The Oracle Dreams



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They lie in each other’s arms in such beauty as makes the gods envious, and for the first time in so long, Iridan, Oracle, is filled with hope. Even to such as I, the future is cloudy, uncertain -- oracle or no, I see nothing clearly, which is the reason for the riddles with which my kind answer kings and carpenters.

They speak is whispers of finding the temple -- and the tomb of my own beloved, my life mate, Hellas, who lived on as a man and fought many years against the legions of Vayal, while I was trapped in the enchanter’s net which holds me still. I see the chasm of the past with painful clarity, where all that is gone is beyond remedy and can only be mourned. I glimpse the ocean of the future through a swirling mist of unformed time. What lies ahead becomes clear only as it draws near to the ‘now’ in which mortal men live and die. Even for the Oracle, all else is dreams.

O, speak thou to Iridan! Only ask thy questions, and his answers shall be as plain as can be wrought by any Seer. Speak to me, Faunos Phinneas Aeson, imbued with the Power … and Soran, vibrant with the courage and strength of youth and love.

Here is the gods’ own truth: youth is steel, but love is stronger.

They speak of plans half-made, and kiss and caress, discovering themselves in each other. They know only that they have far to travel, across waters filled with peril and lands dark with the high magic of forgotten ages. Such are young men’s dreams … Iridan knows the truth, but would not whisper of it even as the price of freedom.

The way ahead is filled with pain, but their solace is each other, and they would choose no other path. Desire is spent, and they kiss softly now, whispering their shared hopes aloud, secrets that, once spoken, are no less binding than vows.

At last the outcast prince of Vayal lays his head upon the witchboy’s breast to hear his heart. Knowest thou, Soranchele Izamal-xiu Ulkan, that heart beats for thee.

Helios is at the glory of his noonday zenith as two galleys from the isles of Incaria make their way west toward the port of Thebes. Far beyond lies Jaymaca, across seas which are the domain of Hurucan. Distant in the east lie the Keloi Shores, as wreathed in mist as are oracles’ dreams and the myth-like memories from the time of time the great ice.

For the moment, Soran and Faunos have forgotten the road ahead. They are young, and love consumes them, as it should; and none save Iridan knows how greatly they will need that love, and each other, on the path they have chosen.


Here ends the First Book of
The Fall of the Atlantean Empire

About Legends...

This story has its roots in the 1980s. About the time I signed with GMP, I was kicking around the idea for a massive novel -- the problem being, I had no time to develop it. At the time, one of my "literary friends" was Lane Ingram, who passed away some years ago. When Lane volunteered to develop the narrative from my storyline, I was surprised and very agreeable; and a version of it was circulated on a small scale, to a very appreciative audience!

Lane had no aspirations to be a professional novelist, which meant writing was fun, and remained fun, while I did battle with "style" and "technique." And then one day Lane was gone, without leaving much of anything to mark the place in the world which had once bee occupied by an individual who was large in every sense of the word.

Let's change that. I'm bringing LEGENDS "to the screen" in a form which preserves as much of Lane's input as I possibly can, while at the same time properly developing it, bringing it up to full professional standard ... cutting and trimming, correcting the errant, though enthusiastic, amateur ... polishing it to the professional sparkle you've come to expect from Mel Keegan.

LEGENDS will be Lane's memorial. Here's to you, kiddo, wherever you are: enjoy.

Ebook screenreaders:


Downloading LEGENDS and reading from the computer screen? Join the club! Most people are stuck in the same situation ... and it's a right-royal pain. At this time, MK also is still trying to make the transition to one of the ebook screenreaders. The price of most of them is still high, but in the course of shopping around, Mel has found two that are coming under extremely close scrutiny. The Bebook and the Sony look like being the best deals at this time. In due course, we'll be reviewing them right here. Mel Keegan has decided it's going to be one of these two -- but they're very comparable, so ... take your pick. Either one would be perfect for reading LEGENDS, or other digital novels.

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ABOUT THE LEGENDS ART...

The art appearing on this site, illustrating elements of this novel, is by Jade, my cover artist from DreamCraft.

Soon you'll be able to order prints, treeshirts, mugs, mousepads and a lot more, featuring this artwork and manufactured in the US by Zazzle.com.

The portfolio is still growing, and a gallery is online. Return to this page now and then to see new addition...

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The NARC novels are now at Amazon!

Research Tales

A great deal of research for this novel was done, and subjects Atlantean most often begun with a study of the Trojan wars.

Why? Because the iLiad is one of the very oldest bodies of writing which is also extensive enough to be useful. The problem with the iLiad is -- unless you're fluent in Ancient Green (and who is?) you'll be working from the translations ... and the "disagreement" between them is counfounding for one who's not a Homerian scholar!

The solution? Track down a book that translates the translations -- gets them out of the rich, ripe, flowery language of poetry and into a solid historical context. And in this, MK lucked out. Such a book exists: The Trojan War by Barry Strauss. It reads like a novel, and if you wanted something to get your teeth into ... perhaps after watching the movie, Troy, or after reading Legends -- this is the book you've been looking for.

There's another very scholarly work, The Flood From Heaven by Eberhard Zanger, which "deciphers the evidence" and places Atlantis at Troy! Now, Legends is about five thousand miles from Zanger's work (literally -- due west!) but having said that, Zanger is to Plato what Strauss is to Homer, and the work was extremely helpful.

Now, working even further back through time, you want a "scholar" (and note the quotation marks on that word) who spent a lifetime researching (ouch!) Atlantis. And again, MK lucked out, because there is such a man. A very brilliant man by the name of Ignatius Donnelly, whose "pop-science" book, dating from 1882, is still in print today, in several editions! It's thorough, it's astonishing, and it makes ... quite a case for Atlantis. Not that anyone believes in such things. Right?

There are also some good documentaries on DVD, if this is altogether far too much reading!

And of course, if you want to get into the spirit of the thing (!) you can always put on Troy and let Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, Eric Bana and company provide the inspiration! Speaking of which, have you seen the director's cut? Highly recommended.

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION: Legends is copyright 2009 by Mel Keegan. Please do download the whole novel, which is in HTML format, compatible with your screenreader, PC or Mac. However ... please don't gift it to your friends. Instead, give them the url of this page and recommend that they download it for themselves. The reason is simple: author's income is earned via the adverting on these pages. If they're not loaded, nothing is earned. MK has bills to pay too, and for your cooperation ... thank you kindly!

Note that Legends is NOT covered by the "Creative Commons." This work is the intellectual property of Mel Keegan. If you would like to use parts of it elsewhere, please contact MK via this blog.






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