Seven Ancient Wonders - Remarkable People Surviving the War - Each in Their Own Way - Seven Novellas on the theme of Seven!, #3

These magnificent structures have fascinated me for years. Whether real or mythical doesn't matter; it is the romance of them that I wanted to write about here. The stories are all individual, but have a common theme in World War 2. In addition to the stories, I gave myself the challenge of finding different methods of writing the tales. The subjects are not as light as some of the other Sevens, but all deal with love in one way or another.
The Great Pyramid of Khufu is a mathematically precise construction, so the story concerns an old-fashioned mathematician chosen to work at Bletchley Park decoding enemy radio transmissions. A new colleague is a woman with very different skills. Reports and transcripts are used here to tell the story. The Temple of Artemis is still visible as ruins near Ephesus in Turkey. Its everlasting theme is renewal and a priest at a prisoner of war camp in Britain faces the prisoners' renewal and his own.
This story is written in conventional dialogue and narrative style including the priest's prayers. The Pharos Lighthouse commanded a position at Alexandria and its fire gave warning to shipping in the Mediterranean. The main character here is an actor and so the story is written as a play in which he is drawn into something well beyond what he was prepared to do and his use of fire is novel. The Colossus of Rhodes was built from weapons left after a massive battle.
Here we meet a man involved in great battles in difficult circumstances and from his diaries and letters we see how he changes as his war progresses. Halicarnassus contained a mausoleum built by the goddess Artemis. This story is told through photographs in an album. The narrator is an undertaker from a small midlands town. He has a very personal tale to tell. The Statue of Zeus represents athletes and the Olympic Games, so naturally the story is told by an athlete, but an angry and disappointed one.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon may or may not have existed but their fame is with us still. Naturally we meet a gardener - a landscape gardener who uncovers a love story. His story is told via old and modern methods: e-mails, memos, fax and text messages as well as letters, archives and newspaper articles.