Cynus

I like your train of thought!

Madame Godani is definitely no fool. Fasha is more dangerous than he looks, isn't he? That's a good line to draw from, and I think you're seeing the bigger picture a little better than Prism. But he's still living with the hopeful image of the people from his past. He's in denial about Neredos being a tyrant, because all he knows for sure is that "he's changed" courtesy of Grim. Until he sees things for himself, he won't be able to determine his best path forward. Why do children rebel parents who love them? Regardless of whether or not Madame Godani is Styx's mother (she's not. I'm confirming what the book says right now, as you did in your second comment. ), she raised him, and most children come with differences of opinion with their parents. She's smart and she's orderly; a lawful creature in a realm of near chaos. We've seen that Styx doesn't care much much for order. Neither Fasha nor Prism is entirely what they seem. I can't promise complete answers in this book, but it will be addressed over the course of the series. And yes, we've met a parental figure, someone who certainly influenced Styx's development. I've had Prism on the brain a lot recently, and this comment made me smile. Book 2 takes place mostly in the past, and so Prism is a prominent character. Indeed! Thank you, for adding this. "epic beast" is the compliment of the month. Consider the first conversation Prism had with Grim. There's a lot going on here, some in the open, and a lot behind the curtain. But who is the wizard, is he man or mage?

Styx eyed the black water anxiously. Rumors held that there were things living beneath the surface that men were never meant to encounter, and he would prefer it remained that way. Every time the surface of the water bubbled, he had to stop himself from jumping back in terror, and he did not always succeed. Each time this happened Prism looked at him curiously, an eyebrow raised as he glanced between Styx and the water. Usually he simply shook his head and walked on, waving Styx to follow, but w

You could always steal one from Salidar... then again, you might end up in the pit that way.

Maybe I should slow down...

Good question. I suppose it also depends on how you define good and evil. There are several different sides in this story, and each one thinks it is right. At some point in the series, the parentage of Maxthane and the parentage of Styx will both be known. I can't guarantee either will happen in this book, at risk of implying anything, heh. But yes, I agree completely that parents influence personality, regardless of how involved they were in raising the child. The thing to remember about Salidar here is that he's blinded by ambition. If he believes the risk will get him what he wants, he'll take it. So, can he trust anyone else? Who knows. But will that matter? My anthropology professor gave an entire lecture once on how altruism doesn't exist. I don't know if that is true for sure, but I did see her point, and it's something I consider with everything I write. My heroes, by nature, are always flawed. Is Salidar a hero? In the minds of some, yes. In his own mind, certainly. But he is definitely not the one most would consider to be the hero, his son, I think, fits that description better. Maxthane definitely has a complicated path ahead of him, filled with a lot of different decisions and potential pitfalls. Will he make it through? I love the thoughts people have expressed toward the Fasha/Prism showdown. Let's see how the chips fall, eh? You may get the chance to see him rebel, if he remains strong enough of will to do so. As I was saying to Buz, the speculation on Prism/Fasha is really fun! I eagerly await your reactions to the chapter once it posts. It's one of my favorites. It's good to keep Dogo in mind. He's definitely not finished with our story yet. Ooh! What an intriguing idea! Absent. Whether by death or by choice.

We'll have to see which horse comes out on top when the race is run. There's reasons for Maxthane's nature, of course. Perhaps we'll learn them as the story goes on?

I'm forcing myself to respond to these today since I posted the new chapter, even though I've had a really bad day. I just don't want to fall behind on responding. If I seem terse at all, I'm not meaning to come across as negative, so please don't take it personally. I enjoy double entendres immensely, I just didn't think of the name that way. There were actually a lot of different bird themes in this story originally, because of Styx (whose original name was actually Sparrow, and he had a sparrow tattoo instead of a hawk tattoo), so Swallow was a reference to the bird as well. I consider bureaucracy to be one of the great evils of the world. I'm against dogma of all sorts, and bureaucracy is really just legal dogma twisted to manipulate the status quo for the benefit of the few. Both the knights and the merchant guilds have their own forms in this world, but both are doing it in their way. I like to think of Alsha as being similar to a coach for an athlete in this way. Her job is to encourage Kirra to reach greatness, to be the best 'Kirra' he can be. Since his current path is through the Order, that's what she reinforces. True. Good thing there's a less-than-perfect King of the Shade with a less-than-benevolent goal who intends to do just that, eh? That's what I was trying to show, yes. In a society of rogues, sex is often liberated. When your entire society is comprised of outcasts, you'll end up with people willing to accept a much broader range of behaviors and natures than when a society is rigid and inflexible. By contrast, when a society is entrenched in dogma like the world above, there is less openness to deviate from that. I'm not trying to make a case for either of them, necessarily. Both have their distinct pros and cons. The laws protect the people from many physical dangers (in theory, anyway), while in the more anarchic world of The Shade, physical danger is a part of everyday life. Kirra's someone to watch, for sure. Ooh! Good questions! There's a lot of information hidden in subtle actions. I love the little unintended Swedish connections. As for whether he lives up to his name or not? Stay tuned!

"You let him go?" Salidar asked. His expression was a mixture of confusion and anger, "I gave you a gift, one you said you wanted, and you just let it go?" Maxthane recoiled under his father's gaze. They had been at this for several minutes, and Salidar had yet to let Maxthane speak. Not that he had tried to. He knew better than to interrupt his father's rants, regardless of the topic. Salidar wasn't looking for a response; he simply wanted to let off steam. This new question was differe

I'm a sucker for strong worldbuilding. If the world is logical within its own rules, then that's all the reality it needs. Inconsistency is what breaks that for me more than anything else. My other pet peeve is when writers create a world which is their version of utopia where no drama or conflict happens, just because they want to create fantastical creatures to have sex with each other... If you're going to bother creating a fantasy world, please make sure there's some reason to want to explore it other than it being pretty and filled with lust.

Not telling! Kirra, my darling . . . I love that boy. He's actually the only gay boy in the group. Styx is bisexual (It's not pertinent, really, and that's why I don't mind bringing it up) and Maxthane is probably pansexual. it just so happens they're all boys. I really didn't intend to be so lacking in female leads, it's just what ended up happening. I guess we write what we're most attracted to?

Funnily enough, I only ever thought of him in terms of the bird 'swallow', not the action.

"All right Kirra, what is our next step?" Lady Alsha asked as they stepped out of the tavern and onto the busy street. It was late afternoon and the city was bustling with people going about their business, doing all they could to make use of the fading daylight. There wasn't a great deal of daytime left for them to continue their investigation, and if they made the attempt after nightfall, they were sure to attract a great deal of attention. Kirra remained undeterred by the lateness of the

I'll do my best to explain my reasons for writing the scene as I did, though I did write it a few years ago and might not be able to defend it properly, heh. Prism was trying to do as little damage as possible, because if he leaves the guards alive, the theory is there will be less incentive for Salidar to hunt him down. Prism is gambling that Salidar won't risk resources going after a dangerous opponent who only battered and bruised his soldiers but left them alive. I could go into how he doesn't like to kill, that he prefers disabling opponents in general, but that was what I tried to communicate through the action itself. As a writer, I wanted to give Grim the opportunity to show that he was willing to go against his pacifistic tendencies when he had to. I also wanted to use it as a talking point for Grim and Prism, to give hints at the nature of their relationship to each other. As for Styx... well, you're right. I honestly didn't think that through properly. My only defense (and it's not a good one) is that I released this story because I was sick of it sitting on the shelf, not being used, and that I'd write it differently if I did so today. I don't think I'd make the same mistakes with Styx's character if I took another go at it. I appreciate the critical feedback, and I'll do my best to apply it in the future. Thanks for keeping me on my toes.

Then you must've felt right at home!

I don't think there will be one, but it could happen!

Mistborn is a great book! I honestly didn't have it in mind when I originally wrote this, but I can see why you'd draw a correlation. I've had the fortune of meeting Brandon Sanderson a few times (Even played a game of Magic with him), and I'm a huge fan of his work. I'll take the comparison as a compliment, and love your analysis. Kelsier will forever be on my list of favorite fictional characters of all time. I love your observations on Maxthane, and those are great things to be asking about. What will happen between him and the demon? They're playing with forces none of them understand, but they've also prepared as much as they feel they could have before this meeting. Is it potentially just Max's youthful naivety making him nervous?

To all of you, I sincerely apologize. I wrote out a long response to each of you just a moment ago, but for some reason after I hit add comment, it all disappeared. I can't recall all the words I wanted to say, and I don't know if I could do it justice again on a rewrite. It's bad enough it took me a year and a half to respond to all of you... Dammit, your comments are so good, too!

Your line of thinking is spot on, and you're heading down the logic path I hoped the readers would take. Questioning the state of the world. Wondering who is right and who is wrong. Asking if maybe the good guys aren't quite the good guys anymore. Are they? We'll see, won't we? Nothing is simple, and certainly not immortality.

Greg's one of my favorite straight-boy characters I've ever written. He even gives Dante ("From the Cup of the Worthless") a run for his money. I think one of my favorite things in writing this and "Fearless" was the experiment in parenting. Since I'll never be a parent (by choice), It's interesting to play with the ideas and wonder what it might be like.

They do seem to be a positive influence for each other, don't they?

Words to live by, certainly. We must be willing to sacrifice our pride and misconceptions to see the world as it is.

The best risks are those of the heart.

If I allowed myself to read gay bad boy fiction, I wouldn't get any work done.

So, what I'm currently working on is sort of a prequel, following Prism in his youth. I had always intended to write the series that way, with one story set in the present, and another set in the past, alternating back and forth. It seems a little unorthodox, but it will end up explaining a great deal of Prism and Grim's backstory. As for the description of honor, I think this might've been the point where i officially named the book. Thanks! Those questions are both great, and certainly timely. A large piece of the puzzle is waiting around the corner, but the rest won't be given until the end. And yes, our dear Prism has just made himself into Gandalf. Poor Styx Frodo doesn't know what he's gotten himself into. Oh, Grim has suffered a great deal, that's about all I can say there. Though as I was saying up in response to BlindAmbition's comment, the next novel will be centered around Prism and Grim's backstory. I personally don't think that counts as a spoiler, right? The Neredos question is a good one. Veil? Also a good question, and I can't wait for you to meet her. As for how far off the end is? Yeah, it'll be awhile. My original plot called for seven novels. We'll see how true to that I remain. Only because of responses like these have I decided to write the rest of the series. I'm going strong. I have a lot of work done for book two and some written for book three already. With any luck, there won't be any delay in continual posting of the chapters once we finish up here.