Dark Shards: An Anthology of Fear and Wonder

Prelude

Dark Shards: An Anthology of Fear and Wonder

By Alexandria Francetic

Prelude

For those of you who are familiar with my work, you may have noticed some similar or recurring elements between certain stories, or ones that are connected to each other in different ways. This has a simple explanation- all of my novels take place in the same general universe, but each story occurs on a separate timeline- and sometimes, multiple stories can take place on the same timeline. I have worked for many years, subtly connecting these tales and events together in small, but recognizable ways, creating my own expanded universe with different timelines, different events, and an array of different characters. It's sort of like a rope- a bundle of individual threads unique in their own way, all twined together to culminate in something much bigger, even if it may not always be inherently apparent.

In this anthology, there will be a list describing all of the different species and races in my universe, along with some small footnotes for a clearer view on certain things. 

Once the lore sections are finished, the anthology will move on to short stories, poems, and other short-form prose in various literary styles depicting a particular event, creature, or character that takes place in my universe, with the main story it is related to linked at the top. These will be updated as new stories are created and added to the roster in the future, so this will be more of a long-term, expansive project.

This world is home to a vast variety of supernatural beings, both native and non-native to Earth, many of which prey upon humans. While many of the characters in my novels are non-human entities, a hybrid of human and some other creature, or at least possessive of magical powers or other means of defense, the subjects in these small tales are the general human race itself, with no psychic powers or weaponry to protect them, at the mercy of an uncaring, dangerous world.

Above all, the word that I would use to describe my connected universe is "indifferent." It is not purely good or purely evil, there is no Heaven or Hell, rather there are dark and light forces constantly pushing against each other in a struggle for balance. In that way, it is a lot like our world- a place where nothing is truly black and white, while there are dangers there are also beautiful things, so we must take the good with the bad.

The concept behind my universe is a world that developed similarly to ours, but there are hidden powerful forces beyond our control seldom known to much of the population, ones that we can never fully understand. That is the world I try to convey in each of my stories, and in this anthology as well. Happy reading~