Conversations with the Ai-Naidar

Kherishdar #Conversations 1

by M.C.A. Hogarth

Language and locations, culture and customs, biology, psychology, and history... worldbuilding an alien world for a fiction series can be a monumental effort involving notes, maps, drawings, and resources.....or you can do it Jaguar-style, and just talk to the people.

Conversations with the Ai-Naidar gathers seven years of "meta-conversations" between the author and her aliens as she struggles to understand their culture and language. Interspersed with scribbled notes from the author's original sketchbooks, Conversations offers insight into an artistic process, perfect for lovers of the Kherishdar series, and anyone fascinated by the creative brain.Come into the writer's parlor!

244 pages, Paperback

Published March 29, 2020

About the author

Daughter of two Cuban political exiles, M.C.A. Hogarth was born a foreigner in the American melting pot and has had a fascination for the gaps in cultures and the bridges that span them ever since. She has been many things—-web database architect, product manager, technical writer and massage therapist—-but is currently a full-time parent, artist, writer and anthropologist to aliens, both human and otherwise.

Her fiction has variously been recommended for a Nebula, a finalist for the Spectrum, placed on the secondary Tiptree reading list and chosen for two best-of anthologies; her art has appeared in RPGs, magazines and on book covers.

Reviews

[Karen A. Wyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would have rated this book 4.5 if that option existed, but 4 stars weren't enough.

If you've read some or all of the main Kherishdar books and you've got a book hangover, this is the perfect hair of the dog. (I would definitely not recommend it as the starting place for the series.) I particularly loved the author's encounters with Shame, the underlying humor as she attempts to maintain her composure in the face of his intimidating and sometimes stern intensity.

My mind tended to wander when the conversations became heavily linguistic, but those will be deeply satisfying for those who follow conlangs more closely.

[Lydia Porter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating if very meta book

M C Hogarth writes not only wonderful stories and great characters,she makes them so real that you can almost see them. Her love of words treats the words with respect and gives name to concepts that this world could really use.

[Mike Federchuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating insight into the inner workings of Ai-Naidar culture. Serious, thought provoking, often humorous and light hearted, its a quick and easy read for a quite afternoon.