The highly anticipated third chapter of the fantasy saga inspired by Game of Thrones.
Mario Attilieni, businessman and writer from Lucca, born in 1986, publishes the third chapter of the saga: “Autumn Prophecy”. A fantasy novel with allegorical overtones that began in 2022 with The Hourglass Empire, continued with Revenge of the Unicorns, and finally, the last concluding volume that will amaze you with its unpublished results. Already appreciated by diverse readers and especially from all over the world. nerdmeet him to find out more.
What prompted her to write the book Fantasy?
Fantasy is imbued with magic, and magic is poetry: so fantasy allows me to reveal my poetic streak. Moreover, it often happens that reality surpasses imagination, and sometimes I doubt that fantasy stories are really stories of our daily life: we are fantasy. It’s a genre that also allows you to write your own history and geography, starting from scratch: being able to create new worlds is a very powerful and truly exciting feeling.
What authors have you especially drawn inspiration from?
Actually many. Thus, at first glance, my novels can be defined as a Mediterranean version of George Martin’s Game of Thrones. Many more “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L. Franz Baum, especially given the appearance “jump” novels containing different interpretations, including socio-economic ones. Each chapter hides many implicit quotations (so-called “Easter eggs”) and revisits events already described by the authors of the past, but with original variations. For example, the story of the evil king Steiner Bianchemura is a reimagining of the story of the mythical king Kandaule (who also lends his name to voyeurism), said Herodotus. Or, when I talk about “our heroes trapped in a tower with a predatory monster”: this is nothing more than a rearrangement in the key Fantasy about the events of Count Ugolino. Or, again, the love story between the beautiful knight Xiron Forelle and the beautiful lady Magnolia is reminiscent of the story of Lancelot and Guinevere, but also in some ways the story of Paolo and Francesca. Even the names (and surnames) of the characters are never random, but always have a hidden meaning. In fact, I could go on and on because there are so many references here. I’m actually thinking about opening contests with my readers: who finds everything “Easter Egg”, could win a prize: maybe even be included in my next novel. Returning to the authors who inspired me, the title of the first novel, Empire of the Hourglass, is an homage to the Argentine poet Borges’ poem “La Dicha” (Happiness). And also the next two chapters are preceded by a quote from the same poem.
Would you like your trilogy, the last chapter of which is “Autumn Prophecy”, to turn into a movie saga?
Definite. And I think the typology of the novel, as well as the storytelling style, is also particularly well suited. In particular, when I come up with a character, I always try to imagine it based on the actor I would like to play. For example, the wise old man “Crowno Pferd” could be played by Giancarlo Giannini or Donald Sutherland. For her sister “Tusa”, the late Virna Lisi would be perfect. For the role of “Prince of Unicorns” I would see a good young Brad Pitt. I imagined the main character Achilles as Tom Holland or Michael J Fox (my hero). I could go on and on here too…
How does this last chapter differ from the other two previous chapters: what is its biggest feature?
The ending, no doubt. The three novels that make up the saga: Hourglass Empire, Revenge of the Unicorns, and, precisely, the last one, Autumn Prophecy, are in fact a single story, which, for editorial purposes, has been divided into three volumes. The ending is devastating and provocative: everything returns to its place, and the story takes on a final meaning.
Your novel is fiction, but with political, sociological and economic overtones. Would you like to explain it better?
In fact, there are many. Zimania, the fictional continent on which the story takes place, was a single Empire; after the death of its founder, Emperor Oriam “the Great”, it was divided into four kingdoms, led by four of his grandsons. In addition to humans, other creatures live in Zimania, such as giants whose production capacity surpasses humans both in their strength and because the Emperor granted them the privilege of not paying taxes that humans are forced to pay instead. do. This gives the giants a huge competitive advantage: it is easy to see the giants as “big names in the global economy” (perhaps based in Luxembourg) who compete unfairly with small local traders. Once again, an economic crisis is raging in these four kingdoms, and each of the kings is looking for an economic recipe to overcome it: the king of the South would like to keep the single currency of the Empire; the inhabitants of the North would use magic to turn iron into gold (but this would create surplus gold and, consequently, inflation); the king of the West, on the other hand, will place limits on the prices of goods and services, including prostitution. This last measure will also lead to goliardic situations, which will ease and improve the narrative climate.
Do you already have other editorial work in the works?
Yes, always novels of the same genre: like Fantasy interconnected with the modern world. For example, in our world we use the Internet, but in Zimania it obviously cannot exist. However, there is magic in Zimania that recreates the same effects of the Internet: both giants and humans can use domesticated flying dragons as couriers to transport goods and messages from one place to another. A network of magical dragons that replaces the distribution network of the Internet. While we send an email encoded on the air using precise binary code, they trust their scrolls to the flying dragon. We order from Amazon while they blow their magic horn to summon a little dragon who promptly appears with a new sword just forged on the other side of the Empire. For example, I am working on a story about a queen who, due to a curse, cannot find love. To do this, he will magically create a system that matches our online dating apps. The effects are yet to be discovered.
To which reader would you recommend your novel?
Oddly enough, not for the faint of heart: that’s for sure! In general, to everyone, including those who do not like fantasy: first of all, I would recommend it to those who do not like this genre. The feedback I get is basically like, “Listen Mario, fantasy isn’t my genre, it’s yours – ‘fantasy that isn’t fantasy and I love it’.” The main characters of the story: Dante and Achilles are father and son, respectively, who accurately represent the author and reader. Therefore, I can say with confidence that my books are written for a reader who is immersed in history, as if he were its main character. We can really say that this is a reader, a real hero.
How would you define it in one word?
I really do not know. How to define a person who at first glance can always be academic – even a little “pale” – but then turns out to be cheerful, even unprincipled?
Amazing! Perhaps this is the right word. Like my three novels: at first they seem difficult, alienating, but then the view opens into a fascinating and innovative world.