Willow Books

I am proud to announce that Willow Books in Acton, MA has agreed to carry some of my first book.

The Return of the Ancients

The concept that there is a race of wise and powerful ancient people is a theme that runs across many story lines and movie plots. Some of those plots have appeared in the television series Stargate, Doctor Who, and Star Trek: The Next Generation (think Q); the videos games World of Warcraft and Ninjago; movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey, and the Alien series; and in literature think the Cthulu Mythos by H.P. Lovecraft or Contact by Carl Sagan. They go by many names: the Illuminati, The Templars, The Ancient Egyptians, Atlanteans, etc. If you want to get a real flavor for a fervor for ancient ones, look up the Annunaki.

What in our psyche creates in us a desire for an older and wiser race of people? Is it a cosmic extension of our own childhoods? Do we seek some imagined wise parent that will come and teach us the secrets of the universe and then buy us a cosmic ice cream cone to make us all feel better? Maybe it's spiritual. We desire a connection to the beginnings of the universe and ideal these powers in physical forms we can relate to. Is it that we don't trust ourselves enough to try and figure out the answers on our own. How nice it would be for an anthropomorphized version of the Wikipedia of the Universe to appear and guide us through the rough waters.

The people of Pa'Chot also wait for the Ancient Ones but their elders of history are not mythical creatures. They are simply human though from another world. They have been waiting a long time for them to return and when they think they finally have returned, they are jubilant. The truth, however, will not be a chance for celebration.

The Shape of Aliens

Have you ever stopped to wonder why all those aliens in all those science fiction movies and television shows look so humanoid? Think back on all those episodes of Star Trek and all the creatures walking around in the bar on Tattoine in Star Wars. How many of them had two arms, two legs, and a head? How many even had slight variations on a mouth, a nose, eyes, and ears? In the vastness of the universe surely there would be more variations to living beings.

Think about our very own planet. How would you describe a spider or a jellyfish to someone who has never experienced one? Neither of those creatures looks anything like a human. Obviously only humanoids are capable of interstellar travel. I guess jellyfish have a tough time managing the steering wheel.

So, with all that ranting you would think that maybe I would do something different. I would break the habit of anthropomorphizing the universe. Onward with creativity and bizarre living beings. Well, no. The aliens encountered on the planet of Pa'Chot (as it shall be named) are humanoid. In fact, all my aliens are humanoid. They may differ in size and constitution, language, and culture, but they are essentially all human. Cop out? Lack of imagination? Maybe, but there is actually a reason for all of it but I can reveal no more. That will have to come in a chapter far far away.

Damanhur

In the Piedmont hills of Italy there is a sanctuary underground. It is called Damunhur and consists of several levels and rooms. In fact, there are seven large halls. They are each lavishly decorated and were constructed by hand. To see them is to be awed by the art and architecture. Above all this however, one would only see a typical Italian countryside and nothing more.

This is how I imagine the underground communities that make up the world of Pa'Chot are constructed. Beneath the surface are connected cities and other structures but above the surface little is seen except the rocky and dusty surface of the planet.

That is what the Kevutian crew of the Constantia thought they had encountered until they found the underground community living below.

Mount Milnak

Crater Lake

In my last post I pointed out a possible mountain in the midst of a depression on Pluto's moon Charron. We can come closer to home, however, to see the same phenomenon. Crater Lake in Oregon has a similar feature. Crater Lake is a caldera which is a lake formed after a volcanic eruption. If the top of the volcanic mountain is destroyed, a depression can be formed and water can fill it. In the case of Crater Lake a mountain also developed in the midst of the lake. The mountain is called Wizard Mountain.

The mountain in my book is named Mount Milnak by the people that live within and below it. They depend on that mountain to keep them protected by the rapidly changing surface of their planet and use it as a launching bay for their small ships. Unfortunately for them, the Kevutians have just discovered their mountain but do not yet know it is inhabited. Kevutians believe they are the only beings in the universe and that the universe was made for them exclusively. They are about to find out that they were very wrong in their assumption.

Charron's Mount in a Crater

The circle in red shows a mountain peak rising from within a crater on Pluto's moon Charron.