Hello all! Today, I am super excited to introduce you to Paul Georgiou, author of The Fourth Beginning. Below I have an awesome guest post that he put together (with some links I through in so y’all can take a look at his books for yourselves).
Mr. Gergiou will introduce his book, and characters, does a far better job than I can at introducing the first novel in his series The Fourth Beginning, and goes into his writing approach with these books and writing experience.
Enjoy, and please leave a comment!
It all began with Prometheus, the titan who betrayed his own kind when he sided with the gods against the titans, and who later betrayed the gods when he sided with man against Zeus. Prometheus is at the heart of the most interesting and challenging of all the Greek myths. The key is that Prometheus picked winners; and he knew that, against the odds, mankind was destined to outperform the gods. So Prometheus’ confidence in man is central to The Truth Quartet.
That said, The Fourth Beginning, (Book One of my Truth Quartet), took on a life of its own. Although it’s a fantasy, packed full of extraordinary adventures, I’ll not pretend the book fits neatly into any single genre.
Adam and Eve Smith embark on a journey to search for the truth. For Eve, the truth is why their daughter had to die in a freak accident. For Adam, it a more general answer to the question: “What am I doing here?”
In the company of the Storyteller (who is inside the story involved in it, rather than outside the story telling it), Adam and Eve set out in a campervan, equipped with an exponential drive and a paradox device. Almost immediately, they discover that their quest is to be hindered by the Breaker, Nick Peters, and his shapeshifting sidekick Grimrose.
On their way, the questors pick up two travellers, Uncle Rambler who is insatiably curious about everything and his nephew Numpty who, although on occasions a little irritating, proves to possess all the courage, hope and compassion of innocence.
Their first major adventure is an audience with God (which doesn’t go well), followed by R and R with Prometheus and his delightful, ever-attentive nymphs in his cave in the Caucasus. While there, they learn much of Prometheus’ own life and his affection for, and faith in, mankind. They also discover that the Breaker Nick Peters is not simply bent on hindering their search for the truth; he is determined to destroy the Smiths and the love between them.
On leaving Prometheus’ cave, the party embarks on three extraordinary adventures (courtesy of the paradox device) in which they witness the three great Beginnings: the origin of the universe; the birth of life; and the emergence of human consciousness.
When they return to the present day, they begin to realise that Nick Peters is hell-bent on their destruction because he and his fellow Breakers fear that the Smiths could somehow be instrumental in initiating a Fourth Beginning. (What a Fourth Beginning might entail is as unknown as the first three were before they happened but is likely to be as momentous.) A conflict between the questors and the Breakers ensues which persists through this and the next two novels in the series, before it is finally resolved in the final volume.
The Fourth Beginning is packed full of incidents and adventures. It has elements of fantasy and science fiction. Through the characters, it dissects and explores human nature. There are passages of dark humour. And there is political satire, especially in the next three volumes in the series. It is full of the best and worst of human nature. At its core is the love between Adam and Eve, and the determination of the Breakers to destroy it.
In previous novels, before writing a word, I have planned the plot and defined the characters in meticulous detail. Not so with this one. In this one, after writing the first few pages, I felt my control of the characters and the plot slipping away. It soon seemed to me that the path the book followed was largely determined by the characters themselves and the past narrative at each stage. I exerted some control, both as the author and through the device of embedding the Storyteller as a character in the narrative, but much of the book came out of itself. I was the sculptor who simply chipped away the superfluous stone to reveal the thing within.
For me, writing this and the three other books (The Devil’s Truth, The Praesidium and Out of nothing something comes) has been a cathartic experience. I’ve followed Adam’s fortunes through all four volumes with intense interest. In his pursuit of truth he has become involved in ambiguous infidelity, bribery, corruption, and even murder but throughout he has tried to maintain his moral sense and his conviction of the importance of love.
Above all, he has sought to create and impose meaning on the chaos of life. And that’s the truth.
