D. T. Kane reads chapters 21 and 22 of his epic fantasy fiction novel, The Acktus Trials, and discusses the chapter with his audience.
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The Acktus Trials, an epic fantasy novel, available now:
https://dtkane.com/books/the-acktus-trials/
https://books2read.com/theacktustrials
Part II of The Spoken Books Uprising, Declaimer’s Discovery, now available!
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09R18NZ5G/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1
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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
Eromer: The Book Dragon!
Below is a copy of the script/notes I used for the episode, not a verbatim transcription.
PERSONAL UPDATE
Welcome back to D. T. Kane’s Epic Fantasy Book Club. Today is Sunday, May 1, 2022 as I record this, episode 16 of the podcast.
Writing wise the past week was a bit of a challenging one. Found a couple holes in the subplot of Part IV of The Spoken Books Uprising that required me to go back and re-work a few things in my outline. I even dove into a couple craft books and reviewed some plot archetypes and beats to help diagnose where I was going wrong. I find that very helpful when I’m stuck, looking to examples of things that I know work in order to jumpstart my imagination. I’m not the best at just pulling ideas out of thin air, but give me just a few sparks and I can turn them into a blaze given enough time to let my imagination work.
Still, it felt frustrating at the time because when I’m in drafting mode I try and get the story out as quickly as I can, so a day or two of no serious movement in word count feels like I’ve stalled. But I figured out where my issues were and now I’m back on track, and having diagnosed and remedied the problems now will never make my life a lot easier moving forward, so I need to just tell myself to be happy with that.
On a more personal note, my two-week trip to Europe is now 20 days away. I’ll be recording some episodes in advance so that there’s no gap while I’m gone, though a couple will be shorter episodes than normal. But hey! Either that, or no book club at all, and I didn’t want to ghost you guys while I was gone.
Finally, the half marathon I’ve been talking about is next weekend, so next week I’ll let everyone know how that went. I’ve put in some good training and I’m excited to get out there and see what I can do. Wish me luck!
ANAYLIS CH. 21-22
Chapter 21
Rox, get out of there!
Is Baz showing concern for Rox? Certainly sounds like it, though I’m sure if we asked Baz he’d only say it’s because he’s as good as dead if Rox isn’t around to protect him. Then again, wasn’t Baz just considering running away from Rox?
So this is an altogether different dragon. Does its description sound at all familiar to you?
At least as large as the wyrm they’d encountered, and it was shaped similarly, body one long line, though it had four legs. Glowing blue eyes were positioned above a flattened snout. It reminded Baz more of a dog than a great monster, particularly its drooping ears, each larger than a horse. A crest of white hair topped its head, flopping from side to side as the dragon’s upper body hovered above Rox, the rest of its length hidden behind the debris in the road. Thin strands of hair like mustaches hung down from either side of its snout, rising and falling as the beast drew breath.
But the most incredible thing about it was its hide. A strip of white hair ran down the length of its back, but the rest of its pale skin was bare, almost as if shaven. And upon it there was writing, tattooed over so much of the skin’s surface it seemed more ink than flesh. Words from each of the branches of the Trinity, written in the quintet of elemental colors. Something about the creature’s appearance tugged at Baz’s memory, but he was far too concerned with staying alive to pay it much heed.
It sounds a lot like the dragon from the prologue, right? It even repeats the ends of its sentences like the one in the prologue did. It’s a Book Dragon, like the statue we saw in the Conservatory and Leanna’s workshop. Apparently they aren’t extinct.
Interesting point here that, while most people seemed to think Book Dragons were extinct, Rox seems to recognize it. He’s even got a special name for it, Illumined One, and says its sacred. Now, has Rox just seen the statues too, or does he have some special knowledge of Book Dragons? Hmmmm. Rox’s depth continues to grow.
So every time Baz speaks, the dragon gets upset. Rox says it’s because it thinks Baz is trying to cast a spell. Which is interesting. Apparently the dragon can sense others able to draw power from Books. And also, the fact that Rox is able to so quickly put that together suggests he does, in fact, have some special knowledge of the creatures.
However, speaking is also the key to befriending the dragon. “You just have to Speak its name [to befriend it]” Rox tells us, which is tattooed on the dragon’s forehead. The keen observers among you out there will recognize this was foreshadowed back at the beginning, since Leanna’s name was also inscribed in the forehead of her Book Dragon statue in her workshop. Baz, of course, is skeptical, but goes ahead and tries to Read the name. “Eer-rooo-meeer.”
You enunciation is awful
It talks! And not just in one of the magic languages of Spoken Books, but the common tongue that Baz can understand. We learn that the Book Dragon was attacked by Hellar and his dragon and its tail is stuck under a large boulder. That’s why Eromer was so skiddish around them–he thought Rox and Baz might have been friends of Hellar. A Hoarder of Words (Reader) and his Oppressed (Speaker). Seems he has different names for lots of things in this world.
He calls the dragon a “Lost One.” Rox explains this is because the Fire Breathers betrayed their oath to protect the Great Library during the Burning. Recall that this was eluded to back in the prologue, where the Book Dragon there noted that the Fire Breathers fled during the Burning.
So the Book Dragon is in a predicament, and Rox is more than happy to offer it help. He seems a bit awed by the creature, and is quite angry when Baz doesn’t show it the proper respect. But when the dragon mentions having a cave, an idea strikes Baz. The thing can fly, and it has a safe place nearby. So he strikes a bargain with the dragon—we’ll get the rock off you, if you take Deliritous back to your cave and… fly us to Tome! Ah-ha! Who was wondering just how I was going to get Baz to Tome after the disaster with Deliritous? Well, what better way than to fly him there?
Part 4
Chapter 22
When the Shelves Fell
So we move right on to the fourth and final part of the novel and Chapter 22.
We saw in Chapter 21 the Book Dragon is VERY touchy about any talk relating to Tome or the Great Library, and here we see why. The Book Dragon–Eromer–is over 400 years old! He was there when the Burning happened. He’ll agree to fly Rox and Baz to the outskirts of Tome, but he won’t go into the ruins themselves because he failed his oath to protect it and can’t bear to enter. That would seem to explain why he also has odd names for many things–his speech is centuries old. The Burning is “When the shelves fell.” And yes, that is an homage to the famous Star Trek TNG episode “Darmok,” which I think is sort of fitting since that episode is all about communicating with an alien who doesn’t speak English, and here we have Baz communicating with a dragon. “Shaka, when the walls fell.”
And what does he call Baz? An “Orator,” which you’ll recall from the recitation of Oration’s history during the opening ceremony of the Trials, was the term for men who could both Read and Speak prior to the Burning. Eromer uses the term as if it isn’t 300 years out-of-style.
But interesting, when Baz corrects him and says where he’s from, he’s called a Cuss. Eromer is shocked, not because Baz and Read and Speak, but because that means he’s an Oppressed, a Speaker. And yet, he’s asking Eromer to help heal a Hoarder of Words (Reader). Interesting, as this suggests that Eromer retains some connection to the current world, since he obviously knows what “Cuss” means.
Gossamer Words
So the first prong of the deal was for Eromer to take Deliritous back to his cave and care for him. But he says Deliritous can’t fly in his current injured state. So the dragon begins to sing, just like Tax did with the Retirees back in the sub-basement of Torchsire Library. Except, to Baz’s amazement, the song has power! Deliritous begins to heal, his burns disappearing. The dragon doesn’t have any Spoken Books, but there is the writing on his body, and some of it glows as he sings. So, it seems, the Book Dragon is a flying Spoken Book, it can draw magical power from itself!
Serious implications here. Remember, Tax had a tattoo of Spoken Words on his arm last Baz saw him. Is he trying to give himself the same powers as a Book Dragon? But if that’s the case, why don’t all the Readers just do that and do away with the Books? Curioser and Curioser.
One final note: did you notice how Eromer’s tail seemed to heal itself? Bloody when they levered the rock off it, then merely bruised minutes later? Seems this Book Dragon has more magic powers than we’ve seen out of anyone else, man or beast, to this point of the story.
And so we leave our heroes this week, preparing to fly away on the Book Dragon.
CONCLUSION
Homework: Next week we’ll read Chapter 23. We see where Eromer lives and some rather interesting furnishings in his cave. Then we learn something of Rox’s past that unsettles Baz.
Listener Question:
Quest: Last week’s quest was what is the name of the Book Dragon from the prologue. Well, maybe I’m giving away a bit too much here, but we’ve only been given the name of one Book Dragon, Eromer. It’s the same dragon!
In preparation for seeing where Eromer lives next week, I’d like you to let me know what your favorite home from a fantasy novel is. Could be a house, a cave, a hovel, a hobbit hole, or something else. Someone just has to have lived in it.
Quote:
“In my experience, communication is a matter of patience, imagination. I would like to believe that these are qualities that we have in sufficient measure.”
– Captain Picard, from the Star Trek TNG Episode “Darmok”
Until next time, this has been D. T. Kane’s Epic Fantasy Book Club.
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