D. T. Kane reads chapter 27 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 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/

https://books2read.com/theacktustrials

Parts II and III of The Spoken Books Uprising also now available!

Part II, Declaimer’s Discovery: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09R18NZ5G/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

Other Retailers- https://books2read.com/declaimersdiscovery  

Part III, Declaimer’s Flight: (out June 17, 2022)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09XKGDYFM/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i2

Other Retailers- https://books2read.com/declaimersflight

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

Characters in this Chapter:

Baztian (Baz): Our main character

Rox: Deliritous’s Harbour (bodyguard)

Ehma: Leader of Citiless Patrol

Madame Scrivener Tessa: Leader of all the Citiless

Below is my script/notes for the episode, not a verbatim transcription:

PERSONAL UPDATE

Welcome back to D. T. Kane’s Epic Fantasy Book Club. Today is June 12, 2022 as I record this, Episode 22.

It’s great to be back with all of you! I know you’ve had a new episode each week, but it’s been about three weeks since I last sat down to record, since I was away in Europe. I had a blast and could talk to you about it for the remainder of the episode. But I know this isn’t a travel podcast, so I’ll limit myself to two highlights from each of the three countries I went to. So if you’re planning a vacation and want to hit Ireland, Paris, and Brussels, here’s what I’d recommend:

1. Guinness Storehouse Tour and Gravity Bar in Dublin
2. Gap of Dunloe, Kilarney National Park
3. Visit the Eiffel tower, Paris
4. Get a bottle of wine and a sweet treat at an outdoor café. I enjoyed both Le Nemours and Café Blanc, which are both near the Louvre. If you’re just looking for pastries, also try Tartine Bakery, a couple blocks from the Louvre, or Café Liberte, which is in the Latin Quarter.
5. Atomium, Brussels. The Eiffel Tower of Belgium.
6. Belgian Liege Waffle with chocolate from Le Funambule next to Manneken Pis

On the writing front, I’ve had a very busy week back from vacation getting Declaimer’s Flight ready for publication. It comes out next Friday, June 17. You can still get your pre-order if you want to be sure you’re one of the first people to read it!

ANAYLIS CH. 27

Under Tome

So Ehma takes Baz and Rox through the hidden door she revealed down a long corridor that descends downward. She mentions they’re going to Under Tome. What the heck is that? Well, we find out soon enough, and we have our answer for where all the Citiless are living.

There’s a whole little city beneath the Great Library! “Reports of Tome being an abandoned shell were apparently grossly mistaken.”

Our heroes enter into the middle of a three-tiered chamber. They’re on a stone balcony overlooking a lower level full of rows of long tables, and at some of them there are people sitting writing, bent over parchment with jars of glowing elemental ink. And up above there appear to be living quarters and another balcony that encircles much of the space where it appears groups of young children are being taught how to write.

So this is pretty shocking based on what we know of the rest of society in Oration. There appears to be a whole society down here that doesn’t abide by the typical separation of powers, the division between Readers and Speakers. Now it really seems that that Citiless who was caught back in the beginning wasn’t an aberration–they’re all taught to read and write in Under Tome, the hidden city beneath the Great Library.

Perhaps the space’s defining feature, though, is this peninsula type walkway that extends past a barrier at the end of the lower level of the chamber into darkness. It leads out into a dark pit where light seems to die. And the pit is lined with countless bookshelves. Here’s Baz’s description:

Bookshelves. Endless numbers of bookshelves, each full to overflowing. They reached perhaps twenty feet up the wall, which by itself was impressive. But they also seemed to stretch down into the dark bowels of the tower. Down and down until the darkness swallowed them up. A semicircular room of Books with no floor, a ceaseless pit of knowledge. However, Baz could see no obvious way to reach any of the volumes, as the peninsula clearly ended well before it reached the shelves.

Madame Scrivener Tessa

So next Baz is introduced to the true leader of Under Tome, a woman called Madame Scrivener Tessa, who turns out to be Ehma’s mother. We can see where Ehma got some of her stern characteristics, as her mother is obviously a hard woman. She’s quite upset that Ehma would bring outsiders into Under Tome. When Ehma says it’s because they have Book Dragon blood her mother says she ought to have just killed Baz and Rox immediately, obviously making the same assumption about Baz as Ehma did.

But in his characteristic way, Baz butts in, explaining he isn’t a Reader, which prompts Tessa to order him down to the “Sanctum” floor where she is overseeing the Scriveners who are writing at the tables. What is it they’re working on? We’ll see soon.

The first thing Baz discusses with Tessa is how they’ve kept Under Tome secret for so long. Apparently they’ve been playing the Readers for a long time: they purposefully plant a few Spoken Books above ground each year, so the Trials participants have something to find and no reason to go snooping around the ruins. And as Tessa says, “men believe what they wish to believe, and none in the Triumvirate wish to think we exist.” An interesting idea here, and likely a true one. Confirmation bias is a real thing, where we tend to pay closer attention to evidence that supports our beliefs than evidence that contradicts them, and Tessa is obviously playing into that with the Readers. No one wants to think there’s a whole city of Cusses living beneath Tome, and she gives them no reason to investigate.

Of course, when Baz presses that there must occasionally be a curious competitor, Tessa acknowledges that does happen. But anyone who gets too curious have a strange habit of suffering unfortunate accidents before they can leave Tome.  So it seems that at least some of the deaths during the Acktus Trials are attributable to this hidden underground society ensuring its secret is kept safe.

Let You go? Oh, no.

So then we get into the meat of Baz and Tessa’s discussion. She orders Baz to tell his story. Baz asks if she’ll let him go if she likes it, but Tessa says he isn’t going anywhere–he’s seen too much. Hmmm, that’s a problem for Baz, right? He needs to find a Book and get it back to Deliritous so he can get back to Erstwhile and his brother.

But Baz sees no alternative but to tell Tessa his story, which he does, only leaving out that he can Read. We know Baz isn’t a very trusting person, and he’s certainly not going to put his complete trust in this stranger who apparently intends to keep him confined to Under Tome.

Of all the things Baz tells her, the one thing Tessa keys on is, why are you helping a Reader? Obviously this society beneath Tome does not view them as the rightful leaders of society. Tessa shows obvious disdain for the Readers–fight back against those who oppress you! Baz says she sounds like Tax.

You really teach everyone who lives here to Read?

Tessa becomes sad, though, when Baz asks if they really teach everyone in Under Tome to Read. Tessa’s sadness at the question drives home how messed up Oration’s society is, right? How truly evil it is to deny the ability to read to others. As she says, teaching others to read shouldn’t be a “great thing,” it ought to be like that everywhere.

And why do the Readers prevent others from learning to Read? Baz, of course, thinks it’s to prevent others from casting spells against them, but that’s not Tessa’s opinion. Most common men wouldn’t have access to Spoken Books even if they could Read them. No, denying the ability to read creates ignorance, which creates an ignorant proletariat, says Tessa. It’s a vehicle of oppression.

“An ignorant proletariat is a submissive one.”

The Big Lie

So now that Baz has told his story, he asks Tessa whether she intends to kill him and Rox. Not if they stay and help them. Help with what?

The Scribes’ great work. They’re finishing the Books of Power the Scribes began during the Burning. Now, pause here a moment. Recall back at the beginning of Part 2, the Conservator told us that the Scribes had been working on Books that only a select few would be able to Read, so that only those who truly deserved the ability to call power from Spoken Books could wield it.

But that’s not what the Scribes were doing according to Tessa. No, they were making translations. Of what? Baz asks. Translations of the languages of the Trinity into the Common Tongue, so everyone could learn to draw power from Books. They were doing the exact opposite of what society has taught.

But what’s the point of that if only certain people are born Bound to the Books, able to call forth their power. And here Tessa drops the first big bomb. *EXPLOSION* Eromer already foreshadowed this for us a few chapters ago, but here’s confirmation: It’s all a big lie–anyone can learn to draw power from the Books. Now, it’s true that some a born naturally gifted, able to draw the power without much training, while most have to study and work at it for a long time. But still, anyone can do it. The very basis of Oration’s society is built on a lie! Apparently one created by Deliritous’s ancestor to consolidate power among a select few of his allies. And now the lie’s been around for so long that even most Readers believe it for truth.

But woah, the implications here! If Baz could reveal this secret, think of the consequences. The anger in the masses. And what about here in Under Tome. If everyone can Read, does that mean they have a force capable of challenging the Triumvirate cities for control of Oration? Imagine a whole society that isn’t dependent on Reading spells to other people before they cast them engaging in battle with Readers who must work in pairs with their Speakers.

The Dark Ones

But really, dems small potatoes when it comes to the next bomb Tessa drops. BOOM!  Tessa seems to believe they don’t have many Books in Under Tome, and Baz wants to know why when there’s this seemingly endless wall of bookshelves descending into the ground right behind them. Well, those Books are all lost to them, Tessa says. Lost, because the Dark Ones are imprisoned in that dark pit.

It was the Dark Ones, these mythical demons to this point we’ve only seen people mutter about, who caused the Burning. The Scribes drew so much power trying to create their translations of the Trinity, they apparently weakened the barrier between this world and the Elsewhere, sort of this world’s version of hell, and permitted the Dark Ones to attack. And so now we finally see what Pront vi Lextor was up to in the prologue. He was descending the tower at the Great Library to go imprison the Dark Ones, who he’d inadvertently released on the world by  attempting to create Books that would permit anyone to learn to Read and draw the power of the Spoken Books.

Baz, of course, is incredulous, but he doesn’t have much time to question Tessa. Ehma shouts for her mother from back up on the balcony where we left her at the beginning of the chapter. Tessa is annoyed by the interruption, but soon we see it’s more than just a daughter bothering her mother. There’s a razor to Ehma’s throat, and Marla is there. She’s found Under Tome, too!

Quick side note: Did you catch how Book Dragons were essentially librarians before the Burning? Tessa mentions that they spent their days retrieving volumes from the vast pit of Books. Makes sense–remember how Eromer was rescuing Books in the prologue? Also, Tessa notes how people back before the Burning used to read for pleasure. Baz is dumbstruck by that–it’s not something he’s even contemplated. Another sad thing about this society. Can you imagine being prohibited from Reading for the pure joy of it?

CONCLUSION

Homework: Next week we’ll read Chapter 28, the climax of the novel. How will Baz overcome Marla’s unexpected appearance at Under Tome?

Quote:

“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.”

― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

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 26 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 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/
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
Your preferred retailer: https://books2read.com/declaimersdiscovery

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

Characters in this Chapter:
Baztian (Baz): Our main character
Rox: Deliritous’s Harbour (bodyguard)
Ehma: Leader of Citiless Patrol

Below is my script/notes for the episode, not a verbatim transcription:

PERSONAL UPDATE

Welcome back to D. T. Kane’s Epic Fantasy Book Club. Today is Thursday, May 19, 2022, as I record this, episode 21.

This is the last of my vacation pre-recordings, so not much of a personal update since it’s only been a couple days for me since I recorded the last one. But one big piece of news: I completed my first draft of Part IV of the Spoken Books Uprising. It came in at around 97,000 words, so a bit under my estimate of 110,000. But I tend to underwrite my first drafts, so I expect it to creep closer to 110 by publication time.

Also, I’m ready to disclose the title: Declaimer’s Stand! So get ready, that’ll be releasing end of summer, beginning of fall.

Also, just a quick note, I’ve been working my way through the tome that is Ulysses by James Joyce, since I’m going to Ireland on part of my vacation. I’m not going to finish it before I go. It’s certainly an undertaking–sort of like putting a puzzle together, but you don’t have a photo of what the puzzle is supposed to be, and there’s a few pieces sprinkled in that don’t actually belong to it at all. It’s more of a pursuit than a read. But it is amazing how Joyce managed to pack so much meaning into virtually every line. I wouldn’t even consider reading it without a guide to explain all the smart things hidden in the book. I can certainly see how multiple re-reads would be rewarding, though to be honest, completing it just once will be a life accomplishment.

ANAYLIS CH. 26

So it’s a short chapter this week. Remember at the end of Chapter 25 we were left with Rox about to be executed and Baz shouting for him to show the Citiless the dragon blood Eromer gave them. And when Baz names Eromer, that gets everyone’s attention. It seems the Citiless know him. When Baz tells them Eromer gave them what’s in Rox’s pocket as proof of friendship and as partial repayment of  debt that can’t be satisfied, one of the Citiless even says, “Sounds like something Ero would say.” So obviously they’re familiar with him.

So the woman who was about to slit Rox’s throat instead reaches into his pocket and freaks out when she sees the blood. So a couple things: One, it would seem that these Citiless are actually who Eromer referred to as “The Keepers of What Remains.” Still don’t know what that means, but certainly implies there’s more to the Citiless than the Readers back in Erstwhile would like to believe. And two, everyone’s reaction to the blood confirms it’s some rare thing, as Rox said earlier.

Ehma is alarmed rather than impressed, though. She threatens Baz, thinking he’s harmed Eromer to get the blood. It turns out this whole time she’s been thinking he is a Reader, and can we blame her? He’s got a Bookpack and a Harbour apparently protecting him, after all. But Baz tells her to look under his hat and when she sees his brand, her attitude changes. “Her face softened.”

Still, they’re not just going to let Baz go. They have to “take him to Tessa,” presumably their leader. Aelan is concerned that Baz and Rox have seen their hiding spot that Ehma revealed by making the illusion of rubble disappear. Baz jumps on that opportunity to insist Eromer told him and Rox to talk directly to Tessa, keeping his cards close to the vest, getting himself a ticket inside the Great Library, presumably to find Spoken Books.

And so, our heroes enter the Great Library of Tome. What will they find within? 

CONCLUSION

Homework: Read Chapter 27. It’s a long one, and many revelations will be made! Who is Tessa, what secrets does she reveal, and did you gasp at the chapter’s end?

Quote:

“All life is theatre,’ he said. ‘We are all actors, you and I, in a play which nobody wrote and which nobody will see. We have no audience but ourselves….”

― Susan Cooper, Silver on the Tree

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

D. T. Kane discusses chapters 24 and 25 of his epic fantasy fiction novel, The Acktus Trials, with his audience. (NOTE: These chapters were previously narrated in episodes 18 and 19).

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 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/
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
Your preferred retailer: https://books2read.com/declaimersdiscovery

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

Below are my notes/script for the show, not a verbatim transcription:

PERSONAL UPDATE

Welcome back to D. T. Kane’s Epic Fantasy Book Club. Today is May 16, 2022 as I record this, episode 20.

A bit different this week, as we’re only doing an analysis section. The last two episodes were only narration because by the time you listen to this, I’ll be in Europe in the midst of a two-week vacation! So, I’m sort of coming to you from the past this week. Woah, time travel!

Since this will be a couple weeks old by the time it comes out, I won’t dwell long on the personal update. On the writing side, I am nearly finished with the first draft of The Spoken Books Uprising, Part IV (title to be announced soon!) I wasn’t sure I’d make it, but it turns out the draft is only going to be about 100,000 words instead of the 110,000 I’d estimated, so by the time you hear this, I should have a complete draft of that and be able to rest easy on vacation. I’ll probably be daydreaming about the plot for Part V, which I find much easier to do than drafting or editing.

As for the vacation, I’m off to Ireland for 8 days, driving counterclockwise around the country: 2 days in Dublin, then Cork, two days in Kerry, Ennis/County Claire, Galway, and then Longford and Cavan Counties, which is where my wife’s family is originally from. Then we’re flying to Paris for a few days and Brussels for two days. Man, I could go on about all the plans we have, but I’ll restrain myself for now. I’ll probably give some updates in the newsletters, so signup for those if you haven’t already (dtkane.com/email-signup, and I’ll of course talk about it on the show when I return, episodes 22 and 23.

ANAYLIS CHs. 24-25

Ch. 24

A Flying Book

So Chapter 24 picks up the morning after Eromer brings Baz and Rox to his cave. Baz gets up with sun, after worrying all night about his pending trip to Tome, thinking up all sorts of worst case scenarios, like Hellar using his Influencer to cause Rox to cut Baz’s head off.

But Eromer helps put Baz’s mind at ease a bit. How calm is this scene Baz walks out into? A glowing sunrise, Eromer floating in the air, eyes closed, humming, causing grain to flow out of barrels while his animals munch on it. Even surly Baztian has to smile.

Then Baz and Eromer have a brief, but fascinating, discussion. First, Eromer tells us that Pront vi Lextor essentially turned him into a flying book. “He illuminated us with the inks of the Books, and we became like them. Like them.” So that’s how Eromer casts spells without Books. The spells are tattooed right to him.

Well, the observant of you might wonder then, why hasn’t this be done more often? It’s awfully inconvenient lugging around all these Books. Well, apparently the process is dangerous. As Eromer tells us, his blood had to be changed “at the most fundamental of levels,” elements infused into it. Many of his kind did not survive the process.

At first, Baz seems to think Pront vi Lextor was some mad scientist, but Eromer corrects him. No, the dragons volunteered for the process. It was a great honor, as Pront vi Lextor was attempting to “restore the Orators to their old powers.”

*Also, I’ll also note about why tattoos aren’t used, recall that new Spoken Books can only be created by a Bound who can Write, so presumably that rule also holds true for tattoos. So the fact that there’s no tattooing is likely also for the same reason there are no new Books—no Bound can Write.

Of course, Baz immediately asks Eromer what he means, but Eromer demurs to answer. Still, it seems pretty plain: It was once possible for men and women to cast spells without Books, and the Enigma was trying to figure out how to once more grant them that power. Why didn’t he? Well, “the Dark Ones ruined [his] work.” And sometimes, Eromer tells us, he can still hear the Dark Ones’ voices when he sleeps.

Really interesting here. First, Baz recalls that he too recently heard voices, when he cast that shadow spell to save Rox and Deliritous from Marla and Hellar. And, those of you with good memories will also recall that Pront vi Lextor was hearing voices in the prologue. What does this all mean? Well, I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions, but… whoa!

Very Few

Baz’s conversation with Eromer is cut short when Rox exits the cave. Eromer agrees to watch over Deliritous while Rox is gone and they’re quickly on their way, flying on Eromer’s back to Tome.

While in flight, Baz asks Eromer how many other Book Dragons there are, and he replies “very few.” Apparently, there are those who find the Book Dragons “far more valuable dead than breathing.” Hold that thought a moment to the end of the chapter.

They catch sight of Tome, closer this time than when we glimpsed it from a great distance. Oddly, the tall tower of the Great Library seems largely intact, withstanding time’s decay, save for its roof, which has been blown off. Some sort of magic going on here? The rest of the city certainly hasn’t held up so well. Most of the buildings little more than “piles of rocks—rubble heaps covered in centuries-old decay.”

This is as far as I may go.

Eromer sets them down at the very outskirts of the city, still a decent walk into the ruins. But Eromer will go no further because of his failed oath. But he still wants to help however he can. So he tells Baz to remove an object he has in a pouch that’s hanging from his neck. And Baz gasps when he sees it! Now, we know it’s got to be something pretty special, because Baz doesn’t really seem like the gasping type.

A viscous liquid glowed within, swirling about the a container as if it had freewill. Baz couldn’t say what color it was; each time he looked it seemed to be a different one of the five hues of the elemental quintet.

It’s a vial of dragon blood, Eromer’s own. And according to Rox, “there is no greater gift.” Eromer directs Baz to give it to the “Keepers of What Remains,” though Eromer declines to tell Baz who they are. “There secrets are not for me to tell. You will know them. Know them.” Mysterious.

OK, I told you to hold the thought a minute ago about why some people want to kill Book Dragons. The text doesn’t draw this connection directly, but if their blood is as valuable as Rox says, perhaps that’s why some people want to kill them. Book Dragon poachers? Of course, we don’t yet know why their blood is so valuable. But we will soon 🙂

While Rox is still staring in wonder, Baz calls Eromer over conspiratorially and asks him for a favor, but we don’t hear what he asks. What’s that all about? Whatever it is, Baz seems to think that it will help keep him alive if he gets out of Tome with his hide intact. Baz isn’t putting his faith in Deliritous to hold up his bargain, even despite Baz’s apparent new found respect for the Torchsire heir.

Eromer flies away and Rox and Baz head off into the ruins, actually exchanging jokes with one another.

Ch. 25

Magic

So Baz and Rox have an uneventful day walking to the ruins from where Eromer dropped them off and they camp for the night in the shell of an abandoned house. They have dinner, and Baz is getting ready to get some sleep when Rox stretches his hand out over their small fire. He’s holding his completed wyrmtooth necklace. And he wants Baz to have it.

This is apparently a big deal. Listen to how Rox describes it: “In Enigma, when someone tries to trick you, but you see through their ruse, we say you can’t fool a wyrm, for a wyrm knows no Lies. A wyrm’s talisman grants its owner insight from the All Truth herself, an ability to see through deceit.”

This is a significant object in Rox’s culture, and he’s giving it to Baz because Baz saved him from the wyrm. “You take it. And my thanks.”

But Baz doesn’t want to take it. He can’t take a gift from a man he doesn’t even like. So he tells Rox, maybe I saved you, but I did it for selfish reasons—I needed you for survival, not because I cared about your safety. “I can’t believe there’s much of your Truth in that.”

“The words stung Baz’s mouth worse than any misspoken spell as they left his lips.” Baz insists he doesn’t regret them, but of course we know he’s saying that because he actually feels the opposite. He’s starting to come around to Rox and he feels bad about turning down the big man’s gesture.

But Rox is undeterred, and follows up with one of my favorite exchanges in the book:

“My mother once told me there is magic in Truth.”

“Magic? What’s that?”

“I do not know,” Rox replied. “but I think that’s the point.” The big man held the necklace out toward Baz with renewed vigor.

Now, I’m not sure how many of you have noticed, but I don’t use the word “magic” in this or most of my other writing. That’s because magic by definition, implies something fantastical or not understood. And, of course, from our real world looking into the world of Oration, what they do with Spoken Books and the elements is magic. But in world, it’s the way of things, so why would they call it magic? Doesn’t really make sense to me, so I avoid the term.

But here Rox does use it, so there’s something special about wyrm teeth according to him, something we don’t understand. What did he say a few lines ago? It grants the “ability to see through deceit”? Maybe that’s something more than a bit of superstitious dogma? We can’t be sure for now, but Baz does eventually accept the gift, if begrudgingly.

“Don’t get any ideas, Rox. I still don’t like you.” Which, again, if Baz really felt this way, he wouldn’t feel inclined to say this aloud.

Citiless

Baz is awoken by Rox at Dawn, because a band of Citiless have walked past their hiding spot. Rox suggests they follow them, as perhaps they’ll lead them to Books. Baz nearly dismisses the idea, but then rethinks his opinion of Citiless. His only source of information about Citiless is from Readers, and we know how biased Readers can be. And Baz realizes, the only Citiless he’s ever seen, the man who was tortured back at the beginning of the novel, could allegedly Read. So maybe Rox is onto something here.

But Baz isn’t going to take any risks, either. He pulls out a Book and casts one of the few spells he actually has experience with. A “sound deadening spell,” apparently one Deliritous had him cast frequently so he could sneak off to see Delida at night. Remember, Delida is the Creation Speaker who was supposed to accompany him on the Trials, and Baz implied earlier that her and Deliritous have an ongoing affair.

Also, just an aside, have you caught the symbolism of Baz now carrying the Bookpack? The torch has passed, he’s assuming power now.

So they start following the Citiless, who are apparently on patrol for the contestants in the Trials. Baz overhears them talking, and it sounds as if the Citiless have actually been tracking them since the Firelands. Perhaps a bit more organized than the Readers back in Erstwhile would like to think if they have such a scouting network.

The Citiless leader is a young woman named Ehma in a green shirt with yellow embroidery. And she appears to be carrying a bag with a Book inside. Bingo! Good call, Rox.

Rox and Baz follow them for quite a while, finally ending up on a broad avenue that leads to the base of the Great Library’s tower. Here, Baz is perplexed. There seems to be rubble piled up all around the tower, there’s nowhere to go. But then Ehma takes the Book out of her bag and begins Speaking. So she’s a Cuss, or is it an Orator here? Regardless, it appears that Citiless who was caught at the beginning of the Book wasn’t just an isolated incident. Ehma finishes her spell and portion of the rubble vanishes! Revealing a “tall, oak door with an ornate handle in the shape of a quill.” Where does that lead?

Today, you are my oath.

Well, we don’t find out yet. Because rubble suddenly crashes to the ground behind Baz and Rox. Baz catches a glimpse of Hellar running around a corner. He’s exposed them to the Citiless! Baz curses and reaches for a Book, but pulls out that Book of shadow he used earlier, and immediately drops it. Did he hear those voices again when he touched it? Maybe his imagination, but he’s not using it.

So it’s to Rox to defend them. He tells Baz that today, Baz is his oath. Then charges out into the Citiless like a mad bull. Valiant, I suppose, but probably not a great idea. This is the first time we’ve really seen Rox in battle, and he is a force, to be sure. Crashing into the Citiless like “a mad bull into a flock of sheep.” He cuts one’s hand off, breaks another’s nose, and makes a third run. But then Ehma catches him in a spell, freezing him in place. A moment later, another Citiless who snuck behind Baz holds a knife to his throat. They’re caught!

Ehma proves to be a hard woman, with “cold, gray eyes.” She is upset over the injuries to her friends and orders Rox be killed, as he’s “too much of a risk.” Baz immediately objects, as if we needed more evidence by this time that he likes Rox. Rox is just trying to fulfill his promise. Rox is just doing what every man hopes to be able to do: Fighting for something he believes in. Why should he die for that?

Frantically, Baz comes up with an idea: Rox, the blood, show them the blood!

CONCLUSION

Homework: Read Ch. 26.

Quote:

“There’s a grain of truth in every fairy tale.”

― Andrzej Sapkowski, The Last Wish

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

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D. T. Kane reads chapter 25 of his epic fantasy fiction novel, The Acktus Trials, and discusses the chapter with his audience.

Home

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/
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
Your preferred retailer: https://books2read.com/declaimersdiscovery

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

Characters in this Chapter:
Baztian (Baz): Our main character
Rox: Deliritous’s Harbour (bodyguard)
Ehma: Leader of Citiless Patrol

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

D. T. Kane reads chapter 24 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 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/
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
Your preferred retailer: https://books2read.com/declaimersdiscovery

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!

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D. T. Kane reads chapter 23 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 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/

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

Your preferred retailer: https://books2read.com/declaimersdiscovery

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

PERSONAL UPDATE

Welcome back to D. T. Kane’s Epic Fantasy Book Club. Today is Sunday, May 8, 2022 as I record this, episode 17.

Big personal update for me this week is I ran my half marathon yesterday that I’ve been talking about over the past couple months. The Ellicotville Happy Half for those wondering. EVL is a beautiful ski resort community about 40 minutes outside Buffalo, NY. Not quite as flat as I would have liked, but I still reached my goal, just barely. I was aiming to complete the race in 2:10 and crossed the line in 2:09:58. Couple big hills got me toward the end, but still managed to pull it out and lessons learned for my next race!

For those of you who read the weekly newsletter, you’ll know that I like to compare running to writing–they’re both endurance sports where persistence pays off, so I like how they complement one another. Plus it’s good exercise.

Other than running, I continue my work on Part IV of the Spoken Books Uprising. I’m now in the homestretch of that and intend to have the first draft completed by May 20, since I’ll be out of the country starting May 21 for two weeks. More on that at the end of the episode.

ANAYLIS CH. 23

He wouldn’t run

So Baz and company fly away on Eromer. He’s definitely got some strong magic going on. No wings, and Baz can’t even tell when they’ve lifted off the ground, because he’s got his eyes shut. But before we know it, they’re soaring over the Firelands. And a few interesting sights.

One, we get our first glimpse of Tome, the spire of the Great Library poking over the horizon. Awe, exhilaration, nausea. Baz’s emotions running the gamut. It’s an amazing sight, seeing something that Baz has ever only heard spoken of as a historic relic. But it also marks the approaching end of his journey, driving reality home. He’s going to have to face the dangers of the ruins, the Citiless who apparently dwell there, and after that, he worries what Deliritous will do with him once the Trials are done.

But Baz finally admits outright that he owes it to Deliritous to finish the Trials for him. Baz acknowledges it would have been easier and even understandable if Deliritous hadn’t saved him. Baz finally letting his guard down just a bit.

The other notable sights are the pockets of greenery that Baz notices spotted across the otherwise desolate Firelands. “Little bastions of uncorrupted grass and trees that had somehow avoided succumbing to the all-consuming swamp that surrounded them.” What are they? They’re Book Dragon dens. There’s more than just Eromer! Though, he notes there are fewer each year. What’s happening to them? Not clear at this point. Old age? Or is something else killing them? Regardless, they’re doing what they can to “keep the power of the Scribes alive?” What does that mean? Hold that thought.

Comfort

Baz gets a bit surly for a moment–how might the world be different if the Book Dragons actually went into the world instead of hiding in the Firelands lamenting a failed oath? But then he realizes he’s not unlike the Book Dragons—he didn’t want to leave his home either, despite not really liking it. This bothers Baz, though he can’t put his finger on it. But this is sort of a hidden big moment for him. The first time that Baz actually realizes it’s maybe not right to sit around in comfort when there’s good to be done out in the world. This is a concept I find particularly important: Do we live for comfort, or do we live to chase our dreams and do something meaningful, which often involves at least a bit of discomfort? I’ve actually got a post-it note on my monitor that says “Fuck Comfort” to help remind me never to get complacent.

OMG BOOKS!

So we land in Eromer’s clearing. It’s like an oasis, even bigger than the other sanctuaries Baz saw from the sky. Which suggests something about Eromer, right? Why is he the Book Dragon with the biggest lair even though he was so young at the time of the Burning? He’s even got a bunch of animals, squirrels, chipmunks, deer, and horses. And a giant dog. Novel the dog! Of course a Book Dragon has a dog named novel. Still, Eromer is depressed when Baz comments on all the “life” in the clearing. “This is the merest fraction of what this land used to be. To be.”

Eromer’s “house” is a giant cave. Glass spheres hovering in midair supply light, but Baz barely notices those, because the cave is full of bookshelves, all of them FULL of Spoken Books. More Books than in all of Erstwhile Baz says. “What little I was able to save from the Great Library before the shelves fell. So little, of so vast a collection.” Driving home the point that Spoken Books weren’t always as rare as they are today. Many destroyed during the Burning, and remember others were destroyed by Deliritous’s ancestor during the Second Burning.

For an instant, Baz sees a way out of going to Tome. But Eromer says he can’t have any of the Books because they aren’t his to give. He’s just looking after them until He Who Writes returns to claim them. Who’s that? Why, Pront vi Lextor, the Enigma, of course! This floors Baz, since Eromer speaks like he knew him. Here’s the final evidence from last week’s quest–Eromer is holding onto Books he personally saved from Tome and knew the Enigma. He’s the same dragon from the prologue.

Rox also notes that Book Dragons were followers of the Enigma, which is why Enigmans worship them. They don’t tell lies, just like Rox and his people.

I wish you to know I am sorry

No we get back into some philosophy. Rox notes that Eromer is suffering from the symptoms of a broken oath. That’s why he has all the animals. He’s caring for them to try to make up for his failure. “It is the only way to find Truth after you have lied, by fulfilling a greater oath.” Remember at the beginning of the chapter, we find out that Eromer was angry when Baz suggested killing the horses, saying he’d rescue them later.

This starts us on an interesting discussion. Baz says Eromer is being arrogant, thinking he alone is to blame for the Burning. He was young, surely he wasn’t solely responsible. Is an oath broken just because its cause extinguished? Baz argues no if there’s no causal link between your actions and the end of the oath. If Deliritous died in his sleep from a disease would Rox be guilty of breaking his oath?

Rox says that when you truly devote yourself to an oath, you feel blame for its loss no matter the cause.

Baz: Guilting yourself for something outside your control doesn’t create actual responsibility for the loss.

Rox: Have you never suffered a failure that troubled you deeply even though it was out of your hands?

Of course Baz has. His brother. If only Baz had kept his mouth shut all those years ago, maybe Tax wouldn’t have been retired. I’m not sure Baz and Rox are really even arguing here. Rox doesn’t necessarily disagree with Baz’s point about actual responsibility. Really what they’re debating is whether it’s “right” to feel guilt over a failed promise that was out of your control. The logical answer seems no–if you couldn’t have done anything, why feel bad? But here’s the paradox: if you were truly dedicated to a cause, how could you not feel bad about it failing? If you didn’t feel bad about it failing, wouldn’t that mean you weren’t truly dedicated, and thus dishonest about your dedication? So is the logical path actually a sign of dishonesty in this instance?

Then Rox is like a mind reader here. He knows Baz is thinking of his brother. And Rox apologizes for hurting Tax! Oh, Rox. If we didn’t love him already, we love him now, right? He’s got regret over what he did to Baz’s brother. He worries it wasn’t consistent with his oath. Was Deliritous truly endangered by Tax?

Baz of course says Rox can’t possibly understand what it was like to lose Tax. But again our giant teddy bear killer surprises us. He lost family too. When Deliritous’s father “acquired” him, he left behind a sister, Adalexa Stonebinder. And he has sworn an oath that one day he will return to her. Woah! That’s a huge bit of news, isn’t it? Rox has actually sworn another oath that’s potentially conflicting with his promise to Deliritous. And it seems he was brought into Torchsire’s service against his will. “When they took me away” he says.

Of course, Baz can’t let this nice moment last. “Maybe you’re a bit less of a lout than I thought. [Rox chuckles] But we’re not friends.” What happens when we get back from the Trials, Rox, and Deliritous wants to turn me in for a Cuss? Rox says Deliritous wouldn’t go back on his oath, but Baz asks whether Deliritous is more dedicated to the Truth or his father? Rox has no answer, which I guess is an answer.

Funny, though. Even though Baz is throwing Rox’s effort at bridging the divide between them back in his face, Baz shows some growth here. He doesn’t really blame Rox or Deliritous. Deliritous “is just a product of his environment.” Echoing what his brother told him back at the beginning of the book, Baz seems to have finally adopted a mature attitude as well. But still, how can he and Rox be friends when they both know that, ultimately, Rox would support Deliritous in breaking his oath and getting Baz killed? Baz even silently admits to himself that Rox has a heart beneath his killer’s exterior. Maybe Rox even understands him.

CONCLUSION

Homework: OK, we’re going to be going into vacation mode the next few weeks. You’ll still get an episode each week, but they’ll be a bit shorter. Next week (Episode 18) will be just Chapter 24, no analysis after. Same the following week, Episode 19, will be just Chapter 25. Episode 20 will be my discussion of those chapters. Then Episode 21 will be Chapter 26, which is very short, and my analysis of that chapter. But this will all be leading up to a very significant (and long) chapter 27. So hopefully you’ll forgive me the shorter episodes since you’ll be getting a marathon of an episode out of me when I return from vacation.

Quote:

“The more you learn, the more you realize how little you know. Still, the struggle itself is worthwhile. Knowledge is the root of power, after all.”

― Joe Abercrombie, The Blade Itself

Being told to “enjoy the journey” is an overused cliché. But clichés tend to be clichés for a reason: there’s truth buried in them. It’s easy to become obsessed with the next thing, and the next thing after that, and so on ad infinitum.

But what is living if not the present moment? That’s all we have–the past is gone and the future never guaranteed. So stop and smell the roses, or feel the sunshine on your face, or actually taste that morning coffee. Embrace the present and take power back from the stresses of life.

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

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D. T. Kane reads chapters 21 and 22 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 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/

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

Your preferred retailer: https://books2read.com/declaimersdiscovery

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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