Posts
A Chapter A Day: Day 10
Reviewing book two in the Keys of Candor series, Sea of Souls, by Seth Ervin and Casey Eanes.
Hey everyone, I am sure you noticed that Friday's post was postponed. Sorry about that, I had to travel and figure out where Shelby-con was at and I don't think I would have been able to properly review anything last night. Before we get reading I do want to say a few things about today, I entered my first Cosplay Contest and I won first place which was amazing! I will be posting the review of said con tomorrow so if you want to come back and look at it then feel free and I have also been inspired to talk about Con Etiquette and that will probably not be a passing thing because I was strongly affected by some things from today. I am going to leave that at that for now. Lets go read! (Chapter 10)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Minutes Later~~~~~~~~~~
**********Warning! I am in a good mood so there might be a little bit of hope, happiness and kindness in the review, sorry about that.*******************
This chapter speaks to me on a deep level. The first thing I see is "Where am I? How long have I been here? Who am I?"
Is the answer Kull for $200? We don't find that out in this chapter but that's where I am throwing my chips in.
Funny thingy, so um.. Nameless can taste the Blackness..?
What exactly does Blackness taste like? Can I have some? I think that might be what my soul or heart tastes like...
No, in all seriousness I do think that that detail and section where Nameless is all disoriented is very important to help with the setting.
What is this setting? Well, like everything this is up to interpretation to everyone. I am sure the authors have their own view for it but what I saw in it was Heaven and Hell, or at least Purgatory.
Aleph is The Almighty and, I am going to make a new word, The Beast is The Unmighty. Satan. Evil incarnate, the great no-no. Whatever you want to call him it doesn't change the resemblance.
This place where Nameless has ended up seems like Purgatory.
I don't mean to go all "learning" on you but its happening so buckle up, butter cup. What exactly is Purgatory? I am glad you asked because like many things in relation to the past and religions it has a wide variety of meanings. The noun version of Purgatory is defined as "(In Roman Catholic Doctrine): a place or state of suffering inhabited by the souls of sinners who are expiating their sins before going to heaven"
So it is basically like a holding cell or torture chamber in that sense.
But wait! There's more!
The Adjective: having the quality of cleansing or purifying: Now that sounds totally different, doesn't it?
Another definition, ":Severe anguish or suffering."
That one is pretty good.
And another "Purgatory, according to Catholic Church doctrine, is an intermediate state after physical death in which those destined for heaven "undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. " Now that sounds very close to the first version except it doesn't sound like a torture chamber! That combines versions 1 and 2 and makes it sound a little sweeter...
But the perfect version that I think fits this story is the version used by the wildly popular show Supernatural.
"Purgatory is a realm where the souls of supernatural creatures go after they die. Its physical location is separate from both Heaven and Hell. Crowley estimates there are 30-40 million souls there.[1] It was originally created by God to contain the oldest creatures, Leviathans, for fear they would destroy the rest of creation" (Courtesy of the Supernatural Wiki )" OR the more colorful version, " It's like the backside of your worst nightmares. It's all blood and bone and darkness. Filled with the bodies and souls of all things hungry, sharp, and nasty." (Courtesy of Bobby Singer- Supernatural Wiki )
I think that version compliments the Candor world very nicely. Not the whole "Full of nasties" thing but I do think that it is a special realm made for the "Essences" that The Serubs Excuse from existence. There you go, you learned something... Sorry....
We have Rank and File, those names compliment each other so nicely. Okay, We have these two vile creatures/people that are the harbingers of essence and hold them captive for manual labor to keep themselves away from The Beast.
This is actually a disturbingly wonderful thing for the plot because now Nameless is surrounded by people who are probably from the last time the Serubs were free which means there is a good chance that they will know how to stop them. Remember how the Serubs usually only Excuse people who do something awful to them or their kin? Obviously the people on that boat are not innocent and know something about the Serubs. This is going to be another wonderful element and I looking forward to see how it alters the story.
One more thing about Rank and File... If this series did get turned into a movie or television series I think that the "dusting" scene would have to be altered a little... We literally have a bright light of a person that they go and rub dust all over that turns into a bare human body. That wouldn't be camera friendly but I would laugh like crazy because that would be so awkward for the actors to do and for me to watch.
I cannot believe that I just admitted that the remake shouldn't be just like the book! Oh how I have fallen....
Alright I will leave you with the meaning of 4 wonderful words that were used in this chapter.
Detritus: waste or debris of any kind
Despondent: in low spirits from loss of hope or courage
Cur: an aggressive dog or one that is in poor condition, especially a mongrel. (I actually didn't know that one)
Dank: disagreeably damp, musty, and typically cold.
Okay, I didn't get into my feelings on the literary masterpieces above because I know that this post is very "Fact heavy" and I do apologize for that but sometimes it really helps to be able to dig into the meaning of things and figure out what you are looking at or doing. Rethink this chapter where Nameless, Rank and File are all just in pitch black. It doesn't have the same depth or emotion behind it, its a meaningless fact that we brush past and forget. That is why I tortured you for what has been almost an hour to write.
I hope you all have a wonderful day tomorrow, I wont see you but that doesn't mean that I don't want you to be happy. Lets all look forward to resuming our reading on Monday!
I am honestly going to need your reassuring presence and normalcy in my life on that day because that is the day I take the test.
See ya!!! :)
~Aki Ame Okami
No comments:
Post a Comment