“We are back to immersing ourselves in ancient history, something we began nearly four years ago. The Chinese scenes in the second book in the Timekeepers Series are also set during the Xia dynasty, so we are still working on that time period that the Yiguapai or “skeptical school” often refer to as merely legendary. With no known written texts dating back to this dynasty, it is impossible to say that it really did exist. However, this was also the case with the Shang dynasty until the discovery of the oracle bones whose inscriptions verified its existence. In fact many Chinese archaeologists associate the recently discovered Erlitou Culture of Northern China with that of the Xia Dynasty site. Many Westerners remain unconvinced. For the sake of the story, we are believers! It is a bit like the cameo appearances of our Biblical figures. Many skeptics, lacking faith, call these figures legendary because there is no mention of many of them outside of scripture. In any case, we are given much artistic license with this time period. We are able to draw deeply on the rich stories traditionally attributed to Confucius, in fact, we get a lot of storyline prompts from The Sacred Books of the East series issued by Oxford University Press between 1879 and 1910, archived online at www.sacred-texts.com.
The new Timekeepers book begins in 1793 BC, over 100 years having passed since Pieces of the Puzzle. While some civilizations represented during this time period do offer verifiable archaeological and written proof of their existence which we can draw from, we will also continue to pull from the history, traditions, and legends of cultures across the world, since this is what they have passed down as their history or belief. We feel that it is an important and respectful part of the story. We offer as a disclaimer in Pieces of the Puzzle “The dates in this time period are uncertain. Even experts disagree and at best can only estimate dates for events based on different factors. In order to complete our story, we had to make a decision on which to use. While new evidence may eventually prove our dates wrong, we know it will verify that life in this area was varied, interesting, and even in some ways advanced.” Where real historical figures are involved we try to remain true to what is known about them, while realizing that their interactions with our characters are necessarily fictional.
The new Timekeepers book begins in 1793 BC, over 100 years having passed since Pieces of the Puzzle. While some civilizations represented during this time period do offer verifiable archaeological and written proof of their existence which we can draw from, we will also continue to pull from the history, traditions, and legends of cultures across the world, since this is what they have passed down as their history or belief. We feel that it is an important and respectful part of the story. We offer as a disclaimer in Pieces of the Puzzle “The dates in this time period are uncertain. Even experts disagree and at best can only estimate dates for events based on different factors. In order to complete our story, we had to make a decision on which to use. While new evidence may eventually prove our dates wrong, we know it will verify that life in this area was varied, interesting, and even in some ways advanced.” Where real historical figures are involved we try to remain true to what is known about them, while realizing that their interactions with our characters are necessarily fictional.
Great historical fiction blends fact and fiction in such a way that is difficult to differentiate the two. If our readers are driven to learn more about these fascinating civilizations, we have done our job.
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