Translator’s Note

My greatest challenge as translator of this text was in correctly rendering the blazoning of the Skarsian Matriarchy.  My fear was, of course, that in my completely accurate transcription of the heraldic forms of the future, I would be accused of usurping or falsifying the traditions of the past.  I did not wish to face arrest, for example, if I decided to ever set foot in Scotland.

My fears were soon allayed upon the discovery that each Cu’enashti coat-of-arms is required to display at least one pseudo-tincture (derived from the 103 pseudo-colors perceived when the human eye encounters nul-energy and named according to the conventions of the Skarsian Decorator’s Guild) along with the standard tinctures, metals and furs.  As a result, it is impossible for there to be conflict between Cu’enashti arms and the arms of any human person currently alive or of historical note.  I have done my best to blazon according to the English language tradition; please forgive my errors as I have no pretense to being an herald.  I have had to contrive English equivalents for additional Dolparessan heraldic concepts: another base coloration is a field of flowers, i.e. dandeliony, lillifery etc.

The illustrations provided are my own emblazoning, done with the assistance of many public domain resources (most especially the heraldic illustrations of Graham Johnson as published in A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles-Fox Davis) and my own poor illustrations when absolutely necessary – unfortunately, I could find no clip art of a trans-universal inferometer.  I was specifically instructed that, as non-combatants, the coats-of-arms for Manasseh and Ellery should not be displayed on a shield, but rather the sort of lozenge appropriate for a lady.

The rest of the novel is the more of the usual escapades we can expect from our protagonists the Matriarch and the Archon; to wit, a soft science-fiction erotic adventure involving a male harem of bisexual trees.  If you’ve slogged through the previous six volumes of this, there’s really no point in warning you, is there?

-MC

Comments are closed.