Table of Contents | Falden's Forge

Where to read everything written by Eric Falden

Welcome to the Forge. Here’s one handy list of everything I’ve written here. Fiction short stories are at the top. All non-fiction is down below.

Short Stories

All short stories are set in the same high fantasy world. Every story is stand-alone and can be read in any order. However, I have a collection of loosely-connected stories in progress (linked below) which should reward returning readers.

Stand-Alones:

• One Head as Tribute

  • A young adventurer has won his trophy, but can he escape with it?

• The Encircling Cells

  • Trapped by deadly wraiths, an old hermit must rediscover an ancient magic and confront his past.

• For Want of Safe Harbor

  • A fisherman must make hard choices in order to live through merciless times.

• The Last Day of Segitars Arpadi

  • A story of love, pride, tradition, and bloodshed.

• The Hearth and the Spear

  • What does a man gain by going to war, and what does he lose by staying home?

• Morning at the Outpost

  • An anecdote of war.

• An Unwelcome Guest

  • A poor family, confronted by a heavily-armed intruder.

“The Delver”: Tales of Maldurian the Archmage

• Ash and Death on a Dangerous Road

  • A man has an ominous encounter in the wilderness

• A Missive for Mankind

  • A letter between feuding colleagues, with the essence of magic at stake

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Other Collections, Non-Fiction

On History & Fantasy

• How “Real” Should Fantasy Be?

• Violence, Power, and Legitimacy: How It Worked

• Which Came First: the Kingdom or the King?

• Why Warriors Wield the Weapons They Wield (Part 1)

  • Weird Weapons, Cringe Combat (Part 2)

Commentaries & Reviews…

…on the genre of fantasy

• The Moment I Learned to Love Fantasy

• How To Classify Fantasy Subgenres

• Hard & Soft Magic Systems, & Why They Matter

• Tolkien’s “On Fairy Stories,” with Clifford Stumme of Past the Dragon

  • Part 1: The Art of Fantasy According to Tolkien

  • Part 2: Good Fantasy Makes the Real World Better

  • Part 3: Embracing Reality by Escaping to Faerie

  • Part 4: Why Happy Endings in Fantasy Are a Requirement

  • Addendum: Community Roundup Post

…on specific works

• “Dune 2” Made Me Like Dune Less

• Heroism, Hubris, and Húrin’s Kin

• Theoden’s Journey Out of Despair

• You Should Read Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

• The Story Behind the Stories

  • Commentary on some of my own stories, and lessons from the 2024 Gibberish Writing Competition.

On Writing

• 5 Things I’ve Learned About Building a Writing Habit

• The Most Important Narrative Tool No One Told You About

  • On narrative distance, and saying “No” to the RPG Video Game Camera

• Two Simple Questions That Will Give Depth To Your Characters

  • Using temperament to get beyond “what do they want and why?”

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