What do Dirk Pitt and Brett Poole have in Common?
The Isle of Osiris is where it all began. An Egyptian island located north of Scotland. Holy Freyja? How is this possible? Here are two books with entirely different plots and yet there is something suspiciously similar about them. No, this isn't a blog about plagerism.
The Isle of Osiris is the first book in the Jamie Poole Books series. Celtic Empire is written by best selling author Clive Cussler.
Both books mention a statue of Egyptian origin. Buried Egyptian ships. An Egyptian grave in Ireland or Scotland. And, at the center of it Queen Scota. Who's that you ask? Good question. Ready for a twist? There's always a twist at the end.
Both these books lean heavily into an Egyptian archaeological mystery that begins in Egypt and eventually leads the archaeologist (Dirk Pitt or Brett Poole) to Scotland and/or Egypt. Both books explore the Scota legend. How both archaeologists end up here is unique, but Scota is there pointing the way. According to Wikipedia: In medieval Irish and Scottish legend, Scota is the daughter of an Egyptian pharaoh and ancestor of the Gaels. She is said to be the origin of their Latin name Scoti, but historians say she (and her alleged ancestors and spouses) was purely mythological and was created to explain the name and to fit the Gaels into a historical narrative.
It was fun to read Clive Cussler's book that touched on a similar topic to the foundation of the Jamie Poole Books series. It's fun to see how other authors mix fact, fiction, and fantasy into a fun story.
As I, as the author of Jamie Poole Books, have often stated, my series leans heavily into mythology. And there is often a grain of truth in mythology. It's part of what makes my series Magic Realism. We explore existing mythologies and make some of our own. Each country has its own collection of mythologies. Some of these mythologies might overlap between different parts of the world, and that's just cool! (And we will come back to that in a later blog.) It shows how we as humans look at the world and tell stories to help us understand the world around us. It reveals our diversity and creativity as people.
And so I leaned into the Scota legend. There is some evidence early peoples of the British Isles visited Egypt, and that is a premise behind the entire series.
But is Scota real? That's not really the point of including the legend in Jamie's storyline. It does lead to a great story.
And now for the twist at the end...
Scota. Looks a bit like Scotia, eh? Like Nova Scotia, which is Latin for New Scotland, because this province in Canada is exactly that: New Scotland.
Here's where we run quickly from mythology to pseudoscience.
There is a TV show you may be familiar with: The Curse of Oak Island. If you've missed out on this show, it is a multi-season reality television series that chronicles a team of treasure hunters run by brothers Marty and Rick Lagina and its search for legendary treasure on Oak Island off the shore of Nova Scotia. The American television production delves into the Oak Island mystery, featuring efforts to search for historical artifacts and treasure.
Oak Island is located less than an hour from where Jamie Poole Books is written. Both the show and certain individuals in this area claim evidence that Queen Scota has been to Oak Island and to Nova Scotia itself. Watch the show to see how they explain the legend of Scota and how they present evidence to support this idea.
Is this province named after an Egyptian queen? There is one individual who would point to this neighborhood where I presently am typing this blog and state that there are Egyptian hieroglyphics right here. This is his proof. Here's the video.
Is the myth of Scota real? Check out The Isle of Osiris to see how this book determines it. Decide what you like. At the end, enjoy a good story. Jamie Poole Books are available internationally on Amazon. If you're in the Halifax area, check out our website to see how you can get autographed copies of the book.
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