The Lyrical High‑Fantasy Library | Andrew Taylor | Substack

Epic Fantasy: Thrain

To Kill or Not to Kill

Is it Sklal who curses them, or does man simply reap that which he sows?

Jan 15 • Andrew Taylor

Thrain - Part 32: Battle of the Bjorn

Fear is overcome, not avoided

Nov 18, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

Thrain - Part 31: The Trigrynt Stolen

The linchpin is almost in place. It would be a shame if someone stole it now.

Aug 6, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

Thrain - Part 30: The Shadow of Kalovame

Tylen and Torp join the Warcrest, but someone waits for them at Muster...

Jul 17, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

Recommendations

Quiet Little Journeys

Quiet Little Journeys

Asteria Geisterblum

The Pirate's Library

The Pirate's Library

Sean Nordquist

Speculative Fiction and Dark Tales | Nocturnal Narrator

Speculative Fiction and Dark Tales | Nocturnal Narrator

Nikki | Nocturnal Narrator

Happy Nielsen

Happy Nielsen

The Writer's Journey

The Writer's Journey

Bradley Ramsey

Lyrical, Whimsical Fantasy: The King's Scribe

Deals and Dooms

Wick comes to an agreement with the House, and finally gets aboard the ship. But that may not go the way he wishes it.

Jun 30, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

Wick's final opponent is a Red Knight and a previous two-time winner. Is this the end?

Jun 8, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

The Lyrical High‑Fantasy Library

The Lyrical High‑Fantasy Library

Lyrical high fantasy in the vein of Tolkien & Rothfuss. Weekly chapters, lore, magic and more.

Recent posts

Thrain - Part 32: Battle of the Bjorn

Fear is overcome, not avoided

Nov 18, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

Writing Fantasy: Ancient Characters

How does one properly portray long-lived races, even though we ourselves are quite young?

Aug 19, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

Magefell: The Beginnings of History

The Lorekeeper's contextualization of Magefell's beginning history

Aug 8, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

Thrain - Part 31: The Trigrynt Stolen

The linchpin is almost in place. It would be a shame if someone stole it now.

Aug 6, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

Get Narrations! (And updates for the Library)

The narration form is out! And what about my stories?

Jul 23, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

Lore

The Words of Fantasy

How does one come up with fantasy words anyways?

Nov 21, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

The Northfolk Beginnings

On the tribalization of the Northmen, and traditions that shaped them

Jul 3, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

On the Northmen's Origin

A quick foray into how the Northmen originated

Jun 26, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

Magefell: A High Magic Fantasy World

An introduction by the Lorekeepers

May 5, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

Excerpts

Fun Fantasy: A BattleNations Short Story

Lt. Morgan, Ramsey, Private Perkins, and some friends from Team Fortress 2 have, well, a rather usual day in this BattleNations x Team Fortress 2 short…

Jun 7, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

Yarv and Quinton

Tales from Magefell

Mar 31, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

The Heart of a Mage

This was the right choice

Mar 30, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

Socks and Soldiers

A version of Thrain I wrote a long time ago...

Mar 29, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

Tylen Meets Lilia

Pretty sure this will be in the book. I think.

Mar 27, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

Thoughts in Fantasy

Writing Fantasy: Ancient Characters

How does one properly portray long-lived races, even though we ourselves are quite young?

Aug 19, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

Writing Fantasy: Making it Sound Old

What separates LOTR from Fourth Wing, and how can you write fantasy that sounds old?

Jul 18, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

Making Fantasy: Intent, Prose, and POV

Making fantasy with focused intent, good prose, and the right POV, shown by me editing an old piece I wrote.

Jul 5, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

How To Write Witty Fantasy (and how not to)

Writting witty fantasy is often a function of the author's voice, but there are ways to do, and not to do it

Jun 27, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

How To Record Audio Narration For Substack

Tips and Tricks for recording audio narration on Substack, with comparisons!

Jun 20, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

The Once and Future Tense: Picking One for Your Story

*Morpheus voice* "What if I told you the past is the present?"

Jun 14, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

Making Fantasy Fresh: How, Why, and an Example

Whether it's a prologue, or a scene from another POV to set the mood, here's tips, tricks, and examples

May 30, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

Fantasy Is Powerful Storytelling

High fantasy, low fantasy, no fantasy? When to use it, and why

May 24, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

Maps

Magefell: The Beginnings of History

The Lorekeeper's contextualization of Magefell's beginning history

Aug 8, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

Magefell: What was The Shattering?

An excerpt from the Lorekeeprs, and then my thoughts on The Shattering and the world history in general.

Jun 6, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

The High Fantasy Map of Aath

My map of Aath, where the high fantasy story of Thrain takes place

May 9, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

Magefell: A High Magic Fantasy World

An introduction by the Lorekeepers

May 5, 2025 • Andrew Taylor

#nojs-banner { position: fixed; bottom: 0; left: 0; padding: 16px 16px 16px 32px; width: 100%; box-sizing: border-box; background: red; color: white; font-family: -apple-system, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px; } #nojs-banner a { color: inherit; text-decoration: underline; } This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please turn on JavaScript or unblock scripts