Once again, thanks for accompanying me on this journey! As usual, I thought I’d use these last pages to perform a postmortem on the novel, to separate fact from fiction. I’ve divided the postmortem by general topics:
MARCO POLO: The forward to this novel raised the central mystery concerning the fate of Polo’s fleet during his return trip to Venice. What happened to the ships and men still remains a mystery. As to Marco’s potential love affair with Princess Kokejin, rumors persist, especially as he died with the princess’s headpiece in his possession. As to Marco’s body after his death, it did indeed vanish out of the Church of San Lorenzo, its whereabouts still unknown.
ANGELIC SCRIPT AND OTHER LANGUAGE ISSUES: Angelic script was first developed by Johannes Trithemius and Heinrich Agrippa, who claimed that by studying these symbols, it was possible to communicate with angels. The script was derived from ancient Hebrew characters. Similarly, adepts of Jewish Kabbalah believe that pathways to inner wisdom can be opened by studying the shapes and curves of its characters. Finally, moving to modern times, we ask the question: Is there a hidden language buried in our genetic code? According to an article in Science magazine (1994), the answer is a resounding yes. Though what might be written there remains unknown.
PLAGUES: Eyam, a village in England, did indeed have an unusual survival rate during the Black Plague, a result of a genetic abnormality in half its populace. Strange but true. As to anthrax, the only difference between the deadly form of this bacterium and its peaceful garden-dwelling cousin are two rings of genetic code called plasmids. Which begs the question, where did those plasmids come from?
FAUNA: Christmas Island red land crabs do indeed have a spectacular migration each year, during which millions of the large crabs journey to the sea. Their claws have also been known to puncture tires. Moving on to those pesky liver flukes, the descriptions of their strange and disturbing life cycles are accurate. As to our predatory squids, I based them on the species Taningia danae, which grow to six feet in length, hunt in packs, have brilliant light displays, and bear claws on their suckers. Definitely tough calamari.
CANNIBALS AND PIRATES: Indonesian piracy is still a booming growth industry. Pick up applications at the back of the room. As to cannibals, tribes can still be found among the Indonesian islands, but you’ll have to bring your own seasonings. As to the genetic condition known as Prader-Willi (resulting in insatiable appetites), it is a real and horrible condition, but is in no way related to cannibalism. Were we all once cannibals? Current research into genetics reveals humans carry a specific set of genes against diseases that can be acquired only by eating human flesh.
ANGKOR: All the details of the ruins — from the Churning of the Milk mythology to the two hundred stone bodhisattva faces — are accurate, including how the temples were laid out to mimic star patterns, specifically the constellation of Draco. For more details on this, check out Heaven’s Mirror by Graham Hancock and Santha Faiia.
ALL THINGS BACTERIA: There are indeed milky seas of glowing algae that bloom up periodically. And according to a series of disturbing articles in the Los Angeles Times, our seas are increasingly threatened with the resurgence of ancient slimes, poisonous jellyfish, burning seaweeds, and toxic clouds bursting from algal blooms. As to the strangest claim in the novel: that only 10 percent of the cells in our body are human (and the rest are bacteria and parasites). This is true! There is a wonderful book exploring this topic that is as horrific as it is humorous, Human Wildlife by Dr. Robert Buckman. Just don’t read it before you eat.