Author: Royce Buckingham

Royce Buckingham creates fantasy that range from comic monster stories to large medieval adventures. Die Klinge des Waldes was issued by Blanvalet in Germany in 2018 and was developed as a standalone fantasy connected to the world of his Mapper books. Buckingham frames the book around Flora, a sheltered princess driven from the forest kingdom of Strata after a disastrous decision made for her sister. Exile forces her to survive beyond the palace and gradually changes the person who returns to confront threats to those she loves. The author's account emphasizes character growth, detailed world-building, political districts, invented machinery, and a medieval setting shaped by wonder and danger. Blanvalet's edition also reflects Buckingham's readership in Germany, where several of his fantasy works appeared in translation or before English publication. For readers, this title shows his expansive mode: a personal transformation placed inside a cinematic secondary world of royal conflict, swordplay, cities, and improbable mechanical creations.