David Burrows Fantasy Author

The Birth of Drachar's Demons Some years ago, a friend read Prophecy of the Kings and told me how much he had enjoyed it. Yet one thing troubled him: he wanted to know more about Drachar, a figure only hinted at in the story. Oddly enough, his curiosity stirred my own. I realised that I knew surprisingly little about Drachar myself—or about his people, the Eldric. That is one of the strange delights of being an author: the world you create is often filled with shadows even you have not yet explored. Perhaps that is why Tolkien’s extraordinary world-building remains so compelling; his deep love for the Elves, their histories, and the vastness of Middle-earth gave every hidden corner the promise of a story waiting to be uncovered. Before writing Prophecy of the Kings , I imagined that authors had their tales fully mapped out before they ever put pen to paper. For me, it was nothing like that. The story revealed itself chapter by chapter, often surprising me with unexpected turns i...

  In fantasy, it is dangerously easy to write yourself into a corner. Take the dragon: vast, ancient, armoured, and almost impossible to kill. If such a creature has no weakness, the story can quickly lose its edge. The beast sweeps across kingdoms, burns cities to ash, and leaves armies broken in its wake. Terrifying, yes — but without a way to fight back, even terror can become predictable and the tale becomes stale. So how have other storytellers solved the problem? Myth gives us brave knights such as St George, charging into legend with lance and sword. After a mighty clash, the dragon lies slain, and statues immortalise the hero standing triumphant over the body, sword raised in glory. It is stirring imagery — but is it enough? Dragons have scales like armour and breathe fire, acid, or worse. How could any knight survive long enough to strike the killing blow? In The Hobbit , Tolkien found a brilliant answer: a flaw. Smaug, magnificent and vain, reveals the one gap in his ...

  Do We Have Guardian Angels ? It is a question I have often returned to: if guardian angels truly existed, what would they be? A comforting presence? A warning voice in the dark? Or something older, stranger, and far less sentimental? That idea found its way into my books, first as a quiet hint in Legacy of the Eldric , then as a deeper and more dangerous thread in Dragon Rider and Shadow of the Demon . Across many cultures, people have imagined guardian spirits in one form or another. In some North American traditions, spirit guides or totems are often represented by animals, watching, warning, or lending strength. I borrowed something of that warmth: the human longing to believe that we are not entirely alone, that somewhere beyond sight, something knows us, remembers us, and may yet stand between us and the dark. What Is a Guardian Spirit in My Books? In my world, a guardian spirit—or shaol—is usually an ancestor bound in some mysterious way to the person it protec...