A Place of Brightness: palindrome

Sunday, February 17, 2013

The Sator Square, Palindromes, and Fun with Words...

Palindromes are statements that can be read the same in each direction. English examples are:

Do Geese see God?

Never odd or even.

They can, of course, theoretically exist in any language. There is a famous known Palindrome from ancient Rome called the Sator Square. It's attested as early as 70AD in Pompeii and scattered throughout the Empire:

It reads in the square right, left, up, and down as:

SATOR AREPO TENET OPERA ROTAS
THE SOWER AREPO HAS WORKS (IN) WHEELS

In my novel, Amor Vincit Omnia: an Andrew Valquist Adventure, the hero is a newly hired employee at the NSA (a matter on which I have some expertise). On his second day of orientation, however, he's whisked away to a mission in Romania where a knowledge of Latin is key to success. He then is put in charge of a team tasked with translating a Latin book which somehow cryptically holds a secret message about an upcoming attack. Just when they think they've figured everything out, an unexpected Latin palindrome emerges! Here's a hint. Amor (love) is a palindrome for Roma (Rome).

In Saecula Saeculorum, the 4th Novel in the Valquist Series

In this fourth novel of the Valquist Series, Andrew Valquist is retired (?) from the National Security Agency and teaching Latin at a Classical Academy in the Washington DC area. But in the world of espionage, looks can be deceiving. He's not necessarily happy with the role he has played in all this, but the school was actually a joint NSA/MI-6 Project in which four young people have been unwittingly prepared for a mission to travel back in time to ancient Rome to retrieve information from a library that may save the modern world from certain destruction. They know they have to at least try to save humanity, but can they also save each other?

Next Stop: Spanish, the 3rd Novel in the Valquist Series

This third novel in the Valquist Series can be read as an espionage action-adventure in its own right, but also you can use it as a way to either brush up on your Spanish or learn functional Spanish for the first time! John Valquist needs to learn Spanish. But he's in luck, since his uncle Andrew is a language expert and a former (?) spy who is taking him on a vacation to Spain so he can study the language. In Next Stop: Spanish, you have the chance to see and study the words John studies, and then watch him add more and more Spanish into his dialogue as the story progresses. During this vacation, they get pulled into espionage intrigue (why do these things always happen to the Valquist family?). In the dramatic conclusion, John will need to put together everything he has learned to save his uncle!

Amor Vincit Omnia: the 2nd Novel in the Valquist Series

In this second novel of the Valquist Series, Keith Massey takes you into the halls of the National Security Agency, where he himself worked for four years after 9/11 and an Arabic linguist. You follow our hero Andrew Valquist, as he starts work as a new recruit at the NSA. Little does he know that on his first on the job, he's about to fly off on an unexpected overseas assignment. He'll be even more surprised when he learns that his background in ancient Latin will be crucial to the mission!