Ryder, also known as The Writing Writer or simply The Writer, is the creator of the Fiction and 'God' of Heaven's Fence. He remains in the background for the majority of the story, only intervening directly in the events of the story in Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Vol. 1, where he enters through the The Willing Well to kill Ambellina to ease his suffering in the real world.
History[]
Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Vol. 1 - From Fear through the Eyes of Madness[]
Ryder is a writer living in Elf Tower, New Mexico and the creator of the Fiction. At the beginning of the story, Ryder is trying to get back together with Erica Court, who at first reciprocates until he calls her Ambellina during an intimate moment, at which point she and Ryder angrily fall out over their past issues, including Erica's unfaithfulness and Ryder's mental illness. He regrets this immediately, but subsequent attempts to get through to her fail, and Ryder grows obsessed with completing his perfect vision of his fiction, the only part of his life he has any control over. His actions in the Real are felt throughout the Fiction, with both the Crowing and the Supreme Tri-Mage are affected.
After an encounter with the demon bicycle Ten Speed of God's Blood and Burial, Ryder kidnaps Erica at his goading with the intent to murder her in the hopes that it ends his suffering. Ten Speed stops him, and reveals that it is Ambellina he must murder, not Erica, in order to make the pain stop. To do this, Ryder accesses the Willing Well, a mirror which allows him access to the Fiction. He kills Erica anyway before entering. He grabs Ambellina and poisons the mind of Chase, forcing Claudio to go in after him even as he has an opportunity to end Wilhelm Ryan. The result is a confrontation across the Fiction as they seek to escape Ryder. However, upon returning to the Fence, an Onstantine Priest stabs her through the back, killing her. Claudio's attempt to revive her fails, and Ryder reveals that any character who dies by his hand cannot be saved. Claudio angrily rejects Ryder's vision as the Writer departs. He comes upon a contingent of United Red Army soldiers, who order him to surrender. Believing himself to be invincible, he refuses.
However, when he is then shot, he discovers he is actually bleeding from bullet wounds. Too late does he realize he has actually returned to the Real and is now hallucinating, at which point he is gunned down by police who had arrived at his residence. Chase feels his passing, and she and Claudio both believe they can now decide their own fate as they move into the final stages of their war against Wilhelm Ryan.
Trivia
- The Writer can obviously be compared to Claudio Sanchez, the real life writer of the story.
- The Writer's fate differs in the two adaptations of Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV Vol. 1. In the first adaptation, after killing Ambellina, the Writer walks away into the Real with the now normal Ten Speed, telling Claudio he cannot escape his fate and telling him to destroy Burning Star IV. In the second, Ryder returns to the Real delirious from his perceived victory, where the police promptly gun him down when they believe he is resisting arrest. The second version is considered canon, and reflects the changes in Claudio Sanchez’s life since the story was first conceived. The Writer is no longer a dark reflection of who he is, but who he was at a very different time in his life, and thus he is given a distinct identity as Ryder, who is killed off because Claudio has moved on from the feelings which created him in the first place.