31 March 2009
About 285 BCE, the Greek scholar Hecataeus visited the tomb of Ramses II in Thebes. He translated the inscription on the statue as "I am Ramses, king of kings. Whoever wishes to know how great I am and where I am to be found, let him surpass one of my works."
Ramses had himself portrayed beside a lion. Some priests said he had tamed a lion and it was his companion. Others say it simply portrayed his boldness of spirit.
Circa 300BCE, Ptolemy I Soter started the library. He was joined by Demetrius Poliorcetes of Macedon ~287. Between 287 and 283 (the year of their deaths) the library had grown to over 200,000 volumes, including the Torah. In 285, Ptolemy I associated his son to the throne. In retirement, his focus was entirely on his library, including building up the force of Djinn that would protect it. The seating of his son was contrary to the advice of Demetrius. When Ptolemy I died, Ptolemy II set about to rid himself of Demetrius and had him assassinated in a remote inland village.
Aristeas was an Alexandrian Jew who worked in the library with Demetrius. He was a valued diaskenastes (curator of texts) who kept his membership in the Jewish community secret while pressing Demetrius (and by extension, Ptolemy) to include the Jewish texts (laws) in the library. The captains of Ptolemy's bodyguard were Sosibius of Tarentum and Andrew.
Tarentum was a colony founded by the bastards of Spartan women who were conceived while the Spartan men were away at war. This is a great background for an elite warrior class! So, Andrew will be given the guardianship of Ptolemy II Philladelphus, and Sosibius will be given charge of founding the elite Djinn guardians of the library. How cool is that?
Chapter 2 of "Gutenberg's Other Book" will be 283 BCE, the founding of the Djinn.
Ptolemy will discover a record that arrives from the Far East (India) that tells of a fierce group of fighters on an island kingdom who can disappear at will. These are called the Djinja. He will extol Sosibius of the nature of this force who will become the heart of the desert, beating with fire and guarding the true empire of thought contained in the library. Since they are not Egyptian by nature, their kingdom will not be limited to Egypt, but will extend across all the deserts of Africa, Asia, and Syria. They are to search the deserts for the right place to hold the library and see that it continues to grow with the accumulated knowledge of mankind.
Ramses had himself portrayed beside a lion. Some priests said he had tamed a lion and it was his companion. Others say it simply portrayed his boldness of spirit.
Circa 300BCE, Ptolemy I Soter started the library. He was joined by Demetrius Poliorcetes of Macedon ~287. Between 287 and 283 (the year of their deaths) the library had grown to over 200,000 volumes, including the Torah. In 285, Ptolemy I associated his son to the throne. In retirement, his focus was entirely on his library, including building up the force of Djinn that would protect it. The seating of his son was contrary to the advice of Demetrius. When Ptolemy I died, Ptolemy II set about to rid himself of Demetrius and had him assassinated in a remote inland village.
Aristeas was an Alexandrian Jew who worked in the library with Demetrius. He was a valued diaskenastes (curator of texts) who kept his membership in the Jewish community secret while pressing Demetrius (and by extension, Ptolemy) to include the Jewish texts (laws) in the library. The captains of Ptolemy's bodyguard were Sosibius of Tarentum and Andrew.
Tarentum was a colony founded by the bastards of Spartan women who were conceived while the Spartan men were away at war. This is a great background for an elite warrior class! So, Andrew will be given the guardianship of Ptolemy II Philladelphus, and Sosibius will be given charge of founding the elite Djinn guardians of the library. How cool is that?
Chapter 2 of "Gutenberg's Other Book" will be 283 BCE, the founding of the Djinn.
Ptolemy will discover a record that arrives from the Far East (India) that tells of a fierce group of fighters on an island kingdom who can disappear at will. These are called the Djinja. He will extol Sosibius of the nature of this force who will become the heart of the desert, beating with fire and guarding the true empire of thought contained in the library. Since they are not Egyptian by nature, their kingdom will not be limited to Egypt, but will extend across all the deserts of Africa, Asia, and Syria. They are to search the deserts for the right place to hold the library and see that it continues to grow with the accumulated knowledge of mankind.
16 March 2009
- ~323BC Ptolemy I takes the throne of Egypt and founds the library. Created the Jinn.
- ~70BC Antiochus starts (continues?) The underground building at Mt. Nemrud.
- ~48BC Julius Caesar burns the ships and part of the docks at Alexandria, including 50,000 books.
- ~300AD Carthage sacks Rome, carries away the Temple Treasure.
- ~529AD Justinian defeats Carthage and carries the Temple treasure back to Constantinople. Later ordered returned to Jerusalem.
- 641AD Emir Amrou Ibn el-Ass receives instruction from Caliph Omar to burn the books of Alexandria, saying "As for the books you mention, here is my reply. If their content is in accordance with the book of Allah, we may do without them, for in that case the book of Allah more than suffices. If, on the other hand, they contain matter not in accordance with the book of Allah, there can be no need to preserve them. Proceed, then, and destroy them." (The Vanished Library, Luciano Canfora)
- ~1460AD Gutenberg founds the typeworkers guild to protect the secret location of the library.
Do I take them in the historical order, or can I pull them up as they are appropriate tot he story? Can I keep the ancient story straight if it is not chronological?
Who else should be in the story?
There aren't enough characters to keep it interesting yet. Who is the betrayor and who is the betrayed? What is the urgency? Is the bad guy destroying a manuscript for every day the library is not found? What about the ambiguity between looking for one scroll and the whole library? When does it change? or does it?The urgency!
What if The Voice is pushing Peter & Maddie to find the library not only for his own purposes, but because an Islamic sect has targeted the Jinn for destruction because their founding papers show that the Jinn are not a separate creation of Allah, but are an elite cadre of guards created by Ptolemy to protect the library through both stealthy warriorship and cunning. They are to become invisible, striking where there is no sign of a strike, and moving the library as it is necessary to do so. They are to acquire and manage the books secretly. The urgency is to beat the Islamic Jihad to the library to protect it from destruction - the completion of the job that Amrou began.
13 March 2009
Not an exhaustive list, I'm sure. This is just some of the things that I've discovered from reading them and that I've heard from people who know a lot more than I do.
It seems to help if the hero is plagued by self-doubt and seems unable to complete the task. It also helps if the stakes increase at each milestone. The character of the hero and other players must be uncovered in layers, however, unlike the tragic hero,t he fatal flaw in the hero must ultimately save him rather than destroy him. The story of Oedipus Rex may have thrilling elements, but you can't really cheer for Oedipus because no matter how noble he tries to be, he is creating his own doom. He is never truly redeemed.
Here are some entertaining resources on writing thrillers by people who are a lot smarter than I am.
- The hero is usually reluctant, pushed into his role, and eventually accepting.
- Something significant is at stake or the risk from failing is staggering.
- There is a time restraint.
- There is uncertainty regarding who is a friend or foe, a sense of betrayal (either real or imagined), and an isolation of the hero from everything he was counting on for success.
- There seems to be a potential for reward and a threat of punishement both; the hero may have to sacrifice the reward in order to succeed; i.e. give the glory to someone else, save a friend rather than the reward, or keep his involvement a secret.
It seems to help if the hero is plagued by self-doubt and seems unable to complete the task. It also helps if the stakes increase at each milestone. The character of the hero and other players must be uncovered in layers, however, unlike the tragic hero,t he fatal flaw in the hero must ultimately save him rather than destroy him. The story of Oedipus Rex may have thrilling elements, but you can't really cheer for Oedipus because no matter how noble he tries to be, he is creating his own doom. He is never truly redeemed.
Here are some entertaining resources on writing thrillers by people who are a lot smarter than I am.
09 March 2009
Can an author treat Islam the way they treat Christianity in fiction? In "The DaVinci Code," Brown creates a secret societ that is protecting the identity of the last scion and the remains of Mary Magdalene. This would prove, somehow, that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a sexual relationship, and destroy some fundamentals of Christianity. In "The Testament," van Lustbader's secret society is protecting a manuscript that is the testament of Jesus himself that would indicate that he raises the dead by annointing them with the quintessence and was in turn raised by his disciples using the same alchemical formula. This would prove he wasn't God.
So could you suggest the same kind of scenario regarding Mohammed? Is there so much difference between Christian and Moslem that essentially mocking the icons of either would result in insanely different reactions? With Christians, books get condemned, maybe even banned. Someone speaks out against it in outrage. The author says, "It's fiction," and it all fades away. "Satanic Verses" - obviously a fiction/fantasy story - suggests something fishy about the Ayatollah and suddenly there's a fatwah on Rushdie.
So the question is, can you treat religion equally across the board as a subject for fiction, or are there some religions that are simply so volatile that you risk your life touching them?
So could you suggest the same kind of scenario regarding Mohammed? Is there so much difference between Christian and Moslem that essentially mocking the icons of either would result in insanely different reactions? With Christians, books get condemned, maybe even banned. Someone speaks out against it in outrage. The author says, "It's fiction," and it all fades away. "Satanic Verses" - obviously a fiction/fantasy story - suggests something fishy about the Ayatollah and suddenly there's a fatwah on Rushdie.
So the question is, can you treat religion equally across the board as a subject for fiction, or are there some religions that are simply so volatile that you risk your life touching them?
08 March 2009
I've finished reading "The Testament" by Eric van Lustbader. He's a great storyteller and kept things moving. It was a pretty good read. I'm not sure what the final body count was. Somewhere in the vicinity of 20 or so - though I lost track of exactly how many about half-way through - most described in visceral detail. While I enjoyed the context of two rival religious orders, I have to believe that there is another way of writing a thriller other than "kill or be killed" at the end of each chapter.
Another issue for me, however, is that even though Brav's classical education and expertise in manuscripts gave him context for medieval history, it really didn't help himsolve the problems. He did that with his code-breaking skills and fists. And even with the code-breaking skills, it seems likely that Bravo would not have succeeded had his father not specifically written the clues based on his experiencess with his son.
In "Gutenberg's Other Book," we have a series of clues that were created five hundred years ago with the assumption that someday someone would make sense of it. The clues are embedded in rituals that have lost all current meaning. The protection of the cache itself is given to a completely separate organization that might not even know the clues exist. Normally that would require a scholar to sit in a library with dozens of reference books and manuscripts, puzzling over what is a clue and what isn't for a few years before anyone even got around to trying to decipher them. That has always been the mystery of "The Hypnerotomachia Poliphilli," for example. Does the book hold the clues to find a hidden treasure or not?
In this respect, then, G.O.B. more closely resembles "National Treasure or "Indiana Jones" than it does "The Testament" or "The DaVinci Code." The clues have all been here unchanged for five hundred years. They weren't designed for this person to decipher. Now without world domination at stake, nor the precious beliefs of a particular religious group threatened, what paints the urgency to find the cache on a daily basis. Why does it have to be found in a week or a month or a year?
Another issue for me, however, is that even though Brav's classical education and expertise in manuscripts gave him context for medieval history, it really didn't help himsolve the problems. He did that with his code-breaking skills and fists. And even with the code-breaking skills, it seems likely that Bravo would not have succeeded had his father not specifically written the clues based on his experiencess with his son.
In "Gutenberg's Other Book," we have a series of clues that were created five hundred years ago with the assumption that someday someone would make sense of it. The clues are embedded in rituals that have lost all current meaning. The protection of the cache itself is given to a completely separate organization that might not even know the clues exist. Normally that would require a scholar to sit in a library with dozens of reference books and manuscripts, puzzling over what is a clue and what isn't for a few years before anyone even got around to trying to decipher them. That has always been the mystery of "The Hypnerotomachia Poliphilli," for example. Does the book hold the clues to find a hidden treasure or not?
In this respect, then, G.O.B. more closely resembles "National Treasure or "Indiana Jones" than it does "The Testament" or "The DaVinci Code." The clues have all been here unchanged for five hundred years. They weren't designed for this person to decipher. Now without world domination at stake, nor the precious beliefs of a particular religious group threatened, what paints the urgency to find the cache on a daily basis. Why does it have to be found in a week or a month or a year?
07 March 2009
Reading "The Testament" has made me very tired of the "mounting body count" method of making something a thriller. I'd really like to do "Gutenberg's Other Book" without a casualty. Might not be possible, but I have in mind that my antagonist (The Voice) will say something like "Kill innocent people? No. Murder is the result of not being able to solve your problems." He may go on to say that Peter's friends and family would all ive, but would suffer for the rest of their lives and blame Peter for it.
That puts me in mind of another story I'd like to write. What if no one died? Suddenly, people just stop dying. They didn't stop aging or become instantly healthy. They just stopped dying. Wars would cease to have meaning because no one dies. However, far from being happy, people continue to become more and more miserable as the quality of life deteriorates.
Some things that might happen include the government experimenting on people to try to kill them and inadvertently creating a race of wraiths -- people who have been utterly destroyed, but still live. These become a malevolent army. People try to commit suicide, but end up more miserable than before because they are unable to die. People sue the government to get death back. People become disillusioned with religion that promises eternal life. All people want is for it all to end.
Well, that's another story.
That puts me in mind of another story I'd like to write. What if no one died? Suddenly, people just stop dying. They didn't stop aging or become instantly healthy. They just stopped dying. Wars would cease to have meaning because no one dies. However, far from being happy, people continue to become more and more miserable as the quality of life deteriorates.
Some things that might happen include the government experimenting on people to try to kill them and inadvertently creating a race of wraiths -- people who have been utterly destroyed, but still live. These become a malevolent army. People try to commit suicide, but end up more miserable than before because they are unable to die. People sue the government to get death back. People become disillusioned with religion that promises eternal life. All people want is for it all to end.
Well, that's another story.
05 March 2009
| The Testament | Gutenberg's Other Book |
| Bravo/Jenny: She was his father's lover?? They fall in love/have sex He thinks she must be the traitor | Peter/Maddie: She was raised to be his match They fall in love/have sex She is (unwittingly) the traitor |
| Bravo/Jordan: Best Friends Jordan is using him On opposite sides | Peter/The Voice: Enemies from the start Peter doesn't know who he is Has a hold on Maddie |
| Observatines/Knights: Started by the church Secularized Competing for the same cache of info | Gutenbergs/Aldines: Two competing guils Secular with religious rituals Competing for the same cache |
| The Testament of Jesus Christ and the quintessence that shows Jesus was human and not divine and can give immortality to a person | The Library of Alexandria containing the Wisdom of Ptolemy showing the origin of the Jinn and casting doubt on Islam |
Gee. Can you do that?
Where I want to go with "Gutenberg's Other Book:" More intellectual, less life threatening. I'd be just as happy if there wasn't a body count. Peter and Maddie will never kill anyone. Peter and Maddie are not trained in hand-to-hand combat. They really only have their wits. No superpowers. No eidetic memory. No savant code-breaking ability. They are scholars who may have to fight for their lives, but they just have to be clever about it. They do have the ability to use alternate identities.
They have the power of the press. They may need to exploit their ability to print or have things printed.
There are two rival secret societies that will surface. Peter is a member of one. Maddie may be a member or at least a pawn of the other. Maddie has been trained from childhood to be everything that Peter wants. He is everything that she wants. She betrays him -- accidentally or through conflicted loyalties. They have to be separated and get back together at a critical moment.
The treasure is different, but the same. I'll probably abandon the quest for the alchemical powder that enables the making of the Philosopher's Stone that van Lustbader calls the quintessence. The particular scroll they are after does hold alchemical secrets, but the real crux is that it will somehow change our perception of reality. First, it does or may hold content that casts doubt on both the New Testament and the Quran. Second, it shows the establishment of the Jinn. And third it gives a version of the fall (Adam & Eve) that makes it obvious that there is another power at work in the universe. Whether it is supernatural, alien, or alchemical, I don't know yet.
Peter/Robert: Policeman tailing Peter
Peter is oblivious of him
Robert turns out to be his savior
Probably some spoilers here if you are planning to read "The Testament" run along now.
First let me say I'm enjoying the read because I like a thriller and van Lustbader knows how to write them. His book, "The Testament," has a lot of similarities to the concept I've been describing in my posts this year about "Gutenberg's Other Book." An ancient book, scroll, or fragment, is of high interest because it could give some person or persons unlimited power of some sort. So, as I read it, I am trying to carefully pick out the differences and similarities. It's pretty easy to get caught up in the story and ignore what gets you involved.
Von Lustbader knows how to write a thriller. We have the element of starting off with a secret message and having the one person who knows everything killed. From there on, we have a constant chase with a fight, a death, a near-death, another death, or a crisis in every chapter as the hero is drawn deeper and deeper into the plot, against his will.
Second, there is the hero and his partner. Both are highly skilled and trained for rugged survival and for breaking codes and ciphers. It helps that Bravo, like Robert Langdon in "The DaVinci Code," has an eidetic memory and never has to write anything down. So, we have a hero who is initiated into a religious sect. He has highly honed physical combat and survival skills, can break any cipher or code, and remembers everything. His partner is a woman with which there is a strong sexual magnetism. She is already a member of the sect, trained even more in combat than he is because she is his guardian. She is strong and competent while at the same time exhibiting uncertainty and emotional fragility. Both have potentially damaging secrets in their pasts.
Next, there is the element of time. The hero has to find the secret cache and protect it before the bad guys find it and use it for evil. Triggered by an impending death of the pope. The bad guys know that only the hero can find the cache in time, so they manipulate him to ever greater speed. This ignores the concept that they would be better off not looking for the cache so they wouldn't lead the enemy to it.
So, mapping out the basics we have
More in Part 2.
First let me say I'm enjoying the read because I like a thriller and van Lustbader knows how to write them. His book, "The Testament," has a lot of similarities to the concept I've been describing in my posts this year about "Gutenberg's Other Book." An ancient book, scroll, or fragment, is of high interest because it could give some person or persons unlimited power of some sort. So, as I read it, I am trying to carefully pick out the differences and similarities. It's pretty easy to get caught up in the story and ignore what gets you involved.
Von Lustbader knows how to write a thriller. We have the element of starting off with a secret message and having the one person who knows everything killed. From there on, we have a constant chase with a fight, a death, a near-death, another death, or a crisis in every chapter as the hero is drawn deeper and deeper into the plot, against his will.
Second, there is the hero and his partner. Both are highly skilled and trained for rugged survival and for breaking codes and ciphers. It helps that Bravo, like Robert Langdon in "The DaVinci Code," has an eidetic memory and never has to write anything down. So, we have a hero who is initiated into a religious sect. He has highly honed physical combat and survival skills, can break any cipher or code, and remembers everything. His partner is a woman with which there is a strong sexual magnetism. She is already a member of the sect, trained even more in combat than he is because she is his guardian. She is strong and competent while at the same time exhibiting uncertainty and emotional fragility. Both have potentially damaging secrets in their pasts.
Next, there is the element of time. The hero has to find the secret cache and protect it before the bad guys find it and use it for evil. Triggered by an impending death of the pope. The bad guys know that only the hero can find the cache in time, so they manipulate him to ever greater speed. This ignores the concept that they would be better off not looking for the cache so they wouldn't lead the enemy to it.
So, mapping out the basics we have
| Observatines | Knights | Vatican |
| Bravo & Jenny | Jordan & Camille | Cardinal/Pope |
| Male & Female dichotomy | Knights/Church split | Deathbed |
| A traitor in their midst | Independence movement | Threat to doctrine |
| A murdered father & other dead guys | Lots of dead guys | |
| Manipulating the world for good with information | Wanting world domination & immortality |
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