Anyone who’s ever written fantasy has faced this problem: You have hit the point of conflict in a story where problems can no longer be worked out with witty retorts or a magic spell. The orcs are at the gates, the peace talks have broken down…that’s right—you’re going to have to write a battle scene. In this episode, we talk to Suzannah Rowntree, author of How to Write a Fantasy Battle: Basic Medieval and Modern Military Tactics for Authors, The Watchers of Outremer Series, and other historical fantasies, about how to get a battle right.

Show Notes:

• Suzannah's Bluesky: suzannahrowntree
• Suzannah's Instagram: suzannahsnaps
• Suzannahrowntree.site
• How to Write a Fantasy Battle: Basic Medieval and Modern Military Tactics for Authors
• Western Warfare In The Age Of The Crusades, 1000-1300 by John France
• Byzantine flamethrower
• Battle of Antioch (1098)
• Battle of Hattin (1187)
• Seventh Crusade
• Medicine in the Crusades: Warfare, Wounds and the Medieval Surgeon by Piers D. Mitchell
• Magistra Hersend
• Godfrey of Bouillon
• The Rebellion Of Count Hugh Of Jaffa
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