Carpe Noir - Science Fantasy
A message from A.G. Batía.
For those who read Carpe Noir:
I wanted to write a story where I could take all of my favorite elements of great stories and mash them together into something unique yet thematically coherent: DaVinci code puzzle solving, visceral MMA-style action sequences, a unique magic system grounded in science, weaving modern conspiracy and ancient mysticism, quantum physics and interdimensional travel. I wanted evocative world-building, memorable characters, romance, adventure, mystery, philosophical theme exploration—all in one place. In one story. And there had to be at least one dragon.
Carpe Noir is the product of my wild aspirations to distill seemingly disparate elements into a tale that sings in the heart of the reader. In its essence, Carpe Noir is a story that is propelled by emotionally resonant characters and a powerful, yet familiar, engine: family, love, purpose. I take great pleasure in exploring many complex themes, though none so much as Time. The following was written as a message to my readers, intended to be included at the beginning of the book. It may or may not end up in the published work, so this is for you:
Time, it seems, is an odd sort of thing. A construct based on an agreed upon set of principles to measure and communicate the space upon which existence takes place. Space, as it turns out, is an equally puzzling phenomenon. A thing upon which we anticipate and predict, but at the quantum level, can evaporate its own relevance in outlandish contradictions and symbolic gesticulations of a knowing that exceeds us yet precedes us at the same time. It is not ‘what if’ or ‘once upon a time,’ all of everything simply exists, right now. ‘Now’... There it is again, Time... but can the rules we have so carefully constructed be bent? What is the tensile strength of our argument for time and space as we think we know it? Some argue it is a figment of our imagination, a painting upon which to share our experience with others. Others...now there is another funny notion. How you do you, my dear, beloved reader, suppose this story goes?