The author commentary on The Gifts of Kali continues! This week I’m talking about the lore behind the book, so SPOILER WARNING is in effect!
Lore
My absolute favorite part of the process. It is the biggest challenge, but also has the most satisfying payoff. I used to dread the research behind a menace, or some minor detail that an entire scene might hinge on. It can be something as simple as a traffic sign, or it can be the motivation for the main threat in the piece.
The Gifts of Kali utilizes so much of the mythology of Kali, Shiva, the Raktabija, and more to give credence to the main themes of the piece. The forms of Kali, the different phases she undertakes in her various incarnations – from the lover to the destroyer to death – were a vital component of what I was hoping to show through her story.
She is afraid of her other selves. She almost hates them, and why wouldn’t she? Which one is considered the real Kali? Is there one? That lack of identity thanks to being locked into a predetermined fate drives her actions throughout the narrative.
I found that angle fascinating to explore. It played so nicely into the idea of fate, into her arguments with Soriya on the subject.
Determining the villain
The research led to Shiva. I went through a number of options, but Shiva always came out on top in mind. There was more meat to his story, more pieces I could extract and pepper through the narrative without letting it takeover the action.
Shiva complemented Kali and offered a counterpoint to her dilemma. He had his own path to follow. He accepted it… to a point. It’s funny to think about actually. Shiva KNEW how his story ended, but refused to see what came next. He truly believed his death would lead to a change in the world. A cleansing that he had sought his entire life.
So how did he fail to realize Kali’s part in the end? Well, if you knew you’re story ended in failure, would you believe it? No one wants that to be their epitaph and Shiva was no different, in my eyes. He claimed victory in the end, even if it didn’t quite work out that way…
The Demon Blade
I like to utilize lore to give the narrative a nice layered background. What I really enjoy is twisting it, or making it fresh for the reader. That was my favorite part of The Medusa Coin. Taking the story of Medusa, melding it with this golden coin, and then building a new myth out of the two.
The same started with the introduction of the demon blade. At first, it was merely an instrument of death and a damn cool visual.
It grew into the most important component to the whole story. The demon blade transfers the sin into Shiva, allowing the Raktabija access to the world.
Is that factual? Is that written anywhere in the myth?
Nope.
I wanted that vehicle, that device, to help drive tension in the story and provide a certain physicality to the slaughters that occur in the book. The demon blade gave me that in spades.
Next time:
I close out the commentary with some touchstones to the other books in the series. One of my favorite things to do in these books.
Thanks for reading.
