With a background in classical philosophy and a love of video games, a new author brings an original idea to the overstocked book isles. Bonn Turkington, a recent UVU graduate, was always intrigued by the interactive environments of video games and RPG’s, but also enjoyed the intellectual feasts of Greek and Russian philosophies. This mix laid the foundations for a unique vision of a fantastic world. After suffering the loss of his father in 2001, he delved into his love of story making. A plot unfolded, centralizing on the mental growth of his bachelor protagonist, Vaan, in a world that comes under the evil gaze of a mastermind psychopath who dreams of creating art through the destruction of real lives. When the rush of ideas ebbed, Turkington discovered he had over 650 pages written. After a few months of re-writing, he opted to cut his book into three volumes with friendlier page counts in the 200s.
A good idea, but despite its similarity to what has already been done, there is a twist: The fans influence the story. Readers can vote on issues described in the available book, Velwythe: Resurrection of the Mind, as if they were citizens of the fantastic realm via the book’s website, www.Velwythe.com This will change the environment around the main character, forcing him to deal with political and social fluctuations just as anyone in the real world would have to. There is also an open invitation to artists and writers who are interested in a chance to have their work recognized through working with the site and publishing company. Truly an inspired idea, which received recognition on Fox 13 News; but no invention ever came off the assembly line without a hitch.
In Turkington’s struggle to create a company that could survive in a time of such economic hazard, his book was neglected and published at a relatively embryonic stage of its development. With its unpolished pages, the reading is difficult, sprinkled with nuggets that are good, but barely enough to make it worth pursuing. Turkington expressed that he received little direction/input in the creation of his book, and he admitted he should have taken more of its editing into his own hands. He has, however, plans to develop a second version of this first installment, which will likely be released as a two-in-one companion with the next book. He has already prepared arrangements to have expert help in bringing out the true shine and value of a a good, solid story that he is preparing for a growing audience. Hopefully it will survive long enough so that a highly original and refreshing dream will not die.
