Revision 6

Jeon Minhee (born October 22, 1975) is a South Korean fantasy novelist whose works form the literary foundation of the ArcheAge universe. She is described as "the novelist who's had the most Korean novels sold in Japan," and her 28 published volumes have been translated into Japanese, Chinese, Thai, and Taiwanese editions.

Career

Jeon graduated from Konkuk University with a degree in Politics and Diplomacy. She began serializing her first work, The Stone of Days, on the SF/Fantasy Fiction Bulletin Board of Nownuri (an early Korean internet platform) in 1998. Her career spans three major fictional worlds:

Connection to the Game

XLGAMES approached Jeon to use her third fictional world (originally called "Project X") as the setting for the ArcheAge MMORPG. The novel series is set roughly 2,000 years before the game's events and details the Library Expedition, the twelve heroes, the schism between the Nuian and Hariharan tribes, and the origins of the gods. According to development notes, "the main story implemented in the current game is only about 1/20 of the initial concept."

Influence on the Game World

Jeon's novels establish the deep lore that underpins everything in the ArcheAge universe: the creation mythology of Thiol, the tragedy of the Library Expedition, the ascension of mortals into gods like Nui and Kyrios, and the political divisions between Nuia and Haranya. The novels are available on KakaoPage, Naver Series, Lydie, and OneStory.

A Note on the Shared Name

The novel series and the game share an English name and are different works, which causes persistent confusion in English-language sources.

In Korean they are distinct. The novel series is 아키에이지 연대기, using the native word for a chronicle in the sense of a historical record. The game is 아키에이지 크로니클, a transliteration of the English word. Both render into English as "ArcheAge Chronicles," and Korean reference sites carry separate articles under the two Korean titles.

The practical consequence for readers: a source describing "ArcheAge Chronicles" plot events, characters, or a publication schedule is very likely describing the novels, not this game. Novel-only material is not confirmed ArcheAge Chronicles content. The game inherits the setting the novels established, and it has said so directly, but it has published its own account of parts of that setting and its version is the one that describes the game. Kyrios is the clearest example: the class material renames the god's mortal identity from the older franchise spelling and gives him a history the wider franchise does not carry.

What the Novels Cover

Her third fictional world is set roughly 2,000 years before the events of the games and covers the Library Expedition, The Twelve Heroes, the schism between the Nuian and Hariharan peoples, and the origins of the gods. The published volumes are The Fir and the Hawk and The Heirs, the second part of which had not been published at the time of writing.