Friday, June 25, 2010

Spellwright

Last night I went to a book reading/signing with Blake Charlton, author of the fantacy novel “Spellwright”. “Spellwright” is an adult fantacy novel, it’s crazy I know. But adults who love fantacy don’t have to settle for Harry Potter and Bella Swan, there are actually some fantacy books written with adult characters. “Spellwright” is one of them.

I haven’t read this book yet, but based upon what I learned at last nights reading, the character of Nicodemus has dyslexia. Nicodemus is a wizard who lives in a world driven by words. Spells and incantations have controll over every aspect of the universe. If Nicodemus can’t spell these words correctly, he can through the universe into chaos.

This is not the first dyslexic character in a fantacy series. Percy Jackson is also dyslexic. But Percy’s disability has little impact on the story and feels more like a shout out to the learning disabled then a potent comentary on the effect of words and language.

“Spellwright’s” author, Blake Charlton, is also dyslexic. He drew upon both his experiences in special ed growing up and college at Yale to create the character of Nicodemus. In addition to being an author, Charlton is also currently in medical school at Stanford. His understanding of human phisology and cognative developement have effected both his portrayol of Nicodemus, and his creation of the Spellwright world.

I look forward to reading this novel and want to champion the accomplishments of Blake Charlton. A successful and brilliant man, who is proving to the world that he can do many things, even if he can’t correctly spell his spells.


Joke of the Day
What do you get when you cross a dyslexic, an agnostic, and an insomniac?
Someone who stays up all night wondeirng if there is a dog.