Aaron Salzman
Wed, 29 Apr 2026 13:46:06 PDT

The Prince of Labrador (90,000 words) is a fast-paced literary, action/adventure novel that explores the complexities of a society built on resource extraction and land dominance, through the frame of a family saga. The reader follows a young protagonist, Sid, as he embarks on a journey across North America, comes of age, and ultimately settles a generational battle for land dominance, a battle that was started by his own father. The structure of this novel closely follows the traditional Hero's Journey as presented by Joseph Campbell in his text The Hero With a Thousand Faces. This story structure has fallen out of fashion in recent years, yet, has proven to be a staple in the Western canon of storytelling for centuries. An in-depth understanding of this traditional story structure allows for great creativity with other storytelling concerns, such as character design and thematic development. This novel deals with complex topics such as generational divides, racism, and the rise and fall of civilizations. There is an intentional fluctuation between the personal and the universal. The reader is able to root for Sid and his allies, yet at the same time, wonder if Sid is really on the right side of each conflict that he finds himself a part of. Such ethical questions are presented as objectively as possible, without political commentary or agenda. This is done so that the reader can fully engage with the text as a piece of literature, rather than as a political call-toaction. The majority of this text is written in close third-person, which switches from character to character depending on who is being followed. This is reminiscent of a camera lens, which follows the character who has earned time on the page due to their direct impact on the plot. There are three points in which the narration switches into third-person omniscient, to allow the reader to tie together different plot threads and present information that is general knowledge among groups of characters, rather than individuals. Fiction plays an important role in culture for a number of reasons. The stories that we tell can help to guide us, and shape our understanding of the world. What makes fiction so powerful is that authors are given the opportunity to tackle issues far beyond themselves, and create stories that are representative of larger truths. That is what this novel is intended to do.