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Artist, Heather Oliver             

The Wind Harp

Yesterday I got the news that The Wind Harp was accepted by the editor who solicited it for an anthology.  This means a lot to me, because I have several stories and six novels at various stages of completion in that particular universe.  My heart is irrevocably entwined with it, and much of my dreaming.

This is the world of Planetfall.  To those of you who read Spider Silk and Shoals in Time, the narrator is Ánassa/Antóa Tásri-e Sóran-Kerís, whose voice we hear at the end of PlanetfallThe Wind Harp tells of her first major political interplanetary mission.  We see her become formidable and meet several members of her extended chosen family.  One of them is Tan-Rys, caste warrior of Gan-Tem, vividly portrayed in the accompanying image by Heather D. Oliver — he’s the same doughty friend who almost forty years later dandles Antóa’s youngest on his knee.

Dhi kéri ten sóran…

12 Responses to “The Wind Harp”

  1. Sophy ZS Adani says:

    Congratulations!

    Sounds like a very interesting universe.

  2. Athena says:

    Rose, Sophy, thank you! In some ways, my saga is old-fashioned space opera. However, all its cultures are non-Anglosaxon, some of its science is real (though it has no infodumps) and it’s literally rife with powerful women. Eric is actually interested in one of the novels, the one that starts the saga. I’ve promised to finish it next year, so he can look at it.

  3. Caliban says:

    Congratulations! Great and well-deserved news.

  4. Rose Lemberg says:

    Oh, cool, is this for a Hadley Rille anthology? They’ve been doing some awesome things. And Eric seems like a great person to work with. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for your book.

  5. Asakiyume says:

    Athena, what are the last words in the entry?

  6. Athena says:

    Thank you, Calvin! *happy sigh*

    Rose, The Wind Harp is for another editor’s anthology. I don’t want to give out details because it’s his prerogative to announce it when the time comes. Eric is interested in one of the novels in this universe… and, indeed, the consensus is he’s a wonderful person to work with.

    Francesca, one of the braids in the saga is the decipherment of the Minoan language and its script, Linear A, which the spacefaring descendants speak in time-drifted form. This is my “reconstruction” of Minoan. I worked out its syntax, grammar and several hundred words. I also devised a script for it.

    “Dhi kéri ten sóran…” means “We will stride in the sky…” In Planetfall it’s the last sentence in Captain Semíra’s final log entry: “We will stride in the sky, or die trying: we have no need of small lives.”

    Note one of Antóa’s names: Sóran-Kerís. It’s the drifted family name of the captains of the Reckless in Planetfall: Ouranákis -> Soranákis -> Sóran-Kerís: Skystrider (and in the far future it also means “ship’s captain”). Rodhánis’ nameless lover in Planetfall is a Sóran-Kerís. So is the youth in Antóa’s vision in The Wind Harp: Arivén Sóran-Kerís, another major character, the copper-maned man in Rest at Journey’s End.

  7. intrigued_scribe says:

    Congratulations! Truly excellent news. 🙂

  8. Athena says:

    And a huge added bonus, of course, are your ravishing images… *smile*

    You’ve seen this universe come into being, dear Heather. The feedback of readers like you nourished me — and it. I still cannot believe it’s slowly emerging into official light!

  9. Asakiyume says:

    I love the phrase, and l love the concept of a sky strider.

  10. Marie says:

    Athena,
    How delighted I am that all of your hard work, research and hours of compilation have resulted in this deserved recognition of your wonderfully created universe.

    It is not unexpected to all of your faithful readers because to deny our enjoyment of the saga would be futile. (*laughs*)

    Enormous kudos and heartfelt congratulations! (at last!!)

  11. Athena says:

    Marie, you traveled with me while this universe started and grew. The journey was astonishing — but having this world become slowly visible to more people is equally so. It will take time and effort to finish all these tapestries, but now I have strong incentive.

    Francesca, one thing I incorporated in the language was double meanings. I took my cue from old languages using poetic or epic terms for new concepts. Just as sóran-kerís means literally “skystrider” but also “ship’s captain”, there are many such terms in it. I didn’t include them in Planetfall because they might have complicated the reading of the story beyond what its length would bear. But if the novels ever appear, the terms will be in them.