Even though I didn't write as much as I wanted to this holiday weekend, I did, at least, finish chapter fifteen. That's the chapter that includes the battle at Isandlwana. It's a pretty long chapter - thirty pages. And even though the main character of the story, John Dunn, is not in that battle, or even in the chapter, a few of the other recurring characters are in there. And more importantly, I know that enthusiasts of the Anglo-Zulu War will want it in there.
So that puts me on the home stretch of this book. I have to include the Battle at Rorke's Drift, too. That was the big movie they made called Zulu. And one of the supporting characters in this story is the guy who led the Zulus in that battle. His name is Dabulamanzi. He was King Cetshwayo's brother, and he had a rocky relationship with John Dunn. I guess you could even call him one of the antagonists in the story. You see, King Cetshwayo had ordered his warriors NOT to cross into Natal. But Dabulamanzi disobeyed him. I have put together a good sequence of events that explains why he did that.
Is it the way it really happened? Not sure, really, as every reference book I read had no interview with Dabulamanzi about why he disobeyed the king. But there were inferences and speculations, and based on that, my explanation works pretty well, I think. It's historical fiction after all. And that's what happens next. On to Rorke's Drift.
No comments:
Post a Comment