Martin Haak, born in Frankfurt am Main in 1974, was a stonemason, worked for NATO, and until 2012 was employed in international service. His experience with diverse political, institutional, and cultural structures informs the conception of the novel's world. In addition, he developed complex pen-and-paper role-playing campaigns with long-term character and conflict development over many years. This experience forms the basis for the multi-perspective, multi-volume dramaturgy of Legends from Before Time.
The author
The story
"The idea for the story originated in a conversation with my niece. We were discussing the concept of digital currency, and I realized she was thinking of the digital management of FIAT currencies. She wasn't clear on what fiat actually meant. So I broadened the story a bit, from the first minting of coins to the first securitization of monetary value in China. I traced how the idea traveled along the Silk Road to Italy and was quickly adopted by the patricians, until all trading houses were working with promissory notes—and eventually, all governments as well. Then came the decoupling of promissory notes from real assets (FIAT) and finally, blockchain-based digital currencies. I illustrated all of this with drawings of the various players, depicted in a classic cartoon style as anthropomorphic, talking animals."
But don't worry: the story isn't a parable about domestic markets, the economic aspects of government budgets, or explanations of double-entry bookkeeping. It's a character-driven adventure that begins as a coming-of-age story, becomes a road trip, and ultimately culminates in a conflict between empires.
The series is ultimately a modern fable: at times dark and with animal races so human that it will sometimes hurt.