War Report | Vol. II | Chapter 1
A sneak peek at the revised edition
This is a special drop outside the usual cadence, and sometimes, it’s nice to be surprised.
It’s been a hot minute since I shared anything from the revised world. Last time was a chapter in the middle of Vol. I, a memorable but pivotal chapter, and you could immediately tell how much I altered it and shifted the trajectory.
Going into Vol. II, I had two things in mind: compression and preservation. My overall goal was to cut the book around 10% and trim the fat. In short: redundancies. I’ve done well to stick to the goal, and it was less invasive than the first volume.
But, like the first one, I wanted to reformat the book in the manner that I now employ when writing a story. When I first started, I’d write huge paragraphs, followed by more huge paragraphs—though I was always good at varying my sentence length.
Nowadays, especially with novellas like Maro’s, I write smaller paragraphs, often breaking up two paragraphs with a short sentence in between. I think this helps a lot with pacing, and when you’ve got a monster tome, overtime, it helps speed you along.
So, here’s the first look at a revised chapter.
Chapter 1: Norek
Apor rose in a blue blister of fury; its heat lashed out against the tiny Forgotten Isles. Hot gusts of wind laced with wisps of water tore through the beach, making their way to the heart of the small island.
Norek sat in the limited shade of his small hut. Salty sweat dripped from his tanned, naked flesh.
Thatched houses of reed and local wood called spear grass encroached upon the thick vegetation, and wildlife ran like an untamed fire through the forest.
Ocean water, dust, and humidity filled the air, a demon masked in reprieve.
Norek stayed on the coast, far from the interior where the monarch resided. Foreigners weren’t granted sanction to visit inland. Living near the docks, he could survey each incoming ship, some hailing from the Golden City, a mere ten-day voyage away. Others ventured from the Eastern City, an arduous, three-week trip. Sometimes, the voyage took longer if the weather turned.
Elysys, the next largest city beyond, doubled that distance. Unfortunately, some ships never reached port again. Even though the climate turned treacherous this time of year and hammered the eastern coast of Marcoalyn’s realm, most ships still dared the journey.
If the elements didn’t get them, sometimes pirates did.
The people of the Isles called Norek “a man of many talents,” chosen each morning as a hired hand. The peddlers and dock workers took note, and so did the jungle keepers and the farmers.
A foreigner picked first was uncommon.
