Skies of Dinotopia

[Kaak]

Dinotopian fanfiction. No dolphinbacks except Arthur and Will. No magic except that warm magical feeling I get when I read A Land Apart From Time. No dragons, no Star Wars, no science fiction crossovers. Just dinosaurs and humans, hidden from the world.

All the stories were written by me and I stand by that. Please don't flame. :)

www.spacejaggy.net/skybax/

[Buttercup]

WOW! I have started to read the first few pieces and just made it to "Singularity". It is a wonderful piece with an almost rythmical quality to it. I was sucked in and looking at things with a whole new perspective and could feel the conflict the boy felt to some degree. Absolutely must have more like this. I will have to keep reading so please keep writing.

[Kaak]

I'll try and make it a goal to finish Quizal-Wha and Skybax Camp before the end of the month. If I can get them out before I leave, I think you'd like them. Quizal-Wha especially. It's got that same quality, that same 'moment' thing. I think so, anyway.

I hope the rest satisfy :)

[Buttercup]

Question, in "Retrieval, you make note that the flames took Virtus and left Ron Saul...am I correct in assuming that Virtus was Saul's Skybax partner? It was just a tad ambiguous there and I wasn't sure.

Also, at first I did not understand the title but once I had completed the story, i realized that Kaak was on a quest to save Saul's soul in a way...at least that is the way that I look at it.

Why was Altanden irritated with Kaak? Did he feel that Kaak was pushing too much, too far and that he would scare Saul off instead of convince him to come back?

Overall, I loved the story and the emotion that was evident there within it. The powerful sense of an older person reflecting on their youth, able to see more clearly now what was cloudy then, I don't know of a single person who hasn't had to deal with that. I think that is what I like and see the most of so far in your writing and that is the reality and morality holding sway together. Life is real and Dinosaurs were real, but the way that you bring readers into Dinotopia via your characters a snatch at a time is like brief glimpses, not of a fantasy, but of just another place, the same as here where we stand. I don't know if that makes any sense but maybe, just maybe it doesn't have too....

Maybe it just has to be felt.

Keep up the great work and I can't wait for you to finish up the others!

[Kaak]

You're right on all counts - Virtus and Altanden feeling Kaak was pushing too hard. More than that, Altanden felt Kaak was being rude. There's still rules you have to follow, even when you're right, as Kaak felt he was. And I think he was.

As for saving Saul's soul, if you mean saving this man from withering away alone in the caves, that's it exactly. Also, he's a master rider. He was one of a few who grew up with him, flew with him, loved him. To have your friend grieving far away and being unable to tell him you want him to come home, because it's not 'proper' - well, it sucks. And I think that sometimes you need somebody young, who can get away with pushing him harder than a master rider could've, to make the point heard.

*grin* But you got it. :) And thanks for the kind words. I don't do too well with novels, but I enjoy short stories because they're just that - little glimpses of a larger world. There's not all the worry about continuity and 'getting the details right', it's more about the characters and the story and how it makes the reader feel.