It's very interesting that the 'The Labors of Ki'shto'ba' is the re-telling of the Trojan War, is this a favoured historical era of yours?
I enjoy myth more than factual history.
The “Labors” series came about as I was finishing the writing of The Termite Queen. I had created a Shshi (termite) Champion named Ki’shto’ba Huge-Head for TQ and it hit me that the powerful Ki’shto’ba could be a stand-in for Hercules.
At one point in The Termite Queen, Kaitrin Oliva narrates the story of Ulysses and the Cyclops to the Queen and her “court.” Until that point, those landlocked people had known of the sea only as a Remembrancer’s tale. They were fascinated, so I thought, why not have Ki’shto’ba and some Companions, including the Remembrancer (Bard) of the fortress who would narrate the tale, set out on a quest to reach the sea?
Along the way, they would live out an assortment of Greek myths and medieval legends in the context of their own culture.
So Vol 1: The War of the Stolen Mother introduces Ki’shto’ba as a Hercules figure, hedged around with prophecies, and presents essential members of the Quest, then proceeds to develop the adventure of a 10-year war comparable to the Trojan War.
Vol. 2: The Storm-Wing utilizes other myths – the Herculean labors of the Stymphalian Birds and the hydra and a couple of famous medieval epics. Then in Vol. 3: The Valley of Thorns (which I’m preparing to publish before Christmas), we
Lorinda J Taylor
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