaries on specific works, and (very rarely) offer general advice on narrative creative writing.
You can see everything I’ve published here in my table of contents, but I’ve got some more info and specific recommendations below.
Falden’s Fantasy Fiction
I’m the sort of guy who loves a big, honkin’ fantasy book. I measure my “to-be-read” list in cubic feet. There’s nothing quite as good as a beautiful, immersive story, the kind that pulls us along through perilous trials, changes us, and brings us back home to see the world in a new way.
That’s the kind of story I love. And those are the kinds of stories I aspire to write.
You can see all my fiction here, but here are some specific recommendations based on readers’ enthusiasm:
Fantasy fiction is the main feature here at the Forge, but I take my time with my stories. I won’t ever (intentionally) give you crap, or give you something rushed. To that end, I have all this other stuff to hold you over.
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Exploring History & Fantasy
I’m not dogmatic about “realism,” especially in a genre as inherently unreal as fantasy. However, I do think that adherence to certain historical principles within a narrative setting (i.e. worldbuilding) can truly elevate a story and give it that real and immersive feeling that we crave as readers.
If you want to hear more about that, or if you want to start learning about those principles, you can click here, or else the following post a good place to start:
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Commentaries & the Fantasy Genre
Sometimes I comment on fantasy without a history-focused lens. My goal here is to help my fellow writers (aspiring authors or otherwise), but also to just give more insight for readers into the nuts and bolts of fantasy storytelling.
I hope that by doing things like exploring Tolkien’s narrative philosophy, I can help you have a more profound and more interesting reading experience.
You can find all that in my section: On Fantasy.
I also use this space to write about some of my favorite (and not so favorite) fantasy works.
It’s loads of fun because we all get to talk about these stories we love so much, but it’s also a chance to learn narrative theories, explore story structures, and get some lessons for life.
This might look like a book review, a movie commentary, or just me gushing about Tolkien, Tad Williams, and Guy Gavriel Kay. Whatever it is, you’ll find it in my commentaries tab.
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Writing Tips
Lastly, yes, I very occasionally offer some writing tips. I’m not a traditionally published fiction author (yet), but I have been making a living as a writer and editor for about a decade now—and I’ve managed teams of other writers.
I know a thing or two about a thing or two. So every once in a while, under my Writing Tips tab, I explore some of what I’ve learned about writing and crafting narrative.
Frankly though, there’s a million people out there who want to tell you how to be a better writer. A quarter of them just want to take your money and run, another quarter will give advice irrelevant for your specific goals, and another quarter of them are gonna do a way better job of it than me. So, I try not to say anything that hasn’t already been been said elsewhere, and in any case I try to follow Glorfindel’s lead:
“Seldom give unguarded advice, for advice is a dangerous gift, even from the wise to the wise, and all courses may run ill.”
— The Fellowship of the Ring
When do I give advice, I’ll tell what works for me and why, so that you can know right away if it will (or won’t!) work for you.
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Why subscribe?
You’ll be the first to know about each new post. And there’s good stuff coming!
Everything is free to everyone right now. If you find that my work here is worth it, you can choose to support me with a paid subscription; financial support helps guarantee that I’m not going to give up, which means you can be sure you’ll get more and more stories and studies from the one and only Eric Falden.
Stay up-to-date
Every new post is sent directly to your email inbox. For a spam-free, ad-free reading experience, plus audio and community features, get the Substack app. I’m also fairly active on the app’s Notes feature, along with a lot of other really great writers. Come hang out with us!
Thanks, and see you on the road.
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If you like my work and want me to keep making stuff like this, you can help me by liking, commenting, or sharing my posts.
If you’ve gotten this far and haven’t seen anything grab your attention, I’m sure you’ll find something to like in my index.
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