Issue 4: Time

[News] The Laws of Big Projects

Hofstadter's Law: It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's Law.

I’ve always been fond of this law, both as a writer and a programmer. But my experience with Veiled Age has brought to light a new law for me.

Justin’s Law: completion of a big project will always be approximately one month away.

I said last time it might be too much scope creep to add a puzzle. Well, I added one. And I’ve rewritten a couple of other prologue scenes. Overall I feel pretty good about it and the structure of everything seems sound, but I still have some substantial editing to do before I’m comfortable asking for anyone’s money.

[Commentary] On Time-Based Fantasy

I love a good time travel story. It's a staple of cerebral sci-fi, but it's a surprisingly common element of popular fantasy, too, from Harry Potter to Dark Souls to Dragon Ball Z. Why are people so fascinated by time travel? Is it just for the mind-bending causality paradoxes? Those are fun, but no. Let’s take a step back. Why do imaginative people like you and me love fantasy stories in general?

Because we find them relatable. We have no trouble drawing intuitive connections between fantastical problems and real problems. For example, imagine a family cursed by an ancient demon, suffering for generations. Sure, magical family curses aren't real. But what about genetic diseases, cycles of poverty, generational trauma or just bad parenting? All real. Thus, the concept of a cursed family has an inherent verisimilitude. It doesn't have to be an on-the-nose allegory to feel true to life.

Time travel explores two universally relatable things: the grief of regretting the past and the difficulty of predicting the future. A time travel story is for everyone who dreams of putting right what went wrong. It's for anyone who has planted a seed and imagined the tree.

Legend of Zelda fans have seen plenty of time travel, as you could probably guess by certain titles in the series: Ocarina of Time, Link to the Past, Oracle of Ages. Zelda is meant to be accessible to kids, but sometimes it’s quite clear it’s the brainchild of an old man (Shigeru Miyamoto). Check out this dialog from Ocarina of Time, where it’s unclear whether princess Zelda is talking about actual time travel (Link’s experience) or slowly watching your kingdom fall into ruin for 7 years (her experience).

See, the themes of time travel are inescapable. The time loops and paradoxes are optional.

So let’s forget about time travel for a moment. There are subtler ways to explore “Time-Based Fantasy” and its contemplative themes. One way is to evoke the reader's sense of deep time.

Deep time refers to time scales bigger than the human mind is naturally equipped to consider. To get a taste for it, here’s a couple of novels I've read that touch on these themes. (Mild spoilers)

• 100 Years of Solitude, rather than having only one protagonist, tells the story of an entire family line from beginning to end.

• Children of Time follows the development of an alien civilization from pre-intelligent bugs to an enlightened spacefaring race.

• Remembrance of Earth's Past, my favorite sci-fi series so far, begins in the 1960s and ends after the heat death of the universe. (Want a short story that covers the same time span? The Last Question by Isaac Asimov)

Note that all of these allude to time right in the title. But they aren't about time travel -- well, not backward time travel. Time just moves forward at an inhuman pace, making us zoom out and focus on generations instead of years, the rise and fall of civilizations instead of individuals.

I think this sense of deep time is crucial to high fantasy worldbuilding. In shallow fantasy worlds, it tends to feel like nothing in particular happened before the hero and villain showed up. In the real world, cause and effect extend far beyond your personal horizon. For a fantastical world to feel real, it should have a similar quality. This is probably more important than its magic system or whatever. Tolkien's "magic system" was fairy tale nonsense, but his world history was on point. I don't just mean that he had a zillion pages of worldbuilding notes for some die-hard nerds to read. I mean Middle Earth feels like a place that had previous ages and will have future ages.

Now, you might have noticed that Veiled Age is also a time-oriented title. It's a world setting where the landscape and cultures are informed by remnants of a pre-historic past before the Golden Veil, and fears of an apocalyptic future without the veil. In keeping with the epic fantasy tradition, I want to convey the feeling that the protagonist was born at turning point in history. The setting’s history also helps justify certain fantasy tropes I’m fond of, like dungeons. Why are mysterious underground ancient ruins a thing? Why are they full of monsters and lost treasures? Why do they feature deathtraps and riddles instead of a sane security system?

[Short Fiction] The Doomsayer

The elder's age was apparent from the length of his body, which filled half the alcove. Yet the place was immaculately clean, with almost no scent, thanks to diligent servants. On his upper body was a hooded, silver robe of fine silks.

The youth bowed low as he entered. "Elder, the servants tell me you have a word for us. This one listens."

As always, the elder looked upon his grandson with affection. It was a subtle expression, as a Naga's gaze is never completely without a predatory air. But today there was also something else. Sadness? Pity?

The elder began: "There are two great troubles ahead. First, the world will wander into the cold night, seduced by the empty words of a dark star. Second, this wandering world, far from home, will be swallowed by a restless abyss. In such a place, even one’s very thoughts will be without light."

"After the first trouble, you will know I spoke the truth about the second -- not I, but the Great Serpent who speaks within me. Knowing this, perhaps our race will be ready to flee the world and find new light..."

The youth grew tense as he scribed the words into hieroglyphs. "Elder, I am sure it will be as you say. But how can we see such faraway things?" A question he'd always wanted to ask, but never did for fear of looking foolish, or worse yet, disrespectful. But now seemed like the time.

"What is the difference between a premonition and a memory?" At the elder's question, the youth coiled his lower body neatly: the proper posture when listening to a lesson. He thought a moment.

"I suppose," the youth said hesitantly, "that one concerns the past, and the other concerns the future."

The elder nodded. "Another question. Have you ever met my father?"

"No, elder. He shed his body before I was hatched."

"And if he somehow possessed your memories, what would he call them?"

The youth was silent. The elder continued. "We can only consider events from our own perspective. But the Great Serpent's perspective is unique. Do you understand?"

"I think so... but not fully," he admitted.

The elder gave a subtle smile. "I feel the same way."

[Lore] Axioms of Heth: First Form