Short Fiction · Character

Dan Burke

A hard-drinking, skeptical everyman who lets a gnomelike professor strap a liquid-filled mask to his face and finds himself walking in a world that may be more real than his own.

major

Also known as Burke

First appearance: a martian odyssey

As a major figure in Short Fiction, Dan Burke is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Protagonist who meets Professor Ludwig and experiences the immersive Paracosma.

In the storyPygmalion's SpectaclesOpen this moment free

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Dan is the narrator of the Paracosma sequence, a man whose initial suspicion — 'A swindle!' — dissolves the moment the electrolyzed story floods his eyes with an unearthly forest, elfin music, and a girl named Galatea. The tension that defines him is the tug between the shabby hotel room he can still feel under his feet and the mossy, sunlit world he desperately wants to believe in. His willingness to trade a hangover for Paradise is what launches the story's central question: which world is the shadow, and which the substance?

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The fuller portrait of Dan Burke sits in Reading Lens — open the free preview to keep reading with notes on the page.

See Dan Burke in a martian odyssey

Character Web

6 connections

A slice of how Dan Burke sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

Relationship types

Romantic
Rivalry
Other

Character groups

Central characters and beings
Protagonist

+1 more in the full Character Web

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point

This is the story's dramatic climax because van Manderpootz’s emotional peak—his eruption of wounded pride ove…

Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.

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Relationships

Galatea
romantic · positive
Dan Burke is deeply infatuated with Galatea, pursuing her with romantic intent and… How this plays out →
Leucon
rivalry · negative
Galatea
romantic · positive
Dan Burke is deeply infatuated with Galatea, pursuing her with romantic intent and… How this plays out →
Galatea
romantic · positive
Dan Burke is deeply infatuated with Galatea, pursuing her with romantic intent and… How this plays out →
Leucon
rivalry · negative
Leucon
rivalry · negative

Galatea
Dan Burke is deeply infatuated with Galatea, pursuing her with romantic intent and emotional intensity.
Leucon
Dan Burke and Leucon are rivals, often clashing over Galatea's affections or conflicting goals.
Galatea
Dan Burke is deeply infatuated with Galatea, pursuing her with romantic intent and emotional intensity.
Galatea
Dan Burke is deeply infatuated with Galatea, pursuing her with romantic intent and emotional intensity.
Leucon
Dan Burke and Leucon are rivals, often clashing over Galatea's affections or conflicting goals.
Leucon
Dan Burke and Leucon are rivals, often clashing over Galatea's affections or conflicting goals.

Relationship notes

How these ties play out is in the reading companion — open the free preview.

See Dan Burke in a martian odyssey

In the story

Dan Burke appears across 1 companion beat. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

Pygmalion's Spectacles

Chapter companion notes

Spoil-light check-ins for Dan Burke unlock in the free preview.

See Dan Burke in a martian odyssey

See Dan Burke in Pygmalion's Spectacles