What is also fascinating is that, as of the writing of this novel, China’s ‘Chang’e-4’ mission is planned to make the first ever landing on the far side, sending a rover to explore the surface, and including other satellites to allow communication back. Expectations (and fears for some) are high…
This ‘Venice of the Pacific’ in Micronesia is an incredible place, an engineering marvel and considered one of the greatest archaeological wonders of the world. It comes all wrapped up with a rich history, a plethora of baffling mysteries, and a boatload of speculation. How and why they moved the giant volcanic rocks from miles away over difficult terrain, and then stacked them 50 feet high and almost 20 feet thick, has never been answered. The platinum coffins are well documented and were targets of Japanese investigation and retrieval during WWII. Local legends abound, and the only historical civilization residing there, from 1100–1600, claimed the city was there when they arrived, and relate tales of giants, levitation, magic and ghosts, and claimed the ancient kings had ‘supernatural powers’ that would curse any who disturbed their tombs or sought their treasure. The story of German governor Victor Berg, who entered one of the tombs, is based on fact. He supposedly found remains of giants measuring two-three meters tall, and he died the following morning after a night of torrential storms. There is also a fringe theory that the island of Pohnpei, attached to Nan Madol, has unique and subtle seismic activity, which generates piezoelectricity — and it’s this electromagnetism, combined with the ‘strangely magnetized basalt’ blocks that make Nan Madol special in ways that I theorize in the plot: allowing for an interplay of consciousness and technology that could explain the negation of gravity (and the amazing constructions we see there). Whatever the truth, the mysteries remain — enticing and thought-provoking. If only we could see into the past…
But again, it’s exactly that thought which started this whole series, and again I thank all you readers for coming along for the ride.
David Sakmyster
7/6/18