A Brief Glimpse into Myth & the 'Now'

The introduction to the forthcoming book Myth & the 'Now':

You may have thought you knew how stories worked. You may have concluded that ‘conflict’ lay at the core of a successful tale. You possibly assumed that endings were either ‘good’ or ‘bad’. But what was driving all of that?

Just as Copernicus’ assertion that the earth circled the sun instead of vice-versa threw an older cosmology into disarray, those things you might have considered stable about the world of fiction are about to be turned on their heads.

The true glory of fiction lies at its heart, for the most part hidden from the full view of the reader. Operating largely in secret, this concealed engine at the centre of stories produces many modes and forms. Its boundless energies power all kinds of genres; its limitless potential generates the delight that keeps human beings fascinated by fiction no matter what it looks like on the surface.

This book takes the reader on a journey into that heart and attempts to bring it into view in new ways. It’s a voyage which will visit unusual places, from Asgard and the world of the Norse Gods, to Navajo plains and Finnish lakes; along the way, be prepared to glimpse not only the evolution of human civilisation but the human soul and how it grows in individuals.

Get ready to look beyond beyond the edge of fiction’s universe to an even wider world.