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The crash site of the Wright Flyer at Ft. Myer

From the 16th Century, Cuthbert Grimbald–Kairos–reaches forward in time, altering a key moment in aviation history. But fortunately for us all, Nikki notices the anomaly in the continuum.

“The Wright Brothers invent powered flight in 1903 and win a U.S. Army contract in 1908, which leads to an increased use of the airplane during WWI, marking the beginning of a rapid advancement in aviation technology. Air power becomes a defining component of our military success during WWII. But in the altered continuum, the Wright’s mechanic, Charlie Taylor, dies on a test flight and the Wrights are not able to complete the trials. A failure that condemns aviation to the back burner for two more decades. As you know, we barely make it out of World War I and World War II becomes an unmitigated disaster.”

The disaster Nikki refers to is a World War II with a very different ending. The continuum has been shifted and now the war ends only after the United States has detonates atomic bombs mounted on trucks in France, Italy and Germany. Millions die in a desperate attempt to stop the Nazis.

In our time continuum, a twenty year old West Point graduate, Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge becomes the first aviation passenger fatality when a propellor on the Flyer, piloted by Orville Wright, delaminates and gets entangled in the aircraft’s rigging.

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And what happened to Charlie Taylor, the mechanic who built the first successful aviation engine? He lived many years after the failed test flight, dying in January 30, 1956, at the age of 88. Charles E. Taylor was buried in the Portal of Folded Wings Mausoleum dedicated to aviation pioneers, located in Valhalla Memorial Park, Los Angeles.

Thomas Selfridge, who was a pioneering aeronaut, manned a kite in 1907 and later in 1908, an aircraft, the White Wing, designed by the Aerial Experiment Association formed Alexander Graham Bell. Lieutenant Selfridge was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

Learn more about the first powered flight fatality

Learn more about First Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge

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…an odd wind rises beyond the hills. A storm rolling down the mountainside? I turn to shout another command, when the wind grows to a rhythmic thwump, thwump, thwump, like huge birds of prey catching Andean air in their massive feathered wings. An Inca monster has been awakened? Over the crest behind the remnants of the Emperor’s force, huge beasts ply the air, thwump, thwump, thwump, a steady drone. For a moment, everyone around me stops to take in a sight like none they have ever seen.


Artwork by Ven Locklear

Nazca Hot Air Balloon

You might think hot air balloons during the time of the Inca Empire is solidly in the realm of fantasy. However, an American explorer, Jim Woodman proposed the idea of the Nazca people using hot air balloons to design the Nazca Lines in the sand.

Best way to see nazca lines - hummingbird lines

While most likely not the method used by the Nazcas, Woodman convinced Juliann Nott to attempt to build and fly a hot air balloon with materials that would have been available thousands of years ago.  Nott notes on his website regarding the project: “When Jim Woodman approached me with his idea that the people who created the Nazca lines could have seen them from hot air balloons I was intrigued but skeptical. Yet we successful(ly) flew in a balloon that could have been built by the Nazca people a thousand years ago. And while I do not see any evidence that the Nazca civilization did fly, it is beyond any doubt that they could have.”

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And so the Inca technology Addison encounters combines the theoretically achievable flight of a hot air balloon matched with early Wright Brothers flight. At the top of this blog post, Ven Locklear has recreated the ensuing battle.

Learn more about the Nazca.

See more of Ven Locklear’s art.

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Inca Civilization in 16th Century Peru

The Inca civilization in Peru had been in existence for 100 years before the arrival the Francisco Pisarro. The Incan empire had grown through a process of conquest but not necessarily occupation. Often the superior force of the Inca would spare their enemy and set them up as a vassal of the state. The goal was to expand the empire to the four corners of their world. Defeated peoples were moved across the vast Empire on the largest road system on the planet at the time (possibly 25,000 miles) to work on large construction projects. The Inca also enforced a common language, Runa Sumi.

Attawalpa

In 1525 the dying emperor appointed Atawallpa as his successor, bypassing another son, Washkar. The brothers pitched their armies against each other for control, Atawallpa finally subdued Washkar, killing his many wives to preempt any other challenge to his reign. Fresh from this victory Atawallpa learns of a pale, hairy people sailing the wind on large canoes and riding enormous llamas. The emperor, who now ruled the four corners of the world did not fear a few pale men. His curiosity draws him to them. Historically, Pizarro hid his 168 men, horses and cannon in the dead end canyon of the square of a deserted town of Cajamarca. On November  16, 1532 Atawallpa, carried on a litter, entered the town with a thousand ceremonial troops behind him. The Spaniards protected by armor, firing cannon, and using steel weapons, slaughtered Atawallpa’s force, took him captive, ransomed him for gold and silver, and finally killed him. 

Pizarro Arrives In Peru, 1532

In DIEBACK, the story skews from history once Addison has inked Pizarro and his enemy Kairos has brought aviation technology to the Empire. Instead of defeat in Cajamarca, Atawallpa confronts the Spaniards and their advanced weaponry with a terror in the sky unlike anything the Conquistadores could imagine. Tune in next week for that story.

Learn more about Pizarro’s encounter with Inca Civilization.

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Original image of Pharos Lighthouse by Prof. H. Thiersch

When the hiding place on the shelves of the Great Library become perilous, Thomas Addison gives the scroll to his son, asking him to hide it at the base of the Pharos Lighthouse. This structure, probably the tallest structure in the world at the time, rising as high as one hundred meters, was built by the Ptolomic Kingdom in the 3rd century BC. The stone structure served as a lighthouse to the harbor, surviving until it was damaged by several earthquakes between 956 and 1323.

The Citadel of Qaitbay, built in 1480, rests on a foundation of stone from the lighthouse. Addison carries the Alchimeia scroll through the street fighting as Aurelius puts down Queen Zenubia’s revolt, hiding in a crypt within the lighthouse foundation. The lighthouse did indeed exist and you can walk the streets of Alexandria and see the citadel today. But don’t go lifting floor stones looking for an entrance to the crypt! This is fiction, after all.

Learn more about Pharos Lighthouse

DIE BACK is available in paperback and ebook at Amazon.

Rather hear the blog? Click here to listen to the audio cast of the blog.

Alexandria, founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC quickly became a center of culture, learning and commerce for a thousand years due to it’s harbor and geographic position. The Great Library, which is purported to have housed the most extensive collection of writings on the planet at the time.  At its height, the library acted to gather as much of the knowledge in the world within its buildings, housing from an estimated 40,000 to 400,000 papyrus scrolls. Librarians would depart Alexandria in search of new writings and ships coming into the harbor were asked to surrender their books for copying by the library.

Scholars debate on when the library met its demise, but two historical events probably caused most of the damage. First, in 48 AD, a besieged Julius Caesar reportedly set fire to his ships in the harbor, the flames spreading to the flammable papyrus scrolls in various buildings of the library. The year the League inkers of
DIEBACK enter the city, 272 AD, the Roman emperor Aurelius was in the process of putting down a revolt led by Queen Zenobia of Palmyra, destroying much of the remaining library buildings and contents.

Addison’s father, Thomas Shaw has then found an excellent location to hide the Alchimeía among the many scrolls. Not only does he have the security of being hidden in plain sight, but he has contained the hiding place within a specific time period. He knows the library and its contents, including the Alchimeía, will be destroyed within 24 hours of him placing the scroll on the shelf. Only an inker with specific knowledge of the time and location will be able to reacquire the document containing the alchemical secrets of the League.

Sounds like a very good strategy and I’m sure we have nothing to worry about…

Learn more about the destruction of the Great Library.

DIE BACK is available in paperback and ebook from Amazon.

DIE BACK Virtual Tour

Posted: January 29, 2019 by jazzdog in Blog Tour
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Come over to Literally Speaking today and check out the interview. You’ll learn, among other things, a bit about the main characters in DIE BACK.

I’m on the final week of the tour, finishing off with three interviews. The first is today at I’m Shelfish. Come check it out.

DIE BACK Virtual Tour Fridays

Posted: January 25, 2019 by jazzdog in Blog Tour
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I’m finishing up the week at Stacking My Book Shelves! Another opportunity to read the first chapter of DIE BACK. Or pick up the book in paperback or ebook at Amazon. Have a great weekend!

DIE BACK Virtual Tour

Posted: January 23, 2019 by jazzdog in Blog Tour
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Why on earth does DIE BACK open with a scene in 272 AD Alexandria, Egypt? And in the middle of a Roman attack on the city? I’m at Straight from the Author’s Mouth today, explaining myself. LOL

Check out the first chapter of DIE BACK at Read My First Chapter. And look for postings on future stops this week.