About Books: The Search

 

One of my interests is the Middle Ages. The problem is, I’m a bit lazy about research. The result is that anything with a medieval flavor to it ends up being fantasy.

I’m okay with that. Fantasy is popular.

So it should come as no surprise that I have written – albeit several years ago – a fantasy novel with kings, queens, princes, pirates a haunted woods, a boy who may or may not be fae and a quest. As soon as I get a cover, I’ll be publishing it – so if you know someone interested in doing book covers, let me know.

I also like studying foreign languages. At one point I started to learn Russian, but then I returned to college full time, and couldn’t continue my foreign language studies.

When I finished my college studies, I was interested in learning Welsh. While I can say more things in Russian – perhaps 20 things, and I still don’t know how to ask for the bathroom – I really like the interesting spellings and pronunciations of Welsh. I’m probably the biggest non-Welsh advocate for the Welsh language going –at least in America.

It should come as no surprise that I’ve not only used my love of languages, but also put a bit of Welsh spelling and Russian pronunciation in a blender in order to create names and places in my fantasy world. A writer needs a hook to stand out from other writers. (And don’t worry, there’s a pronunciation guide at the end of the book.)

The British Royal family in the 1980s and ‘90s kind of sparked the writing of this book. My being left-handed also played a role.

Imagine a place where left-handed people learn to read and write upside down and backwards. (Ink, you know. And so they can take dictation so that the person dictating can read it at the same time.) 

Their scarcity makes them prized. The fact that they can master writing upside down and backwards, resulting in beautiful penmanship means that they are the only people in this kingdom who can become scribes.

Now imagine that one of the best scribes is the second son of the king. 

This sort of thing doesn’t usually happen. In fact, when he is made master scribe of the kingdom, there is some grumbling from masters and journeymen alike. Having a member of the royal family as a scribe has never been done before.

The industriousness of his youngest child makes it all the more painful for the king to discover that the heir is a slacker. He thinks nothing of throwing money around for the entertainment of his friends, but also doesn’t care that anyone can best him in any of the studies or weapons he’s supposed to have mastered – including his younger brother. Even his twin sister can beat him at most things.

Oddities don’t end there. In this kingdom, the Princess twin sister of the heir would become the heir should anything happen to her brother. In fact, if she’d been firstborn, she would have been the heir. 

While this is no big thing in the 21^st century, in the mid-1990s, when the tale was first written, this was cause for smirks, head shakes and the occasional, “Yeah, right.”

Having been denied things in life for no better reason than the lack of a Y chromosome, I have always been sensitive to fairness. I’ve never been in the “girls are better” camp. I’ve always been in the “we’re all better” camp. 

Just try to deny me something for no better reason than I’m “just a girl” and you’ll discover that fencing and kick boxing weren’t wasted on me.

To say the king is irked by his eldest son’s behavior – especially since it had to be brought to his attention by the boy’s instructors – is an understatement. 

He demands the boy relearn every one of his studies, from history of the kingdom to proper use of the bow and arrow to horsemanship, beginning immediately – destroying his chances of a planned liaison with a certain maid, attendance at the next ball and an evening of fun with his cronies. 

The king will hear no excuses. The heir is answerable to whichever instructor has him in his/her charge. Furthermore, he will be addressed as a commoner until he learns his skills, and failure to do so will result in his being disinherited.

Needless to say, the heir isn’t happy.

As the story progresses, an accident occurs in which the heir is injured. During his recovery, he decides he must go on Search.

Search is dangerous. One has a horse and whatever food, clothing, weapons and other goods one can carry on said horse. The searcher enters the great woods looking for whatever he is led to. 

Many don’t return. Those who do are never quite the same. But no member of the Royal Family has ever gone on search. It isn’t certain they are allowed to. But the heir insists, threatening to sneak off if he isn’t allowed to go.

The quest is very much a D&D activity. As such, it would be recognized by gamers as well as historians. That is what the Search is, without the dice. The heir’s adventures on Search are very much "real life in a Medieval world" activities – or at least the sort of thing we’ve seen in movies.

The heir’s ultimate fate and his true character are brought out in how he handles his fate.