Ah, the Ambassador lives! (Thanks for not spoiling that.) My brain did go “well, someone could have slipped the poison in and 5hen gotten off the airship and been long gone before dinner was served”, but this wrapped up nicely.
I also ended up going back and re-reading this one.
Keeping things spoiler-free for Leanne, we'll just say it's interesting to re-read this early chapter from four years(!) ago with knowledge of where the story goes in the future. On this read I noted some very subtle set up/foreshadowing for future revelations.
I'm sure things diverged from the initial outline along the way, but Simon really had his basic structure locked tight and was doing well at seeding information. Also noting discussion on magic in the prior chapter's comments...
Except the boring digression into TTRPG rules. Sorry about that. I'm guessing mid 2022 is when I was locking down the 3rd revision of the magic system.
It’s a relief that it (appears so far) to hold together. Every time I go back to re-read earlier chapters for research purposes, I’m terrified of stumbling upon a massive glitch. I’m sure there are some in there!
But yeah, generally it seems to flow. I’ve been pleasantly surprised how certain threads do pull through all the way back to the start. Characters being established, and character motivations being clear from the outset.
Typo: "It had been a mistaking..." "Mistake," of course.
No one can leave the airship... Unless they have wings. Pay attention to the Koth, Clarke and Styles! That false assumption might lead you down a wrong path.
Speaking of assumptions, ask the chef if it was his idea to mix the spices or who he got the base recipe from, guys. One's "first time" making an unfamiliar dish - especially for those already familiar - isn't the time to get creative.
Or, it really was an accident and I'm just searching for threads.
Until the end of the chapter I figured Justin's body was a biological form and that was a work around for power pack failure. Nope. On the other hand, I was still wrong about the AI's having a frustrating lack of direct observation and data collection. At least for Mid-Earth. As you've, mentioned a partially discharged power pack would totally die on a second transit, there's a potential problem with Palanor... One can assume the AIs have human agents to go there. Not as trustworthy as an AI shard, with fallible human memory, but better than nothing.
No more letting Mid-Earth and Palinor annihilate themselves? That's not ominous. Is...is this the backdoor prequel to "No Adults Allowed?" 😜
Well, that was a silly typo in the opening line. Thanks for pointing it out - have fixed.
Ha! I think NAA is the only book I've written to date which doesn't involve inter-dimensional travel! It's probably more like Max-Earth is what happens if AI turns out to be quite pleasant instead of NAA's homicidal helicopter parent.
Ah, the Ambassador lives! (Thanks for not spoiling that.) My brain did go “well, someone could have slipped the poison in and 5hen gotten off the airship and been long gone before dinner was served”, but this wrapped up nicely.
I did have to double-check which specific chapter you were on. :)
I also ended up going back and re-reading this one.
Keeping things spoiler-free for Leanne, we'll just say it's interesting to re-read this early chapter from four years(!) ago with knowledge of where the story goes in the future. On this read I noted some very subtle set up/foreshadowing for future revelations.
I'm sure things diverged from the initial outline along the way, but Simon really had his basic structure locked tight and was doing well at seeding information. Also noting discussion on magic in the prior chapter's comments...
Except the boring digression into TTRPG rules. Sorry about that. I'm guessing mid 2022 is when I was locking down the 3rd revision of the magic system.
It’s a relief that it (appears so far) to hold together. Every time I go back to re-read earlier chapters for research purposes, I’m terrified of stumbling upon a massive glitch. I’m sure there are some in there!
But yeah, generally it seems to flow. I’ve been pleasantly surprised how certain threads do pull through all the way back to the start. Characters being established, and character motivations being clear from the outset.
Nearly there.
Typo: "It had been a mistaking..." "Mistake," of course.
No one can leave the airship... Unless they have wings. Pay attention to the Koth, Clarke and Styles! That false assumption might lead you down a wrong path.
Speaking of assumptions, ask the chef if it was his idea to mix the spices or who he got the base recipe from, guys. One's "first time" making an unfamiliar dish - especially for those already familiar - isn't the time to get creative.
Or, it really was an accident and I'm just searching for threads.
Until the end of the chapter I figured Justin's body was a biological form and that was a work around for power pack failure. Nope. On the other hand, I was still wrong about the AI's having a frustrating lack of direct observation and data collection. At least for Mid-Earth. As you've, mentioned a partially discharged power pack would totally die on a second transit, there's a potential problem with Palanor... One can assume the AIs have human agents to go there. Not as trustworthy as an AI shard, with fallible human memory, but better than nothing.
No more letting Mid-Earth and Palinor annihilate themselves? That's not ominous. Is...is this the backdoor prequel to "No Adults Allowed?" 😜
Well, that was a silly typo in the opening line. Thanks for pointing it out - have fixed.
Ha! I think NAA is the only book I've written to date which doesn't involve inter-dimensional travel! It's probably more like Max-Earth is what happens if AI turns out to be quite pleasant instead of NAA's homicidal helicopter parent.
All true.