One of my many interests is history, especially ancient history, and over the last day or two I have been exchanging messages with a friend I've made on here on that subject and how it relates to my book MAN STRUGGLING WITH UMBRELLA. I thought my last message was worthy of sharing with you all. I'm hoping it might clear up some of the mystery and confusion surrounding my work and give you something to bear in mind while you're reading it. I did make an attempt to put this over in the foreword of the book itself, but somehow I think I've done a rather better job of it here. This is a direct cut & paste:

I'm flattered that you think I'm so amazing, but I don't think you've actually read my book, have you? It's not a novel, it's made up of a lot of fragments, mostly fiction. The last two pieces in the book, which are two of the best in my opinion, concern the discovery of a completely fictional lost civilisation, and Jammac, the founding father of that civilisation, or at least the great statue of him, is depicted on the cover.

In the foreword I describe my series of books metaphorically as a series of archaeological digs. You start out knowing nothing. Seemingly unconnected relics are discovered and the reader has to start putting them together like a jigsaw puzzle. Every book in the series represents a new layer of discovery and brings with it certain revelations, but the whole truth will never be known. There will always be gaps that the archaeologist / reader has to fill with their own suppositions. I don't know if anyone has ever presented a series of books this way before, but it was always my intention to attempt something radically different to what people are used to, and though this Legacy Series is far removed from what I originally had in mind back in the late 1990s, it still ticks that box.

I'm going to post this reply in my blog. I think it might help others to understand my intent. Hope you don't mind.

PJM