It's The Chimera Snare: Fragments release day! To mark the occasion, we wanted to share the history of how The Chimera Snare came to be and the journey made to get to where were are today.
The earliest fundamental development of what The Chimera Snare has become today started when Shannon was around 11. She had always loved writing short stories and was particularly fascinated with dreams: how vivid and cinematic hers were, and the interesting parallels that sometimes occurred between her and her friends.
The base of the TCS universe was something that Shannon toyed with during her senior year in high school, but it was left behind during all the chaos of graduation and work until a dream reignited it a couple of years later. During an early morning, sleep-deprived trip into San Francisco on CalTrain for work, Shannon was listening to Agalloch's The Mantle and had an epic, vivid dream to the first 2 tracks, "A Celebration For the Death of Man" and "In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion." The experience created the first-ever depth for the two characters, Von and Navaryn, portraying their love for one another and the lengths they went through in order to be together despite their forbidden relationship.
The daydream left a permanent imprint. Intent on creating an animation based on what she experienced, Shannon storyboarded the length of both songs. However, the more she reflected on the characters Von and Navaryn, the more she felt like there was a deeper story to tell. Therefore, she decided to bring them to life through a full-fledged novel. Fragments incorporates that very plight among other elements of the main plotline.
The first iteration of Fragments was self-published by Shannon in 2015. Shortly after, her husband, Edward, joined in on the writing adventure, and together as a team, they created book two, titled Reflections. Reflections was set to release in the summer of 2020, yet the pandemic forced the author duo to reschedule their plans. The extra time was a blessing as they assessed Fragments would need a complete overhaul to match the universe expansion they created in Reflections. Not only that, but they wanted to connect with a professional artist who matched their overall vibe and would elevate the presentation of their series.
They connected with Adrian Baxter, a talented artist in the UK known for his intricate line art and deliciously dark, macabre designs. He also crafts album artwork for notable musicians- some of which the author duo pays their respects to in their book credits. Adrian created the book's visual identity and incorporated important meanings to the artistic elements which will be later explained in an upcoming blog post.
Now, after four years of work and nearly 10 years since the original version of Fragments released, the remastered version, penned together by both Shannon and Edward, is officially ready for the world.
Fun Facts:
- The release date of August 17th is the couple's Wedding Anniversary.
- There are still plans to one day create the animation to the two tracks from Agalloch with an updated storyboard that matches the expanded universe the couple has created together.