The Tiffany Effect in Action

And why my book would make the perfect Christmas present for someone in your life

It’s that time of year again, so it’s time for me to tell you that my book(s) would make the perfect present for someone with a fantasy-shaped hole in their life.

And because I don’t want to make a post only saying that, you also get a short account of the Tiffany Effect, and how it bit me during the writing of my second book.

But first up, the sell.

I’m the author of two fantasy books, Imperial Visions¹ and Visions in Exile. Both are fantasy books set in a colonial era world², following the adventures of Thomas, a young imperial diplomat, and Rianda, queen of the embattled nation of Elaran, as they battle demons, hostile nations and their own powers.

A few pictures³ to give you a sense of the world in which it is set:

The University City of Linnarson:

Tychon riding his tarathin

Marreischi hillmen riding to battle

If you have a friend, relative, work colleague, pet⁴ or other person in your life who enjoys fantasy I feel confident in saying that they would enjoy these. So pick them up now: they’re the perfect present - and can be picked up from Amazon from £8.99.

• Buy Imperial Visions - for Kindle - and in paperback

• Buy Visions in Exile - for Kindle - and in paperback - and in illustrated hardback.

Presents? Schmesents!

So, you don’t have anyone you want to get these for as a present? Why not read them yourselves. The Kindle editions are just £1.99 each and, for any reader of this blog - fantasy fan or not - here are some additional reasons why you should read them.

• As well as containing classic fantasy elements such as magic, embattled kingdoms, demons, prophecies and the like, it also features various elements that might particularly appeal to fans of this blog, such as:

  • A senior civil servant worries what the Public Accounts Committee will say about the money he is spending on demon defences.

  • A bishop speculates over whether gryphons and isp’te’ra can be saved (in a spiritual sense).

  • In this world, the equivalent of the Michelson-Morley experiment succeeded in proving the existence of the luminiferous ether - one of four tertiary elements, alongside phlogiston, caloric and vital essence.

  • A character called Lord Trevelyan lives in Northcote House.

  • There is a quasi-Masonic secret society dedicated to the restoration of an ancient kingdom heavily based upon the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

• Plus, you clearly enjoy my writing, or you wouldn’t be here - so why not give the books a go?

Buy Imperial Visions - for Kindle - and in paperback

Buy Visions in Exile - for Kindle - and in paperback - and in illustrated hardback.

So what’s the Tiffany Effect?

Hopefully by this point you’ve already bought 4-5 copies of the books as gift, plus a copy of each for yourself, yes? So let’s get on to the Tiffany Effect.

The Tiffany Effect refers to the fact that, sometimes, when you put something authentic for the period in a historical novel, modern readers think its anachronistic and false. It's named for the name Tiffany, which we all think of as a modern American name from the '80s and '90s, but has actually been around for centuries as a Mediaeval English and French form of 'theophania'.

Now, I'm writing fantasy, not historical fiction, but I found a very similar thing happening when my beta readers were reading Visions in Exile. Whenever I was riffing off standard fantasy tropes, it was all fine. But sometimes when I put in something directly based on the real world - modern or historical - people would baulk at it.

One example that stands out is that at one point, some of our main characters are living with the Mareischi hill people. These people have a different culture and one of the things they do is point with their lips. Almost every person who read the draft emailed me to say that this read really oddly, and that no-one would do this.

But the thing is, some people really do point with their lips. Filipinos do, and that's 100 million people right there - and it's been observed in several other cultures, too. So what to do with things like this: take it out, or leave it in?

Ultimately I decided to leave them in. It is realistic, after all - even if it doesn't seem so - and if it seems a little odd, well that's a reminder that we're not in Kansas anymore. Perhaps if I were a major corporation ruthlessly optimising for saleability I'd make a different choice, but I'm in the fortunate position that I'm not. Though where there were genuine errors (and there were a few) I did change them!

So, get those books for Christmas presents - or for yourself!

Buy Imperial Visions - for Kindle - and in paperback

Buy Visions in Exile - for Kindle - and in paperback - and in illustrated hardback.

1. The ‘third edition’ on Imperial Visions represents the fact that, this year, with thanks to two friends, I fully updated and edited this so it reflects the quality of my writing at 41, rather than at 23 when I first wrote it.

2. The Triune Empire, where Thomas is from, has technology broadly equivalent to our 19th century Europe; Laurentia, the continent where most of the action is set, is closer to our 17th century - though in both cases magic complicates this.

3. More pictures can be found in the illustrated hardback edition.

4. Only joking.