Debt of Bones |
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Before the Boundaries there was the war between D'Hara and the Midlands. Zedd was First Wizard of the Midlands in charge of countering the dangerous magic of Panis Rahl, and was doing quite well until a supplicant came to the Wizard's Keep bearing a burden as heavy as bones. Abby's request was quite simple: Repay a Debt of bones by save the people of her home, Coney Crossing, from the cluches of the D'Harans; save her daughter. But this is no simple debt to be repaid. If Zedd is to uphold his end, it might forfeit the war with D'Hara. |
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A debt of bones comes about when one who has magic makes an extrodinary consession for another that the recipient becomes endebted to the other. To swear a debt of bones is to link both parties until the debt is paid, and commits any decendents to each other until should the debt not be paid in the lifetimes of the original parties. |
Debt of Bones was a priceless opportunity for me, amid the sweep of a series, to write an independent short novel delving into the life of a character I've always wanted to write more about. Many times, while writing about the human themes that are important to me, there is more to the story that I can include in the book I'm working on--stories about past events, or how something came to be. This tale lifts the shroud from one of those past events.
How did the boundaries really come to be? What could have brought about such a cataclysmic event? This is, in part, the untold stry of the genesis of the boundaries, and yet, it is far more.
I value writing stories set in places I would like to be and about people I admire. I like to write about characters we recognize from our own lives--people we can readily identify and relate to--and also about the people we would like to know. Above all the characters must come alive for me as I write. They must ring true. In this world, as in ours, an individual, no matter how helpless they believe they are, can sometimes make a choice that will change their world, and not always for the better.
This is such a tale.
I wanted to tell the story of one such individual, Abby, a young woman at the mercy of others, powerless against forces she cannot fully understand, much less control, and above all else, desperate for help.
It is also about the story of Zedd as a young man, coming into the height of his power, at the centre of a great struggle for the future not only of his people, but of the world. Life and death are at his command, yet he is impotent in the face of wishes he cannot grant--not only to a woman who needs his help, but to himself. Dangling in the balance is the destiny of a young child. Borne on the winds of treachery comes a woman bearing a Debt of Bones.
I want readers to ask themselves what they would do if faced wtih the same choices as Abby and Zedd. How woudll they choose?
This is not only the story of how the boundaries came to be, but the dawning of the world into which Richard and Kahlan will be born
- Terry Goodkind