I have really enjoyed reading through "Arden's Story" over the past 3 weeks. I'm relatively new to reading fantasy world stories online, but have found this one to have kept me compelled to reading (whenever I got some free time). Thanks to Hikaru for writing a captivating story.
I've been thinking about the end of Act 2. The Dragon's gate closes (my guess that's because Lakash didn't want them to leave until they had grabbed the artifact, but it could have been the inability to hold a spell while going thru great pains of battle). There's always the possibility that Sheila grabbed hold of the amulet and let out a wish. Well, that would be my guess -- Arden being in her body, and she getting it back as she crossed the vale, leaving Arden somewhere in between :-)
It'll be an interesting wait and see...
No problem. It's been a real hoot to write, though I must admit that I can't wait to reach the end of IC so I can work on some different projects.
The dragon didn't close the gate at the end of Act 2, Arden lost control of the gate and it collapsed. The 1st chapter of Act III should have made it clear that Sheila made the wish that moved them to a new world and put her back in her old shell.
As for that bum, Arden... We'll have to see what he winds up coming back as.
Cheers
- Hikaru
ah yes... Sheila starts out Act 3, Chapter 1 in a nightmare/dream and wakes up... so... that adds that anything is possible... but yes, in the dream/nightmare she acknowledges some wish to be back in her own body.
-pete
Erf... The dream in Act 1 was based on the fact that Act II was going to take place in a different world with a different setting than it did. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.
Once the story is over, I plan on rewriting it and making some significant plot changes to Act I to make it flow more smoothly. When that happens, I'll change the dream at the same time.
Hopefully I'll be able to get permission from Max and EWS to use their characters on an official level as I want to paper publish the story after the rewrite.
Cheers
- Hikaru
Yes this is a very late post for this string, but oh well. I can say there is one good thing about a story on paper. You do not lose your eye sight reading it. Amazingly, even with all the time I spend on the computer, I can still see clearly, and have avoided the half-family-wide eye problem that seems to have developed. No glasses! Yay! At least for now....
I've been reading your story for a while now, and let me tell you, you have a knack for building very good and complex plots, I must say though that I miss our half dragon friend Arden since i got to like him and his powers a lot after act 2; in my opinion, and depending on the end you decide for IC I daresay such a good story would deserve a sequel no?
Bye
Oh yes. There is a sequel planned, and it will involve our favorite polar bear and vixen as well as other characters, old and new.
Cheers
Hikaru
Talk about some really some good news I was dreading the end of Ardens IC even if this new story, Druu´kal seems to be if not as good as Ardens IC so damn near.
Keep on writing, I don´t know what I would do if you stopped...
Mattias
Right now, I'm debating continuing with Druu'kal. The plot involves sabotage of the terran industrial base and one way to do this was to use jump capable craft as weapons of mass destruction only they would be against targets like dams, generator plats, etc., not office buildings. Unfortunately some idjots over in the mideast decided to beat me to the premise and use it for real.
I'm just not sure where to take the story if I don't use that angle.
It's a tough question.
Cheers
- Hikaru
There is no time like the present, and no better present to your kids than your time.
Hikaru-san sez:
----------------
Unfortunately some idjots over in the mideast decided to beat me to the premise and use it for real. I'm just not sure where to take the story if I don't use that angle. It's a tough question.
***********************************
Join the crowd, my friend. LOTS of writers (Web-based and print novelists alike) got "blind-sided" by the recent events. Raw nerves will eventually subside, and readers (and TV/movie viewers) will once again demand realistic action plots in their stories. We can only take so much of "My Little Pony"-type sweetness before we suffer "cute overload"-itis.
Our history, even our racial/species heritage, is built on conflict, strife and meyhem. We like to see it in TV/movies, and we like it in our written fiction. After WWs I & II, there were LOTS of war-based movies and stories and books. It was a touchy subject for a time, but our "human nature" *demanded* it, so the producers of "action" fiction provided it. While it's a touchy subject now, matters will eventually settle down.
And we writers will produce what the readers want.
As for your "Druu'kal" story--- Pod'nah, I can't say one way or the other. I'm fighting that battle myself, on just how to proceed with "RF2". "Black Jack" is no choir boy, remember. As there was in the first book, there will be referrals to his "dark days" in black ops, and for now at least I'm in a quandry as to how much detail of his terrible past to include.
Logic says that by the time this new one hits print, the reading sci-fi/furry public will have calmed down. Sadly, Hikaru-san, you don't have my "time cushion" to help you with the "Druu'kal" story.
Good luck!
Jim