AUTHOR’S NOTES
1. Pronunciation
It’s come to my attention that some readers, thrown by the central cluster of consonants, have had difficulty pronouncing the name “Ethshar.”
It isn’t really that hard. It’s a compound word. “Eth” rhymes with “Beth” and is Ethsharitic for “good” or “safe,” while “shar” rhymes with “car” and is Ethsharitic for “harbor” or “port.” (“Ethsharitic” rhymes with “he’s a critic.”)
Ethsharitic names are generally pronounced more or less as if they were American English. If there’s any doubt, I hope the following rules will help:
The accent is on the first syllable unless the vowel is marked (as in Adréan or Kluréa), or unless there is a double consonant, in which case the syllable ending in the double consonant is accented (such as “Falissa,” accented on the second syllable, or “Karanissa,” accented on the third). Names of four or more syllables will usually be partially accented on the third syllable, as well as having the primary accent on the first.
There are no silent letters, not even the K in “Ksinallion,” except for silent E following a double consonant at the end of feminine names, as in “Nuvielle,” or indicating a long vowel, as in “Haldane.” (That really ought to be “Haldeyn,” but I couldn’t quite bring myself to spell it that way.)
A is always as in “father,” never as in “cat.”
AI is always as in “hai!” never as in “rain.”
C is always as in “cat,” never as in “Cynthia.”
CH is always as in “church,” never as in “Achtung!” or “champagne” or any of the other possibilities.
É is pronounced as in “Renée.”
G is always as in “get,” never as in “gem.”
I is always as in “kit,” never as in “kite.”
J is always as in “jet,” never as in “Bjorn” or “je ne sais quois” or “José.” (It’s also fairly rare.)
LL is always as in “frill,” never as in “La Jolla.”
OO is always as in “pool,” never as in “book.”
TH is always as in “thin,” never as in “the.”
U is always as in “rune,” never as in “run.”
Y (as a vowel) is always as in “any,” never as in “try.”
And of course, you need not put too much effort into this; no one is going to hassle you for mispronouncing Ethsharitic. If in doubt, just say it however is easiest for you!
2. Locations
This novel takes place in a city named Ethshar of the Rocks. Most of the events in The Spell of the Black Dagger take place in Ethshar of the Sands. Several of the other Ethshar stories take place largely in Ethshar of the Spices. Despite their similarities, these are three separate cities—that’s why the lands they dominate are called the Hegemony of the Three Ethshars. If the street names and descriptions herein don’t match those in, say, Night of Madness, it’s because this is not the same city, any more than Alexandria, Virginia is the same city as Alexandria, Egypt. I regret any confusion on this point.
—Lawrence Watt-Evans
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