G.B. Stewart’s The Veneziad Previewed

For lovers of history who might want to venture beyond books, YouTube can be a great place to discover new stories of the familiar and exotic alike. Overly Sarcastic Productions is one of my go-to channels for both, with “Red” talking to me about what made H.P. Lovecraft renowned and “Blue” tending to tell me why Alexander the Great didn’t live up to his name. The creator known as Blue quickly became the main reason I hit the subscribe button.

If you look at his playlist of videos, a trend appears. He loves talking about Italy and Italians. A listen to any one of his treatises on those subjects reveals a deep appreciation for the subject matter as well as a wicked sense of humor.

I mention all of this because Blue’s name is actually G.B. Stewart and his book is now available for pre-order. Released by Wraithmarked Creative,The Veneziad is an epic poem written about one family’s story, calling to mind Homer’s The Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid.

The opening lines call to mind classic epics. While Homer asks the Muse to sing to him of a man of many roads and Virgil sings of arms and a man, Stewart begins with the following:

"We sing of the city born from water, and of the shields borne aloft in its defense against the strifen gales of war."

- G.B. Stewart

This stirring start to the epic immediately drew my interest as someone who visited and explored the titular city a month before the COVID-19 pandemic began to leave its mark on the world.  I love his description of “Venice, the Lion City” that stands at “the crossroads of east and west.”  This auspicious start is illustrated beautifully by Francesca Baerald and STK Kreations and preview images show a sketch of St. Mark’s Basilica. Full-color artwork by Irina Shirokova appears to bookend the story and a helpful map is a navigational tool for the reader. Even if you have never traveled by  vaporetti down the Grand Canal or walked across the Ponte Rialto, Stewart settles readers comfortably into the city his protagonists love from the first line of verse.

The blurb elaborates on where the remainder of the story will take us. We learn that merchant Alessandro Marino and his children are on a journey home after learning of the 1739 blockade of Venice by the Genoan navy. Much like Telemachus on his quest to learn of his father, the young Niccolo and Serena struggle to understand the paths that their father has chosen. 

Judging from the passage available online and the author’s track record of excellent storytelling, this will be a must-read for anyone who loves a family-driven saga. It appeals to my Homer-quoting side, but is relatable in a more modern way so that the part of me that loves reading about the Atreides and Lannisters can look forward to it. 

There is no release date mentioned yet, but orders can be placed through the project’s Kickstarter page.