Feros and the Underworld Prince
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9: Louis C.K. makes a joke about cumming in his cat’s face. ‘It’s her fault for watching! Cum on my cat’s face once, shame on me… I don’t have a cat.’ I think it’s from his Chewed Up comedy special, but I’m not positive. It might be from his Shameless comedy special… it’s definitely one of those two.
10: Callback to a joke in Mania and the Executioner about the movie The Five Year Engagement with Jason Segel and Emily Blunt.
11: Alice in Wonderland, a book that started off as a story told to the author’s ten year old girlfriend, which was then written down at her request, presumably while the author wasn’t taking naked pictures of her… the girl being the one that was naked, not the author. And no, I only wish I were making this up. Admittedly, there is no confirmation that Lewis Carroll was actually a pedophile, but it certainly looks that way to me.
12: Chappelle’s Show, season 2 episode 12.
13: This is a reference to how the show Lost would get viewers to watch by saying that some major secret was being revealed next week, only to have nothing big happen in the following episode.
Note: In case no one caught on, the Casbar is a clever pun on Casbah (or Kasbah) which is an African fortress. Now the Casbar deals in betting on the Citadel fights; and what is a citadel, kids? That’s right; a citadel is also a fortress. Aren’t I punny? Or is that a double entendre?
Underworlds
The Underworld is set up like a giant greyscale city where each underworld from every pantheon is a district of the city. These are the districts mentioned in this book and the mythologies to which they belong.
Adlivun: Inuit Underworld, described as frozen wasteland ruled by Sedna. Souls brought there by Pinga were said to have to stay for one year before being able to move on.
Annwvyn: Welsh Celtic Underworld ruled by Arawn that is the land of souls that have departed the world.
Duat: Egyptian Underworld said to be geographically similar to Egypt, but with lakes of fire, walls of iron, and trees made of turquoise. Ruled by Osiris and home to several gods, including Anubis.
Duzakh: Persian Underworld that was described as terrifyingly dark, pungent, and narrow. Ahriman and other Daeva reside here.
Irkalla: Babylonian/Sumerian Underworld ruled by Ereshkigal. Instead of a heaven or hell type of underworld, Irkalla was more of a place where the dead went and decomposed.
Mag Mell: Celtic plane of paradise where Manannan mac Lir is originally from. Said to be an island far to the west. Passage to Mag Mell is said to be attained through death or glory, similar to the Norse’s Valhalla.
Mictlan: Aztec Underworld ruled by Mictlantecuhtli. Described as being far to the north and comprised of nine levels. Souls of the dead had to endure trials that included winds that tore off flesh, rivers of blood, and jaguars.
Niflheim: Norse Underworld for those who didn’t die in battle. A realm of ice and cold ruled by Hel.
Acknowledgments
First off, I’d like to note that my portrayal of amnesia in this book is very ‘Hollywood’; in other words, it’s total bullshit. What’s described in this book is what is known as psychogenic or dissociative amnesia, retrograde amnesia, or a fugue state, which are extremely rare. Real-life amnesia isn’t as simple as the person finding the memories and everything is all good because the cause is more likely to be from a stroke or a brain infection. The most common types of amnesia prevent the patient from forming new memories while leaving long-term memories and personality traits intact. The most accurate portrayal in cinema is probably the character Dory from Finding Nemo.
Writing the third book took twice as long as both the first and second books, despite being only a few thousand words longer than the second book. I thank my family and friends for the suggestions they gave me.
Thanks go to Daniel Schwen for his photograph of New York that I edited for the book’s cover.
I’d like to take the time to thank everyone who has read the series so far. If you enjoyed this book, please tell your friends about the series and write a review. The review doesn’t have to be long or complex, just it being in existence helps me continue doing what I enjoy while providing some entertainment and a distraction from the lives of some who really need it.
Indie authors thrive based on reviews from readers so I thank each and every one of you that takes the time to write one.
About the Author
A.L. Bridges was born and raised in Washington state. He currently resides in Phoenix Arizona and wonders why in the hell anyone decided to settle in the middle of the desert when it is so stupidly hot there. In the year that he has lived in Arizona, he cannot recall a single instance when he has walked outside and not thought “Damn it’s bright!”
Feel free to email him at albridgesauthor@gmail.com with comments, criticisms, or suggestions.
For updates on the latest books and the release of Book 4 of The Gods’ Executioner Series, visit http://albridges.blogspot.com
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