I've been having some random thoughts about the plot of a book series I plan to write, involving rings named after and representing the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but I don't really know all that much about the Horsemen. Also involved with this is six remote locations in the world, but I haven't quite figured out what those locations could be. Any ideas on where to start some research?
Wikipedia, for one. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_horsemen_of_the_apocalypse Oh, god... Now I have like 20 opened links from wikipedia in my browser... This happens everytime!
Well I'd say that the revelvant passages of Revelation should probably be your first port of call (and I think they are also mentioned in the book of Zechariah...). From there you might try biblical commentaries on Revelation, or even just a google search. In terms of the locations, I think you'll have to give more information as to the plot, before anyone can offer any help.
Revelation 6:1-8 is the passage you want, though it would probably be fairly advantageous to read the whole book. It's not like it's long, and would give you a good grounding in the whole apocalyptic prophecy thing.
Whatever you do, never enter Revelations, Four Horsemen, Armageddon or Apocalypse into a search engine. You will get the craziest stuff and mostly nut job web sites that make little if any sense (unless you don't care about biblical inaccuracies in which case feel free). Best bet is to read the book or a commentary (most colleges and universities will have at least one full biblical commentary in their libraries). Wikipedia is a good starting point and maybe even keep an eye on the history channel which shows some hour long specials on Revelations more than often enough. Also check out the Four Beasts from the Book of Daniel which carry a similar symbology to the Four Horsemen. They are referenced in Zacharia as well You're unlikely to find a unified opinion on the Four Horsemen. Their meaning and symbology will vary from one school of thought to the next and you'll probably just end up picking whichever one you like or that fits your story best. Worse off is the fact that they are very abstract mentioned only briefly and none too specifically (Death is the only one explicitly named) so you'll probably not going to have to worry a great deal about how they really are since no one is gonna give you a definitive answer. I would say do a little skimming and then see if the idea that the Four Horsemen will put in the readers mind is what you want and then see how you want to use the symbology.
The plot involves a cult behind it all, and it could be almost slightly "Da Vinci Code"-like when it comes to symbolism. I'm not really all that concerned with biblical inaccuracies and stuff. Now that I think about it more, I think this plot could get very complicated...
A ring is hidden in each of the locations, and the main character has to get to these locations and get the rings before the cult does. I'm thinking that the locations should be sort of mysterious, possibly dangerous, they could be ancient, places of importance. Most of the inspiration for these places could come from things like Indiana Jones, Tomb Raider, or "The Da Vinci Code" or something like that...I haven't done a whole lot of brainstorming for these places.
I assume your going to use Christian symbology for this story. As such, there are seven continents, so put one ring in each, excluding Europe maybe, as the Church would want them far from Rome. Remember that in order to get rings to certain continents you'll need to be aware of when they were officially discovered, or it may get tricky in explanation. There are desert regions in each of these continents, why not hide them there, they tend to be remote.
There probably will be a desert-like location, probably Egypt. I'll write a list of random places around the world as soon as I have time, and maybe a list of all the symbology and such I want to use...I wasn't thinking of the Church being involved in a lot of this, but with the Four Horsemen being in it, that could change a bit. If I there religion in there, it'd be a really strange book series.
http://www.centuryone.com/rmnwrd.html This is a link with maps of what they were aware of existing. I thought it could be helpful.
No...I've just been looking for random ideas and such. I haven't done much thinking on this series though because I've been busy with school and my first novel. Life has been really hectic for a while...
I'm pretty clueless about the Bible, but other people have been fairly helpful in that area. As for the locations of the rings, when were they created? And how did they get to be spread across the world? I was thinking maybe one of them could've been traded through Europe until it eventually came into contact with an Indian merchant who was robbed by bandits and now the ring is somewhere in the Indian sub-continent. The Ganges Delta and the Himalayas are two possible choices if you like this idea. If, as someone suggested already, you choose to have one on each continent apart from Europe, you could have one being taken over by a prisoner/prison guard from Britain to Australia. Could be somewhere in the outback? Also, are these rings now guarded? Or does no-one but the owners know the whereabouts of the rings? Also, are the owners of the rings aware of their significance? It's an interesting idea that will be good once you flesh it out a bit more.
