Salt, Sand and Blood

Date

2019-06-13

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Publisher

MFA in Creative Writing, The University of Tampa

Abstract

Salt, Sand, and Blood, as presented in this thesis, is the first fragment of a fantasy epic following a vast cast of characters across country and continent. Protagonists Adam, Adnihilo, Jael, and Trey struggle to find their sense of autonomy and to align their moral paradigms with corrupted institutions and fabricated histories. It is this struggle which is narrated by the prophet Kashim, told in verse to his audience, the reader. Tying these characters and stories together is a single theme, the journey--or in other words, pilgrimage and the spiritual transformation which occurs when one is made to “leave his father’s tent”. The life paths inherited by each of the characters rapidly come into question or are otherwise destroyed, and all are tempted to embrace sublimation to ethnic ties, religious strictures, or vengeful plots. In these first twenty two chapters, the focus is this question: to sacrifice for the will of others, or to sacrifice for one’s potential self? In matters of craft, Salt, Sand, and Blood was born of such writing found in Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire and McCarthy’s Blood Meridian. That is, the manuscript combines the richness of worldbuilding and dramatic action with rhythm, rhyme, and alliteration to create the feel of a song or poem. It is an attempt to approximate the experience of an oral story or an epic poem, or something in between.

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Keywords

Fantasy, Speculative fiction, Epic literature

Citation

DOI

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