Fortress Books In Order

Publication Order of Fortress Books

The Fortress series is a wonderful series consisting of fantasy and science fiction books. It is comprised of a total of 5 books, which were released between the years 1995 and 2006. All the books of this series are written by a famous American author named C.J. Cherryh. The books are set in a fantasy world of the medieval period, having the feel of the 15th century. This world features sorcery, politics, magic, medieval warfare, as well as other elements of the subgenre of high fantasy. Unlike the usual high fantasy works, author Cherryh has distinctively described sorcery, wizardry, and magic. Wizardy is seen as an act of deliberance, that is, a manipulation of the paranormal power technically for achieving desired outcomes. Similarly, Sorcery is also shown as deliberate application, however, has used a specific word for it in this series for nefariously spellcasting and serving evil ends. Magic is something that looks different in every sense in the books of this series. It appears as a characteristic of an object or of a person. It seems more like nature’s force than some technical discipline. The places, certain words, and person’s names have some kind of strength. And the way magic creates effects without any consequence, it looks very much different from sorcery and wizardry. Contrary to wizardry, magic operates out of the concern of any reaction. A person possessing a certain type of magic has the freedom of using it to any extent without having to worry about the outcomes. The principle theme of the series as described by Cherryh is that the Celtics have the ancient belief that another world overlaps theirs, which is full of spirits, faeries, and ghosts causing superimposing effects. Each and every book shows the main character in the form of Tristen. He is introduced as a boy, who did take birth from a human, but came from a magical shaping that an old wizard named Mauryl Gestaurien had created. Mauryl is said to have laid the foundation of the Marhanned dynasty, because of which he is called as the ‘Kingmaker’. He belongs to the Galasieni race and is the last one remaining as its representative. Mauryl’s power is becoming lesser with his growing age. So, while creating Tristen, he falters with self-doubt and as a result, the work of shaping remains unfinished partially. Hence, Tristen makes his entry in an unfinished form. He has the abilities and physical form of a human, but he does not possess any knowledge, memory, or the understanding of his own self. Therefore, Tristen spends much of his time trying to discover his identity. A ghost like sorcerer named Hasufin Heltain keeps stalking Tristen all the time. He is Mauryl’s old enemy and attempts to get back at him by destroying Tristen. But, he fails in his attempts every time. As the series proceeds further, author Cherryh continuously intertwines the stories of Tristen and another important character, Cefwyn. Tristen receives help from Cefwyn in finding a place in the society. They bond very well and become very close friends. Their friendship grows stronger when they join together to fight the common enemy, Hasufin Heltain.

C.J. Cherryh is the pseudonym of the renowned American writer named Carolyn Janice Cherry. She is famous for her works in speculative fiction and has penned over 60 novels in her career altogether. A couple of her books have won the Hugo Award. Cherryh is particularly known for world building with which she depicts fictional realms. Before starting any project, Cherryh carries out a vast research related to history, psychology, archaeology, and language. Cherryh’s books have sold more than 3 million copies all across the world. Author Cherryh was born on 1st September, 1942, in St Louis, Missouri. The asteroid called 77185 Cherryh is named after her. This honor was given to her because the discoverers felt that the author has challenged the mankind to be stars-worthy by describing how the humans might grow and live among them. Author Cherryh was brought up in Lawton, Oklahoma. From a very early age, she developed the interest of writing stories. Cherryh earned her bachelor’s degree from the Oklahoma University in Latin. Later, she obtained her Master’s degree from the University of Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland. Following her graduation, Cherryh was involved in teaching for a brief period and then shifted to writing full time.

The debut book of the Fortress series written by C J Cherryh is entitled ‘Fortress in the Eye of Time’. It was released by the Harper Voyager publication in the year 1996. Cherryh has mentioned the lead characters in this book as Mauryl and Tristen. At the start of the book’s story, it is shown that in a shattered, abandoned castle, a very old man was muttering some forgotten words. The man belonged to the Old Magic and he was intended to create a Shaping out of the light’s shimmering and air’s insubstance. He was hoping that this shaping would become the most wondrous spell. After giving it the form of a man, the shaping would be sent in the eastern direction for righting the wrongs of an old wizard war. Also, new wars will be called into being because of this shaping. But, because of a small mistake, the shaping remains unfinished when it is born. Mauryl calls it Tristen and tells him to go on a journey for discovering all that he has failed to provide him. And only after doing so he will be able to serve his purpose. The things that Tristen lacks include an understanding of his identity, memory, and knowledge. But, Mauryl guides him on the path where he can obtain all these.

The next book of the series penned by Cherryh is called ‘Fortress of Eagles’. It was also published by Harper Voyager in 1998. The central characters of this particular book consist of Trestin, Cefwyn, Mauryl, Hasufin Heltain. At the beginning of the story of the book, it is depicted that Tristen looks more or less like a man. Mauryl had created him to serve as the king, but he was yet to become worthy of a crown. Shortly after creating Trestin, Mauryl dies. On his journey down the road, Trestin comes across Cefwyn and befriends him. When Cefwyn indulges in a war for fulfilling his dreams, he feels the need of Trestin. In spite of knowing him only for a short time, Cefwyn seems to trust Trestin blindly and even he does not know why. He feels as if there is some kind of brotherly connection between them. Cefwyn places all his faith in Trestin and hopes that he will help him win the war for everyone’s sake. This book was highly awaited after the tremendous success of the previous book. The readers did not feel let down by this book too as it succeeded in entertaining them on equal terms as the first novel.