Immortal Wars: The Summoning
Long ago, I wrote the first book of a series that wouldn’t get very far. Immortal Wars was fueled by my interest in fantasy, science fiction, and superheroes. I had no idea what I was doing, but plotted out 9 books with a cast of characters that were predominantly immortal. I was watching a lot of ‘Highlander’ back then too. I published the first book through a vanity press in 2002 and it went . . . absolutely nowhere. Click on the cover and see the insane price that I had to work with. Still, I did it very cheap and considered it a resume builder and experiment.
So, you can see that I had an interest in immortality a long time ago. The Guardians were four kids, and an ancient mentor, who are awaken with powers and immortality, which they took to far too easily. At least with Windemere stories, the characters live in a world of magic and monsters. This was Earth and only the one into comic books should have been okay with things. Needless to say it failed, but the system worked out fairly well. An immortal could heal any wound within seconds as long as it wasn’t inflicted by another immortal because their energies cancelled each other out. They were still strong, durable, and fast, but they could kill each other.
Fast forward to now where I have gods, goddesses, and demigods that would thrash the Guardians pretty easily. These immortals are harder to kill and don’t have the restriction of being killed by each other. Special items, creatures, and spells can do the job, but they have a more ingrained role in the universe than the Guardians. There are times where a god or goddess gets hit hard enough to rattle them while the demigods can get killed if they sustain enough damage. Honestly, the immortals in Windemere are a lot more casual than the ones in Immortal Wars since I went with such a simple system. If I need one to get hurt or killed, I make up something magical instead of coming up with a rule. There’s also the Law of Influence that comes about 98% of the immortal community out of mortal business.
Will I ever revive the old series? Probably not in its original form. I do have an idea to bring the characters into another series where they’ll appear as the first beings of Windemere that were sealed due to problems. Beyond that, I can’t look at the old notes without realizing that I’m not that teenager any more. The stories were fun, but not as deep and extensive as what I’m doing now. This will forever be my first attempt, which I’ve learned most authors won’t even publish or bring attention to. Yet, I do find it funny that I’m always creeping back toward immortality. There really is something about the idea of living forever that intrigues me. Not that I would want to be one, but thinking about how such a person could function and avoid insanity.
So, what are your thoughts on immortality? Have you ever used it in a story or have a beloved book where it’s part of the adventure?
Legends of Windemere 
Wow! It’s great that you published a book back then. Equally cool that you’ll incorporate those characters into your current series.
I usually don’t deal so much with immortality as longevity. My characters live hundreds of years. When I was considering an antagonist for a book, I was inspired by Yeats’s poem, “The Wanderings of Oisin,” which described the ennui of a man who was taken to live in the immortal lands.
I love Neil Gaiman’s Eternals graphic novel, which was a rewrite of Jack Kirby’s series.
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It was a vanity press, so I’m not dancing with pride on that one. Had no idea what I was doing and only had 350 edits before they started charging me. I’m still not 100% certain how to do those original characters either since they were rather corny.
Do your characters live hundreds of years and die like a mortal? I know the D&D elves (or was it LOTR) live for hundreds of years until they simply decide to pass onto the next life.
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That’s interesting.I read a lot of fantasy growing up and into my twenties, but never thought I had the creativity to pull off writing it. Several years ago I started a fantasy sci-fi sort of book that involved aliens integrating into our futuristic society that had visited us in our ancient past. I liked the story when I went back and read it, but I just didn’t feel the passion for it that I needed to finish it. Maybe some day I’ll try it again.
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Always fun to try again. I’ve found that old ideas are simply waiting for a new approach or that final spark. For example, the Shattered States came from a failed dystopia idea I had. I had it shelved until I thought up Cassidy and Lloyd. Now, the world is flourishing. Never know what the missing ingredient is.
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I don’t know that I have touched upon the subject. There are references to gods and godesses in The Cock of the South, but they don’t appear. I’ve written a couple of demons that I never delved into what happened after their defeat. Oh, and I made a reference to Cthulhu in a short story, but he did not appear either. Other characters it’s kind of an unknown; Jason Fogg…maybe. Lisa Burton…slimmer chance, but she could upload herself into a new chassis.
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Robots and androids are always a grey area. They’re technically immortal, but only if they remain undamaged. I tend to list them as having ‘longevity’ instead of true immortality. Funny thing about fantasy world gods is that they’re becoming less visible in some worlds. More mentioned than a physical presence.
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In my case, it wasn’t their story. I suppose I also wrote about vampires a couple of times. Are they considered un-immortal along with un-dead?
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Vampires are considered immortals since they can only die of violence and special requirements. Zombies and mummies can count too as long as they aren’t rotting away.
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Okay then, I’ve written them.
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Very interesting. Are you thinking about changing your Windmere series to be thousands of years in the future? That way these immortals of yours could bring about some kind of chaos that creates the very gods and goddesses that bind them, plus you could have Luke be your descendent.
I know it’s an idea that a lot of authors have done, but I’m sure you could put your own spin on it. Plus that way it doesn’t matter if they are corny, that could be part of the plot, maybe…
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Never thought of that. Honestly, I have another plan for future Windemere. The idea I’m toying with for the old immortals is that they’re the failed first creations of the progenitor god. Kind of hard to rule a race that’s as strong as you are. My world wandering, high adventure thief will run into them after somebody wakes them up.
I’m a little lost on the future and binding thing. Do you mean they do a time loop?
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Sorry, be been away from WordPress for a few days.
I didn’t mean a Time loop, I should have explained better.
What I was talking about was say these gods were created in our time, then they caused chaos, somehow created the god of Windmere who then bound them… wait, I think you called it sealing away if I remember correctly. So the new gods, seeing how these slightly older god/immortals had destroyed the human civilization, sealed them away and tried to restore what they could of humanity.
This is obviously a bit brief of a description, but it is a bit better than my first one, lol.
I know it’s an idea that had been done often, by Terry Brooks and Robert Jordan to name two authors.
I hope this explained my suggestion a bit better.
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I think I get it. Does sound a lot like Shanara turning out to be Earth. Never really considered that since I had them as two locations. At a time there was even a portal between the two worlds, but I closed that. It’s something to consider if I have these immortals turn out to be early, failed gods.
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Sounds like you could revamp your YA series into something more, using what you’ve learned. Creepy immortal kids could be fun… Although maybe not make them truly immortal, since you’ve gotten less fond.
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I haven’t really gotten less fond of them, but my thoughts on immortality have certainly changed. Honestly, it’s hard to go back to this one since I went so far and it doesn’t fit in with what I’ve done. One of the characters has found a home in Windemere, but the others haven’t had much luck. Creepy immortal kids is an interesting thought. Might be fun to do what I was planning, but turn them into children instead of keeping their adult forms.
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Yeah, you’d have advantages and disadvantages as an eternal child. People would not take you seriously but would probably answer questions to someone they thought was just a kid. (What does this button do?) But they’d also say things like “where’s your Mommy?” and hold kids up trying to find said Mommy/Daddy.
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That would definitely drive an immortal nuts. Might be why most immortal kids are downright psychotic.
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