It's evening now and I've not gotten over my treatment by the mouth hygienist yet. I had my teeth cleaned and it still faintly hurts (but that might be psychological). Anyway in the spirit of EVENING I want to tell you exactly why my novel Elegy of the Stars is so great!
Elegy of the Stars is a novel about a street urchin trying to survive on a (to us) strange planet. This is in a future when humanity has conquered the stars and almost forgotten its origins. The planet where the street girl, Oria, lives is called Glast.
Glast is a very harsh planet. It has no light. The only light in this world comes from a double star system called the Seirios (or Sirius if you're so inclined). The planet is also very small (think continent-sized) and the Seirios only lights up a single city called Oblivion through light-pipes.
In this setting Oria is an orphan reliant on what food she can steal. The rich people of Glast are the farmers with access to the light pipes. They create all the food on the planet so they have a monopoly on it. The poor people are the scientists who created the Seirios stars. After all, you can't eat starlight, and even the invention of the stars that allowed Glast to be settled doesn't give a scientist everlasting glory. The other poor people are the Cultists of the Seirios. Those who think the Seirios system has some divine powers and that their world is doomed because it was created. They are half-mad and crazed. They are also searching for their Harbinger of destruction.
Then there are the asteroid miners. They're just visitors on Glast but almost as unpleasant as the stuck-up farmers. And there's the cold. The everlasting cold that the Seirios starlight cannot disperse even during day and never mind at night.
These are the dangers Oria has to navigate. Doesn't that just send shivers down your spine? It's such a mystery! It's such a harsh world. And the question remains to the end. Will Oria survive? Will her friends survive? What will she do if she does survive?
Elegy of the Stars is a story about survival, but also, much more deeply than survival, about friendship, and love, and hope.
It's a beautiful story, but at the same time, it's unforgiving and at times brought me to tears when I wrote it. I took me all in all four years to finish it, simply because I could not always work on it. It is a profound story, and one of the most memorable I've written thus far.
You probably think I'm just saying this to get you to check out the story, and part of that might be true, but in all honesty, writing this blog post was a joy for myself. Through this short description of the setup I also understand the story better myself. And this in turn helps me appreciate it even more.
Do you want to check it out? I'd love you to. I'd love someone to discuss it with. If you're interested, please do! You can find it on Amazon: Elegy of the Stars
Anyway! It's Christmas soon and this story is perfect for anyone who doesn't just want to feel good but deeply think about their life/the lives of others this season of the year. It's also a good story to read while listening to someone play the violin!
WriteBot out.
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