Traci Harding
Author of The Ancient Future: The Dark Age
About the Author
Image credit: Traci Harding
Series
Works by Traci Harding
Sorcha - Vindicta 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Harding, Traci
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- writer
author - Short biography
- Traci Harding is an Australian novelist. Her work combines fantasy, facts, history and esoteric beliefs. She has recently sold the film rights to two of her books, The Ancient Future and The Alchemist Key, with both expected to begin production in 2009. She was born and raised in Carlingford, a western suburb of Sydney, Australia. Harding states that her early interests were, "music, boys, daydreaming and storytelling". After leaving school she first pursued an interest in music. Later she started writing stories, novels, and then film scripts.
- Nationality
- Australia
- Places of residence
- Hawkesbury River, NSW
Carlingford, NSW - Associated Place (for map)
- NSW
Members
Reviews
I've been a fan of Traci Harding for years. Her fantasy has always inspired me, given me new worlds to immerse in, new characters to fall in love with. The Storyteller's Muse is different - it's not epic Fantasy - but it is epic storytelling, for sure.
What I loved about it most was the rich atmosphere. I sensed every environment, costume, hair do, personality ... I was there, with the characters in one of my most beloved forms of storytelling - the parallel narrative. It's not an easy one to show more pull off, or pull of well, but Traci does it. She gives us enough time in each story arc to stay current but not so long that we resent being pulled out of want and put back in the other. The writing, and the transitions, are seamless and for my Gemini mind, having two seductive and mysterious stories told at once, who could want more?
The other big draw for me is the immersion in the world of the writerly life. What is it like to want to write a novel and not know where to begin? We've all been there once and going into those feelings with The Storyteller's Muse was like having my own writers group, my own best writerly friends, right there with me, supporting, challenging, interacting ... in a craft that can be more than a little isolating, this book became my nightly companion.
The story is about a birth and a death, deception and revelation, love and hate. But don't think it's all back and white! The nuances and subtle shifts and shades make The Storyteller's Muse the best read I've had in a long, long time. I didn't want it to end. show less
What I loved about it most was the rich atmosphere. I sensed every environment, costume, hair do, personality ... I was there, with the characters in one of my most beloved forms of storytelling - the parallel narrative. It's not an easy one to show more pull off, or pull of well, but Traci does it. She gives us enough time in each story arc to stay current but not so long that we resent being pulled out of want and put back in the other. The writing, and the transitions, are seamless and for my Gemini mind, having two seductive and mysterious stories told at once, who could want more?
The other big draw for me is the immersion in the world of the writerly life. What is it like to want to write a novel and not know where to begin? We've all been there once and going into those feelings with The Storyteller's Muse was like having my own writers group, my own best writerly friends, right there with me, supporting, challenging, interacting ... in a craft that can be more than a little isolating, this book became my nightly companion.
The story is about a birth and a death, deception and revelation, love and hate. But don't think it's all back and white! The nuances and subtle shifts and shades make The Storyteller's Muse the best read I've had in a long, long time. I didn't want it to end. show less
This story is a fantasy about the fight to save the ancestral land of Aboriginal Australians and prevent it being exploited for its resources. The land is sacred as it is home to spirits, mythical Australian animals and nature elementals.
The premise of the book was original, I thought, but it felt a bit like chic-lit meets mysticism; everyone seemed to burst into tears at the drop of a hat. Although it comes in at just under 500 pages, the writing felt a bit light. For instance, several show more (incidental) characters die, but those events don't have much emotional impact on the story.
I did like the illustrations, though. Each chapter title page has an enchanting drawing of one of the mythical animals, and some of them are also depicted as emerging from the cover of the book. The protagonist, Kyle, seems to be named after the author's brother, for whom the book was written, as she had promised to write a book for him, which I found appealing. show less
The premise of the book was original, I thought, but it felt a bit like chic-lit meets mysticism; everyone seemed to burst into tears at the drop of a hat. Although it comes in at just under 500 pages, the writing felt a bit light. For instance, several show more (incidental) characters die, but those events don't have much emotional impact on the story.
I did like the illustrations, though. Each chapter title page has an enchanting drawing of one of the mythical animals, and some of them are also depicted as emerging from the cover of the book. The protagonist, Kyle, seems to be named after the author's brother, for whom the book was written, as she had promised to write a book for him, which I found appealing. show less
Mia Montrose is a 21st-century Australian woman with a Doctorate in Ancient Languages who has just scored the most promising job of her career.
When Mia experiences mysterious happenings and forces beyond her control, she begins to understand that history does not always stay in the past.
Ashlee Granville is a 19th-century clairvoyant, forced to suppress her talents as she enters the marriage market of English upper-class society. But Ashlee is not a girl who likes to bow to the inevitable - show more she has plans of her own.
Lillet du Lac is a 13th-century woman, priestess of an ancient order now protected by the Cathar faith, who are making their last stand against the Roman Catholic Franks at the giant hill fort of Montségur. As the castle falls, Lillet escapes with something more valuable than any of their lives ...
Despite the time, distance and cultures that separate them, these women share several things in common. They belong to an ancient bloodline of Grail kings, protected by a Sion knight named Albray, and they are each compelled to visit an ancient mountain in the Sinai. This mount contains the keys which may unlock a gateway to a dimension of light and the Gene of Isis. show less
When Mia experiences mysterious happenings and forces beyond her control, she begins to understand that history does not always stay in the past.
Ashlee Granville is a 19th-century clairvoyant, forced to suppress her talents as she enters the marriage market of English upper-class society. But Ashlee is not a girl who likes to bow to the inevitable - show more she has plans of her own.
Lillet du Lac is a 13th-century woman, priestess of an ancient order now protected by the Cathar faith, who are making their last stand against the Roman Catholic Franks at the giant hill fort of Montségur. As the castle falls, Lillet escapes with something more valuable than any of their lives ...
Despite the time, distance and cultures that separate them, these women share several things in common. They belong to an ancient bloodline of Grail kings, protected by a Sion knight named Albray, and they are each compelled to visit an ancient mountain in the Sinai. This mount contains the keys which may unlock a gateway to a dimension of light and the Gene of Isis. show less
Excellent book based around the concept of the one-ness of all living things and our connection to each other through an infinite pool of energy. In the middle of this book I was actually sad, because I would do anything to experience a world and adventure like this on my own. My one negative thought on this is that by the end, as many of these kinds of books do, it got a bit too action/combat oriented for me. The plot got a bit messy with people teleporting back and forth, all the show more kidnappings within a few pages of each other, etc. I wish the author would make a clean climax without quite so much entanglement and action going on in the last chapters. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 28
- Members
- 2,335
- Popularity
- #10,987
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 40
- ISBNs
- 189
- Languages
- 1
- Favorited
- 11