Hi friends! Happy Monday. It just feels like a good night for blogging, and I’ve thought of a perfect blog series that should enhance your experience with my new book, Song of Kardu, that came out May 12th. I’ve noticed that someone already spammed the title, so don’t get confused. That thought aside, let’s talk about Romulus and Remus, one of the many myths that inspired my characters. I’m going to try and keep things spoiler free here, but if you’re worried, maybe try checking out some of my other articles about writing and life.
Check out this video first
What do we know about Romulus and Remus? I found a cool video that summarizes the story. If you’re a more visual learner, start here:
Thanks, See u In History for the awesome summary.
Feeling caught up?
Progress is the Real Villain
As a reader, I love when stories capture a timeless principle. I hesitate to say trope, because that’s not quite the feeling. In the case of Romulus and Remus, I feel most intrigued by their ascent and subsequent decent in a world of violence. I love it so much that I made my own model to put this type of conflict in my story. If you’ll notice, Song of Kardu has no villain. Neither does this ancient story. They’re both tragedies. For the characters, the advance of ideals shapes the conflict.
I’ve drawn it up as the shape of an eye. Call it the Eye Arc, copyright Daniel Bradley. *wink
This is the Eye Arc of Romulus and Remus. If you replace the names with characters or governments in my book, you’ll find that they line up pretty well. For example, the Libertas and the Marshal.
The conflict between these two ships happens relatively early in the story and is found on the back of the book, so I don’t feel too bad spoiling a bit here. The Federacy (the Marshal’s government) and Ashetarai (the Mother and the commander of the Libertas) disagree over the jurisdictional and even conquering rights over Kardu, a planet whose people have no idea the galactic powers even exist. There are legends of Old Earth and people who spread out into the stars, but all that is literature, myth like Romulus and Remus are to us.
But here’s the twist, the Federacy and Ashetarai used to work together. Ashetarai loaned out her son Seth and the Federacy used him over centuries to fight a threatening race of machines. So, at the beginning of their graph, both governments are allied through war and victory over the machines. However, as both organizations part ways, they seek to spread their legacy and establish their respective kingdoms. Dispute over the barriers of those kingdoms ignites conflict that kicks off the book and sends Seth and Arty hurling toward destiny.
“WE have the right to be here because our doctrine says this,” says one group.
“Well OURS says THIS, and we have the bigger guns,” says the other.
“Sure, but we cannot move. Honor says we must stand here. You cannot draw this line.”
Romulus stabs Remus. Space Explosions.
This pattern is really a cycle that’s fueled both war and progress throughout the existence of the human race. I find this story so fundamentally valuable to the understanding of human struggle that I just had to share it here.
Does it make sense? Anything I should elaborate on? What can you add?
Feel free to comment.
Much love,
Dan
Leave a Reply