WELL… if you’ve made it this far, I’ll certainly congratulate and thank you. I know that the writing-style I’ve got places far too much useless information in front of your eyes… and, honestly, I am trying to correct that sort of thing… but it’s a laborious process. Perhaps some day I’ll shake the habit, and be able to cut down on the word-count…
At any rate, I certainly enjoyed living in this world for a number of months. It was both my first attempt to imagine a lively early 19th-century environment, and my first attempt to pen a more action-oriented story. Hopefully I was able to convey those two separate parts well enough, and that you were able to envision the same scenes that I had in my mind…
Still, as I’ve always believed, it’s the characters themselves that make the tale, and I was definitely pleased at the variety of roles that appeared…
Angeline, of course, defends her fragile inner self by acting cold towards the vast majority of society. But she’s a whimsical sort of person, too… as displayed by her love of hot baths and her enjoyment of the latest fashions. Of course, her later change into a loving wife with barbed quips was fun to write… I felt I could get a better sense of her psyche when she was in that state.
Since she was no longer trapped by her fears, and could fully share herself with someone that cared for her, Angie was able to let her inhibitions go, and start to enjoy her life once again. Really, I was glad to see that happen… and she certainly deserved it, in my mind.
Samuel/Finnigan was the bane of my existence at times. His character went through so many changes that I could barely enough count them all, yet there was still no way to lock down on his ‘true nature’ until nearing the end of the story. I do enjoy the stark contrasts between the easy-going ‘Samuel’, and the spiteful, hate-the-world ‘Finnigan’. They had their certain similarities in some ways… and when they came together, I had thought about showing a bit more of ‘Sammigan’s conflicting emotional turmoil… but it made more sense in my mind to adopt Samuel’s over-all personality, only with Finnigan’s broader-context.
Still… trying to make a character within a character, and then combine them… not something I’m going to do again. But I wouldn’t have found that out any other way. At least Sam/Finn was an interesting person to write… even if, for the most-part, he was a completely-selfish arse.
The cousins, Katherine and Sarah, turned out fairly well. The sibling-rivalry between the two was fun to play up when I could… and I did so enjoy Katie’s deviousness. Subterfuge is a delicate art, and while she still had much to learn in that regard, her attempts were still hilarious.
I enjoyed the few ‘letters’ of Kitten’s as well… she could so easily show her inner nature through the little biting remarks and ‘slips’ of the tongue. She was just… one of those people that saw the funny side of everything, and enjoyed pointing it out to others at every opportunity.
Sarah, on the other hand, was supposed to be a mere throw-away character… but I realized after Samuel’s abandonment that she needed to be much more. And as I thought about her back-story, I started to get a sense that she and Adelay had held essentially the exact same desires… thus, she needed to seduce her cousin, and start again fresh. The whole pregnancy-thing was kind of a ‘Ohhhh, I need a way for Sarah to stay in Finn’s life… heh… heheh… yahhh… that’d do well’-kinda thing.
Always use protection, kids. Unless you live in the early 19th century… then you’re kinda screwed. Pun intended, I suppose...
Hilda and Gawain were another joy to write. They were the experienced veterans needed to explain how things worked in the early-going… and characters that I could count on to just ‘pop in’ and provide some good context. Of course, Hildie’s perversity (typical of all those bloody mages) was a hoot to pen, and Gawain’s staunch behaviour (though he was completely whipped in the relationship) provided a good contrast.
The other mages that popped into being, were also a mixed-bag of personalities. First, ‘Master Quang’, who provided some rather hilarious lines. ‘You too sloppy, Sloppy.’ Best line in the book. At least… in my mind, however.
Jonas, the pseudo-father-figure for Angeline was a good addition to the cast as well. His seriousness at times came through quite well, though his ‘quirky’ side kind of shone through much more. Rumple Plumperbottom. Heh.
Ruthie Washburne was a bit of a throwaway character… but provided some good rivalry-potential for Angeline. Shame that she didn’t have a larger part, but I’m sure she’s not that bitter. I gave her an awesome talent, anyways…
The twin-mages in the Lundagrens were fun to create. Lispy Teresa and princess-like Kellie. You could so easily tell which was the warmer of the two, yet at the end when Kellie watches Samuel kill the Wrathful Daemon in only a few moves provides a good shift in her temperament. They both turned out to be great people… go figure. ^^
On the opposite side of the coin were the Aegis personnel. Praetorian ‘Sparky’. Weapons-master Sten Daggerfell with his squeaky, high-pitched voice. The 15 year-old candidate Bradley, and nymphomaniac Gail. Some lively characters in that bunch, though not as prominent as their magickal counterparts, of course.
All of the readers will probably notice that I only chronicled a few of the varieties of Daemon in detail… I’ll just say that *if* I create a sequel, then I was planning on covering the others in order to keep it fresh. How many times could the same pig-faced Wrathful ogre be killed without it sounding completely redundant? Which, you’ll probably note, is why Samuel’s second run-in with that variety went so much faster than the first. *winks*
The story itself, I found, came together fairly well… but, of course, I’m the author, and my own feelings can’t be trusted. So it’s up to each of the people who enjoyed this work to make their opinions known. Vote, share, comment, and if you care to, read it all over again. Or you can just message me and send your most scathing remarks. Besides, I have no clue what I’m doing… I just write what I want to, though I still aim to get a bit better, and to refine the way I put the worlds in my head down onto the page.
So, then… I suppose this is where we part once more. Perhaps I’ll start working on the characters for the sequal… though that’ll all depend on how well Aegis and Order is received… hmm… can’t hurt to think up some back-stories, anyways… and scenarios… and over-all direction… and plot-twists……
DJE
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Aegis and Order: First Light
Fantasy"It’s shoulders were wide and powerful. At four metres in height, it was almost as large across as it was tall. The arms of the hulking beast hung nearly all the way to the ground, and were thick with rope-like muscles that bulged with even the sl...
