by James Enge
One of the reasons why I decline to involve myself with the historicity question is that it hinges on the material reality of Morlock's world and its relationship to our own. Opinions about this differ. Both the Khroic ekshal and Von Brauch's Gray Book refer to an area described (or named) as “the Sea of Worlds” (Mare Mundorum in Von Brauch's Latin; in Khroic, Ver[tone 1A]-Thel[tone 3B]-Tre[tone 7C]-Lor[tone 2ABC]). The Sea of Worlds is supposed to be an area between worldlines which can be navigated by those-who-know. As far as McNally is concerned, Von Brauch and the Khroi are independent witnesses whose testimony establishes beyond question the reality of the Sea of Worlds (and the worldline in which most of the Ambrosian legends are set). Doubting them is like “doubting the existence of the Ohio Turnpike, just because one has never driven on it.” It's safe to say that most of his colleagues feel differently; the issue unquestionably played a role in his denial-of-tenure, a matter which is still under litigation (McNally v. the University of Mackinac et al.).
Nonfolklorists have proposed a “many worlds” hypothesis that might leave some possibility for Dr. McNally's controversial views. Thakurjeet Kaur, the eminent Indian-American physicist, spent her last years crafting a theory to accommodate the different models of quantum decoherence she considered valid, or at least potentially valid. Insofar as I understand it (which isn't much), she argued there was a probabilistic density that causes similar worldlines to collapse and merge, leaving a “world gap” that isolates and defines fundamentally dissimilar worldlines. This “world gap” might be functionally equivalent to the legendary Sea of Worlds. Whether it is navigable or not, or whether it even exists, is a question I leave to quantonauts more adventurous than myself.
J ames Enge's fiction has appeared in Black Gate, Flashing Swords, and everydayfiction.com. He is an instructor of classical languages at a midwestern university.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication Page
Acknowledgments
Contents
This Crooked Way
I: The War is Over
II: Interlude: Telling the Tale
III: Blood from a Stone
IV: Payment Deferred
V: Fire and Water
VI: An Old Lady and a Lake
VII: Interlude: Book of Witness
VIII: The Lawless Hours
IX: Payment in Full
X: Destroyer
XI: Whisper Street
XII: Interlude: The Anointing
XIII: Traveller's Dream
XIV: Where Nurgnatz Dwells
XV: Interlude: How the Story Ends
XVI: Spears of Winter Rain
Appendix A: Calendar and Astronomy
Appendix B: Sources and Backgrounds for Ambrosian Legend
About the Author