D. T. Kane reads chapter 13 of his epic fantasy fiction novel, The Acktus Trials, and discusses the chapter with his audience.

http://dtkane.com

If you’re enjoying the Acktus Trials, or have already read it, please consider taking a minute to leave a review. Reviews help authors by increasing the visibility of their books, which helps get it into the hands of more readers. Thank you for your support!  Follow this link to leave a review: https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review?&asin=B09QZ8MQ38

The Acktus Trials, an epic fantasy novel, available now: https://dtkane.com/books/the-acktus-trials/

PRE-ORDER Part II of The Spoken Books Uprising, Declaimer’s Discovery, available April 15!

Preorder on Amazon: https://dtkane.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=749c5d9250a6b58e1deb27545&id=9ef761bc7f&e=35c8fe8c20

Preorder at your preferred retailer: https://dtkane.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=749c5d9250a6b58e1deb27545&id=1462da7a2d&e=35c8fe8c20

Map of Oration: https://dtkane.com/resources/map-of-oration/

Characters in this Chapter:

Baztian (Baz): Our main character

Rox: Deliritous’s Harbour (bodyguard)

Deliritous: Baz’s master, heir to Torchsire Library

Below are my notes/script for the episode, not a verbatim transcription.

PERSONAL UPDATE

Welcome back to D. T. Kane’s Epic Fantasy Book Club. Today is March 23, 2022 as I record this, Episode 11.

On the personal side of things, not too much to report. I appreciate the kind words from those of you who reached out about my home repair woes. They’ve finally dried everything out, and my wife and I were able to actually sleep in our bedroom again for the first time in over a week, so that was a relief. Air mattresses are not a recipe for good sleep! And actually, this turned out to be a bit of a blessing, because when they removed one wall, the contractors discovered an exhaust pipe for our furnace wasn’t properly sealed, which could have led to gas leaks, so really glad that was caught! Now we’re just waiting for the walls to get put back up, which I’m sure will be another fun around of contractors coming in and out.

On the writing front, Declaimer’s Discovery is now in the hands of my advance readers. Thanks to all of those who joined my team. And if anyone listening is interested in joining, let me know, as I have a few slots open still. Basically, you get all my books for free before they release, and in exchange you just have to read them before the release date and post a review once they come out. Email me with your interest, dtkane@dtkane.com.

Declaimer’s Discovery, Part II of The Spoken Books Uprising, releases April 15, 2022.

ANAYLIS CH. 13

The Plan–In the Interest of Keeping Deliritous Safe

So we left off last week with Baz offering to complete the Trials for Deliritous, who has a broken leg. Incidentally, did any of you catch that Baz quipped about Deliritous breaking his leg back in chapter 7? Just a bit of innocent foreshadowing there!

Why is Baz willing to make such a deal after being so down on having to come on this journey at all? Well, obviously he wants something in exchange, and that’s for Deliritous to keep secret that Baz can Read. And as Baz says, as much as Deliritous is horrified by Baz’s ability, Baz has hit on the one thing that frightens Deliritous more than a Cuss: letting his father down. Baz actually says he feels a bit bad about capitalizing on that. “Grungy” is the term he uses. Baz, after all, has a family member he wouldn’t want to let down in his brother, and certainly Baz wouldn’t like someone taking advantage of that. Interesting how Baz and Deliritous are sort of serving as foils to one another even though they’re in such different positions.

So, what are the features of the plan? Well, there’s a few interesting ones.

1. Baz gets to use Rox. Interesting point here, that Deliritous has the right to “transfer” Rox’s oath. Sort of a reminder that Rox is kind of property too, even though we haven’t necessarily thought of him as such to this point. Interesting too that Rox says he “dislikes the idea of leaving [Deliritous’s] side.” Maybe an indication that Rox views his responsibility for Deliritous as more than just a simple duty.
2. They need to find a safe location to leave Deliritous while Baz goes off to complete the Trials. We see from how much of a hard time Deliritous has riding that he can’t go on. There’s a town nearby and the plan is to leave him there. But remember, no one can know Deliritous isn’t the one completing the Trials. Imagine the shame if it came out a Speaker completed the Trials for him! So  how are they going to handle that?
3. Well, Baz and Deliritous will switch places! This is a funny sequence, I think, where both Baz and Deliritous are lamenting having to pretend to be the other. More evidence of how they foil one another, we get Baz thinking it will be simple to impersonate Deliritous, then Deliritous says aloud how it won’t be hard to imitate Baz.
   • Baz: just act clueless and treat everyone he met as if they were below him
   • Deliritous: Just need to glower at everything and act as if I know more than I ought to.
4. But Deliritous doesn’t have a brand. Interesting, Deliritous notes this “progressive” movement in the city of Fortune, where some Readers are no longer branding their Speakers. So, maybe not all Readers treat their Speakers as poorly as they do in Erstwhile? That’ll be more relevant in the next book, but file that away. For now, Baz notes that the people in Hamlet are going to know a Speaker ought to be branded because Erstwhile sends Speakers and Readers there every year to serve the townsfolk. So what does he do? He convinces Rox it’s in Deliritous’s best interest to have a wound on his head where his brand conceivably could have been.
5. Hole in Baz’s plan–he’ll have to give up his only leverage to enforce the promise: The Book he finds at Tome. But one problem at a time. As Baz notes, “an unlikely number of things would need to go right before Baz needed to expend any energy at all worrying over that.”

Hamlet: I’m looking for a hat, good shopkeeper.

So we arrive in Hamlet, Deliritous pouting since Baz convinced Rox to slice up his forehead. It’s a bit of a dump, right? Dilapidated buildings with a few muddy paths for streets. Sounds like it was a bustling hub once, back when Tome was still the country’s capital. But no longer.

Baz stops at a shop and Rox goes in with him (remember, they’re pretending Baz is a Reader, so he’s got to have his Harbour with him). The shopkeeper, though, isn’t nearly as impressed with Baz as Baz figured, and Baz feels like a fool, expecting special treatment for acting like a Reader. “Fair shopkeeper, it is I, Deliritous Torchsire, Reader of Erstwhile, come to grace your shop with my presence.” We learn the shopkeeper had recently been swindled by another Reader, so he’s a bit salty.

And now, the big reveal that I promised last week! What is it? The hat! Finally, we see why I’m wearing the hat. Baz is getting himself one, because he needs to conceal the brand on his forehead, plus he’s always wanted one and he’s taking advantage of the situation. And the shopkeeper does have one: “It was dark brown leather, creased and well-worn with a wide brim.” Here it is!

The shopkeeper tries to rip Baz off, seeing how eager he is. Rox catches him in the lie (Baz doesn’t have much of a concept of money), but Baz tells Rox to give the shopkeeper the sum he asked for anyway, recompence for his previous treatment. Interestingly, Rox agrees. He sees truth in what Baz is doing–it matches up with Rox’s code.

And this act of kindness turns out to be helpful, right? The shopkeeper wasn’t going to say anything, but after Baz gives him the extra coin, he reveals that Marla and Hellar were in the shop, asking around about a lost Torchsire Speaker. The shopkeeper gives a skeptical glance outside, where Deliritous is waiting, supposedly a Speaker. Marla has also told the shopkeeper that she’ll be back in a month, asking again for information. And she was offering good coin for information.

Baz briefly considers whether they need to kill the shopkeeper to keep him quiet. But notice how Rox actually dissuades him from doing so. Again, we see that Rox may actually me the most moral of our trio of main characters here! So instead, Baz asks the shopkeeper how much Marla was offering for the information. Obviously, he’s going to try to outbid her. But does anyone see the issue here? The impact on their plan? Well, tune in next week to find out!

Miscellaneous

Deliritous’s regret over Tax

Stories of men going mad from using shadow spells. Is that what the voices were, going mad? Baz had, after all, agreed to help Deliritous!

CONCLUSION

Homework: We’ll read Chapters 14 and 15 next week. Plans will change, relationships will grow! And then our characters run into yet another problem. What could it be?

Listener Question:

Quest: Any thoughts on what my inspiration for Rox was? He’s a bit of a blend of characters from relatively well-known fantasy works. Send me your thoughts and we’ll discuss them next week.

Until next time, this has been D. T. Kane’s Epic Fantasy Book Club.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

D. T. Kane reads chapters 11-12 of his epic fantasy fiction novel, The Acktus Trials, and discusses the chapter with his audience.

http://dtkane.com

If you’re enjoying the Acktus Trials, or have already read it, please consider taking a minute to leave a review. Reviews help authors by increasing the visibility of their books, which helps get it into the hands of more readers. Thank you for your support!  Follow this link to leave a review: https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review?&asin=B09QZ8MQ38

The Acktus Trials, an epic fantasy novel, available now: https://dtkane.com/books/the-acktus-trials/

PRE-ORDER Part II of The Spoken Books Uprising, Declaimer’s Discovery, available April 15!

Preorder on Amazon: https://dtkane.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=749c5d9250a6b58e1deb27545&id=9ef761bc7f&e=35c8fe8c20

Preorder at your preferred retailer: https://dtkane.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=749c5d9250a6b58e1deb27545&id=1462da7a2d&e=35c8fe8c20

Map of Oration: https://dtkane.com/resources/map-of-oration/

Characters in this Chapter:

Baztian (Baz): Our main character

Rox: Deliritous’s Harbour (bodyguard)

Deliritous: Baz’s master, heir to Torchsire Library

Hellar Xavier: Reader, heir to Xavier Library, one of the competitors going on the Trials

Trunnel: Hellar’s Speaker, an Influencer

Arrow: Hellar’s Harbour

Marla Kolnar: Nice of the Duchess of Kolnar Library,  one of the competitors going on the Trials

Ryle: Marla’s Harbour

Retch: Marla’s Speaker, a Creator

Below is a copy of my notes/script for the episode, not a verbatim transcription.

PERSONAL UPDATE

March 19, 2022 as I record this, Episode 10.

Well, those of you who read the newsletter saw I had a bit of a tough week. Came home from vacation last week to some water damage in my house and have been dealing with the repairs all week. Fun times.

Thankfully, I’ve still got my writing! I started work on Part IV of the Spoken Books Uprising, wrote my first 7,500 words on that, though now I’ve had to backburner that just for a few days because I got my editor’s edits on Part II back and I need to get that finalized so I can send copies to my advance readers.

Remember, Part II is out April 15 and you can preorder your copy now! Link in the show notes.

ANAYLIS CH. 11-12

Alright! I hope you enjoyed listening to these two chapters as much as I enjoyed writing them. Lots of tension here!

Mutters in the Night

So we start with Deliritous insisting that Rox get some sleep rather than keeping watch. Rox is obviously wary of Marla in particular, but finally relents. He’s been keeping watch every night, so he must be exhausted. Baz notes how it worries him, seeing Rox tired.

He’d always thought of Rox more like a massive tool rather than breathing flesh and blood. It was much easier to disdain a tool than it was a person.

I think this is a bit of theme throughout the novel too–It’s tough to go on hating someone when you’ve spent time with them under difficult circumstances.

But I don’t think it comes as too much as a surprise to any of you that having Deliritous keep the watch instead of Rox doesn’t really work out. Baz wakes to “muttering in the darkness,” and as he notes, while that might not be cause for alarm for an ordinary person, when you worried about Readers wishing you harm, it’s the last thing you want to hear.

 So Marla and Hellar have obviously been plotting behind Deliritous’s back because this attack was coordinated. It’s unclear whether Hellar and Marla had planned this all along, or Hellar did initially intend to see if a truce with Deliritous could work out and then diverted after the scene with Marla and Baz at the end of chapter 10. I never make that entirely clear, and I’m not sure it really matters, though I think it’s obvious based on how they were conversing together and giving each other cryptic looks that they had something going between them.

So, to set the scene, Marla is reading this spell to her Creator that results in roots shooting out of the ground to imprison Rox, and Hellar uses his Influencer to lull Deliritous into a stupor so he can’t raise the alarm. It’s dark, the fire having burned low. Baz is laying down, apparently not in direct proximity of Deliritous or Rox, which makes sense since he doesn’t like either of them.

But we do see Marla’s and Hellar’s hubris is a bit of their undoing here. They left Baz unaccounted for because neither wanted to be without their Harbour while they were Reading to their Speakers. Baz ruefully comments on this:

Even now, out in the wilds and in the midst of turning on one of their fellow Readers, they couldn’t trust their Speakers long enough to ensure a loose end like Baz didn’t interfere with their plans.

So a potential weakness here that Baz is able to exploit, and maybe one to keep in mind for the future as well. Hellar and Marla assume Baz is essentially useless if Deliritous isn’t able to Read spells to him, and it costs them, as we’re about to see.

Oh, hello there, chaps.

So Baz shouts a warning to Rox, but it’s too late, Rox is caught by the roots, though he does manage to injure Trunnel, Hellar’s Influencer, before being confined. And we see that perhaps the relationship between Hellar and Marla isn’t a smooth one either. Hellar demands that Marla heal his Speaker, but it seems like she’s going to refuse until she notices that Hellar’s Harbour has a clear shot at her with his bow. Marla’s in it to win it, so to speak. She could have potentially greatly handicapped both of her opponents here, and it certainly raises questions about whether Hellar is wise to be trusting her. What do you guys think is going to happen between the two of them? Let me know, dtkane@dtkane.com!

During the confusion of Rox injuring Trunnel and nearly escaping the roots, Baz runs and hides behind a tree, so now he’s watching the scene from afar. Interesting that he doesn’t run away completely, right? I mean, he comes up with pretty good reasoning–there’s no way he could survive in the wilds alone, he’d never see his brother again. Baz says he’s not a very good runner, though of course he doesn’t say it quite like that:

He had few talents, and none of them involved running farther than the distance from his sleeping pallet to the privy back in Torchsire Library.

But still, you get the sense there’s something more. Hold that thought.

At this point, Deliritous wakes up from the spell Hellar had put him under. Despite the savvy he showed earlier, we still see his innocence, or maybe you’d say naivety, here. He initially doesn’t think anything’s amiss: “Oh, hello there, chaps.” Of course, he’s quickly debased of that when Marla’s Harbour grabs him by the throat and lifts him off the ground.

And then Deliritous realizes Baz isn’t there and starts shouting for him. Almost like he’s concerned, fearing that Marla’s killed Baz. Baz actually feels bad listening to him.

And we really see that all our fears about Marla were totally warranted. She’s here just kind of toying with Deliritous, telling him how they didn’t see him as a threat, they just wanted to eliminate Rox from the competition. “Don’t be daft, deary.”

You spineless Book burner!

Then things for from bad to worse. Marla asks Hellar to have his Harbour kill Rox, which Hellar does. Deliritous frantically tries to bargain, saying he’ll just forfeit the Trials. And that shows his regard for Rox, right? We saw how important it is for him to do well in the Trials, with all the pressure his father’s putting on him and his resistance to his uncle’s suggestion that he just sort of hide and keep himself alive. But Marla declines he entreaties, reasoning she doesn’t want the risk of Rox being around even after the get back from the Trials.

So then Deliritous gets angry, cursing at Marla. He says something about her mother… and that proves to be a mistake. She stomps down on his leg and breaks it.

And now Baz has his moment. Probably the most pivotal moment in the whole book. Remember, I told you Baz was going to make a big decision last week. Here it is.

But Baz was surprised to find another emotion mixed with the fear. Anger. Anger at Marla’s casual cruelty, at Hellar’s detached indifference. And most of all, anger at how ill-equipped Deliritous was to deal with them. Not because he was entirely inept, though he’d plenty ineptitude in him. But because he lacked the deplorable characteristics of Marla and Hellar—he wasn’t despicable enough to concoct a plan like what Marla and Hellar had hatched, nor hard enough to carry it out with the apathy Hellar demonstrated. He was still the ink-spilling bastard who had ruined Tax’s life, but…

Baz’s innate sense of right shines through again! He decides to try and save Deliritous. And how is he going to do it? Well, I’m sure most of you saw this coming–he’s going to Read! He does remember, back from when his brother taught him.

At least, that’s partially it. Baz tells us he hadn’t tried to Read in 10 years, yet he’s still able to Read this very complex spell. He gives two explanations for this: (1) even if Deliritous doesn’t utilize him often, he’s still Spoken thousands of spells, so it’s not as if he hasn’t at least had practice repeating Words Deliritous Read to him; and (2) this is the far more interesting one, I think–Tax’s songs. Baz suggests that they’ve had some innate effect on him, they’ve helped him learn by listening to them over and over. Baz doesn’t say anything definitive here, but it seems perhaps there’s more to Tax’s songs than just passing the time.

Shadow

So Baz sneaks back into the camp, grabs a Book from Deliritous’s Bookpack… and he nearly drops it. Why? Because it’s that crazy Book of shadow spells Baz had scolded Deliritous for even picking up back in the Reading room. Now, we haven’t gotten too much into the five magical elements yet, but we do know there’s fire, earth, water, light, and shadow. And apparently shadow, as Baz tells us, isn’t very well understood and dangerous even to adept Readers.

And we see a couple things suggesting that belief is right. First, as Baz nears completion of the spell, he starts hearing voices in his head, right? Terrible voices, imploring him to do awful things. You know that’s going to become relevant later, but there’s no time for Baz to dwell on it now.

Second, we see just how vicious the spell ends up being. It vaporizes Hellar’s Harbour.

And I guess there’s a third justification for shadow being little understood. When Deliritous makes up the story that it was a dragon, even though he saw it was Baz who Read the spell, Marla and Hellar don’t think to disbelieve him. That suggests whatever the spell was that Baz cast, it’s not one seen often, so Baz alleging it came from a dragon was plausible. And see, they call it a Shadow Breather? We heard reference to Fire Breathers earlier, so there are at least two types of different dragons. Perhaps there are more?

So Marla and Hellar run, leaving Deliritous with a broken leg and Rox trapped. Likely, they think they’re leaving him to die. Baz waits until he’s certain they’re gone, then goes to Deliritous. And what does he do?

He yells for Baz to stay away from him!

A cow chewing cud

Baz is initially incredulous–he just saved Deliritous and this is how he treats him? He actually hits Deliritous when he keeps going on about how Baz will have to be blinded now like his brother. But an interesting reversal of roles here, and it makes Baz sick.

Baz threatens to his Deliritous a second time and he cowers away. And what does he say? “I never hit you?”

Wow, I don’t know about you, but that’s powerful to me. Baz realizes that the instant he was given power like the Readers, he began using it to abuse Deliritous.

Gain an ounce of power and look what his first inclination had been–treat Deliritous just like most Readers treated their Speakers.

An interesting and I guess startling idea here–it’s not always easy to do the right thing when you’re the one in a superior position. Baz perhaps grasps in this moment that having power isn’t all it’s cracked up to be with the temptations it presents. That’s another theme we’ll see returned to again and again throughout the series. Power isn’t necessarily a good thing.

Baz realizes once he cools down that maybe his brother is right about Deliritous. He’s just a product of his environment, and you can’t entirely blame him for that. Baz notes that a lot of slaves in his position would just run, maybe even cut Deliritous’s throat. But doing that would be like “killing a cow for chewing cud. It’s just what they do.”

Baz also realizes that his only chance now of ever seeing his brother again is to work with Deliritous. He can’t go back to Erstwhile if he runs away–he needs Deliritous to get back. And so Baz comes up with a plan. What if he travels to Tome and finishes the Trials for Deliritous?

Duh duh duh! Oh, man! Ending on a cliffhanger this week.

Just a couple quick other things:

• When Deliritous is resisting admitting that Baz actually helped him out, Rox chimes in: “Truuuth.” Rox understands. They’d be dead without Baz.
• Deliritous notes he has nightmares about Tax. He does feel bad, even if Baz doesn’t want to hear it.

CONCLUSION

Homework: We’ll read Chapter 13 next week. Baz and Deliritous flesh out their plan. And we get to a town. And here in this town is a big moment. A reveal of epic proportions, very relevant to the podcast, particularly those who watch on YouTube. You can’t really miss it, but keep an eye out and jump out of your seat when it comes!

Listener Question:

Quest: Any thoughts on why shadow is dangerous? There has been a subtle hint somewhere in the Book. 3XP

Quote:

“Bran thought about it. ‘Can a man still be brave if he’s afraid?’

‘That is the only time a man can be brave,’ his father told him.”

― George R.R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

Until next time, this has been D. T. Kane’s Epic Fantasy Book Club.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

D. T. Kane reads chapter 9 of his epic fantasy fiction novel, The Acktus Trials, and discusses the chapter with his audience.

http://dtkane.com

YouTube: https://youtu.be/lw2XyQC_XAA

If you’re enjoying the Acktus Trials, or have already read it, please consider taking a minute to leave a review. Reviews help authors by increasing the visibility of their books, which helps get them into the hands of more readers. Thank you for your support! Follow this link to leave a review: https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review?&asin=B09QZ8MQ38

The Acktus Trials, an epic fantasy novel, available now: https://dtkane.com/books/the-acktus-trials/

Map of Oration: https://dtkane.com/resources/map-of-oration/

Characters in this Chapter:
Baztian (Baz): Our main character
Rox: Deliritous’s Harbour (bodyguard)
Deliritous: Baz’s master, heir to Torchsire Library
Duke Octavinal: Deliritous’s father, leader of Torchsire Library

Hellar Xavier: Reader, heir to Xavier Library, one of the competitors going on the Trials
Trunnel: Hellar’s Speaker, an Influencer
Arrow: Hellar’s Harbour

Marla Kolnar: Nice of the Duchess of Kolnar Library, one of the competitors going on the Trials
Ryle: Marla’s Harbour

What’s D. T. Kane reading this week?

The Eye of the World, By Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time, Book 1)
Audio: https://amzn.to/3HiKKqw
eBook: https://amzn.to/3Hit7Hw
Print: https://amzn.to/3HhNvZs

This week’s quote: “Freedom doesn’t mean you get to choose what happens to you. But you do get to choose how you react to it.” ― Stephen R. Donaldson, The One Tree

Links to Book 1 of Stephen R. Donaldson’s Epic Fantasy Series, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever
Audio: https://amzn.to/3hlbDQj
eBook: https://amzn.to/3voq9ig
Print: https://amzn.to/3IuGtld

Disclosure: The links above are affiliate links. If you make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. I use these commissions to pay for overhead such as hosting and editing costs. Thank you for supporting my show!

Below is a copy of my notes/script for this episode, not a verbatim transcription.

PERSONAL UPDATE

Today is February 24, 2022 as I record this, Episode 8.

ANAYLIS CH. 9

Import of Trials

It’s like a national holiday, though the sort of holiday the Hunger Gamers were in Pan Am. Libraries rise and fall based on the results of the Trials. The entire government is present, the Table of Ennea, as well as congregations from each of the nine Libraries and Illits to watch.

Of course, Baz notes, they’re much less significant to him. Just another threat to his continued breathing.

Erstwhile is built like a fortress

Fifty foot walls thick enough for eight men to walk abreast, giant portcullis, and a killing ground.

The Competitors

Hellar has an Enforcer and Influencer with him. Harbour seems similar to Rox, though only an “above-average hill, rather than a towering mountain.” In addition to the “standard-issue razor” he’s also got a bandolier full of knives, a bow, and he’s carrying a “Bookpack.” A “traveling bookshelf on shoulder straps” Baz calls it.

Hellar’s Speaker is Trunnel, the same Influencer we saw earlier. Baz notes that’s an interesting choice, as most would either choose a healer (Creator) or a Destroyer who can fling about offensive spells. So let’s be honest here, this choice is obviously going to have consequences down the road. What could Hellar have planned with a Speaker capable of mind control?

Marla. First thing we learn is she probably as a bit of a chip on her shoulder. Baz points out that the Duchess of Kolnar has a daughter old enough to compete in the Trials, but has held her back a year so she doesn’t go against Hellar. So Marla’s a bit of a sacrificial lamb, unless she wins, in which case Kolnar will look good, beating Xavier’s best with a “lesser” candidate. We remember how unsettling Marla seemed back in the scene where the Citiless was tortured, so the fact that she has this as motivation certainly doesn’t bode well.

Her Harbour is a woman, which Baz notes is odd. She uses two razors and seems to exude a similar aspect of terror as her master. Baz mutters to Rox that he better look out for that Harbour. “Hmmm, Truth,” Rox rumbled. “I know Ryle. Words mean… odd things to her.” The hesitance in Rox’s voice concerns Baz. If Rox is upset by Marla’s Harbour…

Marla’s Speaker is a Creator and he seems to be a madman. He wears blinders, like a horse. So his eyes haven’t been removed like Octavinal does to his Speakers, though Baz questions whether that’s any better. “It was said that denying one’s body the use of a sense it hadn’t lost did strange things to a man.”

He swayed in place with a sort of nervy anticipation, as if he’d lash out at the slightest stimulation. He licked his lips incessantly, as if he couldn’t keep them moistened, and his hands kept opening and closing into fists. He reminded Baz of a mute, ravenous dog, just waiting for the collar to come off. Most people thought of Creators as healers and food producers, but Baz knew better. There were some truly awful spells a Creator could utter that would kill you just as dead as any fireball conjured by a Destroyer.

History of Oration

249th Acktus Trials

Before the Burning, anyone could Read and theft, murder, and war were rampant.

Then the three Scribes call the Summit. “Gods given flesh to guide us.” Their vision was to consolidate power and knowledge with only those worthy to possess it. Responsibility, true ability, and foresight. A gather of Oration’s strongest Orators. (The crowd boos this term–apparently what Cusses were called before the Burning).

Intent was to write new Books in a language that could only be understood by a select few. Locked themselves at the peak of the Great Library’s tallest tower. Hmm, where did we see the Great Library’s tower before? But something went terribly wrong. An explosion, blowing the tower’s top off and much of the rest of the Library. The skies turned red and the great Scribes, along with many Orators, were lost. Fire rained from the skies throughout Erstwhile, killing thousands.

The Uncertainties followed. Much of Oration’s leadership died in the Burning. Tome was looted and further ruined. Shelves picked all but bare.

Then Acktus Deliritous Torchsire led the Second Burning, restored order. Confiscated Books until their power resided solely in the nine Libraries of Erstwhile, seven of Fortune, and three of Enigma. Also established the separation of powers between Readers, Speakers, and Illits. “Ensure dependence on one another, rather than division.”

“Baz suppressed a snigger.” Did they actually believe that? Power wasn’t separated, the Speakers had none.

Acktus Trials were started because new Books can’t be made–have to find more. Scribes’ spells still hold sway in Tome, Books don’t age the same way there.

Conservator gives the competitors the Scribes’ blessing, “gesture of the Trinity, hands cupped together like a book then raising three fingers to his lips.”

Rules of the Acktus Trials

• Return within 60 days
• Two paths to Tome, one is shorter but more dangerous. The other longer but safter. I’ll toss the map up on the screen on YouTube highlighting both paths.
  • The way through the Reach and across the Firelands and Weeping Plains is shorter, but more treacherous; the way through the Emerald Woods longer, but generally safer, though not without challenges.

• Work together or separate
• No “mortal force” against another Reader, though Baz notes Readers are capable of inflicting quite a bit of pain without using mortal force. Plus, no prohibition against killing Speakers.
• Can only take one Book, by treaty with other cities of the Triumvirate
• Table judges which Book is best and declares winner

CONCLUSION

Homework: Next week we read Chapter 10! Our competitors are finally off and traveling through the Wilds. Deliritous makes a deal with his other competitors. Is he savvy or stupid? Baz talks with Trunnel and receives a dire warning–what does that portend? And then Baz really puts his foot in his mouth and is rescued by an unlikely source.

Listener Question: Save these for next episode to go over quests.

Quest: Go over answers from previous episodes:

1. What do you think was my inspiration for the dragon we meet in the prologue? 2 XP
2. About how old is Baz in chapters 1 and 2? It doesn’t come right out and say it, but you can figure it out from context. 1XP

1. What is that statue of the dragon in the Conservatory calling to mind from earlier? 1 XP
2. For this week’s quest, I’d like you to send me your favorite excerpt from Chapter 4. 1 XP
3. What do you think the inciting incident of the novel is? 2 XP
4.  I left out another potentially interesting connection between Tax’s tattoo and something from earlier in the Book. 3 XP
5. Who is your favorite fantasy author? 1 XP

Quote:

“Freedom doesn’t mean you get to choose what happens to you. But you do get to choose how you react to it.”

― Stephen R. Donaldson, The One Tree

Until next time, this has been D. T. Kane’s Epic Fantasy Book Club.

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