Lioness of Galloway
The "Lioness of Galloway" tells the story of Alys and Jack, two young Scottish nobles in 1285. Alys and Jack travel to Paris to study at the Sorbonne. Their journey involves encounters with bandits, pirates, and political intrigue. The book follows their relationship as it develops amidst these challenges. Alys and Jack, betrothed since the tender age of four, are the children of minor nobles.
Alys is fiercely independent and initially defies her father's decision to select her partner until she meets Jack as an adult. Their romance pits them against the norms of the day, as Alys follows Pagan traditions, whereas Jack is a devout Catholic.
They meet Nathan, the captain of the merchant vessel Alexander, who transports them to Bruges, Flanders. Nathan becomes entangled with Isabella, a gypsy pirate from the west coast of England.
In Paris, at the Sorbonne, they meet Sharad, an Islamic scholar and philosopher. As they explore Aristotle's critical thinking, Sharad helps them realize that their religion may not be as valued as they once thought.
When they return to Scotland after their time at the Sorbonne, Alys and Jack travel to Glasgow to meet Jack's boyhood friend, William Wallace. Alys and Jack establish guerrilla groups that become the foundation for the Scottish resistance against King Edward I (Longshanks).
The sudden death of Scotland's King Alexander III in early 1286 marked the beginning of a period of instability for Scotland, ultimately culminating in the First Scottish War of Independence. Amid the turmoil of the conflicts engulfing Scotland, Alys and Jack grapple with their own conflicts between desire and beliefs, particularly Jack's commitment to celibacy until marriage.
The story begins in the year 2075. Driven by personal challenges, Charlotte, a senior genetic systems engineer, immerses herself in her work. In a major overhaul of her company’s system, she rebuilds BestDay, eliminating all its previous limitations. Charlotte assigns the new system a working name: PastPort. She activates PastPort using her personal family information combined with sophisticated augmented virtual reality. PastPort employs advanced DNA analysis and artificial intelligence to examine significant days in the past, spanning generations. Other players, some with dubious ethics, in the virtual reality field seek access to the intellectual property that Charlotte has created.
