Monthly Archives: February 2012

The Voyage of the Minotaur: Maalik Murty

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Maalik Murty is a character in The Voyage of the Minotaur

Spoiler Alert

Although mentioned briefly in book 0, Maalik Murty really only appears in The Voyage of the Minotaur.  He is a child molester, but with a name like Maalik, you knew he was bad, right?  Murty is one of the few characters that I’ve written that I had a real idea of what he looked like.  Right from the beginning, I pictured the Jeffrey Combs (a truly wonderful character actor) character from The Frighteners (a great pre-Lord of the Rings Peter Jackson movie).  Of course Murty comes to a sticky end, because he comes across both Senta and Terrence, either of whom could and would kill him—and of course one of them does.

The Voyage of the Minotaur: Egeria Lusk

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Spoiler Alert

 Egeria Lusk is one of my favorite characters.  She owes a bit to Patience from His Robot Girlfriend.   For one thing, she is extremely smart—the smartest person in the colony with the possible exception of Professor Calliere.  For another, she is attracted to a much older man.  She is 27 and has determined to marry Zeah, who is 49.  She appears later in the series too, but Book 1 is really her spot.

The Voyage of the Minotaur: Saba Colbshallow

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Saba Colbshallow is a character in the story of Senta and the Steel Dragon.

Spoiler Alert
Saba has less of a part in this book than any others.  He appears quite often in Voyage of the Minotaur, but it is usually in some servant capacity.  On the other hand, in Books 2 and 3, he is probably the most important character, with the single exception of Senta herself.  When I went back and wrote book 0, therefore, I made him a little more prominent.  Though he is again in the background in books 4 and 5, he is none-the-less still important to the story.

The Voyage of the Minotaur: Women Aboard Ship

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There are more female settlers than male on the Minotaur, so it is not surprising that there are several recurring characters among them.

Spoiler Alert

 Mrs. Duplessis is a widow among the passengers and is chiefly noted for the fact that she is carrying her husband’s posthumous child.  She gives birth to the baby on the long journey to the new colony.

Miss Kilmurray is a young women that Augie is carrying on a relationship with aboard ship.  This causes him to come under suspicion (at least by Iolanthe) when Miss Kilmurray is found murdered.

Mrs. Kittredge is another widow making the trip.  She is a seamstress and does several sewing jobs.  She eventually marries Corporal Bratihn, and as Mrs. Bratihn becomes a major supporting character in books 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Minotaur: The Wizard and the Priest from Mernham Yard

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Spoiler Alert

 One of the ideas that I thought was pretty cool, was when early on Zeah and Augie encounter a wizard and priest working for the police department.  They both use their magic to Sherlock-Holmes-out the mystery of who is killing young women, such as Abelina Gelford, near the waterfront.  They are also who clues in Augie to the existence of Zurfina the Magnificent.

If I ever get around to writing the sequel series to this one, I plan to have another pair of sleuths, if not the same two, as part of the introductory novella.  By the way, I just made up the name Mernham Yard to bring to mind Scotland Yard.

The Voyage of the Minotaur: Professor Merced Calliere

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Spoiler Alert

Of all the characters in the Senta and the Steel Dragon series, I guess Professor Calliere gets most short shrift.  Here he is, one of the greatest inventors and geniuses of all times and he ends up married to a woman that doesn’t really love him and father to a child that probably isn’t his.  In another book, he might have made a great supporting character for the long term, but here, he isn’t in it for the long term, though he does make an appearance in book 2 and book 3.

The Voyage of the Minotaur is available wherever fine ebooks are sold.

The Voyage of the Minotaur: The Navy

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Spoiler Alert

I’ve already talked about Lieutenant Staff, but there are a couple of other navy characters in The Voyage of the Minotaur worth note.

Captain Gurrman is the commander of the HMS Minotaur.  He appears infrequently and usually as Iolanthe’s dinner guest, but he lives on later in the series as a building in the new colony is named for him.

Lieutenant Baxter is a junior officer on the HMS Minotaur and appears little more than the captain, however he is one of the major characters in Book 4: The Young Sorceress, and if I ever get around to writing the second five book series set in this world, he will be one of the major characters there.

Here is a hint at the possible titles:

Book 0: Return to Brechalon
Book 1: The Sorceress and her Lovers.