YAY BACKSTORY! This absolutely reminded me of Myst! I love the idea that he created a world and something went rogue but - THE DRAMA - our traditions must be upheld! Can’t wait to see what happens next.
Are you familiar with a book called A Canticle For Leibowitz? Not anything like Myst, but it has post-apocalyptic Brothers arguing about The Way The World Should Be, and their discussion here reminded me of it.
You are not the first person to mention A Canticle for Leibowitz in my hearing, but I can't remember where I've seen it discussed. Sounds intriguing to say the least!
I'm so glad you enjoyed this! I'm looking forward to writing more, thank you for following along!
At times I do feel like it's discovery, when I see the characters in my head and their actions sort of... unfold, as it were. It's hard to explain.
Also, I have to admit, I'm kind of on his side; burning books is not a good thing to do. And if you created that world and you're in it and someone else destroys it.... yikes. No wonder the guy's mad.
Incidentally, with the prompt, if one wanted to respond, does that mean we write Byron, or someone like him? Asking for a friend. ;)
Myst is a great game and if you don't have a computer that takes floppy disks you can look up playthrus online. TBH the sequel, Riven, sticks in my mind more than Myst because there's this scene that scared the crap out of me and made me...what's the scared version of ragequit? Scare-quit?
Agreed re being against burning books, especially magical ones! Seeing reality burn would be a scary thing--no bueno by any means!
So, I kinda kludge my prompts since I know what I'm going to write. You can write whatever you like--obviously writing your own version of Byron the Blackpage would run into some confusion but give him your own name or take your own twist on the situation or this world! I'll look forward to whatever your...friend...conjures up!
I don't like book burning. But my husband and I found a book so vile that it could damage people who read it. It was our copy and we didn't want it to anyone else's hands so we burned it.
I hear that! I have thrown books that were so bad I threw them in the garbage--bad in the "this would hurt someone else if they read it" sense, like you say. I'm all for that kind of thing!
This is a marvellous world you're revealing to us. While I am tentatively siding with Byron I am also understanding of the Brothers' worries. If Byron has indeed created a creature, impossibly, then he has innovated or broken some metaphysical barrier that was much stronger in the past, or something like that. The power these monks (?) have also seems incredibly dangerous that I wonder why they do it? Hopefully this and more will be investigated in past and future stories :) Great stuff so far!
I have not played Myst, though I think I my dad had a copy or where he worked did. Just remember a big box with lots of floppies, a domed building and MYST on the front.
I would say writing is equal parts creation and discovery. Depends on the setting, depends on my aims, but generally there is time for one and time for the other. I used to feel more like a conduit connecting some Platonic world of fiction to our world but the more I learned to write the more that fell away and I realised my control over the worlds I create. Though letting go is good sometimes too.
History. I have said it before but I will steal from history quite freely as it is often madder than fiction.
Thanks for this, Redd! Great questions and observations too--tbh some of them I haven't answered yet. I'll have to think of a creative way to address the "why", but I definitely have an idea as to where the creature in Byron's world comes from.
Myst is great and worth investigating--along with it's sequel Riven. VERY creative. There were books too, I think I read one of them a few years ago.
Great thoughts, all! Thank you so much for reading!
YAY BACKSTORY! This absolutely reminded me of Myst! I love the idea that he created a world and something went rogue but - THE DRAMA - our traditions must be upheld! Can’t wait to see what happens next.
Are you familiar with a book called A Canticle For Leibowitz? Not anything like Myst, but it has post-apocalyptic Brothers arguing about The Way The World Should Be, and their discussion here reminded me of it.
You are not the first person to mention A Canticle for Leibowitz in my hearing, but I can't remember where I've seen it discussed. Sounds intriguing to say the least!
I'm so glad you enjoyed this! I'm looking forward to writing more, thank you for following along!
I haven't played Myst, but it sounds fun.
At times I do feel like it's discovery, when I see the characters in my head and their actions sort of... unfold, as it were. It's hard to explain.
Also, I have to admit, I'm kind of on his side; burning books is not a good thing to do. And if you created that world and you're in it and someone else destroys it.... yikes. No wonder the guy's mad.
Incidentally, with the prompt, if one wanted to respond, does that mean we write Byron, or someone like him? Asking for a friend. ;)
Myst is a great game and if you don't have a computer that takes floppy disks you can look up playthrus online. TBH the sequel, Riven, sticks in my mind more than Myst because there's this scene that scared the crap out of me and made me...what's the scared version of ragequit? Scare-quit?
Agreed re being against burning books, especially magical ones! Seeing reality burn would be a scary thing--no bueno by any means!
So, I kinda kludge my prompts since I know what I'm going to write. You can write whatever you like--obviously writing your own version of Byron the Blackpage would run into some confusion but give him your own name or take your own twist on the situation or this world! I'll look forward to whatever your...friend...conjures up!
I might have gone a bit... astray...
https://substack.com/notes/post/p-136529653
I missed Myst.
I couldn't resist. The homophone thing that is.
Yes I have had stories totally surprise.
I don't like book burning. But my husband and I found a book so vile that it could damage people who read it. It was our copy and we didn't want it to anyone else's hands so we burned it.
I hear that! I have thrown books that were so bad I threw them in the garbage--bad in the "this would hurt someone else if they read it" sense, like you say. I'm all for that kind of thing!
This is a marvellous world you're revealing to us. While I am tentatively siding with Byron I am also understanding of the Brothers' worries. If Byron has indeed created a creature, impossibly, then he has innovated or broken some metaphysical barrier that was much stronger in the past, or something like that. The power these monks (?) have also seems incredibly dangerous that I wonder why they do it? Hopefully this and more will be investigated in past and future stories :) Great stuff so far!
I have not played Myst, though I think I my dad had a copy or where he worked did. Just remember a big box with lots of floppies, a domed building and MYST on the front.
I would say writing is equal parts creation and discovery. Depends on the setting, depends on my aims, but generally there is time for one and time for the other. I used to feel more like a conduit connecting some Platonic world of fiction to our world but the more I learned to write the more that fell away and I realised my control over the worlds I create. Though letting go is good sometimes too.
History. I have said it before but I will steal from history quite freely as it is often madder than fiction.
Thanks for this, Redd! Great questions and observations too--tbh some of them I haven't answered yet. I'll have to think of a creative way to address the "why", but I definitely have an idea as to where the creature in Byron's world comes from.
Myst is great and worth investigating--along with it's sequel Riven. VERY creative. There were books too, I think I read one of them a few years ago.
Great thoughts, all! Thank you so much for reading!
Excited to see what comes about for Byron and his world-within-a-world.
I will add Myst to my Steam wishlist.