by Jeremy Finn
As DaNyang finished his explanation, Mahae’el turned slightly and took a step almost as if he were climbing an invisible staircase into the sky. In the blink of an eye, his pale form rushed forward and blurred in a streak of light shooting toward the stars, but dissolved into nothing before James could even capture the image in his mind. Both servants stood and watched the spot silently for a few minutes before DaNyang broke the silence.
“Well James,” he said as he clasped his shoulder and began walking with him across the courtyard, “shall I show you to a cheeb? I think you have many interesting days ahead of you, and a warm meal and a long sleep in some thick blankets seems in order.”
“Interesting is a very diplomatic way of saying it, Intercessor,” James chuckled, and both men strolled into the forest. The sun was just beginning to cast its glow over the horizon, but the ring of clouds continued to drag across the face of Haniang, obscuring the early colors of approaching morning. The first gusts of wind and speckles of rain betrayed the rapid return of the ominous storm as the calm of the eye drifted away from Hanasan Hold.
COMMENTARY
I started writing mini commentaries for my short stories to give the reader a short snapshot of why I wrote the story and to provide some of the background for my inspiration. Most readers enjoyed this and felt it gave them an interesting glimpse into my thoughts and character. So, I decided to provide a commentary for my trilogy as well. It is not comprehensive, as this would take much time and space. Rather, I toss out a few of the insights here and there just to make it a bit more interesting and help remind myself someday in the future where all these ideas came from. They are broken down by chapter.
Prologue
The location - enclosed balcony with floor to ceiling glass window looking out over the city - was where I used to sit on a couch when we were stationed in Seoul, South Korea. I would often sit there at night to pray/have quiet time. Gazing out over the sparkling city full of unseen masses of moving, living beings from high above in my own secluded space always stirred deep thoughts. I think this is where the whole idea for this storyline germinated one night, so it was an appropriate place to start the story.
Premonition
The setting is explained in the previous chapter commentary. Concerning names, I often grab names of people I know and tweak them a bit. Sometimes the names match the character in some way, but not always. I will attempt to explain the origins of names throughout the commentaries, but sometimes I honestly do not remember myself how I came up with them (like Qeter, for example). James is a short version of my brother's name, Jamason. Huener is a slightly different spelling for my kendo sensei's last name. Joe was the name of a friend of mine from my time in Korea, but I do not remember where Senagi came from. The drink mentioned briefly is a representation of a korean persimmon beverage. Food is another topic in this story that is almost always based on real meals I enjoyed.
Upon the Eve of the Dedication
The whole use of the holiday for the setting comes from my love of holidays. Fall holidays are always a lot of fun, too. Using Christmas, Thanksgiving and the Korean Chusok holidays, I merged them to create an alternate holiday of thanks to include many of the aspects I like best. I threw in the subway and run through the market because they are familiar haunts for me. I struggled a bit in writing all these books with concern for how to describe the creatures, or nefarin. I wanted to give the idea that they are ghastly, but honestly I never really developed a definitive image in my head of what they would look like. So, I settled on throwing out some descriptors and leaving the rest to the reader to create in his/her mind. Perhaps that is better anyway.
Dark Revelations
Every scene is reminiscent of a place in Seoul - Taepung Park/some of the palace grounds, subway/Seoul subway, market/Namdaemun night market, Chang Bok River/Han River, Ulchiro and restarant/Insadong traditional street and there is an Ulchiro neighborhood nearby, trail up the mountain/trails up Dobong Mountains. It was hard to write about the whole background of the guardians, partly because I wanted to leave a lot of that unsaid/mysterious. The more you write about the past, the more rules you set for yourself as the creative writer. It narrows the box that you may accidentally violate later down the line if you are not careful. Even in this fourth reading of the first book, I had to go back and rewrite a significant paragraph, mostly because a prequel may come at some point in the future. Again, you can probably tell I enjoy writing about food. It's not so much that I enjoy food itself, but that it is another one of those unique and varied things that are fun to describe, especially when it is exotic. This storyline allows me to explain all the unusual and delicious dishes I have experienced throughout Asia. Nearly all of them are directly related to something I have tried. The trail running up to Hanasan Hold is modeled off a real trail that winds up Dobong Mountain outside Uijongbu, South Korea, just adjacent to my brother-in-law's apartment building. When I visit, I try to enjoy a hike up the mountain at least once. In Korea, Buddhist monasteries and temples are nearly all located in the mountains, many near the tops. It is a place of respite, but also has history behind it. When the Confucian dominated Chosun Dynasty ruled, Buddhism was chased into the mountains, and the Japanese occupation continued the persecution. Hence, Hanasan Hold lies at a remote mountain peak overlooking the city.
The Intercessor's Invitation
The buildings and courtyard of Hanasan Hold are a compilation of many of the traditional Korean palace and Buddist monastery buildings I have seen. The setting high above the mountains is reminiscent of Korean Buddhist retreats. The cheebs are my own creation, drawing upon traditional Korean architecture, which includes heated ondol floors. I wanted to capture that warm, cozy feeling I get from sitting before a fire on a cold day or huddling under a warm blanket during a long rainstorm. In this chapter, part of the theme of the book starts to surface. It focuses on the internal struggle between Light and Dark that goes on within humans and within organizations - even those dedicated to noble causes. It mirrors the struggles Christians face as their soul wars with their flesh, and the struggle churches face as spiritual warfare attempts to divide and create disputes within the body of believers. Joe faces an internal struggle because of his disenchantment with the "spiritual" warfare going on within the servants of Hanasan, which manifests as hypocrisy and greed for power.
DaNyang's Charge
This chapter is one of those that has to set the stage for future story. I find these harder to write because it is less fun than action and requires a lot of keeping track of how tone, body language and other subtle indicators will tie in later with what happens in future events. I do not remember where I got the idea of the paintings, but it seemed like a good way to insert a little mystery and some connection to the unseen world.
The Festival of Lights
The most vivid imagery in this chapter has to be the food. Large meals in Korea are usually VERY large. The number of plates and dishes literally does cover the entire table. In fact, some restaurants bring the entire table out to the guests already loaded down with the full set of courses and side dishes. It's quite an experience to see the portable feast brought before you steaming and bubbling invitingly. The large paper lanterns are reminiscent of the lantern parade held in Seoul on Buddha's birthday, though I have not seen it yet in person. This chapter progresses the story by hinting at disturbances in the order and expanding Joe's character. Though at first Joe was only going to be a minor character, he wound up becoming one of the primaries, probably somewhere around the end of my writing the first book. The swordplay is fairly accurate, based on my training in kendo.
Darkness Falls on Hanasan
This is a pretty straightforward action scene. I enjoy writing action, much more than narrative. This is probably evident throughout my books, hopefully not too much to the detriment of the story's depth, but I'm doing it for my enjoyment, after all. When I was a kid and even now, I tend to easily day dream about "action sequences" when I'm bore
d. Give me a location, and I'll conjure up some terrorist situation or battle that needs to be worked out in the mundane spaces around me. The chapter ends abruptly, but I wanted the reader to get something of the same feeling James had as the door closes and the chaos and excitement suddenly ends with silence and the emptiness of aftershock.
Flight at Dawn
As opposed to the last chapter, this one is back at setting up background and storyline. I wanted to give some history of the guardians, but still leave a lot to the imagination. I also wanted to avoid nit-picking, which might occur if I made too many rules/details - the writer is bound to lose track of all the details at some point. That would make the writing and reading less fun. The pool of the King sets things up for the cooperation that will later occur between a descendant of the royal family and the servants of Hanasan. The trees with yellow fruit described in the closing scene as James rushed down the mountainside resemble the strawberry guava plants that blanketed a mountain trail running up through the jungle behind my house in Hawai'i. I loved running the mountain trail because of the diverse scenery and the fact I could stop almost anywhere along the trail and pick fresh, wild-growing fruit like guava, passion fruit and mangos. Finally, the point where James chooses to join the Light seems somewhat abrupt. When I first read through it myself, I thought it might seem unnatural or awkward, but as I thought about how this was meant to reflect my own decision to choose Christ, it fit. I chose young, and I chose at the drop of a hat, so to speak. I just remember thinking about it and suddenly deciding, yes, that's what I'm going to do. Then, I never turned back. So, James did it the same way.
Into the Fog of Reality
The whole leading concept is a reflection of the Holy Spirit guiding. We often do not know where it is leading, when the result will come or what it will be. I received the idea for a pilgrimage taken with nothing brought along and dependent on others along the way from a Buddhist tradition where young monks do something similar. The vast fields of grain are reminiscent of the rice fields in Korea. Along the southwestern coast there is a lot of flat land that can give the impression of a sea of rice growing in vast pools of controlled water. I was out running one day during an military exercise in Pyongtek when I came to a rice field that spread beyond sight distance. The early morning fog hid its extent and gave me the impression it reached for miles (oh, by the way, the reason the whole book uses the metric system for measurements is twofold. First, it gives the impression of someplace other than where we are used to - someplace foreign. Second, Korea and the military use it. So, it was a big part of my life too. It was actually quite hard to figure distances this way and make sure I consistently used the metric system). Of course, Jaeil had to be a snake-like creature. It's what the fallen one used as a visible vehicle. Also, Jaeil means "first" in Korean. Lucifer was the first among angels.
The Castaway of Ka-pyun
Ka-pyun is the name of the town where my wife's mother's family comes from. Hyuk bears many resemblances to my father-in-law, particularly how he acted during the time I dated my wife. Sunga is an image of my wife, to a degree. With all my characters, none are exact replicas of someone I know. Some are strongly influenced by one, but all have nuances of other people I know mixed in. Bok Sunga, when strung together, is peach in Korean. That is my wife's given nickname. The time in Ka-pyun captures the feelings and impressions of my time in country towns like Ka-pyun and with my wife and her family during our dating time.
Crossing Over
The guardian's reference of being delayed by the prince of this realm is akin to a story from the Bible. The valley park where James continues his hike is modeled after several valley parks in Korea, particularly Soyo San nearby the camp where I lived. The desolate ski slope is like the YongPyung Ski Resort or another I visited in summer. James' climb up the rock face comes from a rock climbing experience I had with some friends in Arizona. Finally, the set of buildings in the closing scene is actually an exact depiction of a Buddhist temple I visited with my wife on the southern coast of Korea near Busan. We actually visited during a hurricane, too, believe it or not. I have a good set of pictures I even considered for the cover of the book at one point.
Dawn Breaks Amidst the Storm
All the guardian names mostly come from some distortion of real names for angels/demons and such. For example, Nefarin is Nephalim, or the fallen angels that came to earth prior to the flood and cohabited with human women. Eshaiel has some meaning behind it too, but I honestly do not remember what it is. I noticed some of the stuff Eshaiel reveals to James is reiterated from conversations earlier, but decided to keep this to help reinforce the "facts" for the reader. The idea of Hanasan once being Bukha Temple and the image of the deserted place where Eshaiel meets James are an attempt to convey there was once a very different presence of the Light in the country. This somewhat links back to Korea's history as a center for missionary efforts in Asia. In fact, Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, was once the missionary headquarters in Asia and hosted Christian schools and training centers. The fish on James' rhema show my like of the Chinese symbol for scholars/literati. I think at the time I had a pretty cool Swatch watch with koi on it, too.
The Shadow of the Light
There are a lot of names in here that come from something. Koo is based on a Korean patriot who assassinated several Japanese officials during the colonial period. Rhesing is based off Singman Rhee, the first dictatorial president of South Korea, who also happened to be a pastor. Haemol Restaurant comes from the Korean word for seafood - Haemool - and Tangsu is actually derived from the name of the Korean version of Chinese sweet and sour pork - Tang Soo Yook.
A Fish Out of Water
The restaurant is an impression of some of the garish, western/eastern hybrid style I saw often in China. It is actually modeled fairly closely after and actual Chinese seafood restaurant where I had raw lobster and many other unusual dishes. There was no giant aquarium or outdoor courtyard, and the fish on ice display is more of a memory of street markets in Seoul and Busan. James' connection to the constellation is my connection to Orion. Yai Tzy is the name of a mythical Chinese dragon who had a lust for violence and slaughter. Of course the whole unification minister and friendship agreement piece deals with my disenchantment with South Korea's sunshine policy and other related attempts to appease the North without equal concessions or any real steps toward unification. It is sad to see people fooled so often by the same repeated tricks because they have unfounded hope.
The Fallen Realms
I never stayed in a hotel quite this bad, but I have been in some that were close. The country scene and trek across rice paddies and fields at night is reminiscent of my adventures training as a scout in the Korean countryside. Pungyan draws inspiration from accounts I have read about Pyongyang, which has rationed electricity, few cars and many of the buildings lack windows. Bill Meyers is the name of a missionary friend of mine who ran a retreat center for Soldiers in Korea called Shalom House. It is where I met my wife.
The Passing of the Old Life
Most of this chapter's settings come from places in Seoul. The first palace is Gyeongbokgung, the apartment is similar to the one I lived in at Ichon, the second palace is Changdeokgung and the traditional sector is Insadong. The restaurant and courtyard in the traditional area are also places I visited. I chose the carp image because it is one of my favorite Asian characters. It stands for diligence and scholarship, and was often the symbol of literati - those who studied arts, history and the classics.
A Lamp Unto my Feet
There is nothing too deep to share from this chapter. The history of the division of Shinla should obviously be reminiscent of Japan's occupation of Korea and the events that followed with the Korean War and division. It is not supposed to be a retelling of true history, but rather a different story inspired by these historical events.
Typhoon at Midnight
Sun Daejune's name is taken from the name of a South Korean president who ha
d a Sunshine Policy that mostly acted ineffectively to appease North Korea with economic incentives in an attempt to bring the two Koreas closer. The building where they fought was inspired by the Millennium Tower building in Seoul. It has a very interesting structure with three columns at the top holding a few extra floors high above the rest of the building. There are two restaurants at the top, where you can find the bathroom with the best view in the world.
Civil Wars
JoShia and KaeLe conjure memories of Joshua and Caleb, the two loyal spies sent by Israel to scout Canaan. The imagery of the typhoon and the passing over of the eye of the storm mirrors the chaos of the storyline, which settles with Mahae'el's intervention, but only for a brief time, because the rest of the storm is rapidly approaching - books 2-3. Here, all the inner conflict, or wars within, comes to a head. James has conquered his internal struggle and decided to follow the Light. The conflict between Jaeil and Jehoshim has ended, and the rift caused by the rebellion of the chief servants is mended. All this has come at an incredible cost, though. Inner conflict often characterizes a spiritual beginning or prelude to growth in individuals and groups. So, I chose it as the topic for this first of three books that together loosely parallel the spiritual growth of an individual in Christ.