Captain Marvel and the Air Force Academy Chapel

While Colonel Steve Austin represents the Air Force of the past, perhaps no one represents the Air Force of the present better than Captain Marvel. While Carol Danvers resembles a normal female officer, she isn't actually Human. Instead, she's an alien living peacefully on our world, and a member of the Kree race. Yet she's brave, capable, and strives for excellence, like all cadets who attend the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. It's fair to say that she wouldn't naturally belong to the Protestant faith, to which the upper, and best known chapel, is dedicated.

While the Air Force Academy may impose many strictures on cadets, their choice of faith is not curtailed in any way. The lower level of the building hosts a Catholic chapel, which is also very beautiful.

Then there is the Jewish chapel, which was filled to capacity during our visit. 
 

While our world often pits one religion against another, cadets who would worship in the Muslim and Buddhist chapels enter and exit through the same outer door to reach their separate sanctuaries. As this would prove impossible without creating dissension and violence in some parts of the world, this exemplifies how the Academy strives to install a yearning for greatness in every cadet.
 

Apparently, there's even an All-Faiths room, which can be utilized by individuals and congregations of less popular faiths. And somewhere outside, those belonging to Earth-centered faiths such as Wicca, Paganism, and Druidism can practice their religions in the Falcon's Circle. Perhaps we would have seen the latter, had it not been raining during our visit. 

Thus, while Cadets cannot take freedoms like speech, time, and movement for granted, they are allowed to pursue the faiths of their choosing,  regardless of their race (or planet) of origin. While striving to impose order and discipline, and imprint their concept of a model officer on cadets, the Air Force Academy recognizes that celebrating diversity can make us stronger. 

Either that, or the leadership has been taken over by shape-shifting Skrulls, striving to make us all weaker, and preparing our world for invasion. Hey, it happened in the movie...

Dragon Dave

 

Astronaut Steve Austin and the Air Force Academy Chapel

The Chapel at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado is a beautiful place, both outside and in. On the day we visited, clouds filled the sky, and falling rain made it hard to take photographs outside without water spotting the camera lens. Inside the Chapel, the cloudy sky prevented the stain glass from radiating at optimum brightness and color. Still, the building's beauty was apparent.

We all idolize people like Air Force Colonel Steve Austin in the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man for his accomplishments as an aircraft pilot and astronaut. Our reverence for him stems from his real life counterparts, such as the young people who attend the Academy, and go on to  brilliant careers in the United States Air Force. Even the interior of the Chapel reminds us of their highest aspirations: to fly a jet or spaceship at incredible speeds, defend our country, and explore the unknown. But do we recognize the price these heroes pay to achieve these lofty goals?

Like this monumental Chapel, each cadet's future achievements are grounded upon their experiences--and sacrifices--at the Academy. During their Academy years, everything the cadets have ever relied upon, and called their own, is stripped away from them. Chief among these losses are freedom of choice, freedom of time, freedom of movement, and even freedom of speech, perhaps our most cherished right of all. 

Like Colonel Steve Austin after the wreck that ended his career as a test pilot, the cadets are stripped down to their component parts, and gradually reassembled according to the Air Force Academy model. Perhaps they don't leave the Academy with artificial organs or bionic limbs, but they graduate only after a substantial transformation. To paraphrase Oscar Goldman, the director of the Office of Scientific Intelligence (OSI), they leave "better, stronger, and faster."

Every aspect of popular culture teaches nonconformity. To be a great person, first one must be popular, and therefore different. To become popular, one must be irreverent and disrespectful. To get ahead, one must step on toes and break the rules. Only then can one achieve great things. 

The Air Force Academy teaches an older, more staid approach. To become great, one must first learn to be respectful, to obey the rules, and to pull with the team. Only through submission, conformity, and respect for others, can one in turn gain respect and become a leader. 

Religion can also share in this older, time-honored approach to greatness. I speak not of religion which allows all influences, and therefore empowers disruption. Nor do I speak of religion in which participants and leaders play off one faction against another. True religion respects all, especially those who have traveled before. True religion doesn't merely allow or okay, but seeks to understand the meaning underlying all choices. True religion views compromise and conformity as a way of navigating the present toward a better future for all.

I don't know how cadets relate to the Air Force Academy Chapel on a daily or weekly basis, but I'm guessing that an "anything goes" philosophy plays no part whatsoever in their teachings and worship services. If the introductory film shown at the Academy Visitor Center is anything to go by, I suspect that the Chapel enhances cadets' Academy experience by helping them belong more fully to their fellow cadets and superiors, and craft a spiritual life which makes them better, stronger, and faster leaders. Based on the people we admire, like Colonel Steve Austin, I imagine the Chapel plays a strong role in fashioning them into Air Force officers, fighter pilots, and astronauts. 

Out of all who join the Air Force, and train to become officers, only a select few are chosen to attend the Academy. Hopefully, the applicants are chosen according to merit, and for their ability to achieve greatness. They have their course to pursue, and you have yours. Which path to greatness will you choose?

Dragon Dave

Arthur Conan Doyle and Downton Abbey at Baconthorpe Castle Part 2

Although William Baxton, the first member of the Heydon clan, built the Inner Gatehouse in 1460, it was Sir Henry Heydon (William Baxton's grandson) who constructed the rest of the castle inside the courtyard, either during or after the War of the Roses finished. There, they would have lived comfortable lives, their needs attended by servants a la Downton Abbey. His son, John Heydon II, also constructed a wool processing factory along the inner courtyard wall, the ruins of which you can see behind me. By his Sir Christopher Heydon I's time, the family owned 20,000 to 30,000 sheep, and their ability to produce finished cloth allowed them to live in truly grand style, perhaps even better than the Crawley Family in Downton Abbey. For then, in the mid sixteenth century, they employed around 80 servants, and enjoyed a lavish lifestyle.

Unfortunately, as in Downton Abbey, Sir Christopher Heydon I found that his spending outstripped his earnings, and his son was forced to sell off part of the estate and mortgage the rest of the property. 

When I read The White Company by Arthur Conan Doyle, I couldn't understand why Sir Nigel Loring left his castle in England to find glory in France. Recently, I've been reading about the 100 Years War, and how France was less a country back then than a series of adjacent territories overseen by various rulers. The novel is set in 1366 and 1367, when England saw itself as owning much of France back then. So Sir Nigel's decision to lead a company of knights through land of contested ownership, and perhaps in some way increase England's sovereignty, makes sense. 

There was also an economic benefit to the 100 Years War which Arthur Conan Doyle doesn't cover. One region ruled by French rulers was Flanders, which is now a county in Belgium. Flanders was where the medieval world sent its wool to be transformed into finished cloth. The leaders of the wool trade in Flanders appealed to Edward III to help protect their businesses, which were necessary to UK international trade. 

Still, British rulers were too far away to protect Flemish weavers, so they began emigrating to England. Remember, Sir John Heydon II built the wool processing factory, and his first spinners and weavers likely hailed from Flanders. The fact that he owned 20,000 to 30,000 sheep, and operated the wool processing center too, gives you an idea of how powerful he was, and how he could afford such a lavish lifestyle.

Unlike the Crawley family in Downton Abbey, Sir Christopher and his successors couldn't control their spending. So increasingly, servants were dismissed, lands were sold, buildings were mortgaged, or even dismantled and the stone sold by the cartload.

People no longer live year round at Baconthorpe Castle. But visitors come to see the ruins of a castle that lasted from the tail end of the 100 Years War, through the War of the Roses, the British religious reforms of Henry VIII and his successors, and the English Civil War. While we were there, a swan couple found the mere a pleasant place to birth their children. So perhaps successive generations of swans will call Baconthorpe Castle home. Let's hope they prove wise managers of the estate, and refrain from warring with their avian neighbors.

Dragon Dave

Related Links
Baconthorpe Castle at English Heritage
Wool Trade at Historic UK

Arthur Conan Doyle and Downton Abbey at Baconthorpe Castle Part 1

The first thing that greets you at Baconthorpe Castle is the outer gatehouse, which was built around 1560 by Sir Christopher Heydon I. His lordship of the castle seems to coincide with the high point of the Heydon family. Like the Crawley family in the TV series Downton Abbey, the Heydon family by this time had a large manor house inside the inner castle courtyard, and employed around 80 servants.

At first glance, Sir Christopher Heydon I (1518-1579) seems to have benefitted from a period of relative peace in England, falling between the War of the Roses in the 15th Century and the English Civil War in the 17th Century. But then you have to remember that Henry VIII ruled England during the first half of the 16th Century. His government could have been described as anything but placid.

By 1560, when the outer gatehouse was finished, English Christians had been rocked by the formation of the Church of England and the Dissolution of the Monasteries, ultra-progressive protestant rule of Henry's son Edward, and the ultra-Catholic rule of his daughter Mary. No wonder Sir Christopher decided he needed an outer gatehouse, as well as a larger defensive wall to surround the property. 

Oh, and he also decided to crenellate the buildings and walls around this period too, which would give his guards and soldiers better defensive positions.

The stretch of land between the outer and inner gatehouse gives you some scope of what was essentially a manor house and surrounding lands. The area off to the right would have been a large formal garden, completed by Christopher Heydon II (1561-1623). He was a solder, as well as a Member of Parliament and a writer of astrology books. 

The second Christopher's militaristic nature got him into trouble in 1601 when he took part in the Essex Rebellion against Queen Elizabeth I. Unlike the 100 Years War, and the War of the Roses, the Essex Rebellion was a comparatively small affair of short duration. Nevertheless, he fought on the wrong side, against Elizabeth, and ended up being fined and sent to prison.

Still, even if his warring nature got the better of him, and he proved an unwise estate manager, at least he appreciated the beauty of nature, as he built a mere as well as the formal gardens.

A moat surrounds the castle. You have to walk across what was once a drawbridge, and is now a permanent walking bridge, to access the inner gatehouse and castle interior. The Inner Gatehouse was built by the founding member of the family castle, built by William Baxton around 1460. 

At first, you might ask why he built such defenses, as this would have been just after the 100 Years War, which lasted from 1337 to 1453. But then you have to remember that the War of the Roses, which lasted from 1455 to 1485, had already begun. Anyone who had significant assets back then, and wanted to protect their family back then, would have owned a defensible manor or castle like Sir Nigel Loring in Arthur Conan Doyle's novel The White Company. 

Although William died rich, and got the castle off to a good start, his son changed the family name to Heydon, as William was a self-made man. Perhaps patrons like William de la Pole, the Duke of Suffolk and a prominent military leader in the 100 Years War, disliked the Baxton name. Or perhaps, John felt that Heydon sounded more prestigious than Baxton in the fifteenth century. 

After all, young immigrant Bedrich Polouvicka changed his name to Richard DeVere in the sitcom To The Manor Born, and went on to found a popular UK chain of supermarkets. And the Heydon family would go on to become major players in the wool trade, which was one of England's major industries in medieval times.

Dragon Dave 

Review: Spine of the Dragon by Kevin J. Anderson Part 3

St. Edmundsbury Cathedral
Bury St. Edmunds, England

The Science Fiction and Fantasy genres have always had an uneasy relationship with religion. Usually, if religion is mentioned, it is portrayed in a negative context, as in Kevin J. Anderson’s early novel Resurrection, Inc. Some of this can readily be explained by the sad fact that the proponents of religion and science so often feel opposed to each other. As for the Fantasy field, if novels revolve around gods, usually the author pits the mortal characters against these divine beings. While this approach stacks the odds against our protagonists, it does nothing to enhance a reader’s spiritual life.

In Kevin J. Anderson’s novel Spine of the Dragon, Key Priestlord Klovus glories in destruction, and yearns to impose his will over the entire world. He nurtures his godlings not only on small amounts of worshippers’ blood, but also drains all blood from wounded sailors and prisoners of war before casting their corpses aside. His assassins brutally kill one another as part of their regimen, so Klovus will always have the very best murderers at his beck and call. And he does other things, too despicable to mention in this review. Despite Anderson’s strong portrayal of villainy—or perhaps because of it--the character never spoke to me. But Klovus is just one among a host of fully rounded characters that won me over with their passions, their bravery, and their all-too-Human foibles.

With such a strikingly negative portrayal of religion, it would have been nice to see a more beneficial one practiced in the Commonwealth. Still, Anderson throws out an interesting theological construct here. Unlike the Wreths, who were created by a god, the Humans were fashioned out of magic by the Wreths. Thus, like the featureless simpleminded drones that now serve the Wreths, the Humans have no souls, and only what they do in this life matters.

Perhaps it is unfair to suggest that the Isharan religion is entirely negative. For when Queen Iluris tours her districts in search of a potential successor, she discovers that all priests do not share Klovus’ lust for power and death. A few call upon their godling only after they have exhausted every other resource, and then only for protection and healing. Perhaps it is too much to hope that Klovus might learn from their example, and become a more sympathetic character in future volumes. But sometimes the blackest villains end up surprising you.

Kevin J. Anderson may yet reveal more aspects of Priestlord Klovus, or his everyday life, that will help his features stand out amid the darkness. For example, Kevin and his wife have several cats. Klovus could adopt a white, longhaired cat, and stroke it in key scenes like another classic villain. 

Tamworth Castle Gardens
Tamworth, England

As flowers usually grace our sanctuaries, and gardens often beautify church grounds, Priestlord Klovus could take up gardening. With the way he can channel magic, and the aid of his Godling, it would be interesting to see what types of flowers Klovis could grow in the magic-infused Isharan soil. After all, he would like to marry Queen Iluris, who has a beautiful garden on the palace grounds. Perhaps planting and nurturing a garden would be the way to win her heart?

You can never know how the next volume of a Kevin J. Anderson series will go. As a longtime reader of his novels, he surprised me with the level of originality he built into Spine of the Dragon. While charting the rising tensions between Ishara and the Commonwealth, as well as between the Humans and the Wreths, perhaps Kevin will devote a little time to showing a softer side to Priestlord Klovus. I look forward to seeing how Klovus, and Anderson’s depiction of religion and theology, grow and evolve over the course of the series.

In the meantime, perhaps I should devote a little more attention to my own garden. Even unaided by magic, I’m sure if I worked harder, I could make it more productive and beautiful. In this way, I could enhance my house and my life, while also blessing the lives of those around me.

St Edmundsbury Cathedral
Bury St. Edmunds, England

As for the whole cat thing, well, I think I’ll leave that to Kevin and his wife.

Dragon Dave

Review: Spine of the Dragon by Kevin J. Anderson Part 2

A Utauk camp

In Kevin J. Anderson’s novel Spine of the Dragon, the mainland is controlled by the Commonwealth, which is made up of three separate kingdoms. But more people inhabit the Commonwealth than just the citizens of Norterra, Suderra, and Osterra. Two groups in particular live within Commonwealth borders, but outside Konag Conndur’s control.

First there are the Bravas, who send their members to protect civic and business leaders. Bravas can channel magic via their mixed Human and Wreth bloodline. They utilize this magic to protect those they serve. But this power comes with a price. Each Brava lives by a strict code. Fall short of it, and not only does the Brava community cast you out, but they strip you of your ability to ever wield power again.

The Utauks, a nomadic people who live within and yet apart from the Commonwealth, support their communities by facilitating trade between the Commonwealth and the island kingdom of Ishara. As with the Brava, the inner workings of their communities largely remain a mystery to outsiders.

Yet their members also lay claim to their own forms of magic. One kind is the heartlink that reptilian birds called Skas can form with Utauk women. King Adan Starfall is aware of this, as his wife Penda has a Ska named Xar. Another is the way they can usually channel the unpredictable rules of chance to their own ends. But there are other mysteries, deeper magics and sources of strength, which the Utauks hide from outsiders.

After the Sandwreths return, his wife Queen Penda and his father-in-law Hale Orr agree that the stakes are sufficiently high to share this treasured lore with King Adan Starfall. They take him on a long journey, until they reach a Utauk camp in a verdant valley. There they introduce him to Shella din Orr, Penda’s great-grandmother. Aware of the threat posed by the return of the Wreths, she reveals vast resources of knowledge, and shows Adan ways by which the Utauks serve as stewards of the land and its peoples. Exactly how he can use that knowledge to protect his kingdom against the Wreths, and rely on those who have always remained apart from the Commonwealth, is a mystery he will have to discover on his own.

Utauk Matriarch
Shella din Orr

Each new book carries with it shades and flavors of every book the author has previously written. In Spine of the Dragon, an obvious source of comparison is the Fremen people, desert nomads originally created by Frank Herbert, that Kevin and Frank Herbert’s son Brian have utilized in their Dune novels. Both the Brava and the Utauk bear similarities to the Fremen. Yet due to the way Kevin builds up these two communities, they form their own unique cultural identities.

In addition to inviting comparison with the author's previous novels, each new book carries with it points of comparison with every book other authors have written. In Spine of the Dragon we meet two Utauk women, Queen Penda and the orphan Glik. Both have formed a Heartlink with flying reptilian creatures called Skas. In Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos series, a few people are fortunately to have formed a psychic link with reptilian birds called Jheregs. Vlad and his Jhereg-friend Loiosh converse psychically, and each knows he can rely on the other.

While the Skas in Spine of the Dragon form an emotional bond with their Human companions, the ways they interact with each other are different from that of Vlad and Loiosh. Instead of humorous banter, the Skas communicate visually with their Human counterparts. Utauk women like Penda and Glik can see through the Ska’s eyes. They also see visions in a way reminiscent of legendary Greek oracles.

In Spine of the Dragon, Kevin J. Anderson has introduced us to the Commonwealth and Ishara, two communities we can readily understand. He has also crafted two more mysterious communities, the Bravas and the Utauks. He has summoned up each community with all the magic of a seasoned author, and left me wanting to know more about these two, unique peoples. I can only hope that this level of character development and worldbuilding carries over into subsequent installments of his Wake The Dragon series.

Dragon Dave

Review: Spine of the Dragon by Kevin J. Anderson Part 1

From memorable characters to mythical creatures, from epic adventures to world-threatening wars, High Fantasy stories have long stirred readers’ souls with the romance of a forgotten age. Kevin J. Anderson is a respected and beloved writer of the genre, with roughly 160 titles to his credit. His latest novel, Spine of the Dragon, promises to delight existing fans, while winning over those who hold J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert Jordan, and George R. R. Martin in high regard.

The novel begins with a kingdom in crisis. King Adan Starfall of Suderra races from Bannriya Castle, and rides through the streets of his capital city, to prepare his citizens for an approaching sandstorm. Beside him rides his wife Penda, a member of nomadic Utauk peoples. After helping their subjects seek shelter, the royal couple race back to their castle. The storm howls and beats at the castle walls, tears aside shutters, and breaks windows. Aided by the servants and his father-in-law Hale Orr, Adan manages to keep the windblown sand from invading his castle.

When the storm passes, Sandwreths arrive outside the city gates. Although their crumbling statues remain in Bannriya, this ancient race has not been seen for two thousand years. Some consider the Wreths little more than the creations of storytellers, invented to explain the prehistory of the Commonwealth. 

But as their Queen Voo walks through Bannriya, and banishes the sand clogging the city’s streets with a wave of her hand, King Adan Starfall realizes that Humanity’s former rulers have returned.

Adan’s father Conndur, king of Osterra--and overall leader, or Konag, of the Commonwealth--faces more pressing concerns, when Isharan warships attack his coastal town of Mirrabay. Conndur sends his Brava Utho to mount a defense. With the magic fire a Brava can summon, Utho rallies the townspeople. But they can do little to fend off the ravages of the godling, a primal force born of Isharan beliefs, the magic that suffuses the Isharan land, and the hatred of their priests for the Commonwealth.

Like his brother Conndur, and his nephew Adan, King Kollanan of Norterra, the final member state of the Commonwealth, faces a new and unexpected threat. A relaxed and solitary journey to visit his daughter’s family ends in a confrontation with powerful beings who have frozen the town before its people could flee. Kollanan survives the encounter, and races back to Fellstaff castle. The Frostwreths have returned!

Aside from mourning their lost family members, as well as the other slain townspeople, Adan and Kollanan fear a resumption of the Wreth wars. Commonwealth lands may not compare with the rich magic teeming in Isharan soil, capable of summoning the awesome energies of the godlings. But at least the soil of Osterra, Suderra, and Norterra can grow plants again, and Commonwealth citizens live more than a hand-to-mouth existence. Sadly, the same cannot be said of the Furnace, a wasteland filled with deserts, valleys cluttered with rocks so slick and sharp that a slip-and-fall means death, mystical Wreth ruins, and soil still lifeless after two millennia of rest.

Konag Conndur hasn’t seen the Wreths. Although he holds his son and brother in high regard, Adan and Kollanan’s stories seem too fantastic to be believed. Besides, he’s got the brutal assaults from Ishara to worry about. His Brava Utho likewise puts little stock in the other kings’ reports. This seems strange, as Bravas can summon magical fire due to their Wreth-and-Human heritage. But then, Utho burns with anger at how the Isharans killed his family in an earlier attack on Mirrabay, during the last war between Ishara and the Commonwealth. Nor can he forget how the Isharans nearly exterminated his halfbreed race. 

All told, it's a powerhouse opening from a masterclass writer. (And it only gets better from here, folks).

Dragon Dave

Spine of the Dragon, the first volume in the Wake The Dragon series, goes on sale today. Secure a copy quickly, before they all sell out!

Kevin J. Anderson and Wells England

Wells was the last place we visited in our tour of Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall in 2015. It remains a highlight not just of that trip, but of all our visits to England. It's a picturesque town that frequently plays host to moviemakers. 

While we were there, big moving trucks were parked around Wells Cathedral. We soon learned they were filming "The Huntsman" starring Chris Helmsworth, who plays Thor in the Marvel movies. However, as it was either raining, or threatening rain during the two days we were there, no filming took place for us to watch. So we resigned ourselves to exploring the cathedral, and when it wasn't raining too hard, the surrounding town as well.

The way the grand cathedral dominates the quaint English town of Wells came to mind as I read my review copy of Kevin J. Anderson's upcoming novel Spine of the Dragon. When Empra Iluris looks out from her castle in Serepol, she finds it hard not to notice the temple complex. The Isharan temple Magnifica dominates her capital, yet the priesthood wants to make it many times larger. 

After the war between the ancient Wreth factions devastated their homeland, her ancestors sailed to Ishara. Unlike their former home, this new land holds magic. The priests bind this magic with the beliefs, emotions, and sacrifices of the common people to create Godlings, creatures they can wield as weapons of mass destruction.

Like the Wreth, the Isharans once warred with those in the lands they left behind. Since she took power, the country has enjoyed decades of peace. Yet the priesthood wishes to change that. 

Iluris learns too late that Priestlord Klovis has commandeered her naval ships and personnel to mount a raid that could reignite the flames of war. She's desperate to keep that from happening, but she knows that will be difficult. Aided by a capable crew, and an immensely powerful Godling, his raid will almost certainly be successful. So she has to find a way of controlling Klovis, while not angering the populace who believe so strongly in the Isharan priesthood.

I imagine her capital city looks much like present day Wells. I'm sure Serepol has its fair share of businesses and residential districts. I wonder: if I visited the temple Magnifica complex, would the surrounding city look as stately as this?

That's what Iluris wants to preserve, after all. She doesn't want to see her beautiful city destroyed, or her people killed. Of course, she's also fighting to preserve not just Serepol, but her entire nation. 

Like all those in power, Iluris must temper every action she believes is right by how it will affect her populace. She cannot sanction the priesthood directly, even if she believes they are wrong. So she decides upon a course of action she believes will be popular with her citizens. 

She orders her guards to confiscate the building materials the priesthood has been stockpiling to enlarge the Temple Magnifica, and distribute them to crews repairing streets, schools, and other important buildings. Iluris hopes this will be enough to curb the ambitions of the priests who wish to grow even more powerful Godlings, and drive her country to war. 

Wells Cathedral is famous for its distinctive scissor arches. I enjoying sitting in their sanctuary the morning before we left, and listening to a visiting choir sing. Not only did it get me out of the rain, but it allowed me to relax and sketch the interior during my waning hours in Wells. 

It'd be interesting to visit Serepol's Temple Magnifica, and see how their Godling inhabits that impressive structure. I'm not sure I'd be at ease in the presence of a primordial being capable of rampaging through a town and killing hundreds or even thousands of people. I doubt I'd be able to sit down and relax while I sketched the Magnifica's interior. 

But then, Priestlord Klovis is thrilled with his Godling, so I could be wrong.

Dragon Dave

Spine of the Dragon, the first in the Wake The Dragon series by Kevin J. Anderson, is due to be released June 4, 2019. You can purchase it before it's published, at a substantial discount, at Amazon and other online booksellers. 

Kevin J. Anderson and E. F. Benson in Rye England

In his forthcoming novel, The Spine of the Dragon, Kevin J. Anderson introduces us to young Adan Starfall. He's the king of Suderra, one of three countries that make up the Commonwealth. He lives in Bannriya Castle, which sits atop the hill overlooking the capital city of Bannriya. Adan's mind is troubled, for a sandstorm is approaching. He watches as shopkeepers close their shops, and residents prepare their homes for what could prove a particularly violent storm.

Kevin J. Anderson's description of the Bannriya Castle initially reminded me of one described in the novel Eragon by Christopher Paolini. Not only are both High Fantasy novels, but both reference a dragon in the title. In fact, Kevin's novel is the first in a series called Wake The Dragon, so dragon-lovers have a lot to look forward to. 

As for Bannriya Castle, and how it is situated in the town, I realized it reminded me of another town I had visited. Although the remains of a castle lie on the marshland along the coast, the English town of Rye sits of a hill, and another castle sits atop the hill. Just like Bannira, Rye is rich in history. In its time, it was a center for fishing in England. Even people in faraway London depended on Rye for the Cod and other seafood the ships regularly brought into harbor. 

Unlike Bannriya, Rye doesn't sit on the edge of a vast desert, so thankfully, it's unlikely to suffer from sandstorms any time soon.

As a cowriter of the popular Dune novels with Brian Herbert, sandstorms are something Kevin J. Anderson is familiar with. We follow Adan as he hunkers down inside his castle to wait through the storm. Adan's father-in-law is a former desert nomad, so he knows how to fortify the windows and doors against the windblown sand. Nonetheless, one little diamond-shaped pane in a window breaks, and the storm rushes in. Everyone rushes to help, as that broken window could allow the storm's violence to sweep through the entire castle.

It's always interesting to me to think of England's rich history. It's a country that measures time in thousands of years, as opposed to hundreds. Like England, Suderra's history goes back millennia. Once, a race called the Wreth devastated Commonwealth lands with their wars. They created Humans to be their slaves, then disappeared over two thousand years ago. 

After the sandstorm, a party of travelers arrives outside the city gates. King Adan rides down to meet them. To his astonishment, he discovers that they are Wreth.

I felt for Adan as he met these god-like beings. With their vast powers, Adan suspects he could not stop them if they stormed his city. Although they've ridden across the desert, they are not covered in sand. In fact, it appears they summoned the storm. When they ask to enter his city, as they wish to converse with him, how can he refuse them?

I imagined the Wreth walking up the narrow streets of Bannriya, heading toward Adan's castle. I felt his wonder and fear as the Wreth summoned controlled bursts of wind that blew the streets free of sand as they walked. For I too walked those streets, up and down the hill, many times during the weekend I stayed in Rye. Only for me, the town was imbued with magic even more powerful than that of the Wreth. 

One of my all-time favorite authors lived in Rye. His name is E. F. Benson, and he set four novels in his Mapp And Lucia series there. Through those novels, I came to love Rye as much as E. F. Benson did. I guess that's why Rye came to mind when I started reading Kevin J. Anderson's new novel Spine of the Dragon. Rye is a great little town on the south coast of England, and fills up with visitors every weekend. Even if few people today have heard of E. F. Benson, the author's power, like that of the Wreth in Bannriya, remains in Rye.

I can't wait to delve further into Kevin J. Anderson's new novel, and see what other associations it brings to mind. 

Dragon Dave

Spine of the Dragon, by Kevin J. Anderson, will be available for purchase on June 4, 2019.