Web Site: victoriagoddard.ca
Blog: The Rose and Phoenix Inn
GoodReads: GoodReads
Victoria Goddard is a writer of literary fantasy. She is a keen gardener, an inveterate book collector, and has a PhD in Medieval Studies (focusing on Dante and Boethius) from the University of Toronto. She currently lives in a cozy farmhouse in the Canadian Maritimes with two dogs, a cat, various poultry, and a wildly exuberant garden.
I walked across England in 2013, fulfilling a long-held dream. I'm currently the sexton of an Anglican church in Nova Scotia, which means I am keeper of the keys and opener of doors (and shutter-off of alarms). I have a PhD in medieval studies from the University of Toronto, looking at poetry and philosophy in the works of Dante and Boethius -- both the poetry and the philosophy come into my stories a great deal (and occasionally the Dante and the Boethius).
I like writing about the ordinary lives of magical people on the other side of the looking glass ... and the extraordinary deeds of ordinary folk, too. Three of my favourite authors are Patricia McKillip (especially 'The Riddle-Master of Hed' trilogy and 'The Bell at Sealy Head'), Connie Willis ('Bellwether' and 'To Say Nothing of the Dog,' which latter would make my top-ten books on a desert island), and Lois McMaster Bujold ('The Curse of Chalion' and its sequels). I'm aiming somewhere between them and Neil Gaiman's 'Stardust'
The Walk Across England
In June of 2013, I set off on foot from St Abb’s Head in Scotland, with the strong intention and vague plan of walking across England. 1075-odd kilometres later, on 10th November, I dipped my toes in the English Channel at Southbourne, looking at the white cliffs of southern England and feeling pretty pleased with myself. Along the way I visited friends and relatives, worked on a few small farms (wwoofing/helpxing), and had a couple of side trips to Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, and Florida. It then took me till the end of February to finish writing about the trip, because apparently writing about crossing a country takes longer than walking about it does.
Interwoven series and standalone fantasy stories. Tales of friendship, fealty, adventure, and occasionally good government. For those who like a little philosophy with their swashbuckling, but care for characters most of all.
My Nine Worlds stories are set in various parts of the universe on both sides of the dividing line of the Fall of the Empire of Astandalas. They interweave and interconnect, so while you may certainly follow the internal chronology of the stories, the suggested reading order begins with The Hands of the Emperor.
| Series | Pub'd | CO | RO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Till Human Voices Wake Us * (2014) | Tales from Ysthar #2 | ebk, pb | 10 AF | 17 |
| The Tower at the Edge of the World * (novellette) (2014) | The Red Company #1 | ebk, pb | 1 BF | 14 |
| Stargazy Pie * (2016) | Greenwing & Dart #1 | ebk, pb | 11 AF | 4 |
| The Bride of the Blue Wind * (novella) (2017) | Sisters Avramapul #1 | ebk, pb | 2 BF | 11 |
| The Warrior of the Third Veil (novella) (2017) | Sisters Avramapul #2 | ebk, pb | 3 BF | 12 |
| Bee Sting Cake (2017) | Greenwing & Dart #2 | ebk, pb | 12 AF | 6 |
| Stone Speaks to Stone * (novella) (2018) | Greenwing & Dart #0 | ebk, pb | 6 BF | 5 |
| Whiskeyjack (2018) | Greenwing & Dart #3 | ebk, pb | 13 AF | 7 |
| In the Company of Gentlemen * (novella) (2018) | The Red Company #2 | ebk | 8 AF | 15 |
| Blackcurrant Fool (2019) | Greenwing & Dart #4 | ebk, pb | 14 AF | 8 |
| The Hands of the Emperor * (2019) | Lays of the Hearth-Fire #1 | ebk, hc | 17 AF | 1 |
| In the Realms of Gold * (2020) (collection) | Tales from Ysthar #1 | ebk | 9 AF | 18 |
| Love-in-a-Mist (2020) | Greenwing & Dart #5 | ebk, pb | 15 AF | 9 |
| The Return of Fitzroy Angursell * (2020) | Lays of the Hearth-Fire #2 The Return of the Red Company #1 | ebk, pb | 18 AF | 3 |
| Petty Treasons (novella) (2021) | Lays of the Hearth-Fire #0.5 | ebk, pb | 7 AF | 2 |
| Plum Duff (2021) | Greenwing & Dart #6 | ebk, pb | 16 AF | 10 |
| At the Feet of the Sun (2022?) | Lays of the Hearth-Fire #3 | |||
| The Weaver of the Middle Desert (forthcoming) | Sisters Avramapul #3 | 4 BF | 13 | |
| Derring-Do for Beginners (forthcoming) | Tales of the Red Company #3 | 5 BF | 16 |
CO - Chronological Order, RO - Recommended Reading Order, BF - Before the Fall, AF - After the Fall. Recommended Reading Order, & Chronological Order.
Asterisked titles are either beginnings of series or standalone.
Ebooks are available from VG's web site: (or Amazon, etc), CA$7.99 - long novel, CA$5.99 - novel, CA$3.99 - collection, CA$2.99 - novella, CA$0.99 - short story
| Title | Series | Pub'd | ItRoG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scheherezade | Tales from Ysthar | ItRoG | |
| Rook | Tales from Ysthar | ItRoG | |
| Not Far From the Tree | Tales from Ysthar | ItRoG | |
| Blue Moon Over Pincher Creek | Tales from Ysthar | ItRoG | |
| Inkebarrow | Tales from Ysthar | ItRoG | |
| The Seven Brides-to-Be of Generalissimo Vlad (Not NW) | |||
| The Connoisseur (Not NW) | |||
| Traditional Culture Days at Uni |
| Todd: | No question, just a note that I have fallen in love with the characters in "The Hands of the Emperor". And that is not something which happens often. How do you do it? |
| Victoria Goddard: | Hi Todd! Thanks for writing. I must admit I saw this question and have been pondering how to answer it for the past several days ... I'm not sure if I have a 'real' reason, but I'll give it a shot. I think it's because I love the characters dearly, and they are good and admirable, if flawed, people. I try to honour them and their stories. Perhaps it is because I let them be Real to me--the way the Velveteen Rabbit is Real (if you know that children's book! It was one of my favourites). I started to write a little vignette about the Last Emperor from the perspective of his secretary, and gradually I found myself writing more and more about the secretary until his story eventually became The Hands of the Emperor. Cliopher seized my heart very quickly, and the story just came. More than that is hard to say. |
| Effrosyni Moschoudi: | Interview, May 18, 2015 |
| H. P. Lovecraft: | Ask Lovecraft - Victoria Goddard |