by Linsey Hall
The carved design of the man holding the sword and shield that Dr. G found in the Attack by Magic are based off of actual carvings that have been discovered of Cocidius around Hadrian’s Wall. The fortress that they visit in the book is based off of the fort at Bewcastle in western England, which was originally a Roman fort associated with the worship of Cocidius. The Romans called it Fanum Cocidi—The Shrine of Cocidius. Bree notes that there are mounds of earth—these were once Roman defenses. Over time, a castle was built and the fort fell into disrepair and took on other uses.
When Bree and Cade visited Cocidius’s half realm, they noted that there were massive trees all around—far bigger than what is common in England today. The reason for this is one of the most interesting points in history. During the 16th and 17th century, the Royal Navy was so massive and powerful that they quickly decimated all the large forests in England in search of trees to build their ships. Many of their colonies were formed (at least in part) for the purpose of finding more timber for their ships. The Massachusetts Bay Charter of 1691 talks specifically about the trees belonging to the crown.
The fancy hotel and bar that Cade and Bree visited in Ghent was based on 1898 The Post, a hotel and bar that is currently housed in the old Post Office building. Gravensteen Castle is in fact located on one of the rivers, but there is no secret entrance to the underground harbor with a torture chamber (that I know of). There is a torture museum in the castle, which used to be located in the basement, and it’s pretty horrifying. As with many large castles in Europe, it had a varied history after it was no longer used as a defensive stronghold. After it was abandoned in the 14th century, it was used as a courthouse, factory, prison, and even split up into houses. The castle underwent renovations in the late 19th century (a period when other similar castles were being renovated due to increased interest in history) and is currently an amazing place to visit.
The riddle that they encountered on the stairs in the castle is an old riddle from 18th century England. I found it while hunting for old riddles online (I like to use historic ones whenever possible), but it rang a bell in my head as being vaguely familiar. Then I placed it—the riddle was featured in Die Hard 3. It is a riddle that can be hissed very quickly and can sound quite threatening, so it was perfect for Attack by Magic.
Well, that’s it for now. Hopefully I didn’t miss any other historic elements. Thank you again for reading the books, and I hope you’ll stick with Bree, Ana, and Rowan throughout their adventures!
Attack by Magic Acknowldgements
Thank you, Ben, for everything. There would be no books without you.
Thank you to Lindsey Loucks and Jena O’Connor for your excellent editing. The book is immensely better because of you! Thank you Eleonora, for your keen eye in spotting errors and for helping me with the Dutch translations. And also for advising me to visit Ghent—without you, we’d have no scene set in that fabulous city! And thank you Richard for your keen eye in spotting errors.
Thank you to Orina Kafe for the beautiful cover art. Thank you to Collette Markwardt for allowing me to borrow the Pugs of Destruction, who are real dogs named Chaos, Havoc, and Ruckus. They were all adopted from rescue agencies.
Master of Magic Author’s Note
Thanks for reading Master of Magic! The author’s note is where I normally talk about the history and mythology in the book, and Master of Magic had plenty of it.
There are quite a few historical and mythological references in Master of Magic. To start, the guards of the Rebel Gods realm come from myth. Janus is the two headed god from Roman mythology who presides over beginnings and transitions, as well as gates and doors. Aker is an Egyptian god who is actually two lions. In some depictions, he is a strip of land with two heads at each end, facing away from each other. He is a protective deity and a gatekeeper.
The different realms in the Rebel Gods headquarters are from mythology—Roman, Mayan, Hindu, and others. The Hindu god was Agni, the fire god, while the Mayan god was Hum Hau, the god of death.
One of the most impressive places is the House of Wisdom, which was an enormous library located in Baghdad. It was one of the most prominent intellectual centers during the Islamic Golden Age (8th - 13th Centuries AD) and was built by Abbasid Caliph Hard al-Rashid in the late 8th Century AD. It was a particularly cool place because scholars from many backgrounds could visit to use it, including those of Jewish and Christian faith. The House of Wisdom was destroyed during the siege of Baghdad in 1258, which is such a tragedy that I had the terrible Rebel Gods do one good deed and save it.
One of my favorite parts to write was Bree’s return visit to Yggdrasil. There is so much information available about Norse myth and stories that I was able to use a lot of it, and in some cases, put my own spin on it. One cool thing was Mia, the game that Cade plays with Ratatoskr. It was a real Viking gambling game that relied on people lying about their dice tosses. In some cases, the game could turn deadly if your bluff was caught.
Hliðskjálf was the throne that Odin and Freya sat upon. In myth, it it his throne alone, and it allows him to see the entire kingdom. When Bree travels around Yggdrasil using the different portals, they are all different from the regular portals on earth. One of them gleamed like a rainbow, and it was meant to represent the rainbow bridge that connects Midgard (earth) and Asgard, the realm of the Aesir gods.
Mímir was in fact a wise man and Jotunn who lived in a well that was associated with his wisdom. He was killed during the Aesir-Vanir war (when two factions of Norse gods fought), but Odin enchanted his head to stay alive and assist him. I stuck to that part of the myth, but the rest was my own invention. Mímir never built himself a creepy body of old animal parts and he never kidnapped Idun, goddess of the apples of immortality.
Idun was captured, however, and it was from this myth that I borrowed much of Bree’s challenge. The “son of a suitor of Greip” was an actual kenning (Norse poetic turn of phrase) that was used in the story about Idun’s kidnapping. It did actually refer to a giant, in this case Thjazi. Idun was eventually rescued by the gods and Thjazi killed for his transgressions. I changed the story to give it the twist of Mímir conducting the kidnapping, though he never did in the real stories.
Another Norse story that I borrowed from was the tale of Utgard-Loki and his challenges. I wanted to send Bree on a true Norse hero’s journey, and this was the perfect one. There are two contradictory versions of the tale, but Thor and Loki feature in both. As does the Jotunn, Utgard-Loki (who in some versions in Loki himself). The famous Icelandic scribe Snorri Sturluson recorded one version of this tale. The purpose of this tale was entertainment, and the elements were as ridiculous as I portrayed them to be.
It’s a much longer tale than what I told, and I twisted it around a bit. The riddle that Mímir asked Bree to solve is actually from this story—the one in which Loki and Logi the fire god battle it out to see who can eat fastest. Logi wins, of course.
The race against thought, Hugi, was conducted by Thjalfi, a very fast member of Thor’s party. Hugi obviously won. It was Thor who attempted to lift the cat, and also Thor who was required to battle the old woman, who he later learned represented old age. The twist in Master of Magic was that the cat was in a cat lady’s house and the cat lady was old age. I wish I could say that this was my idea, but it came from my friend’s thirteen year old son, Griffin. Zoe, ten years old, helped with other aspects of the story. It turned out to be my favorite part!
That’s it for the mythological elements in Master of Magic. Hopefully I didn’t miss any other historic elements. Thank you again for reading the books, and I hope you enjoyed Bree’s adventure. Ana’s will be coming up next!
Master of Magic Acknowldgements
Thank you, Ben, for everything. There would be no books without you.
Thank you to Lindsey Loucks and Jena O’Connor for your excellent editing. The book is immensely better because of you! Thank you to Griffin and Zoe for your help with the trials at Yggdrasil.
The cat lady and cat house were inspired. And thank you to Eleonora and Richard for your eagle eyes with spotting errors.
Thank you to Orina Kafe for the beautiful cover art. Thank you to Collette Markwardt for allowing me to borrow the Pugs of Destruction, who are real dogs named Chaos, Havoc, and Ruckus. They were all adopted from rescue agencies.
Dedications
Undercover Magic
To Ora and Richard, with all my love.
Academy of Magic
For Goodwin and Cheetie.
Pursuit of Magic
For Jenn, one of my favorite Wonder Women.
Attack by Magic
For Alison, one of my favorite Wonder Women.
Master of Magic
For my dear friend Eleonora.
About Linsey
Before becoming a writer, Linsey was an archaeologist who studied shipwrecks in all kinds of water, from the tropics to muddy rivers (and she has a distinct preference for one over the other). After a decade of tromping around in search of old bits of stuff, she settled down to started penning her own adventure novels and is freaking delighted that people seem to like them. Since life is better with a little (or a lot of) magic, she writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance.
This is a work of fiction. All reference to events, persons, and locale are used fictitiously, except where documented in historical record. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright 2019 by Linsey Hall
Published by Bonnie Doon Press LLC
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form, except in instances of quotation used in critical articles or book review. Where such permission is sufficient, the author grants the right to strip any DRM which may be applied to this work.
ISBN - 978-1-942085-86-7
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