Susan
The Amazing Adventures
of Sara Corel
A novel by Toomey
First Interlude
Kevin Turner
Toomey:
Okay. The story starts by
defiling our vision of the last Elvish Haven and of the Elves
themselves. And then it continues with the death (…ain't he
been dead before?) of our favourite Wizard. As Sara says
herself, this isn't the way stories are supposed to go. It goes
on with the senseless slaughter of a proud and once beautiful
race.
And so far, nothing's even
presented a challenge to Sara, beyond a certain measure of
emotional stress. She just sort of strolls through the whole
thing. There don't seem to be any redeeming qualities to her
actions, and in fact, we have no evidence that she's not
acting as the Unraveller, the destroyer of worlds. At this
point, the story seems to have no other intention than
discomorting the gentle reader who is accustomed to the cute and
clever trials of Sara and friends.
Halfway through, on the
Wizard's Way, this suspicion is confirmed. "We represent
th' Poly Top Guild, we wish t' welcome you to Munt's-kin
Land."
Ow… The pain, the pain!
[…continues reading…]
Oh. I guess I was right
about the Unraveller thing. Well then. Time to see what my own
dreams bring me.
Keep storytelling.
(And I don't believe
that any Sara raised among Men can out-dance an Elf.)
Kevin:
Thanks for the letter. I
really appreciate getting feedback from readers that doesn't use
the words 'cool' and 'awesome' (or their antimatter
counterparts).
This little 'Interlude' was
originally intended to be a short exercise to help me focus on
improving certain aspects of my writing chops. I'm rather new to
writing fiction, and I came to realize that certain issues
needed to be addressed. I also wanted to explore some of the
extreme aspects of Sara's character in a setting that would be
radically different from the gentle tenor of the uberstory. I
also just wanted to have a little fun and perhaps entertain some
of my long-suffering readers. And I had to show the other Aurora
Universe writers that I could, too, write some high-body-count
Armageddonia. So there. Rest assured that I will return to the
spirit of Part One as soon as I resume writing (after my
impending divorce).
When writing in the ‘superhero’
genre, the poor author has to pick a spot in the continuum
between mortal and god to place the 'powers and abilities' of
his characters. To me, there has always been somewhat of an
artifice in this selection and the subsequent matching of the
characters' nemeses so that the character had to strive to
his/her utmost (and a little bit more) in order to just barely
overcome some well-matched evildoer in the climactic battle. I
wanted to get beyond that in some respect, so I chose the high
end of the spectrum to essentially remove physicality as a
determinant and give more play to motivational, psychological
and ethical considerations. The 'emotional stress' is precisely
the issue.
Therefore, Sara wasn't
particularly challenged physically. I had Alex speak the phrase
that best sums up her dilemma, "Sometimes even superpowers
and good intentions aren't enough." The Elves aloofness,
Gundolf's tricksy jest, wizardspeak and impossible mission,
Eldron's and Gladariel's gentle capitulations, the Dwarves'
noble, doomed, honorable stubbornness, the Little Peoples'
desperate slavishness, the receptionist's disrespect, Soloman's
smooth prevarications, the Nazghouls' unctious pandering, the
General of Soraun's cynical designs, Stryder's bitter despair,
Soraun's usurpation of Sara's will and her own complicity in her
acceptance of His mastery — all these things are played out
against the backdrop of sacrifice and loss accompanying the
underlying determination to do her duty.
Sure, Sara picks up a few
heavy objects along the way and shrugs off the occasional
nuclear fireball — in the manner of superheroines in every
universe — but the important battles involve defending
fundamental principles of truth and decency. In some respects,
Sara's challenge is to overcome her own tendencies, such as her
naive assumption that everyone else is as reasonable as she is.
In the real world, I have encountered people who cling to their
irrationality as if it were their own personal Ring of Power.
There is a great deal of political commentary buried deeply
within parts of this story, as well.
I apologize for the Wizard
of Oz travesty. I don't know what came over me. I will be
severely punished in another life, I'm sure. (But it was
funny, wasn't it…) And if you think that was bad, wait
'till you find out why I titled the story Susan.
I don't know who/what the
'Unraveller, the destroyer of worlds' is. Not as cute as Sara,
I'll bet.
And — you're probably
right about the innate superiority of Elves' dancing, except
that they can't fly. I hope to have much more time to devote to
storytelling later this fall. If I had known how much fun it
was, I'd have started decades ago.
Next Letter
© Patrick Hill, 2000 |