Greetings of the Seasonal Variety!

To paraphrase an Elmore Leonard quote: You know that part of the story that no one reads?  Don't write that part.

I'm currently working my way through a fantasy novel by a prolific writer, which I will not be featuring in Recommendation Corner.  That said, it's gotten most interesting.

Eventually.

This story, like many other stories set in fantasy settings, suffers from pages and pages of "throat clearing" in the form of prologues with characters from ages past who aren't part of the actual story.  Story elements that really only make sense if you complete the book and then revisit it.  Some readers dig that.

I do not.

My philosophy on world building and history in a sci-fi fantasy world is to reveal it as the characters encounter it.  Jump into it with a main character doing something interesting.  Getting in a fight.  Having a tense argument.  Anything to engage the reader with something interesting.

And then lead them into the larger world, with its lore and history showing up as a part of natural story progression.

Do I always succeed in that?  Probably not.  But it's something that's always my north star.

To loosely quote another writer, Kurt Vonnegut, this time.

Start a scene late and leave early.

Jasphir Iniv stands out in his family of conniving and abhorrent Demonic royalty.

He's a decent person.

Naturally, they want him dead for that alone. 

His partnership with Ashe Stelfire and love affair with Nunaker only moved him to the very top of their hit list.

He's a Human-like Sokenti who can see in all directions in his vicinity despite his race's innate bleeding, eyeless sockets.  He covers this horrible aspect of himself with a white blindfold and white leather armor that never get stained with his viscera, or that of others.

Despite his affability, Jasphir radiates menace.  The assassin uses his panoramic natural sight to find weak points in the strongest of foes with his magic daggers.

But his many family members aren't as easy to dispatch.  They stalk him and his fortune hunter allies.

And their reach is long.

One minor problem with not numbering your chapters until later and not having page numbers in Scrivener means that it's very easy to lose track of productivity from one month to the next.

My estimate is that I got through revising or rewriting 12 chapters since last month, but it might be a little less than that. It's less than last month's 19 chapters.

I had some life stuff hit me with some work stress events and the sudden loss of a friend to a brain stem tumor.  Both made for a very blue first few weeks of November.

It's my hope that December will be both full of happier life events, and also productivity.

Players of the Game Out of Context Quote of the Month:

“Watch.”  Corsis repeated his earlier command. “And hush.”

Loki Season 2 on Disney+

I'm a little behind, and I still have one episode to go, so I hope this recommendation does not sour following the conclusion.

(Cough, Secret Invasion, Cough)

The big draw on this is Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson's chemistry as work buddies in the TVA as the organization falls apart around them.  Jonathan Majors does a good job playing a nerdy Kang variant. 

Though, Marvel may just kill the whole Kang saga plan in light of the actor's off screen behavior and the whole souring of interest in MCU phase 4 and early 5.  Odds are at least even that we'll be seeing less Marvel output and a soft or hard reboot at some point.

Either way, Loki is a bunch of fun with Miss Minutes and Ke Huy Khan's Ouroboros as stand out characters.

I like it (but perhaps less if I don't like how they land the last episode).

Vox Machina on Prime

I'm also behind on this anime-inspired show.  I finished the 1st season, and still have to get to the 2nd at some point.

The Critical Role voice actors have created a fun D&D style show with all kinds of fantasy fun with dragons, vampires, dark magic, and even some steampunky artificing with an intense gun-wielding character.

But the tight writing, voice acting, and irreverent humor are the big draws of the show.

A certain montage where the characters go around the circle detailing the worst kill/victory they ever inflicted was hilarious, especially with the wood elf mage and the gnome bard character.

It's been out a while.  And it's still tons of fun.

That's all for this time.

Stay smart.  Stay safe.

Jim