The Catholic Book Club discussion

Ask here any question you want to address the author of the book, that isn't covered by the other topics in this discussion.

I have a question for Professor Manuel Alfonseca. I suppose the obvious answer will be because he got tired, or why he would get tired, but my question is why didn't he write about the other two missing pieces of the puzzle or, why did he sum it up so much? Was it deliberate, or did he follow the technique of C.S. Lewis and prefer that readers imagine it?

I have another question: Did you ever think about reconstructing the magic puzzle again?

Yet another question in the first book of The Journey of Tivo the Dauntless: Book One in the Chronicles of the Magic Jigsaw Puzzle created Larsin's character as a kind of mentor to the main character. Does the author consider that this character fits the rules established by Joseph Campbell?The Hero with a Thousand Faces: Commemorative Edition (Bollingen Series

Another question being a lover of science fiction, although the line between science fiction and fantasy is very thin. What inspired you to write your own fantasy saga?

And the last question for today: Which authors influenced the author to write this wonderful pentalogy? Thank you.

Fonch wrote: "I have a question for Professor Manuel Alfonseca. I suppose the obvious answer will be because he got tired, or why he would get tired, but my question is why didn't he write about the other two missing pieces of the puzzle or, why did he sum it up so much?"

Seven pieces of the jigsaw puzzle... Seven books in the Narnia Chronicles... Initially I had the idea of writing seven books in this series. However, by September 1986 I had reached one half of the fourth book. Then Editorial Siglo Cultural offered me to publish the whole series by Christmas the same year.

In just three months, it would be impossible for me to write 3.5 books. Therefore I decided to leave the series with 5 books, and deal with the last three pieces in the fifth book.

Even so, I had to write the fifth book in 40 days. By then, this was the book I had written in less time. Later on, I've been able to break this limit. My last two novels (The Earth-9 Colony Revisited and Operation Viginti) were finished in less than 40 days each.

Fonch wrote: "I have another question: Did you ever think about reconstructing the magic puzzle again?"

I knew from the beginning how the magic puzzle would be rebuilt, for I knew what was the meaning of the magic puzzle. But this is obvious for the reader only at the end of the fifth book.

Fonch wrote: "Another question: being a lover of science fiction, although the line between science fiction and fantasy is very thin. What inspired you to write your own fantasy saga?"

I wrote fantasy before I wrote sci-fi. This series was my first successful attempt at writing fiction.

Fonch wrote: "Which authors influenced the author to write this wonderful pentalogy?"

Of course, as I've said before, my series was inspired by the Narnian Chronicles by C.S. Lewis. Also, although farther away, by Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings." And by St.Paul's epistles to the Romans, Ephesians and Colossians.

As to particular influences on the five books, I could find the following:

1. The style of The Mystery of the Black Lake was influenced by Dante's The Divine Comedy

2. The third book, The Silver Swan, is influenced by The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and by Homer (especially by The Odyssey).

3. The fourth book, The Secret of the Ice Field, had a slight influence by Ursula LeGuin's A Wizard of Earthsea

4. The first part of the fifth book, The Lost Continent, was written in the style of the novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

5. The second part of the fifth book, The Lost Continent, was influenced by Walter Miller Jr.'s A Canticle for Leibowitz and by the Apocalypse (Revelation).

Fonch wrote: "Larsin's character as a kind of mentor to the main character. Does the author consider that this character fits the rules established by Joseph Campbell?The Hero with a Thousand Faces: Commemorative Edition (Bollingen Series"

Sorry, I haven't read Campbell's book, so I cannot answer this question.

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "I have a question for Professor Manuel Alfonseca. I suppose the obvious answer will be because he got tired, or why he would get tired, but my question is why didn't he write about th..."

Amazing, astonishing

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "I have another question: Did you ever think about reconstructing the magic puzzle again?"

I knew from the beginning how the magic puzzle would be rebuilt, for I knew what was the mea..."

I who have read it can say that the second part of the Fifth Book is impressive and, one of the best I have read, and the ending seems very successful to me.

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "Another question: being a lover of science fiction, although the line between science fiction and fantasy is very thin. What inspired you to write your own fantasy saga?"

I wrote fan..."
Any specific passage from that epistle?

I who have read it can say that the second part of the Fifth Book is impressive and, one of the best I have read, and the ending seems very successful to me. I would never have thought that an RPG or a party quest like "The Mystery of the Black Lake" would have been inspired by the "The Divine Comedy". The author and I have been writing to each other for a long time, and I told him that my favorite part of the "Divine Comedy" is Paradise and my least favorite part is Purgatory. "The Silver Swan If that meant it. In fact, C.S. Lewis was also inspired by "Voyage of the Dawn Trader "T¡The Odyssey", which by the way is my sister's favorite book. Didn't the discovery of America inspire you? The Secret of the Ice Field This one seemed to me the most original of the saga and, I thought that some Russian author would have inspired it. If the first part of the "The Lost Continent" was clearer. I can't say anything about the fifth part of the book, but it was the one I liked the most along with the second book which is the closest to my tastes.

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "Larsin's character as a kind of mentor to the main character. Does the author consider that this character fits the rules established by Joseph Campbell?The Hero with a Thousand Faces..."

More or less Joseph Campbell The Hero with a Thousand Faces: Commemorative Edition (Bollingen Series elaborated a theory of the hero in the aforementioned book that George Lucas followed in Star Wars , to describe the evolution of the hero. More or less at first he is guided by a beneficent teacher, but when the character has reached enough experience. The master gives way to him, and the hero completes his final development and culminates his destiny.

Fonch wrote: "I would never have thought that an RPG or a party quest like "The Mystery of the Black Lake" would have been inspired by the "The Divine Comedy"."

The plot is not inspired by The Divine Comedy, just the style of a part of my novel.

Fonch wrote: "Didn't the discovery of America inspire you?"

Of course! That's what they are doing in the third book, discovering a new continent. In fact, that's also what they are doing in the fifth book.

Fonch wrote: "Larsin's character as a kind of mentor to the main character... Does the author consider that this character fits the rules established by Joseph Campbell?... At first he is guided by a beneficent teacher, but when the character has reached enough experience. The master gives way to him, and the hero completes his final development and culminates his destiny."

Of course! But Campbell did not established those rules, he just described them. This has been done since many centuries ago. One could also mention The Divine Comedy :-)

Fonch wrote: "Any specific passage from those epistles?"

Yes, but I won't say which, for that would unveil the plot of the series!

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "I would never have thought that an RPG or a party quest like "The Mystery of the Black Lake" would have been inspired by the "The Divine Comedy"."

The plot is not inspired by T..."</i>
I'll have to reread it more carefully to see the similarities between "[book:The Divine Comedy" and the second part of Magic Jigsaw.

So the continent of the third book and that of the fifth part are the same? Frankly interesting.

Fonch wrote: "So the continent of the third book and that of the fifth part are the same? Frankly interesting."

Where did you get that idea? Of course they are different!

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "Larsin's character as a kind of mentor to the main character... Does the author consider that this character fits the rules established by Joseph Campbell?... At first he is guided by..."

Where? I don't know that Aristotle, or any other author, would have dealt with this subject, but Dante Alighieri. Perhaps when Virgil is replaced by Beatrice after purgatory.

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "Any specific passage from those epistles?"

Yes, but I won't say which, for that would unveil the plot of the series!"

You are going to force me to look at the Epistle quoted to find out on my own :-)

It's a bit of a silly question, but knowing the author my fascination with uchronies and Aslan's answer in "Prince Caspian" doesn't work for me. If the publisher hadn't rushed you to conclude the saga, what would the other two books have been like to recover the other two remaining pieces of the Magic Puzzle? What other parts of the world could the main characters of this story have visited? If the question seems silly, or inconvenient, or a lot of time has passed, you don't have to answer them.

By the way, I apologize to the author for not responding to his messages when I received them. I wanted to answer him in a more or less understandable English, and reading "El derecho a soñar: Vida y obra de Ana María Martínez Sagi" by Juan Manuel de Prada has me very busy since I want to finish it by June 18

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "So the continent of the third book and that of the fifth part are the same? Frankly interesting."

Where did you get that idea? Of course they are different!"

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "So the continent of the third book and that of the fifth part are the same? Frankly interesting."

Where did you get that idea? Of course they are different!"

I mistakenly thought from the comments that that continent would be the same. I sincerely apologize for the misunderstanding.

Seeing the comment, another good question occurred to me. Apart from the fascination of the author, well known to me by the novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs. What inspired you to create that lost continent? I was thinking of mythical civilizations such as Lemuria, or the Mu Continent that for example appears in the ドラえもん 1 Doraemon 1 saga. Or is it Aztec or Mayan America? or something similar to the novels of H. Rider Haggard?

Fonch wrote: "Perhaps when Virgil is replaced by Beatrice after purgatory."

Of course, that's what I meant.

Fonch wrote: "Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "Any specific passage from those epistles?"

Yes, but I won't say which, for that would unveil the plot of the series!"

You are going to force me to look at the Epistle..."

Or you may wait until the end of the month. As I said in another question, I'll explain everything by that time.

Fonch wrote: "If the publisher hadn't rushed you to conclude the saga, what would the other two books have been like to recover the other two remaining pieces of the Magic Puzzle? What other parts of the world could the main characters of this story have visited?"

The current fifth book would have been split into three. What happened would have been more or less the same.

Fonch wrote: "What inspired you to create that lost continent? I was thinking of mythical civilizations such as Lemuria, or the Mu Continent that for example appears..."

The first thing I did when I started writing this series was to draw the global map of my world, with three continents, two of which would be unknown for the characters of the first two books. There is no correspondence between those continents and ours. No continent represents America, although the people of the unknown continent in the fifth book reminds the Asian civilizations.

I didn't intend to draw any parallel to mythical continents here on the Earth.

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "Perhaps when Virgil is replaced by Beatrice after purgatory."

Of course, that's what I meant."

I had the impression that things would go that way. But perhaps that was what inspired Joseph Campbell After all, he is a specialist in myths like Mircea Eliade.

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "Any specific passage from those epistles?"

Yes, but I won't say which, for that would unveil the plot of the series!"

You are going to force me to look ..."
Don't worry, Juan Manuel de Prada's book will drop before I finish this month. That's for sure, and after finishing it I'll dedicate myself entirely to rereading your books in this saga.

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "If the publisher hadn't rushed you to conclude the saga, what would the other two books have been like to recover the other two remaining pieces of the Magic Puzzle? What other parts ..."

What I wanted to know is if there would have been new characters and new adventures? Since two more books would have gone a long way. When I read this saga I was left with the charge of How would the search for the other two pieces have been? I assume that there would have been no new characters and that the characters who had appeared in the other books would have found them.

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "What inspired you to create that lost continent? I was thinking of mythical civilizations such as Lemuria, or the Mu Continent that for example appears..."

The first thing I did when..."

In other words, what was intended from the beginning was to create two new worlds that had no reminiscence with our world except for some feature like in the fourth book you point out?

Fonch wrote: "What I wanted to know is if there would have been new characters and new adventures?"

Honestly, I don't know. I knew what was going to happen at the end, but had not decided on the discovery of pieces fifth and sixth before I started to write the fifth condensed book.

Fonch wrote: "In other words, what was intended from the beginning was to create two new worlds that had no reminiscence with our world except for some feature like in the fourth book you point out?"

Not two new worlds, but a single world with several features similar to our own.

The last couple weeks have been very busy for me, though I have been reading the Chronicles and should finish this weekend.

I made sure to check in this morning to ask Manuel a few questions only to find that Fonch has already asked them all!

John wrote: "I made sure to check in this morning to ask Manuel a few questions only to find that Fonch has already asked them all!"

😁

Nobody cheered up to participate 😁

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "Larsin's character as a kind of mentor to the main character... Does the author consider that this character fits the rules established by Joseph Campbell?... At first he is guided by..."

How foolish I was the figure of the instructor, or the teacher, is created by Homer with Phoenix, although his appearance is very brief The Iliad, and especially with Mentor in the "The Odyssey" although in reality it is Athena who takes the form of Mentor. I should have fallen earlier.

Were you inspired by any civilizations such as the Huns, Tatars, or Mongols to create the steppe tribes?

Fonch wrote: "Were you inspired by any civilizations such as the Huns, Tatars, or Mongols to create the steppe tribes?"

Yes!

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "Were you inspired by any civilizations such as the Huns, Tatars, or Mongols to create the steppe tribes?"

Yes!"
Can some of the Kings of Tiva and Ithin have features of some historical figures, or was that not taken into account when telling the story?

Fonch wrote: "Can some of the Kings of Tiva and Ithin have features of some historical figures, or was that not taken into account when telling the story?"

Except for Kial (Christ) and King Tivo I (who represents Adam), no other character in the five books represents a person in our world.

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "Can some of the Kings of Tiva and Ithin have features of some historical figures, or was that not taken into account when telling the story?"

Except for Kial (Christ) and King Tivo I..."

That will make the lives of the rest of the kings more exciting, as the reader will be able to imagine their lives and their exploits.

I have a question about edition. For example the The Mystery of the Black Lake, Kindle lists it as 119 pages and Kobo as 96? Is it just difference of formatting? I picked up the Kobo several years ago but had not got around to reading them except for the first.

Also I am sorry I am late to the discussion. I have had a very busy month at work with 2 major projects going life. I hope to finish the 4 remaining books before end of month. And look forward to getting caught up on the discussions.

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "Another question: being a lover of science fiction, although the line between science fiction and fantasy is very thin. What inspired you to write your own fantasy saga?"

I wrote fan..."

Wow that is a fascinating range of inspirations. I read a lot of Burrows when I first overcame my dyslexia. And I read Earthsea book 1 in High school, and then again in a university course in my early 30's. That Time I read the whole series that was available at that time.

Steven R. wrote: "I have a question about edition. For example the The Mystery of the Black Lake, Kindle lists it as 119 pages and Kobo as 96? Is it just difference of formatting?"

The original formatting should be the same everywhere, but Kindle uses its own internal representation and its own readers, so the number of pages could be different. I have just opened the book with another epub reader (FBReader) and it shows just 85 pages.

I just rebought them on Kindle as well. When I originally bought them I had a Kobo device and now use both apps on phone and tablet.

Steven R. wrote: "I have a question about edition. For example the The Mystery of the Black Lake, Kindle lists it as 119 pages and Kobo as 96? Is it just difference of formatting? I picked up the Kobo several years ..."

Better late than never, my dear friend. You are more than welcome🤗

Can the Lord of light be inspired by the Gospel of St. John, in such a way that this name is given to the first person of the Holy Trinity?

How could the cult of the nomads of the steppes degenerate and turn the Lord of Light into a lord of the hunt who demands human sacrifices?