Daína Chaviano (Author)

The underlying archetype of Los mundos que amo is the transformative journey of quest romance. The naïve protagonist of quest romance journeys to strange lands, endure trials and temptations, until a crucial life and death encounter in an underworld or land of the dead. Perhaps an encounter with the spirit of the Ancestor, who will reveal the truths of life and reality to them, and send them back transformed and enlightened to their mission in life. Our protagonist's journey begins when the space ship takes her from Havana to Tiahuanaco, a journey full of adventures that test and tempt her. Tiahuanaco is an underworld or land of the dead where the ancestors live. Neda is the wise woman, the spirit ancestor-like Tiresias or Anchises -- who initiates the protagonist into the secrets of the universe. Like many quest protagonists, Daína undergoes a symbolic death and rebirth-she faints on leaving the spaceship, then experiences the memory of the womb and birth. She survives her crucial encounter and returns transformed to her ordinary world, secure in her new identity and mission. To make contact with the future world of cosmic consciousness, D must first renew contact with the forgotten megalithic world of the past. And in renewing contact with the past, she is already making contact with the future... (Complete text in PDF).