Q: What inspired you to write The Knights of Takius?
Q: What can readers expect to take away from this read?
Q: In general, how much of the book is influenced by Religion?
Q: What is your impression of the central character, is there romance, and what is his motivation as he endures numerous obstacles throughout the saga? |
| Q: What inspired you to write The Knights of Takius? |
| A: Great question! I was inspired to write "The Knights" for several reasons. Chief among them is this; it is intended as an encouragement to my fellow man and as a hopeful antidote to some of the primary problems we face here in the twenty first century. My hope was to both entertain my readers and to positively touch their hearts.
"The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself." This is but one of the many quotes of a wise man, Albert Camus, and I suppose you could say I wrote the book in the hopes that it will make a difference in the lives of those who happen upon the adventure. Its reading should at least help make the readers' lives a little "saner" here in these days of much insanity.
In the story, beyond the romance, the adventures and the battles, there are many clear moral truths that are the bedrock for sane societies. Readers will find all of this and much more, bound up in a captivating setting; one which teaches us that today's problems are really nothing new, but they are problems that we can, and must, deal with.
I also wrote the book for its pure entertainment value. As a fan of the highly entertaining Narnia and Lord of the Rings series I thought it was time to provide a similar, yet entirely new world to serve as another platform to entertain, exhort and provide pause for thought. As an example: We all need to think about our answer to this question: "How then should we live?" Hopefully the lessons of "The Knights" will provide a little insight for the answer to this probing question.
The themes found in the Nagundan saga encourage us to right living and right dealing with our fellow man, whether in our family, at the work place, in church or in society in general.
"The Knights" also serves, to an extent, as a warning for its readers, whether Christians or not. A warning regarding complacency, luke-warmness, compromise, hubris, sophistry and for church leaders, regarding "office-grabbing" and inappropriate dealings with laity. It also extols God and highlights our dependence upon Him.
Man! I could write a book to answer just this question but I'll close my answer to question one with this: It is my belief that "there is trouble here in River City." There is trouble here in our modern world, especially here in America, and the timeless lessons of old, plainly stated in "The Knights", should serve as a means to combat them. |
| Q: What can readers expect to take away from this read? |
| A: Another great question! They should expect to take away many fond memories. A thirst for more of the Flipperbopper stories. They will find positive, uplifting encouragement from the Nagundan adventures and some will find deeper, probing questions for further thought and inquiry. Some will merely be entertained but others, deeper readers, will not only be entertained but they will be able to detect parallels to contemporary problems both here in the United States and elsewhere. Some readers will find very interesting minutia if they probe closely. But others will probably focus on the more obvious. Take the antagonists for example.
The primary antagonists, the "measts" and Venedeis, "The Rat", and his ilk, are reflective of current threats to our freedom and peace. The book is an encouragement for the reader to consider this and by subtlety, the book encourages the reader to take action, to pause and to reassess. It is, of course, left to the reader to take from the book whatever lessons and values he or she finds within its pages, however deep, but my hope is that they will find them and be positively entertained in the process.
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| Q: In general, how much of the book is influenced by Religion? |
| A: In all of life, whether one claims a certain "religion" or not he is still a religious being. As an example, an atheist's belief is his religion and this book is antithetical to that belief in its entirety. Religion plays a prominent, unabashed role in this grand adventure and other than being classified as a "fantasy", which the book of course is, it is a more "in your face" statement of Christianity than most. In fact, one of the parallels, if discerned (and there is a strong hint to be found within the book) contrasts two of the great competing religions of our day. I doubt that some will find it "subtle" at all. |
| Q: What is your impression of the central character, is there romance, and what is his motivation as he endures numerous obstacles throughout the saga? |
| A: Our central character is of course Takius but there are other heroes as well. They all share common virtues but Takius is the chief protagonist. His prime motivation is duty, loyalty, service.
Takius faces important decisions as he comes of age and he must learn to lead his country. He is torn between his long-time love and his duty to the nation. But he is of noble blood, proper upbringing, and he takes on his duties with a confident competence. He sees sacrifice all about him and is willing to face his nation's enemies head on - even if it costs his life as it does require the lives of several of his friends and the second most important person in his life. Despite these losses he must press forward.
Takius and Maddox, another hero, but a foreigner, are romantically involved with two beauties of the land and the ladies have their own anxieties and problems which they must overcome. Takius' "intended" has her own duties to tend to and she must exhibit great maturity and patience, even at a relatively young age. Reliance upon the King of Kings, in times of adversity or prosperity are a central theme for the Nagundans.
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