Welcome Adventures, to Character chat. In this new article I’ll be
talking with characters from newly released and soon to be
re-released books. Today’s guests Amaya Ulonya and Ed Osborn
from Like Herding the Wind.
Welcome, so tell my
adventurers about your world.
Ed: Well, um,
it’s … Earth. Las Palomas, Texas, to be precise, and Woran Oldue,
and the Buffer Zone, and the ruins of Woran Juvay, not to mention a
wee bit of Marquette, Michigan, and Woran Kishay, too.
Amaya (leans
closer to Ed): I don’t think their Earth was graced with
Eshuvani crash landing in 1612, dear one.
Ed (smiling):
Ah, yeah, that sure would change quite a bit, don’t you know? In
that case, you should know that, as Amaya said, an Eshuvani
generation ship crashed in what’s now Germany in 1612. Earth is
short on the resources the Eshuvani needed to repair their technology
and take off again, so they were stuck here. Since then, they’ve
learned from us, we’ve learned from them, and for the most part, we
all get along okay. Mostly.
Amaya: By and
large, we kept to ourselves and stayed in our enclaves to let the
human civilizations develop freely. From time to time, we tried to
help out with crises or tried to prevent disasters. That had mixed
results. Now and then, a human and an Eshuvani will adopt one
another. The relationship typically takes on a parent-child tone to
it.
Ed: I adopted
Amaya when I was four. I’d gotten myself lost in the woods around
Marquette, and she was the one who found me. I was fascinated with
Eshuvani even at that age. She’s been my urushalon ever
since.
What are some of the
places you’d recommend my adventurers see in your world?
Ed: Las
Palomas really isn’t that exciting. Typical, mid-sized, rural Texas
town. Not much to see there. Nice museum. Decent aquarium. Lovely
beach. That’s about it. Likewise, Marquette is … typical. If you
get a chance, though, you should visit one of the Eshuvani enclaves.
They have technology that just boggles the brain if you’ve never
seen anything like that. You would have to either get an Eshuvani to
sponsor your visit or become someone’s urushalon, which is a
lifetime commitment, not something to take lightly.
Amaya: There
are some open-to-all museums, like the First Contact museum in
Michigan. They’re located on the edge of the enclave that sponsors
it, which allows humans to access it. If you can’t find a sponsor,
that might be an option.
Tell my adventurers
about some of the technology in your world.
Ed (scratches his
head): Technology, huh? Let’s see. Color televisions are
becoming more available. Pretty expensive, though. Um, what else? Oh!
Las Palomas police cars got 2-way radios a few years ago. Those are
handy. I think some of the bigger cities have had those for a while,
though. And they say we’ll have computers in our homes in the next
decade. If the Eshuvani didn’t already have them, I’d’ve said
they were pulling my leg. (Ed shrugs) Eshuvani technology is
much more interesting.
Amaya: There
are many fascinating technologies that survived the transfer to Earth
resources. One of the most useful for me is an avicopter. They are
somewhat like a human aircraft, but the wings actually flap like an
Earth bird. (Amaya points to the gold filigree on her collar)
The communication system used by Eshuvani emergency services helps us
coordinate, communicate, and even send a request for immediate
assistance. Because of these colored crystals in the collar tabs, I
can also tell at a glance what skillset the other emergency personnel
have. We also have voice- and heat-recognition systems that do things
like turn on the lights or open doors.
How would you
describe your fellow characters?
Ed (snickers):
Characters. That’s a good description for some of them.
Amaya (smiles):
We do have an interesting assortment, do we not? When I took over the
Buffer Zone kiandarai station, the enclave’s kiand,
my superior, had already assigned all my staff. Somewhat
irregular, but not unheard of.
Ed:
Irregular? That old piranha gave you kids.
Amaya: He did
at that. Four of my staff are kialai, which means they’re
still in the latter part of their training. That makes for some
interesting times.
Ed: Two of
them look like – and one acts like – they’re not even out of
school.
Amaya (pats Ed’s
hand): Ishe will learn, and Vadin is somewhat more mature than
his years, fortunately. The other two, well, Jevon at least follows
his laments with useful action, and Nurinyan is starting to recognize
when he has been impulsive.
Ed: After the
fact, which is still an improvement. At least you have Orinyay. A bit
too soft-spoken for police work, if you ask me, but she’s
competent. Did you ever figure out why Emyrin assigned her to
your crew? Everyone else seems to be there because he’s got it in
for them.
Amaya: She
corrected his bad math on a report.
Ed (winces):
Oops.
Amaya:
Fortunately, all your staff is experienced. Mark and Robert, in
particular, do quite well.
Ed: They’re
good men. All of them are. As soon as they’re all trained on how to
deal with the Eshuvani criminals who are making our lives more
exciting, we’ll be all set.
Amaya: We’ll
work it out.
Thank you for coming
to talk with us, and can’t wait to read all about you.
Ed: Thanks
for having us.
Amaya: Yes,
thank you for the opportunity to serve. Like Herding the Wind
will be re-released soon.
Welcome Adventurers. Well I'm back, and today I bring you a review of The Long Hall by S.C. Freiberger. This book is for our time what C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters was for his. When Seth learns his mother has cancer and has placed her trust in God he's not so sure he believes. One night he has a dream where he meets a mysterious man who leads him to a demon high school. He sits in on classes and learns the art of deception and must learn to find the truth amid the lies. This books gives a thought provoking look at different topics in a way that grabs your attention. I give The Long Hall 41/2 out of 5 gears.
