First Pages Friday: ANATOPSIS

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First Pages Fridays offers a taste of an author's work—from books long on the shelves to works-in-progress, because while you can't judge a book by the cover, you can tell plenty from the first pages. (Today's selection is from the children's chapter book section of the bookstore.)

"Bright kids will relish the blend of fantasy, science fiction, Arthurian elements and . . . Greek myths ." The Washington Post

"A smooth progression from beginning to startling conclusion will draw even reluctant readers into this unusual fantasy and its fully realized world."–School Library Journal

Princess Anatopsis Solomon wants to be a knight-errant. But her mother, chairwoman of Amalgamated Witchcraft Corporation, plans for her immortal daughter to take over the family business. The Queen has even hired a new tutor: a demigod named Mr. Pound. But Mr. Pound's plans go far beyond completing Ana's education. He is searching for the mysterious and powerful Os Divinitas. And if he finds it, nothing will survive. A shocking and powerful gift will catapult the Princess into an unlikely quest through the rich worlds of Anatopsis, inhabited by magic immortals, a rebel army, and the last dog in the Universe.

Anatopsis

by Chris Abouzeid

IN THE LATTER HALF of the Universe's most recent outward explosion, when things were slowing down a bit but not yet falling apart, when "alive" was still an exciting if not completely safe thing to be, there was a small planet with which you are familiar.  In its youth, it had been bright blue, like a marble, but had since turned the color of badly mixed paint.  And if you were to draw near it, you would in fact see that its waters were comprised of a mishmash of pigments—rust, algae, methane, phosphorus—all whipped together by the tremendous waves and whirlpools that plagued this planet's surface.  This was not a hospitable place, not the sort of world upon which one would expect to find life.  And yet, there was one small spot of life left:  a gaudy eye of land, its pupil grassy, its iris glinting with steel and glass, the lids speckled with castles and moats and lined with twin blue rivers.

On the southern lid of this island, in a magnificent castle atop the hill, there lived a princess named Anatopsis Solomon.  Anatopsis—or Ana, as she preferred to be called—was the daughter of a witch, descended from a long line of witches, and there would be nothing especially unusual about this except that her mother, Queen Abigail Solomon, happened to be chairperson and president of Amalgamated Witchcraft Corporation (or AW, as it was more commonly called).

If you picture Ana's mother as the old-fashioned, cackling-but-colorful sort of witch one finds in fairy tales, you will be dangerously mistaken.  She was a modern witch—shrewd, calculating, commanding to the last degree.  She presided over a board of twelve witches and warlocks, directed thousands of employees, both magical and ordinary, and worked day and night to maintain her reputation as the most powerful woman in the Universe.

To the casual observer, Ana appeared to be a perfect copy of her mother.  She was blessed with her mother's beauty—the long flaxen hair, moon-white skin, and green eyes so essential for beguiling friends and enemies.  She had also inherited her mother's aptitude for all things magical.  By the age of two, she had read her first Magic Primer; by three, she had mastered all of the Counting Spells; and by the age of five, she could set a cat to running in circles so tight it would explode with static electricity.  In short, she was a prodigy.

The similarities between mother and daughter ended there, however.  For whereas the Queen interchromafied her hair a necromantic black and kept it perfectly coiffed, Ana's hair resembled an unraveling rope.  And whereas the Queen never behaved in any manner that did not suggest pride, dignity, and complete confidence, Ana was moody and unpredictable.  One moment she might be shouting and flying about the castle with an old sword, whacking the heads off the gargoyles; the next she might be glowering and melancholy, a princess trapped in a windowless tower.  And whereas the Queen believed there was no question that Ana would follow in her dear mother's footsteps, Ana had no interest at all in the family business.

"I want to be a knight-errant, like Father," she said, one morning a few days before her thirteenth birthday.  She and her mother were seated at the long, polished witchadder table in the dining room.  Ana had managed to spill melonfish juice and crumbs of newt bread all over her ice blue dress.  "He gets to travel and meet lots of interesting people.  He doesn't sit at a desk all day worrying about his net worth or which employees don't like him."

"Darling," the Queen replied, her back perfectly straight, her elbows tucked in, the skin of her melonfish removed in three deft movements of knife and fork, "if it weren't for my net worth, your father would be peddling used spells to half-witted hags.  Or, more likely, hanging from a hook in a dragon's lair."

Ana scowled.  Her father, Sir Christopher, was the best knight-errant in the Guild.  He had traveled to nearly every corner of the Universe and brought back more relics and rare artifacts and disposed of more dragons than any knight-errant in history.  Nevertheless, what her mother said was true:  Without the Queen to support him, Sir Christopher would likely be a pauper by now.  And without her protection, he might have been eaten long ago, or worse.

"In any case, Anatopsis, I did not ask what sort of future you want," her mother went on.  "I asked what sort of future you expect to have.  You've missed two classes this month, and your tutor informs me that your performance has been abysmal."

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Chris says:

Since most of my published work has been for an adult literary audience, you may be wondering what I'm doing writing fantasy novels for kids. Well, children's books–especially fantasy ones–are my first love. Ask any bookstore owner in my area: they'll tell you I spend most of my time and money in the Children's/Young Adult section. And my all-time favorite books are still the ones that come with Newberry Medals, swords, dogs, magicians or ships on the covers.

Anatopsis is the first novel I ever wrote. I started it more than 20 years ago, and my goal, at the time, was just to see if I could finish it. I did. But the first version was 600 pages long and, by any measure of literature, unpublishable. So, while I was recovering from my disappointment and trying to rewrite the book, I took the opportunity to do what every struggling writer does: work at a lot of different jobs so that I could list them on the back flap of my books some day.

Here is the list, for those of you who are curious: store clerk, teacher, children's magazine editor, production manager at a sailing magazine, secretary, telecommunications programmer, web consultant, Director of Information Systems for an on-line music company, and most recently, Java developer. Oh, and for a few years, I was also guitarist and vocalist for the Beatles tribute band, HELP!

Now I'm writing pretty much full-time. I live in a nice house in Massachusetts with my wonderful, supportive, and extremely patient wife (who also, by the way, is a published author and a fantastic writer) and my 3 children, who are equally wonderful but not quite as patient. I like to tell my kids a lot of stories, and they seem to enjoy them. But when I pick up my guitar, they leave the room, because, as my daughter once said, "Daddy's singing doesn't taste good."

Hope you enjoy Anatopsis and this web-site. Please feel free to email me if you have any comments or questions.