lekanto

Watership Down (which is my all-time favorite, most-read book) was the first book I ever read that had an invented language. I've seen plenty since, but they often come across as trying too hard to sound exotic without actually feeling real. Lapine reminds me more of Tolkien's approach, especially with the addition of rabbit folklore. With Lapine and the languages in Maia and Shardik,how much of the work you did are we not seeing in the books?

What's your experience with finding medical professionals who understand about polio and post-polio syndrome in a country that hasn't had any new cases in so long?

Well, it certainly manages to come across, at least to me, as a full language with a history. Nice work!

Having an invented language was actually very helpful to me in reading Maia. I don't like reading about sex in general because clinical and slang terms both make everything seem so unappealing. I liked having words for those things that didn't already have some kind of baggage.

We ran into that problem a lot with my mom, and she died 10 years ago so I know any current polio survivors are having a hard time.

My mom had spinobulbar polio as a child (spent weeks in an iron lung and was told she would never walk) and post-polio syndrome later (frequent hospitalizations for respiratory issues and used a power wheelchair for the last 12 years of her life), and we had to advocate for her a lot. The worst things were getting people to understand that overexertion can be dangerous and that she did not need as much oxygen as they thought she did.