Another reader asked
why my heroes and heroines always hit bottom before they succeed. Like us, they’re
not gifted with superhuman powers. They must confront their limitations and
grow and adapt to succeed. In the steadfast pursuit of their mission, their
limited human capacities (like all of us) eventually confronts the overwhelming
power of their enemy. After defeat, it’s their spirit that rises from failure
and continues the fight.
I had some guidance on
this from a man named de Merlner that I want to share with you/
The Phoenix (Resurrection
and Hope)
From The Diary of
Neuchar de Merlner,
Nova Conta, Section
3, Spiritus (Spirit)
It is beyond our
fathoming how, beset by the most overwhelming of events, that the human spirit
rises from despair to greatness: the selfless martyr who gives their life for
others but is sent to the stake, or to the cross, while still blessing us; or the
parent who survives the death of their child.
It is why the
phoenix is immortal.
And it is why the
stories of resurrection are targeted for our hearts, not our heads.
It is because we
have all seen this that we know it to be true: that the human spirit can rise
again after destruction. This spirit is not some disembodied ghost or mystical
entity that touches us. No, it is us, as truly as our hands and our hearts. It
is this spirit that animates us: the anima of Latin philosophy; the breath of
life or psyche of the Greeks; before science and psychology obscured our view
of the universal. And if we allow adversity to conquer us, if we cannot rise
from the ashes of spiritual destruction, there is nothing left.
Absent our spirit,
we are an empty husk. With it we are lions, and whales, and . . . human beings:
not mere biological entities or notations on a phylogenetic tree or collections
of psychological descriptions; not mere economic automatons who recreate and
breed to optimize evolutionary advantage.
With our human spirit,
we are giants that roam the galaxy; that see God in heaven, and a future beyond
the stars.
(Nova Conta, Section
3, Spiritus)
© 2026 Benjamin R.
Strong, Jr.
Ray
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! News !
Zephyr’s Flight audiobook
is live on Amazon for preorder. We’ll have an Amazon preorder and a sample
reading available in a few weeks with release on February 24, 2026.
Audiobooks of the
next two books in The Dragons’ War series will be released soon. I’ll keep you
up to date.
And if you can’t
wait for our new releases, here are some interesting reads for you.
Free Fantasy Reads
Magical Fantasy Giveaways
Science Fiction/Fantasy/LitPRG
Science Fiction and Fantasy
… and of course, our
books in the Dragon’s
War series.