D. T. Kane reads chapter 7 of his epic fantasy fiction novel, The Acktus Trials, and discusses the chapter with his audience.

Home

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
Leanna: Torchsire Library’s Librarian
Gar: Old Retiree

For those interested in the history of written language I brought up in this episode, check out the following Wikipedia articles:
Linear B Syllabary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linear_B. “Linear B consists of around 87 syllabic signs and over 100 ideographic signs. These ideograms or “signifying” signs symbolize objects or commodities. They have no phonetic value and are never used as word signs in writing a sentence.”
Phoenician Alphabet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenician_alphabet#Spread_and_adaptations. “The alphabet’s attractive innovation was its phonetic nature, in which one sound was represented by one symbol, which meant only a few dozen symbols to learn. The other scripts of the time, cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs, employed many complex characters and required long professional training to achieve proficiency; which had restricted literacy to a small elite.”

What I’m reading this week:
Vlad Taltos, The Book of Jhereg, By Steven Brust (Audio: https://amzn.to/3sTCZCz eBook: https://amzn.to/3sv3q10)
Silence of the Lambs, By Thomas Harris (Audio: https://amzn.to/3gIhdM4 eBook: https://amzn.to/3szeomi) (Narrated by Frank Muller, 1951-2008 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Muller)

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

PERSONAL UPDATE

February 17, 2022 as I record this.

Nearly done with edits for Book 3 and Book 2, Declaimer’s Discovery cover is almost ready! Release date April 15 for Book 2.

Started training for a half marathon in May

Still reading same books as last week

Names on screen during analysis

Submit quest answers. There’s still time!

ANAYLIS CH. 7

Leanna’s workshop

Baz feels better just seeing her.

Power of the Conservators–no new Books can be made because Speakers can’t write. Conservators hold power because they’re the next best thing to writing new Books, and they also have the secret to elemental ink.

Leanna shows concern for Baz, which he appreciates. Obviously he doesn’t get that too often. But there’s clear conflict between them too. As Baz says, she’s “nestled into her place in society like everyone else.” When Baz suggests trying to get out of the Trials, she criticizes him for shirking his duty.

We learn Leanna’s mother was a Speaker, which apparently isn’t uncommon. We haven’t seen how Speakers are discovered, but Baz notes that children are tested at a young age: those who prove to be Bound become Speakers, those who aren’t go to the Conservatory.

Once again, we see a statue of a Book Dragon, this time a smaller one than the one at the Conservatory. Leanna says its good luck and notes that the creatures were able to Read. Remember, we saw the Book Dragon back in the prologue talk, so this maybe isn’t as incredible as it might sound at first. Leanna also notes the legend that Book Dragons had their names tattooed on their foreheads and that’s how you made friends with them, but Reading their name aloud. Interesting, as that seems to imply that Book Dragons weren’t friends with everyone, just people who could Read.

Baz adds in that he’s heard stories that Book Dragons could Read and Speak. Of course, Leanna doesn’t like that, as it’s basically implying the Conservatory’s good luck charm was a Cuss. Baz departs with some tension between the two of them, obviously they’re not seeing eye-to-eye on some matters.

As Baz goes to visit the Retirees, Leanna notes that people are taking notice of how often he does so. Baz says that ought to concern him but it doesn’t. He’s not going to stop visiting them no matter what anyone says. Why is he so set on visiting them?

Gar

So Baz heads out into the sub-basement to visit the Retirees. It’s not really lit and Baz has to fumble around until he finds a torch. And pretty soon we learn why it’s not lit, yeah? All the Retirees are blind. Remember, we learned a few chapters back that the Retirees are “retired speakers,” so when Speakers outlive their usefulness, they’re blinded and sent down here into the dark. Why? Well, that’s not entirely clear yet, other than Baz again noted before that the Libraries use them for breeding purposes to create new Speakers. But is there more to it than that?

Interesting note that Torchsire has more Retirees than the other Libraries. Duke Octavinal goes through Speakers “at an alarming rate” according to Baz. More questions. Is this just because Octavinal is particularly cruel? But remember, some Speakers are blinded but still utilized, so why not just blind them and continue to use them? Like Baz says, Speakers can be expensive, and Torchsire doesn’t have money to waste. So Octavinal must have some other reason for locking away so many of his Speakers down in the sub-basement beyond just fear of them learning to Read. Baz seems naïve to this, as he noted earlier that they’re just sent down here when they’ve outlived their usefulness.

Gar is the first Speaker we meet. Bit of an old codger, it seems. He’s been down there so long he knew the Duke before Octavinal. And Baz seems familiar with him. Did you notice he actually called him “Baz”? The only other person we’ve seen actually call Baz by that nickname was his brother. Not even Leanna calls him that. And he can also tell almost immediately that Baz is feeling down.

Baz asks Gar if he knows where “he” is and Gar tells him he (whoever that is) is leading “another of those fool songs of is.” But who is he talking about?

Tax!

And so we get to the big reveal. Remember last week I told you there’d be a surprise in this chapter, and hear it is. Yeltax is still alive! Suddenly we see why Baz spends so much time with the Retirees–his brother is one of them.

Now, did this come as a shock to you? I definitely sort of led you to believe Tax was dead. But if you go back and read carefully, I never actually say that. I noted Tax’s screams a few times, and Baz talks about what Deliritous “did to his brother,” but never said killed. Also, back in Ch. 4, there was a bit of foreshadowing. Baz notes how that Helfax Erstwhile had a crippled brother and then chided himself for thinking of that. Now we see why Baz was uncomfortable about thinking about another’s crippled brother. So, let me know what you thought of this–satisfying surprise now that you know it, or you feeling a little cheated? I hope not, but I’m always looking to improve so I’m happy to hear some (gentle) criticism as well.

Singing and the Meaning of Words

So it seems Tax has become the leader of the Retirees. He’s the only one with a chair, and he apparently leads them in singing frequently, as Gar noted. It’s a bit of a haunting, surreal scene, right? All these men and women in dirty white robes, blind with strips of cloth covering their empty sockets, singing a sad song. “Slow and precise.” It causes Baz to sway along almost involuntarily and he sort of gets lost in the music, almost in a trance until it ends. “Like a cooling breeze across Baz’s shaved scalp.”

The song ends and Tax is still the older brother, right? Saying he was worried that Baz hadn’t come to visit him in a few days. “I started growing hair on my chest years ago,” Baz tells him. Stop worrying!

But why the singing? Baz asks his brother. Tax initially says it’s just to pass the time, but Baz pushes. “There’s power in Words,” Tax tells him. Maybe we get into a bit of philosophy here, and also a bit more description of what Speaking a spell actually entails. Now, obviously I haven’t pulled a Tolkien here and written my own languages. I let you imagine the three languages of the Trinity through my descriptions of what the Words sound like instead. And we learn from Tax’s questioning of Baz that the Words of the Trinity don’t necessarily have black-and-white definitions like ordinary words. He tells us:

“The Words permit you to express and teach and feel. You don’t always have to completely understand them for them to have purpose.”

I really like this. I mean, first, this is applicable to the real word. That’s why language and reading are so important. They express feeling, let us teach, pass knowledge to others. And that’s one reason this world is so cruel, because that benefit is denied to so many. This is sort of a meta-level idea behind the whole book.

Second, Tax’s songs are in the languages of the Trinity, and it seems all the Retirees are learning all three languages, since they sing all Tax’s songs. So does that mean Tax is trying to teach them? Baz points out there is no power in the Songs’ Words because the Retirees don’t have any Books. But what if they did get their hands on some? I don’t know. They still wouldn’t be able to see them to know what spells they held. But hmmm. Just think on that. Tax sort of confuses Baz into letting the question drop, but it seems obvious that Tax is leading the songs for more than just a pass time.

Finally, another interesting point here, very subtle, but if the Words of the Trinity don’t have distinct meanings, that would seem to mean those languages are harder to learn than ordinary speech. You can’t just directly translate. Perhaps another explanation here for why it’s more exclusive, but we’ll have to see if that plays out later.

Tattoos

Tax also distracts Baz away from asking him about the songs by showing him that he’s tattooed himself. And not just any tattoo, but Words of the Trinity. Baz is aghast! I mean, Tax is now walking around with evidence that he can Read and Write. Remember how Leanna reacted when imagining someone who could do that? Tax’s response shows us the rebel in him still hasn’t died. He was rebellious back in Chapter 1, telling Baz they needed to stand up to the Readers and that’s why he was teaching Baz to Read.

And regarding the tattoo, Tax says, “I can still stand up to them in this small way.” And this plays back into perhaps why he’s teaching the songs to the Retirees. Is he getting them ready for an opportunity in the future when they might be able to Speak spells? Or have someone else Speak spells to them?

But we also see that it hasn’t been all good for Tax. His tone is a mixture of “determination and anger and loneliness all wrapped into one,” and despite having the other Retirees, Tax feels alone. “It feels as if they have me, but that I have no one.”

Baz’s Guilt

Baz definitely feels guilty about his brother, and his show of loneliness only brings those feelings to the surface for him. He blames himself, noting it was his loss of focus that led to Tax’s blinding–referencing Baz forgetting to turn the page back in chapter 2, which resulted in the spell failing and ultimately the woman tripping over the flagstone and revealing the Book Tax had stolen. Baz tries to reassure his brother: “I know how strong you still are.” Good little brother, but obviously he’s still upset all these years later.

And interesting, Tax apparently doesn’t hold a grudge against Deliritous. He’s a product of his environment, Tax tells Baz. So, “Baz did enough hating for the both of them.” More of an explanation for his childish attitude around Deliritous in the prior chapter.

The Declaimer’s Transcendence

So they get around to talking about the Citiless who was captured. Tax seems interested in the fact that the Citiless could Read, and he’s also (to Baz’s surprise) familiar with the words the Citiless was shouting right before he charged Deliritous. Remember I said a few weeks ago we’d see that maybe he wasn’t mad? Well here we go. Apparently there’s an old story about a writing called the “Declaimer’s Transcendence.”

The Enigma survived the Burning and wrote a Book of predictions, and the Declaimer’s Transcendence was one of those predictions. But the Book was destroyed save for a few scraps a young girl saved from it.

Baz says it’s just a bedtime story, but Tax says “Dad always told me it was true.”

Second Burning

There’s a quick reference to the Second Burning here. That’s apparently when the Declaimer’s Transcendence was destroyed. Remember we saw this referenced earlier when Baz noted there was a short time after the original Burning when Illits were permitted to read. Apparently that ended with the Second Burning, when any writings not in possession of Oration’s ruling Libraries were burned. And did you catch who led that Second Burning? Acktus Torchsire. So there’s an explanation for the name of the Acktus Trials, and also interesting that the namesake of Torchsire Library led the Second Burning. You’d think that would make Torchsire a notable Library. Why have they fallen?

Tax’s Reaction to the Trials

So talk of the Citiless inevitably leads to talk of how Delida was injured and Baz is now going on the Trials. Baz is hoping Tax has an idea about how Baz can get out of the Trials. But Tax is thinking the exact opposite. What an opportunity! “Get out of it? Baz, that is wonderful. It’s our chance.” We see more of that rebel in him, and maybe more evidence for why he’s teaching the songs to the Retirees. Bring back a book and Read it to me, he tells Baz.

Obviously Baz isn’t nearly as optimistic as his brother. He emphasizes that Books aren’t just lying around Tome. The place was picked over centuries ago, he says. And that makes sense, right? Books are so valuable that naturally the ruins have been picked clean of any easy to find volumes. More emphasis of how difficult the Trials will be. It’s dangerous to just get to Tome, then you have to search an abandoned city for Books after it’s already been scoured for hundreds of years for Books.

Also interesting, Baz suggests he hasn’t Read since Tax was blinded. He “eliminated anything that even suggested Reading from his life.” For all the guilt he feels over his brother, he doesn’t want to join him as a Retiree.

“If you never grasp an opportunity for want of a better one, you’ll never find one.” I like that as general life advice.

Tells Baz that he could at least try to escape, but Baz says he’d never leave Tax.

CONCLUSION

Alright, Chapter 7 and Part 2 are a wrap!

Homework: Next week we’ll read Chapter 8. Everyone getting ready to go to the Trials. Leanna wishes Baz farewell and gives him something. What do we think of that? And we see Baz briefly interact with Rox. How are you feeling about Rox after this chapter? Ch. 8 is a shorter chapter, so this won’t be as long as some of the previous episodes.

Listener Question:

Quest: I left out another potentially interesting connection between Tax’s tattoo and something from earlier in the Book. If you picked up on that, let me know. This is a trickier one. 3 XP!

Quote: “Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” – Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download