If you ask fantasy author D. C. Rhind what is the perfect sword, he has a definite reply: “Hands-down the katana,” he says. “Even the Curator of Swords for the British Museum in London agrees. It’s bi-metalic – hardened carbon steel for the edge, with mild steel folded around it (when made traditionally, as mine are). Carbon steel breaks. Mild steel doesn’t.”
Besides an interest in swords, Rhind is proficient in several martial arts disciplines and brings his expertise and experience to two series of adventure fantasy novels.
On Friday, April 29, Rhind will be at Sydney’s McConnell Library, on Falmouth Street, to launch Revenge Of The Wolf, the latest in his Calebra medieval fantasy adventure series. Rhind has another series, the Agent Samurai vampire-hunter series set in the contemporary world.
Rhind was born in Sydney but spent most of his life off island in various teaching positions before returning to Nova Scotia to live in Dartmouth.
Although he has trained in various martial arts, Rhind points out, “nothing teaches humility like getting kicked in the head. That’s a joke… sort of. The martial arts should teach you enough about yourself that you accept your skills as fact and stop trying to prove yourself. You get quietly comfortable with who you are. We’re all just pieces of dust in the Cosmos; getting big-headed seems foolish. The responsibility is huge. The human body is more fragile than most people realize.”
Rhind has martial arts fans, fantasy adventure fans, and mainstream book lovers at his public readings and enjoys what each group brings to the question and answer sessions.
“The enthusiasm can be the same, though, obviously some of the questions are different – especially from those who attend because of the vampire series,” Rhind observes. “I get a lot of questions about the writing process, characters, etc. After teaching a Writer’s Workshop at Hal-Con last fall, those kinds of questions get easy. I love unexpected questions.”
The McConnell event is open to all members of the public. Rhind’s novels are available from his website, dcrhind.ca.
