Thursday, July 27, 2017

SENSES NOVELS – FILLING IN THE HISTORY


As many of you can tell, I have stopped giving background stories in these blog posts. The only comments that I received indicated that the person hadn’t read them yet. Without any positive or negative feedback, I don’t see the point in continuing with them. I do, however, want to go into a little bit of some of the histories missed in Synesthesia.

Those of you who have read the book know all the events that Eli was witness to or had a hand in. But there is a lot of time that isn’t covered in the novel. Wanderings through Asia, Europe, and the Americas had to expose our hero to many of the most exciting events of the day.

For instance, were you aware that North America has pyramids? The largest of these, Monks Mound is the largest Pre-Columbian earthwork in the Americas. It is also the largest pyramid north of Mesoamerica. The building of it began around 900 AD. Why was it built? Who built it? Would Eli have seen it, had a hand in it or inspired it in some way?

History is filled with, what we consider, mysteries. The ‘lost’ cultures or kingdoms of Pyu, Funan, Zhenla, Champa, Dvāravatī, Kedah, and Śrīvijaya which existed from the 5th century to the 8th century AD are another good example. These were early Hindu and Buddhist civilizations that had yet to be brought the Word (the non-Christians out there cringed just now.)

How about the city and temple of Angkor Wat? It was built in the 12th century AD and then lost to the jungle in the 15th century when it was abandoned. It was not rediscovered until 1860 by missionaries. This is a place so important that today it is on the Cambodian national flag. It was such a large and important place in Asia; it is doubtful that Eli wouldn’t have known about it.

There is so much that has been lost or purposely distorted (history is written by the winners), we may never know the truth and depth of it. While Synesthesia may seem to be overfilled with historical events, it barely scratches the surface.

I pray you are having a great week!

KM

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