Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy discussion

Clint pointed out that there wasn't a discussion for the book, so here it is. My apologies Clint.

I'm having a hard time getting into this book. I think the language style may not be my thing, it kept reminding me of a non-academic (ie normal!) man I know who often used complex sentence structure because he thinks it makes him sound intelligent. I'm sure my subconscious has a reason to remind me of him while I'm reading this book.

Fayley wrote: "I'm having a hard time getting into this book. I think the language style may not be my thing, it kept reminding me of a non-academic (ie normal!) man I know who often used complex sentence structu..."

I agree, and most characters also do a lot of philosophizing. Also the world-building is intentionally anachronistic & (at least for me) might take some time to get into. Still, the anachronism is done reasonably well esp. in the latter part, MCs are reasonably interesting & sympathetic, and imo it's overall a fairly satisfying read, probably the best small press book I've read in a while.

I liked it a lot, but there was a lot of philosophy, and it was confusing at first because there were multiple characters narrating. I think that the ending was kind of lame too. I was really glad it was on the computer :)

I think the ending is fine though. :)

I still haven't got around to read this yet because mom wants me to read Agnes Grey and I haven't done a lot of reading.

Agnes Grey is a really fast read although imo the best of he Brontes is Charlotte.

I can tell it's fast. I just don't read enough, lol.

I really like Ann Bronte. She's good. :P

Back to ancient Canada, I was dissappointed Lavender didn't have a chapter. And I wanna know what happens after that. And what happened to Agrippin, did he just, stay with Siberians or whatever or get caught

Emily wrote: "I really like Ann Bronte. She's good. :P

Back to ancient Canada, I was dissappointed Lavender didn't have a chapter. And I wanna know what happens after that. And what happened to Agrippin, did h..."

If I recall correctly Agrippin just wandered around by himself (possibly heart-broken by his lover's death). And Lavender is (view spoiler)[ dead (hide spoiler)]. Actually I think a hint of her final fate is the fact that she never narrates a chapter.

Emily / Xdyj:

I think I can field those questions. I didn't want to interfere with the group discussion, but I'll definitely answer the 'what happens next' stuff.

I've got to get to work now, but I'll get a post out on this thread hopefully tonight.

Or if anybody's curious you can always message me directly; I'd be happy to answer any 'what if's' or clarify anything in the book.

Thanks again everybody for reading.

"Peace and all good"

Because my post would be almost nothing but spoilers, I decided to make a special link on my website for this discussion. Here's a link that answers some of the questions above. Most of the direct answers are towards the bottom. The rest is a behind-the-scenes look at the book. http://ancientcanada.com/Ancient_Cana... I highly recommend it to anybody who has finished the book, or doesn't mind spoilers.

Thank you,
Clint

Thanks Clint, I didn't fully get the post-apocalyptic stuff while I was reading I guess.

There aren't a whole lot of clues, mostly because the characters aren't aware of it. Here's a vague hint from the Lichen's chapter:

Marigold (to the Lichen): “So you have met my ancestors. They probably believed themselves modern and contemporary. Few realize themselves to be living in both Ancient Canada and its distant future, or any country for that matter."

Lichen: “And if you lived in the distant future?”

Marigold: “I do! By their reference, at least.”

It seems obvious out of context, but it's a needle in a haystack when placed on page whatever of 370. I wasn't focused on the post-apocalyptic thing for narrative purposes, more to bring out the environmental themes. One nice thing about writing in a vague time period is you can create your own world. Ancient Canada took a lot of research, but I imagine historical fiction is even more difficult. If you need to use gunpowder as a plot device in a book set in 12th century Russia, you have to first look up if they even had gunpowder.

Otherwise you wind up with an anachronism, like you mentioned earlier. First time I heard that term was in high school. I know it was Shakespeare, I think the play was Julius Caesar, when they mentioned the iPad 5 (which hasn't even come out yet). No wait... it was coffins. They didn't have coffins in the time period of the play, whatever it was, but they did have them in Shakespeare's time. Oh well, nobody's perfect.

Hey everybody,

It's June 2nd, so some of you may still be reading Ancient Canada, but I'm going to get my last post in now because technically my month is up.

Thank you to everybody in the group for considering the book and thank you to the group moderators who allowed Ancient Canada to have it's own group read.

There are a few secrets about the book that I'd like to share now that the month is over (*there will be some spoilers throughout the rest of this post.)

I hope the book was entertaining, but I hope it achieved more than that. When I read, I like to have something to take home. Therefore there was a lot of philosophy and psychology, as with any mythology. I know philosophy is loved by some, hated by others, and generally tolerated by most. There's a good bit of it in the book, so I apologize if you fit in the middle category.

The world is set in an alternate Arctic where there's never any mention of a glacier or snow, other than snow on the tops of mountains. The map at the beginning of the book shows a place called 'Emberland,' which you can tell is Iceland. The characters refer to this place as almost uninhabitable; it's so hot.

The alternate 'Ancient' Canada is the future, not the past. The characters don't realize this, and what we read is Marigold's book published for her contemporaries. Clearly this is not as cold of an Arctic as it should be, in fact Siberian ships sail from Siberia to the North Star/North Pole, then to Canada, all over water (not ice).

The biggest clue that this is the future, and not just an alternate Arctic that is hotter than it should be, comes in Oslo's chapter. His father, King Ulffr of Svalbard, mentions the Seed Bank. An actual seed bank/vault exists now in Svalbard, which is also real. Scientists have stocked this seed bank to replenish populations of plants in the event of environmental or nuclear catastrophe. King Ulffr discusses how his ancestors discovered the seed bank, believing it was a gift from the earth and a sign that the Svalbardians were a chosen race. With the seeds, those ancestors civilized a barbaric world.

I often wonder what it would be like reading this if I hadn't written it. It's impossible to say. Although I doubt I would have gotten the Seed Bank reference, I'm pretty sure I would have wondered why this alternate Arctic is so warm.

The environmental themes are aided by the Lichen, a stone creature based on St. Francis of Assisi, patron of the environment. The Lichen gives Lavender and Marigold a platform of beliefs to use as they start their epic. Whatever your faith, I highly suggest looking into Francis' life. He's been an incredible inspiration for me, and is so much more than just the saint who loved animals. His devotion to God through the faces of the poor prove just how much good we are capable of.

Lavender can see life and death. 'Life and death' is marginalized so that she may only exist in this extreme north. Polaris is fire and combustion, the enemy of life and death, and his fire ring at the end is triggered with the burning of oil.

The ending is intentionally a little vague, although if you're certain Lavender lived, you probably misunderstood Marigold's final paragraphs of the book. Since this is the future, we don't know what exactly will happen with life and death as it is marginalized further and further, persecuted by what Polaris symbolizes (combustion, heat, fire). The psychology and philosophy in the final chapter looks at how this was allowed to happen, reintroducing themes from previous narrators.

Aside from the darker, bleak themes, I hope Marigold made you laugh a few times and I hope the book was overall worthwhile and entertaining.

If there's anything I can do or any questions I can answer, please stop by my website, which is http://ancientcanada.com/Ancient_Cana.... Email is on the website. Bloggers or moderators of other groups- feel free to contact me for anything. Thank you again to everybody in the group read.

Peace and all good,
Clint