Love in A TIME OF KINGS

With the honoring of the Valentine saint once again, we can turn our attention to the meaning of all of it. As the years turn over, from childhood delight at receiving cute cards and cuter candy to our adolescent throes and expectations of receiving romantic cards and more expensive candy, to our young adult ambitions to only share the customs of this day with a special someone, to the truly adult situations where we may decide to simply relax and watch some romantic comedy to celebrate the day, to our later years where it is all too much trouble to put forth the effort - or else the significant other is gone - we strive to make something of this day, not so much for a long-dead priest who married couples in secret but instead for nothing but our own modern trifles. 

If you are not so predisposed, you might enjoy an old blog post where I ranted about the day. You can find it here - thanks is unnecessary.

When last we indulged in blogging, I concluded a four-part series on the writing of my ribald comedy set in a medieval future time titled THE WARRIORS BAUMANN. 

As the culmination of the FLU SEASON Saga, I turned toward a lighter story yet one in which serious matters still occur. First of those serious matters is why, 200 years after the conclusion of my apocalyptic Western epic THE GRANDSONS (Book 6), has the states of America devolved into rival kingdoms. The answer is multifold: social unrest, collapsing economy, and natural disasters reduce civilization to survivors who must rebuild. In our tale of two brothers on a mission, we find them on the road to Louis, the capital of the Kingdom of Missoura, a fine example of the rebuilt civilization albeit a decadent place. What happens in Louis tends to stay in Louis, of course. 

Set entirely in the year of 2353, THE WARRIORS BAUMANN has a satisfying conclusion, one which is not so obviously linked to my next novel, titled A TIME OF KINGS. Except for the exceptions. Let me explain....

Our future medieval epic opens with a battle scene in which a wounded king takes a boy found on the battlefield back to Louis, puts the boy into his family as brother to the king's own son and daughter. The adopted boy is given the name Jack, and he uses it throughout most of the book. His true name comes out later when we learn he is one of the ling line of Baumann descendants (there are earlier hints). Hence, a connection to the whole FLU SEASON Saga. However, this epic drama is not intended to draw from the earlier books any more than to recount the fall of civilization that occurs in them. There are no direct references back to those other books (unlike in THE WARRIORS BAUMANN where a stage play is performed based on an earlier character's opera, itself based on a much earlier character's notebooks recording events).

Thus, we have a wholly new story: an epic of vast scope covering the lifetime of our narrator, Jack, who becomes the Royal physician, giving him access to much Court drama, and thrusts him into the war between the twin princes. More crucially, Jack witnesses the aftermath of the war's outcome. Although the chief matters are settled, the Realm slowly succumbs to its liege's increasing melancholy despite attempts to intercede. No need to offer spoilers at this point. It is enough to offer this overview: a three-part novel - before, during, and after the great war between Chicageaux and Cinnati - with a vast scope (the kingdoms of the Americus) and a large cast of memorable characters living in the medieval society of the time. 

Background. In my early days of grandeur, around thirteen, when I thought i was on the verge of world domination, I opened a spiral-bound notebook and put Bic pen to lined page, and scribbled out the opening scenes of a big book that filled my head so full I feared drowning in the story. I didn't get far, writing by hand. Instead, I set myself to planning the story. I put some of my notes on paper using my manual typewriter. The main thing at that time was to record as much as I could of everything that happens, knowing that the scope of the epic story was too great for me to tackle in my adolescence. Also, I had yet to experience life in the way that's necessary to portray so many different people in the story with accuracy and verisimilitude.

I kept at it, held it in the back room, and in college wrote it as a screenplay - in those days where I believed I'd end up in Hollywood. At least in that format I was able to get the whole story down on paper: all the dialogue, all the twists and turns - and camera angles, fade outs, etc. From that screenplay, I began trying to novelize it - after being rejected by Hollywood. I started in the wrong place, and gave up. I gave it time and tried to write a novel version again only to run aground. In 2017 I published my only fantasy novel: EPIC FANTASY *WITH DRAGONS. In that story, the characters recount the infamous "War of the Five Princes" as a turning point in their ancient history (ancient to the characters in the far future where dragons fill the skies, but I digress...).

Then, as fate would assign it, many things happened in life and I wrote the FLU SEASON series. Then THE WARRIORS BAUMANN came along and I linked it back to the post-pandemic/collapse-of-society/rebuilding series of books. By the end of THE WARRIORS BAUMANN I knew that A TIME OF KINGS was inevitable. There are only a few minor references back to THE WARRIORS BAUMANN or the earlier books - easy to miss even if you've read those books. I intend for this newest epic novel to be a work on its own, but it's always fun to have a few ties to other works. No, this epic is completely serious (but with moments of natural humor, romance, wisdom, and so on like any good novel) and takes its subject seriously: the rivalry between twin princes that destroy the Realm in a future version of America built up from survivors' struggles to medieval kingdoms.

A TIME OF KINGS is finished. Complete. Undergoing the usual revision stage as I blog, with the cover artwork coming soon. Expected to be available in Fall 2026.

Next time: More on the plot, background in the story, and various connections. 

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