Annotations for "By the Will of the Gods"

A few notes for those who have read "By the Will of the Gods." Warning — SPOILERS AHEAD.

x) A pell is a wooden post against which one can practice strikes with a sword in medieval swordsmanship.

x) A spinworld is a habitat such as a Stanford torus or an O'Neill cylinder that spins in order to generate the illusion of gravity.

x) A lightjammer is a light sail, much as "windjammer" is a poetic name for a conventional sail. Arthur C. Clarke referred to a solar sail as a sunjammer in the short story of the same name.

x) The astromantic watch is inspired by the Antikythera Mechanism. I didn't have a chance to mention it in "By the Will of the Gods," but I see superstition guiding the development of science on Pell much as on Earth, where astrology was linked with astronomy and alchemy was linked with chemistry.

x) Scientists have found that emotions concerning uncertainty about the world not only led people to embrace the paranormal, but also beliefs in vast conspiracies and in supporting strong governments. I don't address this much in "By the Will of the Gods," but I do hint at a corrupt authoritarian government.

x) It's a happy coincidence that Hap and Harrow's names are visually somewhat similar, as it helps readers unconsciously draw a connection between the two.

x) I refer to Hap as an "ugly little boy" in homage to Isaac Asimov, whose science and science-fiction books I devoured as a kid.

x) The martial arts training montage scenes were drawn from my many experiences training under my father and with sensei Sang Kim at Byakkokan Dojo.

x) The fight in the temple with staffs is a nod to the many Shaolin kung-fu movies I watched as a child.

x) The reference to a pygmy mammoth is a sign that not every animal that is extinct on Earth went extinct on the other human worlds.

x) The gantries in the spaceport are designed to support rocketships so they can land tail down and to tilt the rocketships so they slide nose down to plummet toward the gates in the center of the Labyrinth.

x) Rusty's nickname is meant to hint that he signifies a kind of decay in the machinery of the world.

x) Whenever mention is made of the starcrossed, Rusty raises his hand to shield the side of his head, a gesture to ward off evil meant to symbolize a shelter against falling stars. This is similar to the way in which the hand gesture known as the mano cornuto on Earth is believed to protect one against the evil eye, and is also a sign of the casual and not-so-casual discrimination that starcrossed regularly receive on Pell.

x) Vervaine is another name for the herb verbena. That to me suggests that in the distant past, Vervaine's people was a culture focused around herbalism, before it got absorbed into the Church of Foresight. Remnants of that culture can be seen in the herbalist's shop Hap visits.

x) The pinnarept — a winged or feathered reptile — is obviously some kind of dinosaur. Bestiary is apparently home to giant sauropods and giant theropods.

x) I found out from neurobiologist Leslie Vosshall that insect pheromones were scents that humans perhaps cannot detect that some animals can smell. Googling around led me to find that although modern birds generally do not have a good sense of smell, early birds may have, and I reasoned that an insectivorous early bird may have been able to detect insect pheromones.

x) One of my alpha readers found Hap getting hit with a blackjack a hoary cliche. I concede that point, but I still think it's a fun homage, and to me, for these particular criminals, a blackjack seems a more practical street weapon than a stun gun.

x) I wear flip-flops all the time myself at home, as do many Asians.

x) Rynel, who has six faces, is represented in divination on Pell using a six-sided die.

x) Happenstance's name is a nod to the fact that Pell's dominant religion is based on questions of fate and destiny.

x) Palmer is now a somewhat noir name, given Twin Peaks. In addition, a palmer is someone who conceals objects in his or her hand. On Earth, a palmer was also a Christian who returned with a palm leaf from the Holy Land; given how the Golden Delta on Pell was in a warm climate, I think palm trees might have some symbolic significance for Deltans.

x) There's a story about how Palmer came to lead over organized crime in Nightingale that I might tell one day, if there's any interest.

x) On Pell, falling stars are seen as arrows from the gods. This is subtly called back in the end when Hap thinks of himself as an arrow from a bow.

x) On Pell, birds are seen as intermediaries between the mortal and celestial realms. Bird motifs recur throughout the story — the city of Nightingale, cloaks made of feathers, and so on.

x) Clocks are a recurring motif in the story due to foretellers somewhat viewing the universe as predictable clockwork — the astromantic watch, the temple clock, the way Rusty swings at the end, and so on.

x) An implication of the reveal of the final mystery is that Hap is not actually starcrossed. It's a detail I couldn't find a way to put in elegantly in the ending, since Hap had more pressing matters on his mind.

Review: Naomi Novik's "A Deadly Education."

Briefly, I quite enjoyed this novel. It certainly sets up a sequel, which I've already pre-ordered, a fact that might give you some idea of how much I expect to enjoy the next book.

If I were to describe "A Deadly Education" in a way that might make one want to read it, I'd say that the main character is a young woman who has all the makings of an apocalyptically dark sorceress. She fights against this destiny as much as possible, while trying to survive in a school that is literally out to kill her and every other student inside.

So what's "A Deadly Education" about? It's about a school for wizards, an idea that J.K. Rowling obviously made popular and that has spawned many other narratives exploring the many nuances of the trope.

Part of this history of critical reviews of this trope drives "A Deadly Education." In J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World, it never really makes any sense why these schools are filled with deathtraps for children. In "A Deadly Education," you find out that very simply, life for young wizards outside this school would likely prove even more deadly. Moreover, this school isn't supposed to be nearly as deadly as it is, a fact that drives much of the color of the book and much of its action.

Another nuance of magic school tropes is why wizards don't just conquer the world. "A Deadly Education" solves this problem by explaining how magic simply doesn't work in front of mundanes. At the same time, when it does work — when only wizards are watching — it can prove extremely powerful, which gives a good enough reason for why wizards would want to preserve their power, and why they very strictly keep it a secret.

All in all, though, "A Deadly Education" is less a reaction against magic school tropes than it is an exploration of how high school is a living hell for many, and how that reflects genuine problems in society as a whole. This elevates it from "Buffy: The Vampire Slayer," which was clever enough to create a franchise off the former observation but never really crossed over into establishing drama off the latter.

Much of the reason why I liked "A Deadly Education" isn't just because it's fun watching a smart, tough protagonist make her way through an intriguing world, but because the meat of her problem is starkly real to her, and starkly real to many of us. That's much more dramatically satisfying than simply fighting some ordinary monster. And the book doesn't unrealistically say that she's going to solve all the problems of her world — it's how she struggles and keeps on in spite of the enormity of these challenges that make me eager to read more.

The novel is a bit confusing to start with. I did find myself putting it down for a bit here and there, a bit disappointed, as I've quite enjoyed Naomi Novik's other books, such as "Spinning Silver." I fear that might dissuade other readers from continuing. Hopefully, I'm in the majority. Once I got into the groove of this book, I quite enjoyed it, and I'm actually likely going to reread it.

Anyhow, highly recommended.

Dealing with rejection

So I submitted “That Idiot Show” and have already received my first rejection. Just dusted myself off and submitted it again.

All the books on writing tell you this is exactly what you should do. Get rejected, keep submitting, and keep writing stories for submission. It’s great advice, often from writers who’ve received enough rejections themselves to wallpaper every room in their homes, and likely beyond. You’re supposed to get over it.

Of course, when it came to the first piece I submitted for publication, “By the Will of the Gods,” this is not what I did at all. I got rejected four times and basically let it crush me.

I tried working on new stories. I tried revising “By the Will of the Gods” to get it into what I thought might be a publishable state for other markets. But yes, I let those rejections crush me. I let my creative initiative flounder, and if it weren’t for “By the Will of the Gods” getting accepted by Analog, I wonder if I might have actually finished another work of fiction.

It’s really easy to let rejection crush you. It’s absolutely necessary to not let rejection crush you if you want to sell your writing. I think it’s all right to let rejection get you down, but try and be kind to yourself and let yourself know it’s not the end of the world if any one piece doesn’t get sold. Professional writers often have multiple novels sitting in a trunk somewhere they know will likely never see the light of day. Mope, grieve even, and then try and move on.