Breathe in ... and hold!
Here in the ‘wilds’ of Wellywood, 2023 was formally escorted off the premises with a well-placed, one-finger salute on January 31st. In some respects, you could say 2023 was like an unwelcome visitor, one who ate all the good food in the pantry, left muddy tracks in the hall, never flushed the toilet, and essentially outstayed his welcome.
Fortunately, 2024 has a few more positives associated with it.
January 2024 marks ten years since I first started releasing independent works on Irish culture (starting with Beara: Dark Legends). Since then, I’ve accumulated a catalogue of 14 books (with some additional short stories/novellas and other products) and over the next year or two, I’m hoping to get to a point where I can support myself uniquely through my creative and cultural work. Needless to say, I’m very grateful to those of you (readers, reviewers, etc.) who’ve supported me over the years, and who’ve helped me to get this far.
2024 will be a year where I also have a number of personal decisions to make, mostly with respect to where I live and how I work. I’m currently straddled between two different countries and two different cultures, which can be incredibly rewarding at times, but which can also make it extremely difficult to develop and complete some of the cultural projects I want to accomplish (specifically, back in Ireland).
For example …
Breathe in … and hold!
Over the next year you’ll probably see a few changes (including with this newsletter, given Substack’s reluctance to prevent Neo-Nazi groups using its service) but I’ll alert you to those changes as and when they come.
Until then …
Welcome to Vóg
Production Notes
As mentioned earlier, 2023 was nothing if not a tumultuous year in the O’Sullivan household, to the point that I had to drop absolutely everything I was working on for about 5-6 months. That was somewhat ironic as I’d actually paused my freelance contracting business to focus on creative work over that six-month period – but, hell, that’s life for you!
Fortunately, since then, things have calmed down and I’m now back in production mode. At the moment, my key focus is on finishing FIONN: The Betrayal with the aim of making it available on the Irish Imbas website at the end of March /start of April (it’ll go wide to all the other ebookstores a month or two after that).
This particular work has actually been a lot harder to write than most other books thus far. That’s not really a surprise as it’s the first book to start reeling in all the different plotlines spread across the FIONN series (and some elements from the overlapping Liath Luachra books). For that reason, it’s a lot more ‘talky’ and includes far more character development than many of the other books but that’s critical to maintaining an appropriate narrative pace leading up to the series culmination. That’s very technical I know, but the last thing I want to do is rush the story (in a manner similar to the last season of the Game of Thrones television series, for example).
Two things that have become obvious to me at this stage, are that:
(1) I’m going to have to change the title (‘The Betrayal’ no longer aligns well with this particular section of the overall story
(2) I may need ‘two’ more books to finish the series – not ‘one’ as originally planned. Again, that’s down, to both plot complexity and narrative pacing.
Sheesh!
Chapter Two is available in the ‘Paid’ section of this newsletter (below).
On completing this book, I had intended to start the next in the Liath Luachra series but, given the overlapping narratives, it’s important that I’m further along in the next FIONN series before I can do that. As a result, I’ll probably start immediately on the sixth FIONN book and, potentially, another shorter Liath Luachra work once that’s completed.
For the moment these are my priorities, although I’m also keen to make some progress on another Beara book so that I can kickstart that series back into action. At this stage, I’ll wait and see how things develop before I make a decision.
The audio work I’d hoped to start has come to a complete halt for the moment but I’m still working – when I can – on the non-fiction work entitled Irish ‘Mythology’ 101. Other priorities have halted progress on this on several occasions but if I can find a month to focus uniquely on this, I should have a finished product by the end of the year.
Book Review: ‘Skullsworn’ by Brian Stavely
Skullsworn is a standalone book that’s also a prequel to Staveley’s Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne trilogy. I should probably confess up front that, although I started the first book in this trilogy (The Emperor’s Blades) a few years back, I was unable to finish it. A lot of people raved about it when it was published but, for me, it seemed like just another run of the usual stereotypical fantasy tropes, to the point I gave up on it after less than 50 pages.
This particular book involves a character from that same trilogy but, written some years later, I found it to be on a whole different level in terms of quality – to the point that I’m tempted (almost) to give The Emperor’s Blades another try.
The Premise:
The premise is genuinely one of the more loufoque I’ve come across in years. After many years of training in the arcane arts of killing (her religion’s way of delivering ‘sacrifices’ to their God), twenty-five-year-old Pyrre Lakatur, an acolyte pledged to Ananshael—the God of Death – is desperate to become a fully-fledged Skullsworn priestess. To do this however, she had to pass a final trial.
The rules of this trial – as laid out in a song – are bizarrely specific. Over the span of fourteen days, Pyrre must make seven ‘offerings’ to her god. These consist of:
· one who is right, and one who is wrong;
· a singer snared in a web of song;
· a dealer of death;
· a mother ripe with new life;
· a giver of names; and
· the one who made your mind and body sing with love
So, essentially, she has to murder seven people.
For an adept as devout as Pyrre Lakatur, this is no big deal although she does have an unexpected complication with the last one on the list. This is because Pyrre has never actually been in love and is unsure that she even knows what love is. Unfortunately, if she can’t complete the list in the specified time period, she’ll fail and be put to death at the hands of the two ‘Witnesses’ (Ela and Kossal) who accompany and monitor her throughout this 14-day trial.
Determined to pass the test, Pyrre returns to the swamp city of Dombâng where she was born, and the only place where she’s ever experienced any kind of emotional connection with another person (Ruc Lan Lac). By returning to Dombâng , she hopes to rekindle that relationship so that she can find love and then extinguish it at the same time.
Unfortunately for Pyrre, over the years she’s been away, Ruc Lan Lac has become leader of the Greenshirts, a constabulary force responsible for maintaining order within the city. With dissidents and malcontents pulling the city to the brink, Ruc Lan Lac is fully occupied. To gain his attention, and his trust, Pyrre must start a full-fledged revolt.
As you can see, this kind of story can veer into some dark territory and, at times, it certainly does – but in an odd, slightly quirky, and detached way.
Characters
The knife whirling assassin, Pyrre, is one of the more compelling characters I’ve read in a while. Throughout the story, she engages in a lot of internal dialogue relating to her difficult youth and her attraction to the Skullsworn cult that provides helpful context in understanding why she is where she is.
Part naïve acolyte, part psychopath, she can be both attractive and repulsive in equal measure but she’s never less than interesting. Her devotion to Ananshael means she has a disturbing casualness with murder and is capable of some atrocious actions (for example, killing a pregnant mother) which can be deeply unsettling. At the same time, her inability to feel love and her attempts to understand that ‘disability’ reveal a vulnerability that’s oddly … dare I say it … endearing. As does the almost guileless way that, as a Skullsworn, she doesn’t actually consider herself to be an assassin or murderer.
Pyrre’s story is supported by a number of other characters, key of which are her two ‘Witnesses’. The first of these – Ela – is an exceptionally competent assassin who is also beautiful, charming, graceful, witty … and a sex addict who goes through lovers without attachment or remorse. Offsetting Ela is the more elderly, and grumpy, Kossal. As devout as Ela, Kossal is also a bit of a psychopath and has to focus on his flute playing to try and avoid killing all those around him. Ironically, he has ‘feelings’ for Ela and kills her lovers as fast as she disposes of them.
The interplay between Pyrre, Ela and Kossal ,and their almost excessive self-assurance, adds quite a bit of bleak humour to the story.
World building
Although clearly part of a much larger world, most of the action in Skullsworn takes place in the decaying, Asian-Venice-like city of Dombâng and Stavely does a masterful job at portraying this crumbling, sweaty city with its deep cultural history, deadly canals, failing bridges and labyrinthine alleys. Rife with political unrest, historical colonist baggage, treacherous political factions and self-serving leaders, Dombâng is coming apart at the seams. It’s location on the steaming, dangerous swamp/delta, overrun with giant crocodiles, poisonous spiders and snakes also mirrors the lethal turmoil within the city’s own dank interior.
Conclusion
Skullsworn is probably one of the more imaginative and innovative character-driven novels I’ve read in a long time but the somewhat bleak storyline and grimdark genre means this won’t be for everyone. In the same way, Pyrre, Ela, and Kossal are interesting, well-fleshed out characters, but their dubious morality may push you away unless you approach the book in the same detached manner that they approach their ‘offerings’.
Because it’s a very character-driven book, some people may also find that the story lags (I didn’t) but there are several exciting set pieces (a bridge collapse, in particular, is riveting) and large-scale fight scenes that should keep most people entertained. I won’t discuss the end for obvious reasons but it’s surprising and innovative in a way most other books of this genre aspire to but never actually reach.
Finally, I have to say that the prose in this novel is absolutely gorgeous. Hats off to Mr Stavely for producing a work of such intellectual complexity, while also managing to write it in a way that makes it read … good.
The Wizard of A.I.
Last month, or rather ‘two months ago’, you might recall I added a link to a short Star Wars movie in the style of an early 1900s black and white production to show how far AI has advanced over the past year or two. As a follow up, I’m adding another link below to a short, 20-minute movie called ‘The Wizard of AI’ produced by the Open Data Institute (ODI).
This is probably the best explainer I’ve come across in terms of getting your head around what AI is and how it might affect you. I was very impressed by its concise but entertaining explanations, so I hope you get some benefit from it as well.
On the Home Front
The good news is that my tomato plants survived the ravages of wind and Kakas, and I’m now dining on fresh black-top tomatoes every morning.
The bad news is that next week, it looks like I’ll have about three hundred tomatoes to eat.
Things could … get messy.
Meanwhile, I had a friend in Wellington the other day and as we were walking near Otari Park in Wilton, he pointed out the following road sign:
I guess I’ve passed this Keruru (Pigeon) sign so often I’ve forgotten how unique it is and how confused I was when I first saw it. Actually, I wasn’t the only one. When these signs first appeared on the streets, people had no idea when they meant and guesses ranged from “Look Out! Giant Pigeon” to “Beware! Car Hating Pigeons”.
It took me about 6 months before I figured it out and I only managed that after watching a keruru fly around the valley. Essentially, keruru love to swoop. Being heavy birds, to do this, they have to climb really high and then drop like a stone down a clear area, swooping up only when they’ve achieved enough momentum.
That’s all well and good, of course, but in a steeply hilled city like Wellington, those ‘clear areas’ are often roads. As a result, we’ve actually ended up with several incidents where pigeons have ploughed through vehicle windscreens and caused major car crashes (as well as dead pigeons).
Wellington City Council worked with the national road entity to create those signs in an effort to warn drivers of the problem. Given that most people still haven’t worked out what they are, and how hard it is to avoid a diving pigeon on a single-laned road, I’m not entirely sure how effective that’s been.
Aaaah! Wellington.
The End
That’s it for this month and I’ll be back in February, possibly with news of a new newsletter, possibly with some additional news.
Let’s see.
This month’s Paid Section inlcudes the entire Chapter 2 from FIONN: THe Betrayal. Enjoy!
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