Many readers have asked me why I chose Seville as one of the main settings for the Mark of Odin saga. In this new installment of the series ‘After the Mark of Odin’ I am going to delve into the origin, reasons and implications of this decision that marked, never better said, the evolution of this story that I have created.
When you consider writing a book, many things go through your head. Dreams, ideas, inspirations, influences, lived experiences, etc. You also think about who your book is going to be directed towards, whether a local market or an international one. In fact, if you look at many authors, even though they are Spanish, they focus their stories on international locations such as New York, London, Paris. Very recognized places, but at the same time, they have already been used to death.
In my case, choosing Seville as one of the main locations for the ‘Mark of Odin’ saga has been motivated by a confluence of reasons.
The first is that the spark that gave life to this universe was a vision, a dream that I had awake years ago when she was driving back to Seville. She was entering the highway from Huelva, and upon arriving in Seville she makes a long descent from which she has a panoramic view of the entire city. In that vision, that dream, I saw the city and its sky and something that was happening. That was the first imperative.
The second is that after living in Seville for so many years, I have fallen in love with it, with its virtues and defects. And I felt the need to use it in this story, to show it in a situation and events like no one had ever done before. I wanted to make Seville known as something more than just a place to experience Holy Week, for those who like it, or the April Fair. It is a city with a philosophy of life that I love and that has great geniuses, innovators and entrepreneurs. He deserved, therefore, to also be the protagonist of this innovative project.
The third is that, even though it is a relatively small city in Spain, if we compare it with the importance of Madrid and Barcelona, its knowledge outside our borders is very high. If only for the clichés of flamenco and bullfighting, Seville is a city known throughout the world. More importantly, it is very attractive for tourists and is a great attraction for the Asian and American public, among others.
Seville is a city with a very long history. Meeting place of the greatest civilizations of humanity. People such as the Tartessians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Goths, Arabs, Japanese, etc. passed through it. Even the Vikings went in search of him! Mixing it with a modern plot, with clear overtones of science fiction, with the European Aerospace Center, and that mysterious background of Norse mythology and the legend of Hyperborea, offers a series of contrasts that, narratively, seemed very rich and interesting to me.
And there is still the best, as you progress in the saga you will see how the city and its inhabitants will also change, evolve, adapting to the complex events that will take place. Make no mistake, Seville still has a lot to tell about in the story of ‘Mark of Odin’.
Xavier Marcé