Zombies

In ‘Stones in the Sea,’ I gave some details on the fact that a powerful sorcerer could enter and control the minds of some lower animals — essentially those without much (or no) sense of self. The goddess Kesarra demonstrates this ability with sea snakes, spiders, and such. Although she can touch sometimes their thoughts, she is incapable of controlling more advanced creatures; whales, for example. Certainly not humans!

I had hinted at this idea in much earlier books. Notably, another goddess, Mawa, used spiders to ‘see’ what was going on elsewhere in ‘The Crocodile’s Son.’

Now another mind that no longer lacks consciousness would be that of a newly deceased person. A sorcerer with the ability can control that mind and its body. This is, in essence, a zombie, as defined in my Izan fantasy stories. I first introduced the concept in the novel ‘Valley of Visions,’ where the warlord Ko is resurrected to harangue his troops into action, with the mad wizard Teshum pulling his strings.

Pretty much everyone, including gods and other sorcerers, strongly condemn such abuse of wizardly powers, as well as recognizing its dangers. It is possible for the wizard controlling a body to become trapped there (at least temporarily) as it deteriorates. Yet some will use such ‘magic’ anyway. It reappears in ‘The Plain of Silver,’ when a zombie assassin is sent to attack a princess of Sharsh (essentially to stir up war).

This is a theme best used infrequently. By positing the need for extraordinary sorcerous power, I can and do limit it. I also limit its effectiveness, to make it less attractive an option for wizards. There is a relatively narrow window of opportunity for seizing control of a dead man’s brain. The body itself will deteriorate and become less useful and harder to control.

On whole, one is better off sticking to spiders.

Souls

One of the most basic tenets of my Izan world-building is that souls do not exist. By soul or spirit I mean the generally accepted definition, essentially any sort of incorporeal entity. This includes ones that might be attached in some way to our material existence — and possibly survive it.

Perhaps I shouldn’t say they don’t exist; more accurately, there is no evidence whatsoever of them. In infinite existence, in infinite worlds, who can say? In that infinity we not only could but must exist again. Infinitely, perhaps! But that is not a soul, nor spirit nor ghost. It is solid material being.

As is everything else. Wizards do not send their spirits to other worlds. They send part of their physical self. The gods are material creatures. Even the little elementals that float among the worlds have a physical form though they are not quite ‘there’ when they come into Exura or another world and interact with its inhabitants.

We could use the old sci-fi cliché of them being ‘out of phase.’ It’s as good — and essentially as meaningless — an explanation as any.

All this does not prevent humans (and other mortals) from believing in the concept of an afterlife. But in many worlds they are knowledgeable enough of the gods and of the infinite worlds to recognize that no one knows what might await. Thus we have the Kamatian funeral rite I created for the third book of Donzalo’s Destiny, The Sign of the Arrow:

As an arrow flies my soul,
into darkness, into night;
none whom I have left behind
sees the ending of its flight.

We can, of course, use the term soul in a more general way, as when we refer to a person as a soul. It is what makes us who we are, our consciousness perhaps, that which continues however much our bodies may change. It is an abstraction, not a ‘real’ thing. Each of us is a human Ship of Theseus, every cell in our body being constantly replaced, yet this idea of us persists.

Until we go. The same with our ‘spirit,’ our spark of life if you will. They do not survive us, at least in the Izan mythos. As to our own reality, I’ll admit I cannot see the ending of my flight.

Getting Set Up

This blog/site is intended as a place for information about the various fantasy novels of Stephen Brooke that make up the Izan Mythos. Stuff that doesn't really belong at his author site (stephenbrooke.com). You know, maps and all those sorts of goodies. As such, is a companion to the Gods and Wizards facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/godsandwizards 

I think the look is reasonably acceptable at the moment. We'll fuss with that and start putting stuff up. By the way, all the books are available from Arachis Press (arachispress.com) as print paperbacks or free ebooks. Drop by and take a look.