PHOTO: Tyler Edwards, master world-builder and celebrated creator of The Dark Realm and The Outlands, shares his visionary storytelling.
Exploring The Magic Of The Dark Realm
Tyler Edwards discusses the imaginative creation of his worlds, tackling societal themes, challenges in comic adaptations, and the harmonious blend of character development and world-building in his captivating novels.
Tyler Edwards, an extraordinary force in the realm of speculative fiction, stands as a beacon for readers who yearn for the fantastical and thought-provoking. Hailed for his ability to transport us into captivating worlds brimming with dragons, dystopias, and layered intrigue, Edwards has carved a niche that is as imaginative as it is profoundly insightful. An homage to the literary foundations of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, his work embodies the timeless allure of magical escapism while simultaneously exploring themes that resonate deeply with the complexities of humanity.
The brilliance of Edwards shines through in his groundbreaking works, from the enthralling fantasy adventure The Dark Realm, where realms of monsters and magic intertwine, to the provocative dystopia of The Outlands, a searing exploration of societal extremes and cultural uniformity. His craftsmanship defies conventions, introducing dragons with their own sentience and societies, along with worlds that are meticulously built to echo the richness of real-life cultures and histories. Edwards’s creative process, guided by sharp social commentary and endless imagination, has not only captivated readers but inspired them to reflect, question, and wonder.
Equally adept in expanding his universes, Edwards ventured into comics, breathing new life into his trilogy The Outlands, while navigating the unique storytelling challenges of visual media. Whether it’s harmoniously weaving character development with world-building or honing his writing through reader feedback, Edwards demonstrates an unwavering commitment to refining his craft, ensuring every story reflects both authenticity and originality.
It is with great admiration that Reader’s House presents this exclusive interview with Tyler Edwards—a visionary whose pen conjures entire worlds and whose passion for storytelling reminds us of the immense power a single narrative can hold. Sit back and enjoy as we delve into the mind behind The Dark Realm, The Outlands, and more, exploring what drives, challenges, and inspires this remarkable writer.
Tyler Edwards captivates with his extraordinary imagination, transforming intricate ideas into compelling stories that capture hearts and minds alike.
How did the concept of “The Dark Realm” evolve, and what inspired its unique kingdoms and dragons?
I spent most of my childhood wishing magic and mystical creatures were real while imagine worlds where they existed. My favorite stories typically involve someone discovering a world of wonder and mystery they had no idea ever existed. The idea for the Dark Realm was born from that. That monsters were real. That magic was real. That each came from their own realm and that at one time, those realms were connected to a world like ours.
Kingdoms are fun to design in that you are creating a culture, albeit an ideal culture or one that emphasizes different core values or themes. For me, I try to base cultures I create off of real or historical cultures in a small part to serve as the “core concept” of that culture and then from it, take virtues or values and build a societal structure that feels unique from the other kingdoms but also, connected to the world. For me, building kingdoms is a way of showing different points of view that exist in the world to give a more wholistic understanding of the story.
Dragons on the other hand, are my favorite fantasy creature. I love them. I wanted to do something with them that was a little fresh and not like every any other take on dragons. I wanted them to not only be sentient, but to have their own culture, class, and society. I wanted their color to mean something, each color corresponding to a different power and even personality for the dragons.
“The idea for the Dark Realm was born from… monsters were real.” – Tyler Edwards
Could you share the creative process behind “The Outlands” and its world of Dios?
Not just the Outlands, but dystopian writing in general is so uniquely fun in my opinion, because it is essentially a commentary on society and cultural trends. Either it poses the question: what would be different about the world if ___ happened. Or it looks at things happening and says, if ___ continues, what would the world look like?
For the Outlands the creation process came from watching the growing demands of uniformity in culture. In a world that “celebrates diversity” there is a decreasing respect for and appreciation of diverse thoughts and point of view. Societal pressures are pushing everything toward one or two sides, polarizing people and driving them either into a very narrow focus or a very divided one. We have lost our ability to disagree with respect, to discuss and debate with civility, exchanging the truest beauty of diversity for cheap social uniformity. The world of the Outlands was just, what happens if that turns extreme?
What challenges did you face while transitioning “The Outlands” into a comic format?
The hardest part was the point of view shift. The Outlands series itself was a 1st person present tense trilogy were everything happened through the eyes of Jett Lasting. To tell a short, concise story through a more visual medium was uniquely challenging in trying to create the same feel and vibes of the story but from a very different stylistic approach. It was very different, but needed to feel like it came from the same world.
How do you balance character development and world-building in your novels?
To create a captivating character, they have to be more than a plot device or a tool for exposition. They need to feel rich, full, layered, the way people in life are. The difference being, what develops their depth isn’t the world that we know, it’s the world of the story. I think one of the most impactful things in a story, especially when it as a world unfamiliar to the reader (be in a Middle Earth or seedy underworld in San Francisco) is that the characters backstories ARE world-building. When you can weave the two together, so developing the character and world-building occur at the same time, it creates a natural synergy to the story that not only helps the reader understand the world, but makes that character feel like an authentic part of it. As a writer, when you build the two together, they balance each other harmoniously.
What feedback from readers has most impacted your writing style or story direction?
Writing is a skill, a craft to be improved. Listening to feedback, and considering what readers say, especially the criticism, is a critical piece for a writer to see what is and isn’t translating well in their story telling. In the first edition of the Outlands, I realized my side characters had very little depth and the pacing was really hard to follow. By listening to readers, I was able to identify a couple of the biggest flaws or gaps in what I had created and make adjustments that only improved The Outlands, but how I approach writing all stories after that. Feedback helps an author identify their unique voice and its strengths to focus on, as well as their weakness to address.
