Guest Blog: J. M. Frey (Excerpt from Triptych)
I read a lot of books. As of today, I've read 74 books so far this year, including children's books and graphic novels (though I weigh some graphic novels differently than others -- it usually takes two volumes of manga to count as one book on my list, for example). I've been thinking of how to do a recommendation of what I've read so far this year that I think pretty much everyone should pick up if they haven't already read them, but haven't really gotten my thoughts thoroughly together on that. So, it being Friday once again, I thought I'd share an excerpt from one of my favorite discoveries of the year: Triptych by J. M. Frey. It's a time travel novel, a story about aliens trying to integrate into their new homes (while their perspectives continue to remain completely foreign), and a tale of the trouble societies have making changes in worldview to accommodate new ideas.
When people leave one land or world to come to another, they bring their stories with them, and those stories reveal a lot about their culture. The way the listeners receive the stories says a lot, as well. This section is from more than midway through the book, and so that I don't reveal too much, I'm only including a very small part of the retelling of a legend, from the perspective of the main alien, Kalp. It describes why romantic family units on his planet come in threes. I think it captures a bit of the novel's tone -- and I hope it'll whet your appetite to pick up the novel in full. It's very much worth reading.
--
"In a place that is not here," he starts. Kalp's parents had told it like this. All parents did, where he was from. They started their stories differently on the other continent, but neither was better than the other. It was just a preference. Tradition.
"In a place that is not here," Kalp repeats, because the start is the most important part and bears repeating, "There was Vren."
"Who's Vren?" Basil asks, sinking into the sofa on the other side of Gwen, clutching his mug of tea like a lifeline, like he always does.
"Shut up," Gwen says.
"Vren was tall," Kalp said. "And his eyes were very yellow."
"Is that usual?" Basil asked. "Yellow eyes, I mean? Or is it a... a, yunno, a signifier? A symbol?"
Gwen elbows him. "Shut up, Baz."
Kalp does not lift his head. The story is for the baby, not Basil, and Basil's questions will wait for later.
"Vren had long strong arms and a long strong body and a long strong mind."
"How can a mind be long?" Basil asks. A glare from Gwen and Kalp both makes him roll his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, shut up Basil," he says.
"Vren was not wealthy. He was not High Status. He was not renowned for any particular trade. He was, however, completely and devotedly happy, and in those days, that was rare."
"Why rare? Yes, yes, shut up Basil. I gettit."
[Note from Alana: the myth goes on, but, to avoid spoilers, we'll skip to the ending]
"Is it true?" Basil asks, ever the empirical scientist.
Kalp performs the shrugging motion. "Does it truly matter if it is?"
"No, don't suppose," Basil allows.
"We call those myths," Gwen says. "Histories that are fantasy."
"Myths," Kalp repeats, committing the new word to memory.
When people leave one land or world to come to another, they bring their stories with them, and those stories reveal a lot about their culture. The way the listeners receive the stories says a lot, as well. This section is from more than midway through the book, and so that I don't reveal too much, I'm only including a very small part of the retelling of a legend, from the perspective of the main alien, Kalp. It describes why romantic family units on his planet come in threes. I think it captures a bit of the novel's tone -- and I hope it'll whet your appetite to pick up the novel in full. It's very much worth reading.
--
"In a place that is not here," he starts. Kalp's parents had told it like this. All parents did, where he was from. They started their stories differently on the other continent, but neither was better than the other. It was just a preference. Tradition.
"In a place that is not here," Kalp repeats, because the start is the most important part and bears repeating, "There was Vren."
"Who's Vren?" Basil asks, sinking into the sofa on the other side of Gwen, clutching his mug of tea like a lifeline, like he always does.
"Shut up," Gwen says.
"Vren was tall," Kalp said. "And his eyes were very yellow."
"Is that usual?" Basil asked. "Yellow eyes, I mean? Or is it a... a, yunno, a signifier? A symbol?"
Gwen elbows him. "Shut up, Baz."
Kalp does not lift his head. The story is for the baby, not Basil, and Basil's questions will wait for later.
"Vren had long strong arms and a long strong body and a long strong mind."
"How can a mind be long?" Basil asks. A glare from Gwen and Kalp both makes him roll his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, shut up Basil," he says.
"Vren was not wealthy. He was not High Status. He was not renowned for any particular trade. He was, however, completely and devotedly happy, and in those days, that was rare."
"Why rare? Yes, yes, shut up Basil. I gettit."
[Note from Alana: the myth goes on, but, to avoid spoilers, we'll skip to the ending]
"Is it true?" Basil asks, ever the empirical scientist.
Kalp performs the shrugging motion. "Does it truly matter if it is?"
"No, don't suppose," Basil allows.
"We call those myths," Gwen says. "Histories that are fantasy."
"Myths," Kalp repeats, committing the new word to memory.