Thursday, April 18, 2013

A-to-Z Challenge Day 16: The Letter P


Lord Phan
The Feud We Keep With Space
Space Corps Book 4
The Second Coming
Space Corps Book 6

This guy may in fact be the star of the entire saga.  He's the bogeyman who seems to appear everywhere you look.  He was there at the founding of the Galactic Alliance, and he's directly responsible for the Danab, and yet the first time he comes across in my Space Corps notes, he appears to be just another nefarious warmongering villain in The Feud We Keep With Space.  Yet the conclusion of that story nicely reflects the greater scope of the character.  When we catch up with him again as a major character in The Second Coming, we learn exactly what he's been up to in his long life.  When I was working on Seven Thunders late last year and earlier this year, there was a period where I was having trouble continuing.  I ended up writing several short stories set in the Space Corps realm, including one that caught up with what Lance Nolan (who you met on N Day) was doing during a bleak period in his life.  I realized Lord Phan could make an appearance.  He has no great role in Seven Thunders, but since he'd already appeared a couple times in the stories, I realized he could do it again.  And chances are, this would happen in the remaining stories where he currently has no role.  He's the bogeyman at the heart of the saga, after all.

James Peers
Yoshimi and the Shadow Clan
Yoshimi Trilogy Volume 1

Peers is another character central to the mythology of the story in which he appears, and again in a way that doesn't immediately seem obvious.  He's the first of the senseis that warrior orphan Yoshimi studies under, but more importantly, he gives her the Scimitar, the blade that becomes her very symbol (I'll talk about this aspect of the story again on S Day and X Day).  This is a character who is described as anything but what you'd expect from someone known as a master of the martial arts.  Yet the Scimitar in his possession has been with his family for generations, a small window into the wider story that exists outside of Yoshimi's particular narrative.  If there is a demand for it, I might actually write it.  He's a little like Forest Whitaker's Ghost Dog.  (By the way, can someone tell me how Whitaker's value fell so quickly in movies after the Oscar win for Last King of Scotland?)  

*** 

The Red Sox won yesterday!

Weather postponed the Angels yesterday.

The A's won again!

The Cardinals lost.

10 comments:

Al Diaz said...

I have not had chance to read your book yet. I hope I can get to it next month. Now Yoshimi sounds like Japanese to me. To learn her sword is call Scimitar intrigues me, since this evokes in my mind the Middle Eastern weapons. I would have expected a katana.

Jay Noel said...

So his name is "Phan." He's Vietnamese?

Tony Laplume said...

Al, that's what James Peers brings to it. That's exactly what he's all about.

Jay, not Vietnamese. But glad you caught that!

The Armchair Squid said...

Whitaker - just checked the film list and it is decidedly unimpressive since 2006. He's too good to disappear forever, though. He's scheduled to be in 5 movies in 2013.

Unknown said...

The boogyman should always be the star! He has history! I'm going to have to find GhostDog.
Connie
A to Z-ing to the end
Peanut Butter and Whine

Kate OMara said...

a character who is anything but what you'd expect... sounds wonderful!

SpacerGuy said...

I detect fear growing in the darkness, hehe with Lord Phan ready to strike out. Hes the antagonist at the forefront of the story, right Tony?

mshatch said...

I love Forest Whitaker. He's been great in everything I've seen him in.

Yay Sox!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

You weren't expecting Lord Phan to step into that role, were you?
As for Whitaker - I'm sure it came down to cash.

Tony Laplume said...

Squid, he does have a lot of projects, which is always good.

Connie, the bogeyman is always the star!

Kate, they're the best kind!

Spacerguy, Lord Phan is a protagonist. Don't let him catch you suggesting differently!

mshatch, he is indeed always great!

Alex, it's the best way to discover the true nature of a character.

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