Fantasy Book Club discussion

Paraphrasing the Oscar winner Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda, (http://www.krakowpost.com/article/1388) (...) a "writer" should tell a story that is close to his own existential experience (...). And so I did in Two Moon Princess.

As Andrea, the protagonist of Two Moon Princess, I grew up in Spain. Later, I traveled to modern day California where I fell in love both with the freedom of the new world and an American boy. The return to my own country was as unexpectedly difficult as it was for Andrea, even if the circumstances were quite different. For this is fiction after all.

The Spain I grew up was not a medieval society of small kingdoms--that part I modeled after XII century Spain--but it was a very repressive and sexist society nonetheless. The roles of men and women were clearly defined, with women being subservient to men and considered inferior at every level. Think the 60s portrayed in Mad Men with the addition of a fascist government and an all powerful Church for whom women were the origin of all sin. Remember it was Eve who cheated Adam out of Paradise.

But growing up in Spain was not all bad. For one, it gave me an amazing background in History. Iberians, Celts, Romans, Visigoth, Christians and Arabs created their own civilization in the peninsula. And although I hated History at school (try to memorize the list of Visigothic kings whose names were Ludivico, Chisdanvinto, Recaredo ... and you'll understand my feeling), to have over two thousand years of history in my mind made it easier for me to create an alternative world for Two Moon Princess.

Xaren-Ran, Andrea's world, is a world that exists parallel to Earth. They are connected by doors that open only as the full moon rises. Andrea's ancestors are the descendants of the Spanish Visigoths that escaped into her world on the year 711 A.D. after being defeated by the Arabs that came from North Africa. Once in Xaren-Ra, the Visigoths destroyed its indigenous culture the same way the Spanish conquistadores did in Central and South America in the XVI century.

It's this potential for destruction our technologically more advanced world holds over Andrea's medieval Xaren-Ra that provides the background conflict in Two Moon Princess. The reason Andrea cannot disclose to anyone she is from another world. And when, by accident, she brings John into her world, the reason her father wants him dead, her uncle back on Earth after being sworn to secrecy.

As for Andrea, well, she is a teenager, she believes things will turn out well if only John would fall in love with her. Unfortunately, John has seen her sister Rosa and is not willing to cooperate. Soon the battle for a boy's heart becomes a war between two kingdoms, and, Andrea's attempts to win the first and stop the second will test her courage, her beliefs and her own heart.

As Americans are not taught Spanish history at school, I was wondering what was your reaction to the worlds I created in Two Moon Princess:

Did you find them believable?

Did you understand Andrea's love for California?

Did you find the information about Spanish history I included in the book boring or did it spark your interest and made you want to learn more about those times?

I really enjoy a good dose of history in my fantasy. Spain is one of those places I've never learned a whole lot about, but am certainly interested in the culture.

I grew up in the American Southwest, where there is a lot of cultural influence that was handed down from the Spanish explorers. Sure, it mixes a lot of the Native American cultures, but the Spanish is heavy throughout the Southwest. I lived in New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Texas. Each of them had a big influence from Mexico and through that, Spain.

Now I live in South Georgia, about 20 minutes from the Florida line. Another state with heavy Spanish influence.

So yeah, most of my Spanish heritage eduction has to do specifically with the New World version of that, but in recent years I've been pretty curious about the land they all came from before they expanded into this hemisphere.

That said, I'm looking forward to reading this book. I've been behind on reading goals, but I have picked up a copy of Two Moon Princess. This little background/setting blurb has really helped peak my interest too, so hopefully I'll be able to get some free time and get started soon.

Oh, I also enjoyed watching Spain win the World Cup.

Hi Chris.

If you grew up in the Southwest you are probably familiar with the Missions.

I visited some of them in California when I lived there and loved them. They play an important part in Two Moon Princess.

Very cool! I lived in San Antonio, Texas for 15 years or so.

So yeah, I'm familiar with Missions. The local baseball (AA) team is called the Missions, as a matter of fact, since they're such a big tourist attraction.

One of them some people might have heard of: The Alamo.

The Alamo, of course!

I never realized it was a Mission. Cool.

I sort of wished for more history - or, perhaps, I wanted to feel more like I was in a Spanish culture. Aside from the names, the world Andrea was from seemed sort of generic medieval European. I was hoping for more cultural flavor scattered throughout. I'm not really sure how this could be done, or what was missing - but I guess I expected something different from all the other medievally sort of books, but it felt mostly the same.

I did like the part where she was in California and visiting the missions, though. (Although it made me even more angry at Tio Ramiro. I understood his wanting to protect that world, even though he found it barbaric - but I also found it hypocritical of him to insist she had to go back, when him and the mother had both already done it. )