Again, I wasn’t entirely certain what to do for this post. Lionheart would be an obvious choice except I already had J is for Jester. Hmmmmm.
So I decided to write a short article on Lunthea Maly, the City of Fragrant Flowers in the Noorhitam Empire.
Which, most of you probably don’t even remember.
Lunthea Maly has a significant role in Veiled Rose, but only gets a brief mention in Heartless. It is one of the many exotic places Leonard claims to have visited during his jester years. As he lovingly says, “I dwelt four years in Lunthea Maly, the City of Fragrant Flowers, which indeed is as fragrant as squashed daisies left rotting in the bottom of a wheelbarrow on a summer’s day.” Charming.
Of course, we have no idea how true this may be. Leonard the Jester will say anything for a laugh. Is the City of Fragrant Flowers truly so foul, or is it merely strange to Leonard? After all, anything that is different may be weird to us. I remember a time when I could not stand the smell of curry or saffron . . . they were such horrible, pungent odors, strange in my nose, which was more used to basil or oregano. Now days, I can scarcely think of scents I love better than the scents wafting from my kitchen while my husband makes me authentic Sri Lankan curries and saffron potatoes over rice.
We tend to like what we know. When we allow our knowledge to grow, our likes grow right along with them.
Anyway, that’s about as much as we know of Leonard’s travels to Lunthea Maly. We know the emperor dwells there, one Khemkhaeng-Niran Klahan, for whom Leonard performed at some point in time. And we know Leonard was given a peacock, which was required back from him soon after. Otherwise, his visit to that land remains an enigma.
I hope you will pick up Veiled Rose and journey with me to Lunthea Maly for a short sojourn soon. And I do hope that one day I’ll have a chance to make a longer stay there, for mysteries abound in the City of Fragrant Flowers which we have scarcely begun to sniff out!
After all, it was in the east that Leonard learned how dragons might be fought . . .
8 comments:
Christa here!
I'd forgotten about Lunthea Maly. Thanks for reminding me.
Is the city supposed to be drawn off some Asian country? I mean, "City of Fragrant Flowers" sounds pretty Chinese, and it's in the east.
It is pseudo-Asian based to about the same extent that the western kingdoms are pesudo-European based. In keeping with the Fairy Tale feel, I wanted the nations of the world to feel relatively familiar . . . and I had just traveled to Okinawa before writing Veiled Rose, so there was a strong influence from that trip as well! By the time of the actual release, there were influences from many different Asian cultures, both Far Eatern and more Middle Eastern. Noorhitam is a vast empire, and Lunthea Maly an equally vast city . . . lots of culture to be had! :) It was fun to write about.
Cool! Boy, I can't wait to read Veiled Rose!
Veiled Rose is amazing! I'm half way through it, I can't put it down!I eaven tried to read it DURING my doctor's appointment! I can't wait for Moonblood; the cover is beautiful. Any chance it will be published sooner?
I'm so glad you're enjoying Veiled Rose! I'm excited about Moonblood too . . . it's probably my favorite of the three. I hadn't realized the cover was already up online! So excited to see that. Sadly, it won't be coming out any earlier than April 2012. :( But be sure to tell your friends so they can read Veiled Rose before Moonblood comes out! Blessings. :)
I just finished Veiled Rose yesterday. I loved it. I don't know how I will be able to wait until April to read Moonblood! The cover was on your blog http://moonbloodnovel.blogspot.com/. I found it on your profile page. Have a wonderful summer :)
Oh, of couse! I hadn't realized I had it connected where people could find it yet. :) Thanks for letting me know, and I'm so glad that you like the looks of it! :) And that you loved Veiled Rose . . . I have a soft spot in my heart for that story. And I can hardly wait myself until Moonblood releases!
Just so you know, I picked up Sphinx's Princess at the library today after reading about it on your blog. Thanks for posting all those great reading suggestions! I love YA fantasy. :)
Sphinx's Princess is great and so is its sequel, Sphinx's Queen. Another series by the same author is about Helen of Troy and the Greeks. Those are good, too but I liked the Egypt ones better. I hope you enjoy reading Sphinx's Princess. I'm always adding new books to my blog, so be sure to check again for more!
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