First half of book 7, extremely rough draft

[swimmer963]

This covers the aftermath to the ending of book 6, so unsurprisingly there is a LOT OF DRAMA. This feels like a pretty critical arc for the overall story, so I'm taking a pause to get people's thoughts and decide if I want to make changes before I keep going. (I rushed to get this out of my head before our work retreat, so it's really extremely rough, e.g. probably still full of typos and possibly scenes I forgot to finish. Sorry.) 

Contains: ok, not even going to list themes, it's literally just everyone having feelings for 80,000 words somehow. 

Book 7 first half EPUB
Book 7 first half MOBI

(Spoilers for book 6 below) 

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Note: I made some modifications to the ending of book 6 - roughly, Vanyel copes about 30% better and talks himself down from the belltower *before* Melody and Savil find him. I also split the final Leareth conversation into two halves, one before and one after Yfandes leaves. See here for just the last 2 chapters (google doc). 

Comments

Reunion!

[gildaurel]

I was so happy to see the next part of this and Vanyel and Yfandes reunited at last! I did appreciate Vanyel seeming to make peace with many people and issues plaguing him- it’s good to see him somewhat more stable and joyful. I do find Tantras a bit irksome, but I see why you made him that way— and he is better by the end as well.

I’m really missing Stefen in this part, but only because he’s my favorite, ever. I think you do a good job here of showing why Vanyel wouldn’t have had a partner for so long, what with all the insanity in his life.

Re: Reunion!

[swimmer963]

Yeah, I also missed Stef a bunch in this section! He is one of my favorites to write (maybe second only to Jisa). I need to sit down and put some thought into a subplot for him in the second half, so that he can get some more screentime. (I might be able to shoehorn another scene with him into this section, but he doesn't have that much to do with the current drama). Unfortunately it's still way too early for Van & Stef to end up together.

I do feel bad about how irksome I made Tantras ;P I think everyone who's a fan of him in canon is annoyed with me. I do hope to have him be less annoying going forward, as he reconciles with Van and works through some of his own issues.

Re: Van – somewhat to my surprise, I think this section was wildly positive for him overall? It's eased a lot of the strain between him and other characters, and he isn't going to be alone in figuring out what to do about Leareth. Things aren't going to be easy for Van & Yfandes, in terms of rebuilding their closeness, but I think maybe they can get back to a better place than before this happened.