For me, the hardest part of writing this book is talking about it now that it is written. I just wrote an entire novel so it may sound strange that I have trouble putting together a few more words on the subject, but that’s the truth. Part of me thinks that the work should speak for itself, that I have carefully crafted the story to relate my message and any attempt to summarize the message in another form would simply do the work a disservice. But maybe that part of me is a pretentious asshole.
So, okay, about the book.
We are now two chapters deep in “The Elect Stories” (If you aren’t caught up, I’ll try to avoid major spoilers here). The first chapter introduced readers to the world and characters, and then ended on a dramatic note – Palm’s plea to take up the quest of the Elect. Chapter Two leaps ahead two decades and, within the space of a few paragraphs, lets us know that the intervening years have been disastrous. Whatever promise Palm’s plea (that’s an alliteration) might have held has been snuffed out, and any hope for peace seems to have gone with it. The story focuses on new characters, like Kiree and Hakeeda Reeshon, and the Bascha, as well as characters that were previously on the periphery, like Saren, August Wineblood, and Vee. This shift may feel strange or sudden, but it mirrors the sense of displacement felt by our heroes, who have found themselves living a story that is not at all what they had imagined it would be.
Another big change is the tense. Chapter One is written in past tense, looking back on Palm and Timriel’s arrival in Vessena. Chapter Two is written in present tense, and is therefore present day within the context of the story. From this point, “The Elect Stories” will intercut between the present day and memories from twenty years earlier, and those changes in period will always be marked by a change in tense.
They say that the proof of a serial is in the continuation (No, they don’t, I just made that up), so I do hope that this second chapter surpasses expectations set by the first. At the very least, I hope you are intrigued by the direction this second step of the path has taken, and that you will stick around for the rest of the adventure!
-John.
