The Chained Heart

In relation with The Farstep Saga

The fictional novel “The Chained Heart,” was published with a penname, through unique means. The book began appearing in libraries, homes, shops and random locations without any indication of how the copies were distributed. The name of the author was clearly a joke being “Wood En Duck” leading to the prevailing theory that the author’s species is that of a Kin.
The novel follows the life of a cowardly man of indeterminate species who falls in love with an Ahtlan soldier. The Ahtlan in the novel repeatedly tried to kill the protagonist, failing due to happenstance, incompetence and clumsiness. The book concludes with the Ahtlan agreeing to marry the main character if he becomes an Ahtlan. The final two chapters describe the rites of becoming an Ahtlan and the main characters “honeymoon” in graphic detail.
The novel was at first treated as a joke or prank. Over time several conspiracy theories arose around its existence and creation. Of these theories the ones that have maintained the most traction include that the novel was released by Ahtlans in order to give false leads as to their culture and practices. Another was that the novel was written by someone who had inside knowledge of the Ahtlan practices and that the rites described in the final chapters are factual.
The third, and perhaps most controversial theory is that the novel wrote itself and is evidence of a new god, one of story and trickery, which of course would explain the authors name as it is a Kin pun, a species whose religion would be welcoming to a god of trickery.
One literary critic stated that the novel gained popularity entirely due to its unique marketing style of its random and unexpected appearance. Not only in that the books had no evidence of their means of arrival but also the salacious cover art, which showed a shadowy humanoid form with its hands under an Ahtlan’s armor “copping a feel,” as the Terrans put it.
This particular critic pointed out that the prose of the novel were juvenile, the plot riddled with paradoxes and inconsistencies and indeed the only well written scene was the final chapter which was ostensibly erotica.