The Krybosian Stairpath (TKS) is a middle-grade novel intended for young readers who love adventure. Filled with actual references to geologic features of the earth, caves in particular, this story pushes beyond fact and creates a fantasy realm with other-worldly geologic possibilities.
The Krybosian Stairpath does not rely on magic to explain the “unexplainable.” It puts forth the notion that, just because you don’t understand something, it doesn’t always mean there’s magic behind it. Knowledge and perspective can make a difference.
For a child, a book should be a place to escape the real-life stress and horrors that are ever present in our world and to which no one is immune. It doesn’t need to be a place to read about more. SRR chose to suggest events in TKS and this allows each child to make the decision as to what the ultimate outcome may have been. It’s possible that a child very familiar with violent video games, movies, etc., may automatically assume the bloody worst. Another child may think differently. That determination is best left to the reader.
The title, The Krybosian Stairpath refers to the stairway portal that appears and leads Madison, her younger brother, Mica, and her South American best friend, Onyx Ruiz, into the interior world of Krybos. In the Greek language, “krybo” means “to hide.” The world of Krybos is hidden from those who dwell on the surface, but not from those who dare to descend the Krybosian Stairpath.
On the following link http://www.internetpolyglot.com/lesson-2102601290 , there is a sound icon you can click that will pronounce the word “krybo” for you. Look down the list of English words until you come to “to hide.” That’s the 52nd one from the top. Or, if you prefer, 18th from the bottom. Look to the right and you’ll see the corresponding Greek word with a sound icon.
Glossary: (some terms in the book)
Amethyst:Amethyst is the violet-colored variety of quartz.
Cave: A cave is a natural opening in the ground extending beyond the zone of light and large enough to permit the entry of man. Occurring in a wide variety of rock types and caused by widely differing geological processes, caves range in size from single small rooms to interconnecting passages many miles long.
Chalcedony: Chalcedony (pronounced kăl-sĕd’n-ē) is a cryptocrystalline form of silica, composed of very fine intergrowths of the minerals quartz and moganite.
Cleavage:Cleavage is the tendency of some minerals or rocks to break along planes of weakness. This weakness occurs because of the nature of the bonds between mineral grains.
Crystal: Crystals are solid materials in which the atoms are arranged in a regular pattern. The word crystal is based on the Greek word krystallos derived from kryos, meaning icy cold. In ancient times it was thought that rock crystal, a colorless variety of quartz, was ice that had frozen and would never melt.
Fluorite:Fluorite is found as a common gangue mineral in hydrothermal veins, especially those containing lead and zinc minerals. It is also found in some greisens, granites and high-temperature veins, and as a component of some marbles and other metamorphic rocks.
Geode:A geode is a sphere shaped rock that has a hollow cavity lined with crystals.
Karst: Karst is a landform type with limestone bedrock and dominated by geomorphic features created from solution chemical weathering.
Madison:The Madison Limestone is a thick sequence of mostly carbonate rocks of Mississippian age in the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains areas of western United States. The rocks serve as an important aquifer as well as an oil reservoir in places. The Madison and its equivalent strata extend from the Black Hills of western South Dakota to western Montana and eastern Idaho, and from the Canadian border to western Colorado and the Grand Canyon of Arizona.
Mica:Mica is a silicate mineral. It exhibits a platy crystal structure and perfect cleavage.
Onyx:Onyx is a chalcedony that occurs in bands of different colors and is used as a gemstone.
Speleology:Speleology is the scientific study of caves.
Speleothem: A speleothem is a cave formation.
Stalactite:A stalactite is a mineral deposit, usually of calcite, that forms from the cave ceiling downward from mineral-bearing solutions that seep from the ceiling.
Stalagmite: A stalagmite is a mineral deposit, usually of calcite, that forms from the cave floor upward from mineral-bearing solutions that drip from the ceiling.
It’s possible that a child very familiar with violent video games, movies, etc., may automatically assume the bloody worst. Another child may think differently. That determination is best left to the reader.