Hostis Humani Generis: Free Will vs Predestination
Hello there.
I hope the new year brought you much joy.
Now let us get down to it.
Sidereus Nuncius introduced you to the Opportvnvs Adest universe. You had chance to meet the central characters, Quentin, Regina & Dante Tate, and Rex Talion, albeit very briefly.
I recapped the story in my last blog so I will not do it again.
Hostis Humani Generis .
The title means the enemy of the human race.
This story is very different from Sidereus Nuncius. Sidereus set the stage for the series but Part Two takes you in a different direction.
Do not worry, Quentin is in the story too. In fact, there is a big revelation about him. I left plenty bread crumbs in Sidereus and a few readers have private messaged and nailed what it is.
Props to them.
Back to Hostis. Know that it is twice as long as Part One and it focuses on what may be the most vile, evil character in literature, Rex Talion.
While Sidereus hints at Talion’s intentions, Hostis puts it all on display. He is the king of terror and you are going to meet this man as a child and learn the events that shaped him.
I should warn you, these things I show you are not pretty, nor are the things this man does to ascend to power. He does it through through murder and mayhem.
Why does Rex Talion do these things?
The simple answer would be: because he can. Being the world’s richest man has it perks. However, it goes deeper than that. Talion is angry about his childhood (like so many people, right?) and wants to punish the world. He also has been told it is his destiny to destroy the world.
The latter part is because he receives information out of a certain book identifying Talion as the third and final evil who will usher chaos and destruction into the 21st century.
There are parts of Hostis where Talion struggles with this. The thought even terrifies him. He is faced with the ability to reject it all at various points in the story, but he choses not to. He embraces evil.
Free will. We all have it. At least, I would like to think we do and we are not just playing out some cosmic string.
What do YOU think?
I have this phrase I use in life and in this series when one is on the precipice of a defining moment: “Decide for yourself”
Thoughts for another time………
In the next blog, I will identify some of the new characters in Part Two. There are plenty and you might need a scorecard, but I can assure you that everyone you meet is vital in the grand scheme of the story and they are quite interesting.
That is all for now.
Be well.
EH
