With the second book in his trilogy, Nanaimo fantasy writer Joshua Gillingham is finally telling the story he wanted to tell all along.
On Nov. 4, Gillingham unveiled The Everspring at an in-person book launch at Well Read Books and he’s holding a virtual event through Vancouver Island Regional Library on Nov. 7. The book, inspired by Norse myths and Icelandic sagas, follows troll hunter Torin Ten-Trees and his companions as they search for a cure for their king’s mysterious illness by journeying to the titular spring, the source of all the world’s rivers.
The Everspring follows the events of Gillingham’s 2020 debut, The Gatewatch, but it’s the story he wanted to tell first. The Gatewatch started off as a prologue that Gillingham decided to expand into a novel of its own. He said “sometimes you’ve got to write a book to open up a world and let people inside.”
“As I started writing [The Everspring] I realized I hadn’t introduced enough of the world and enough of the characters,” he said. “So I was really happy to be able to finish this book and I’m glad it’s coming out because this is the story I originally set out to tell.”
Gillingham said it was nice to have his characters and their world already established going into Book 2.
“It just gave me such a wider base to build off of,” he said. “So the world is that much deeper and I could really dig into more of the lore and the magic of the world without having to spend all that time establishing who are the characters, what is the world, what are the rules, how does it work.”
The references to Norse myths and Icelandic sagas continue in The Everspring, with the author now exploring the lore around giants, which in Norse mythology were immortal beings who fought with the gods. Gillingham also draws from the legends of Angantyr, a Norse berserker with a magic sword, and Sigurd, a Germanic dragon slayer.
“That’s a lot of the new ground I explored in the second book,” Gillingham said. “But if people enjoyed the first book, there’s more riddles, more adventure and more of this camaraderie and brotherhood with Torin and his friends.”
The Everspring is available at Well Read Books, 19 Commercial St., and can be ordered from Amazon here.
RELATED: Nanaimo author co-editing historical anthology connecting Vikings and Muslims
RELATED: Nanaimo fantasy writer creates historically accurate Viking-themed card game
arts@nanaimobulletin.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter