Lore and Preface

Dormitor is a chronological series spanning the history that has unfolded from the moment the first consciousness awoke in the darkness, confronted existence, struggled against it, fled from it, and eventually fell back into sleep—only to awaken into ordinary life—to the dawn of our present age.

The chronology begins with the chaotic era in which the first consciousness attempted to bring order to existence, approached through a philosophical, theological, and mythical narrative. It then descends into the cosmic darkness of our universe and our history, where the story follows, though not with absolute adherence, the chronology of the scientific discoveries we have made about our past, while gradually filling the narrative with increasingly abundant fantastical elements.

In the final section, as the dawn of our history begins to break, the narrative follows a more rigorous historical chronology, beginning with the Flood of 10,000 BC and continuing into the early 1000s. From the 1000s onward, alternative elements gradually begin to emerge, carrying the story toward Columbus’s discovery of the Americas. After Columbus, the chronology once again remains faithful to the broad course of our history, but by then the narrative has unmistakably transformed into an alternate history rich with fantastical elements.

This fantastical narrative seeks to shed light upon the wheels turning in the darkness and shadows of our reality, our forgotten past, and the history pushed into obscurity. It illuminates those shadows while adding new ones of its own, enriching the story in the process. In place of shadows erased by time, it offers new shadows faithful to the traces they left behind, while giving the shadows that remain visible faces born from myth.

In short, this work possesses neither the powerful literary language intended to lull a man to sleep nor the promise of bare truths intended to wake him. It seeks instead to cast light into the darkness, point toward the traces of shadows erased by time, and, where those shadows have vanished, offer new ones that remain faithful to their footprints. And where the shadows are still visible, it gives them faces from fairy tales.

Perhaps it will merely sweeten the dreams of those who sleep, while offering new horizons to those who are awake. And for those who have not known sleep for a very long time, perhaps it will do nothing more than make them smile a little.

I hope you will enjoy this possible story of our reality, and the tale of the countless schemes devised by characters, factions, and dynasties in a universe where the possibility that the first consciousness might one day awaken as an ordinary human being exists—and where the full power of existence itself has come dangerously close even to the simplest of mortals, tempting them to seize it, destroy it, or manipulate it.

Finally, I would not like to end without sharing one small detail. Although the first book will be considerably longer in its full form, I should point out that the book you see here will offer satisfying and intriguing accounts of the subjects suggested by these titles. However, the greater part of the eventual book will be devoted to the period following the Flood and, even more extensively, to the history we know.

Although the temptation to immediately begin writing a novel about the earlier fantastical ages is strong, my love of history and my need to build a world with its feet firmly planted on the ground have prevented me from abandoning this journey of writing a chronological history.

Until the main book is released, I hope you will indulge in the titles covering every era of the Dormitor universe, presented here after what may be considered a kind of foreword. I hope you find them as intriguing as I do, and that you will enjoy discovering the world they hint at.