Shadows of the Apt » World

Language and the Insect-Kinden

Adrian Tchaikovsky — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 23:40:20 +0000

Language tends to get one of two treatments in fantasy — either it's never looked at, everyone speaks English and it's all fine, or Tolkien. Mr T being a professor of Anglo-Saxon, I think, he went to town on the languages in a big way. Indeed I believe I read that the languages came first, the history second, the actual fiction some time later. Few writers have the time, fewer still the formidable scholarship to emulate, but there are a fair number of fantasy worlds where it is at least acknowledged that the elves speak elvish, although for ease of reference everyone except the humans seems to be effortlessly polyglot. The Fellowship of the Ring would have been extremely different without a common language between them, after all (1).

In the world of the Insect-kinden, all the kinden share a language (2). There is, however, a Reason for this. It's not just that I couldn't be bothered, honest. However, I'm feeling perverse enough not to simply explain, so I will content myself by pointing out that this remarkable commonality of language has not gone unnoticed by the clever men and women of the Great College. To give you an indication of their current thoughts on the subject, I have swiped an itinerary from one of their conferences, which I present for your delectation here.

For reference, this conference is taking place somewhere around the same time as book 5, which is actually important. The keen-eyed may wish to speculate on the import of some of the lesser items in the schedule too…

(1) The film The Thirteenth Warrior at least acknowledges this problem, with the arabic hero having to work hard to pick up the speech of the vikings he ends up accompanying, after an unpromising start where his servant manages very basic speech using mangled latin and greek. Whether you go for the linguistic montage the film lands us with, at least it admits to language as a barrier. (In Crichton's original book, Eaters of the Dead, the hero never really does learn the language, but gets by because one of the vikings speaks latin.)

(2) This isn't English, of course, but your humble author has kindly translated.

Dramatis Personae

Adrian Tchaikovsky — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:17:07 +0000

(Beware, this list takes the cast up to the end of Salute the Dark. There may be spoilers)

Aagen — Wasp artificer
ACHAEOS — Moth seer and raider, lover of Cheerwell Maker
Adax — Tarkesh Ant, duellist at the College
Adran — Wasp soldier, member of the Broken Sword
Adraxa — Ant, one of Scuto's agents in Helleron
Akalia — Vekken Ant Tactician, killed at the siege of Collegium
Akta Barik — Scorpion, gangster of the Halfway House
Alder — Wasp General of the 4th Army ("The Barbs")
ALVDAN II — third Emperor of the Wasp Empire
Ananus — Maynesh Ant officer, Auxillian Captain
Archedamae — Mantis, one of Scuto's agents in Helleron
ARIANNA — Spider student, Imperial agent in Collegium
Artelly Broadways — Beetle Smuggler out of Collegium
Atryssa — Spider, companion of Stenwold and lover of Tisamon
Axrad, Wasp pilot in Solarno

BALKUS — Sarnesh Ant, one of Scuto's agents in Helleron
Basila — Tarkesh Ant intelligencer, killed by Wasp forces
Berdic — Wasp Rekef Major assigned to Szar
Big Greyv, Mole Cricket artificer, apprentice of Drephos
Bolwyn — Beetle, Agent of Stenwold's in Helleron
Breaken — Beetle, Elias Monger's guard officer
Brodan, Wasp Lieutenant in the Rekef
Brugan, Wasp Rekef General
Brutan — Wasp slaver

Cabre — Fly artificer of Collegium
Carvoc — Wasp Colonel of the 4th Army
Cesta, Assassin Bug assassin in Solarno
CHEERWELL MAKER (CHE)- Beetle, Stenwold's niece, a College scholar
Chefre — Fly gangster accompanying Salma
Chudi, Thorn Bug barman at Aleth on the Exalsee
Chyses — Soldier Beetle, resistance fighter in Myna
Cosgren — Beetle thug
The Creeve, Soldier Beetle/Ant Pilot from Chasme
Cydrae, Mantis warleader at Sarn
Czerig — Bee artificer, Auxillian Captain

Daklan — Wasp Rekef Major in Vek, killed by Lorica
Dalre, Dragonfly servant of the Destiavel in Solarno
DARIANDREPHOS (Drephos) — Wasp/Moth halfbreed artificer, Auxillian Colonel
Dariaxes — Fire Ant officer at Collegium
DESTRACHIS — Spider gangster and doctor
Draywain — Imperial Beetle merchant
Drevane Sae, Dragonfly insect rider from Princep Exilla

Edric — Wasp Colonel of the 4th Army
Elias Monger — Beetle, Stenwold's cousin, a magnate of Helleron
Eriphinea (Phin) — Moth assassin, mercenary working for the Rekef

Falger Paldron — Beetle, duellist and student at the College, Inigo's nephew
FELISE MIENN — Dragonfly noble and duellist
Founder Bellowern, Imperial Beetle magnate and collector
Fragen — Wasp sergeant in Szar
Franeme, Soldier Beetle taverna owner in Myna
Freigen — Wasp factor for the Consortium of the Honest
Frezzo, Fly Messenger from Collegium

Gaff — Firefly gambler and Arcanum agent in Sarn
Gan, Wasp Governor of Szar
Gaved — Wasp hunter, mercenary working for the Rekef
Genissa of the Destiavel, Spider Domina of Solarno
Gjegevey — Woodlouse scholar, Imperial advisor in Capitas
Godran — Wasp agent in Collegium, later in Helleron, Major
Graden — Beetle artificer of the Great College
Gramo Galltree — Beetle "ambassador" to the Commonweal, based in Suon Ren
Graf — Wasp agent, Rekef Lieutenant in Collegium
Greenwise Artector — Beetle, one of the ruling council of Helleron
GRIEF IN CHAINS — Butterfly dancer, later called Aagen's Joy, later Prized
of Dragons
Grigan — Wasp Major, engineers, 4th Army
Gryllis — Spider, business partner of Hokiak

Halewright, Beetle magnate, councillor of Helleron
Halrad — Wasp Captain
Haroc — Wasp Rekef Lieutenant in Vek
Havel, Wasp agent, Rekef Captain in Solarno
Hofi — Fly barber, Imperial agent in Collegium
HOKIAK — Scorpion black marketeer in Myna
Honory Bellowern — Beetle, Imperial agent of the Consortium of the Honest
Hornwhill — Beetle artificer at Collegium
Hreya — Wasp slave in Myna, freed by Thalric

Inaspe Raimm, Dragonfly Monarch of the Commonweal
Inigo Paldron — Beetle, magnate of Collegium

Jemeyn, Solarnese Soldier Beetle rebel
Jons Allanbridge, Beetle adventurer from Collegium
Joyless Greatly — Beetle artificer and aviator of Collegium

Kalder, Wasp Lieutenant, member of the Broken Sword
Kaszaat — Bee artificer, apprentice to Drephos, Auxillian sergeant
Khenice — Solder Beetle, resistance fighter in Myna
Kori — Fly quisitor, mercenary working for the Rekef
Krevus — Ant, slave of the Wasps
KYMENE (the Maid of Myna) — Soldier Beetle, resistance leader in Myna
Kymon — Kessen Ant, Master of Ceremonies at the Collegium duelling society

Laetrimae, Mantis ghost trapped in the Shadow Box
"Last Chance" Fraywell — Beetle gangster in Helleron
Latvoc — Wasp, Rekef Colonel
Lineo Thadspar — Beetle statesmen, Speaker of the Assembly of Collegium
Linewright — Beetle, Assembler of Collegium
Lorica — Ant/Wasp halfbreed, Rekef agent in Vek
Lyrus, Ant halfbreed agent in Sarn

Maan, Wasp Intelligence Major of the 4th army
Maczech, Bee Princess of Szar
Malia — Ant, gangster of the Halfway House in Helleron
Malkan, Wasp General of the 7th army
Marius — Sarnesh Ant, companion of Stenwold
Marre — Fly, agent of Scuto in Helleron
Mathonwy — Woodlouse doctor in Jerez
MAXIN — Wasp advisor, Rekef General in Capitas
Morleyr — Mole Cricket deserter in Salma's army

NERO — Fly, noted artist and companion of Stenwold
Niamedh, Solarnese Soldier Beetle pilot
Dr Nicrephos — Moth, doctor in Collegium
Nivit, Skater hunter in Jerez
Norsa — Wasp healer, Eldest Daughter of the Mercy's Daughters order

Odyssa — Spider, Rekef Lieutenant
Oltan, Wasp, quartermaster at Myna
Otran, Wasp, tax collector

Palearchos, Moth renegade Skryre
Pallus — Tarkesh Ant, gangster of the Halfway House in Helleron
Parops — Ant officer of Tark, Tower Commander
Pater Bradawl, Beetle, Founder Bellowern's guard captain
Phalmes — Soldier Beetle bandit leader, ex-Auxillian
Pinsar — Beetle, prize-winning poet
Pireaus — Mantis, duellist at Collegium
Plius — Tseni Ant merchant in Sarn
Praeter, Wasp General of the sixth army

Queen of Sarn, Ant ruler

Raeka, Wasp slave of Tegrec
Rakka — Scorpion, agent of Scuto in Helleron
Rauth — Wasp, intelligencer at Myna
Reiner — Wasp, Rekef General
Rowen Palasso, Beetle factor in Helleron, patron of Tisamon

SALMA (SALME DIEN) — Dragonfly nobleman and duellist
Saltwheel — Diving Beetle artificer from Scolaris in Lake Limnia
Scadran — Beetle/Wasp halfbreed, Imperial agent in Collegium
Scelae — Mantis agent of the Arcanum in Sarn
Scobraan, Solarnese Soldier Beetle pilot
Scordrey — Beetle magnate, councillor of Helleron
SCUTO — Thorn Bug, Stenwold's chief agent in Helleron
SCYLIS (SCYLA) — Spider, magician and spy
SEDA — Wasp Princess, sister to Alvdan II
Sef, Water Spider slave from Scolaris in Lake Limnia
Seladoris — Spider, duellist at Collegium
Sfayot — Roach traveller
Sinon Halfways — Ant/Moth halfbreed, chief of the Halfway House fief in
Helleron
Skrill — Skater/Soldier Beetle halfbreed, scout and agent
Skrit, Skater servant of Nivit in Jerez
Sperra — Fly, agent of Scuto in Helleron
STENWOLD MAKER — Beetle spymaster, College Master at Collegium
Sykore — Mosquito agent of Uctebri

te Berro — Fly, Rekef Lieutenant
te Frenna, Fly pilot of Solarno
TE SCHOLA TAKI-AMRE (TAKI), Fly aviatrix at Solarno
Tegrec, Wasp Major, Governor of Tharn
TEORNIS of the Aldanrael, Spider Lord Martial, Aristus of Seldis
THALRIC — Wasp, Rekef Major and spymaster
Thanred, Wasp Governor of Capitas, Colonel
TISAMON — Mantis weaponsmaster
Toran Awe — Grasshopper Auxillian militia in Myna
TOTHO — Beetle/Ant halfbreed, artificer
Tseitus — Ant artificer of the Great College
TYNISA — Mantis/Spider halfbreed, Stenwold’s ward, duellist

Uctebri the Sarcad — Mosquito mystic, prisoner at Capitas
Ult, Wasp gladiator trainer in Capitas
Ulther — Wasp Governor of Myna

Valdred, Wasp Lieutenant from Capitas

Waybright, Beetle merchant, Assembler of Collegium
"Wen", Solarnese Soldier Beetle rebel

Xaraea, Moth agent of the Arcanum at Tharn

Bee-kinden by David Mumford

Adrian Tchaikovsky — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:25:36 +0000

There are small city-states of Bee-kinden in surprisingly many places. They are a quiet, industrious people who do their best not to trouble their neighbours. Bees work tirelessly for Spider overlords in the south, and cling to the inhospitable western coast. Most of all, however, Bee-kinden are slaves of the Empire. They are an Apt people, but they lack the fierce martial fervour and ambition of the Ants, and especially of the Wasps. The Bee-kinden of Szar, especially, are key to the Empire's western expansion. With their queen held captive in the Emperor's harem they are reckoned more loyal to the Wasp throne than most Wasps themselves.

Dragonfly Falling: the Podcast

Adrian Tchaikovsky — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:02:53 +0000

To coincide with the publication of Dragonfly Falling I recently interviewed Adrian about the world behind the Shadows of the Apt and what readers might expect from the new book.

So, without further ado, you can listen to the podcast in its various forms on the Pan Macmillan podcast page.

Alternatively you can download it. Enjoy!

Scorpion-kinden, by David Mumford

Adrian Tchaikovsky — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 19:23:48 +0000

Scorpion-kinden live lives of violence, greed and savage joy. Raiders, traders, slave-takers and mercenaries, they can be found making a brutal living across the Empire, the Spiderlands and the eastern Lowlands. Clawed and belligerent, they respect only strength. For the old, the weak, the infirm of purpose, there is only death or flight. So it is that a few more enterprising Scorpion-kinden are found scratching a living beyond the reach of their kin. There is no other way for them to enjoy a long retirement.

Faculties of Literature

Adrian Tchaikovsky — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:13:29 +0000

Literacy in Collegium is close to one hundred percent. Indeed, literacy across the Lowlands is extremely high. Collegium's academic credentials have a lot to do with this. The College and the Assembly ensure that a basic education is available for all, and charitable institutions such as the Way Brothers provide schools in Helleron and other cities. However the root of all this is in truth with the Moth-kinden, once Collegium's masters. They themselves have a long tradition of literacy and education, and they ensured that their favoured servants, the Beetle-kinden, were also able to read and write, in order to perform the relatively elevated tasks the Moths demanded of them. This intellectual emancipation, of course, is one of the contributing factors to the Beetles' great revolution. Other slave-kinden of the Moths were not educated in the same way, but the concept, the idea of knowledge as a mark of privilege and power, was deeply ingrained in them and, once free to do so, the Ant-kinden and others pursued the written word with a grim determination.

In the Spiderlands, the Spiders themselves have always been literate and, for reasons akin to the Moths', so have their closer servants. Beyond the immediate circles of the Aristoi, however, standards vary from satrapy to satrapy depending on the preferences of the subject races. The Empire has a similar policy. Wasp-kinden are expected to be able to read and perform basic arithmatic, and slaves are often trained to do so, so as to take over those more educated tasks that Wasps themselves still consider demeaning.

Meeting this largely literate population is the printing press and moveable type, innovations that the Beetle-kinden have had for almost two centuries now, as well as the ability to produce relatively cheap paper. These Apt contributions merge with a longer-standing tradition that places high value on story-telling, music, dance and the dramatic arts, and result in an extremely rich intellectual landscape across the Lowlands and beyond.

Theatre and Drama

Traditional theatre for the Beetle-kinden generally consists of farce with a healthy dose of topical satire. There are more and less highbrow versions, with varying injections of music, but an evening at the theatre in Collegium or Helleron is generally not complete unless a major statesman is lampooned and someone is caught in flagrante with a man in drag. However the Beetles are also great importers, and they will happily pillage any other artistic traditions they can get their hands on.

The Mantis-kinden set great store by oral tradition, and their preference is for either solo instrument or unaccompanied voice. They tell stories and sing sagas which almost always revolve around the tragic history of some hero or other, who sets herself up against the world, fails owing to some flaw, makes a horrible mess of everyone's life and then dies trying to redeem herself. Mantis tragedies are sometimes ripped off by Beetle dramatists, creating a whole new mongrel style of theatre, full of speeches and bloodshed. The Mantids themselves seldom attend.

Also popular are plays in the Fly-kinden style, which traditionally centre about the escapades of a rogue, wanderer or similar lowly individual, who falls in love, gets embroiled in the schemes of his betters, plays tricks and escapes with his hide intact. The Flies usually poke fun at larger kinden (when these are performed in their native settings, Fly actors don outsize clothes and take to the air to impersonate other peoples), but their stories also often have a curiously melancholy feel. The rogue gets away unpunished, the rich and powerful are usually humiliated, and yet at the end of the play they are still rich, and he's still poor, and there is a sense that the hapless protagonist must run twice as fast just to keep what little he has.

Ant-kinden plays simply do not travel, being chorus-heavy pieces "performed" mostly in the internal speech of the Ants' mindlink, and whilst the Moths have a considerable tradition of mystery plays, tragedies and philosophical pieces, they are sufficiently opaque that the Beetles tend to find them incomprehensible and dull.

The grandest dramatic traditions are those of the Spider-kinden, who are perhaps the keenest exponents, and consumers, of the dramatic arts. There are a number of distinct genres within the Spider theatre, including revenge plays and complex mime pieces with mirrored romantic and political plots but the Spider drama that travels best is their 'naif' dramas. These generally involve a Spider Aristos travelling amongst foreigners, or some far satrapy of the Spiderlands (or sometimes coming home after long foreign travels), becoming involved in their feuds, being manipulated by the local players, and often falling in love. Many of the naif dramas are through-sung, and they span a range between deep tragedy and light comedy.

It is notable that much of the dramatic tradition of the kinden can be seen as a way of the author turning the mirror on her audience. Mantis heroes are almost invariably failures, by the strict tenents of Mantis honour, and it is their fall that creates the story. Beetle stories punish the guilty and the pompous, and Fly plots highlight the inequality and impotence that their kinden often face amongst others. Spider-kinden drama, and most especially the naifs, generally centre upon an agonist, or pair of agonists, who are genuinely pure, honest and guileless, and who weather the vicissitudes of the world because of it.

Literature

As well as being a melting pot of dramatic art the Beetle-kinden have sparked something of a revolution in literature. Whilst the Moths and Mantids cling to their hand-written scrolls, printed Beetle books are becoming popular everywhere else. Even Spider-kinden, who set such store by elegant handwriting and calligraphy as an art form, are not immune to the lure of mass-produced literature. Spider-kinden, in common with many of the Inapt, tend to prefer live readings (after all, what are literate slaves for?) but they have always had a fondness for reading poetry in private, and the printing presses have ensured that many a Collegium parlour has witnessed a Beetle raconteur mangling Spider verse. The Beetles themselves, however, are prolific in producing home-grown prose, inventing their own genres in a field that is constantly developing. The idea of reading for pleasure is relatively new but has grown riotously over the last few decades to become fashionable and popular at many levels of society. Whilst there are books printed immaculately on vellum, inlaid with gold and with manual illustrations, these are chiefly for export. Collegium's home market craves variety and quantity, and the books produced are made in bulk as cheaply as possible.

The current popular genres that throng Collegium book-sellers are:

Polemics — political tracts, usually presenting their point by allegory, often using animals to represent public figures. These are usually very short, illustrated with unflattering woodcuts and printed by the hundred on hand-cranked presses. They are usually to be had for free. Polemics have long played a small but influential role in political debate, and it is common for rivals to sponsor derogatory polemics about each other. However the very ubiquity of the polemic has lessened its impact, and these days even the most vitriolic pamphlet is unlikely to do a great deal of harm. Instead a new tradition of comic polemics with less of an axe to grind is slowly taking over. Polemics are universally anonymous, for obvious reasons. Reprinted collections of past polemics are becoming a popular item.

Romances — purportedly historical tales, usually set before (or during) the revolution, rehashing Spider naif opera, Mantis tragedy and actual history in order to produce stories full of blood and thunder. The current favourites include The Tragedy of Lystresae, Lucis and Lucea and Tarvaeos the Charlatan, all solid faux-histories of the Bad Old Days. In the last few years a new brand of romance has emerged set after the revolution, featuring Beetles, Ants and Fly-kinden rather than the old Inapt races. The reading public is so far unsure about these experiments, the one notable success being The Lay of the Bloodfly, unusual in that it glorifies the exploits of a pirate active off the Collegium coast only a generation ago. Romances are traditionally anonymous, the writer identified by, for example "A Gentleman of Seldis" or even "One Who Was There". It is widely believed that this is because the majority of romanticists are current or retired academics, who would not want to prejudice the reputation of their factual writings.

Sophistories — philosophical satires which use devices such as the "journey to a land where everything is done backwards" to send up and highlight societal problems. They make for elevated reading, and the satire is sufficiently disguised that a stranger to Collegium can happily read the story and take it for nothing but a very highbrow example of the genre below. The best known sophistories are certainly The Flea-kinden by Knowles Sarter, in which the unnamed protagonist is shipwrecked on an island inhabited by tiny people, and Damall's An Artificer's Voyage to the Moon, whose hero finds lunar cities of goat-kinden, horse-kinden and sheep-kinden whose bizarre societies are reversals of the Lowlands' own.

Awful Books — this is an emerging genre less than a decade old, differing from romances in that the settings are usually contemporary, though almost always somewhere exotic (and/or made up), and differing from sophistories in that they have no pretense to satire or social commentary, offering only cheap spectacle. The name was originally intended to denote books that inspired awe and wonder but the alternative interpretation is, say the serious academics, entirely just. The premise of an Awful Book is that the author is recounting his travelogue in some distant land, perhaps amongst the Moth-kinden, in the Spiderlands, or in some unheard-of place altogether. The hero, almost always a Collegiate Beetle to date, and generally accompanied by some manner of servant or colleague, has various escapades, meets lunatic magicians, evades dangerous animals, acquires dubious treasures, meets beautiful foreign princesses and discovers lost cities, and all in all has a high old time in a way that would make the sophistory protagonists green with envy. Some of these books are simply adventures, others are written to evoke horror, or involve complex principles of speculative artificing. The genre is yet young, and read mostly by students at the Great College, artificiers' apprentices and the like, but its appeal is growing. The universal rule for Awful Books is their claim to be true accounts, and it is likely that a number of genuine travelogues have been consigned to this category by their readers, or indeed their printers. The original inspiration for works such as these, of course, is the story of (NAME), a pioneering aviator whose revelations of the Spiderlands (some of which at least were later found to be true) were taken as, and widely printed as, fiction on his return to Collegium.

Moth-kinden by David Mumford

Adrian Tchaikovsky — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:53:34 +0000

The Moth-kinden were once the dark masters of the Lowlands, holding the lesser races as their slaves. Then the revolution came and their power was broken by the new weapons and machines that their former subjects devised, and that they could not understand. Now, centuries later, they plot and argue in their mountain fastnesses, clinging to the ancient magic that failed them. Libraries of hidden knowledge surround them, the secrets of the dark ages before the revolution, and all of it unable to restore their world to them.

Beetle-kinden, by David Mumford

Adrian Tchaikovsky — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 23:08:06 +0000

Industrious and adaptable, the Beetle-kinden are the Lowlands’ great innovators, forever labouring to improve their lot. Merchants and artisans, scholars and artificers, their tireless drive for progress has driven forward the boundaries of technology and trade through an interplay of philanthropy and ruthless self-interest. Beetles truly embody the best and worst of the post-revolution world, finding new heights of altruism and new depths of greed.

Mantis-kinden, by David Mumford

Adrian Tchaikovsky — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 19:57:37 +0000

You'll find the latest piece of art by David here

A relic of the dark ages before the revolution, Mantis-kinden were once the great fighting power in the world. Even though their time has passed and they field no armies and seldom take an interest in the world, they remain unequalled killers, swift and deadly beyond any other kinden. Now they keep to their forest strongholds and brood over all that they have lost. Honour is everything, to the Mantis-kinden. Their stories are filled with blood and tragedy.

New Art: Fly-kinden by David Mumford

Adrian Tchaikovsky — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:19:30 +0000

Another of David's pieces, this time his take on the ubiquitous Fly-kinden.

Diminutive Fly-kinden live everywhere in the Lowlands and beyond. Clannish and pragmatic, and unrivalled in the air, they form a thriving underclass wherever they go: cheap labour for the Beetles, servants for the Spiders, military scouts for the Wasps. Fly-kinden are the world’s great opportunists. Fly-kinden will work for anyone, believe in no grand causes, and can thrive and prosper, in their small way, where any other people would be crushed underfoot.

Shadows of the Apt » World

Language and the Insect-Kinden

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Dramatis Personae

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Bee-kinden by David Mumford

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Dragonfly Falling: the Podcast

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Scorpion-kinden, by David Mumford

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Faculties of Literature

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Moth-kinden by David Mumford

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Beetle-kinden, by David Mumford

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Mantis-kinden, by David Mumford

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New Art: Fly-kinden by David Mumford

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