World Spectrum: Human Again Progress Report + A New Way to Read

The third installment of the World Spectrum series is getting closer to being ready for primetime.

Books of the World Spectrum bannerA colleague of mine has taken the time to read through Human Again and give me some very thoughtful feedback. Armed with this knowledge, I’m now ready to begin my final proofread/edit.

Life is a bit screwy right now with my trying to move back to Toronto and other Real Life issues, but I will try to prioritize getting Human Again ready over the next few weeks.

Once that’s done, all that’s left to do is formatting and uploading to Smashwords. I’m sure people are eager to see the final chapter of Leha’s story play out.

A new way to read the World Spectrum:

In other news, Smashwords has entered into a partnership with Oyster, a new service for distributing ebooks. For a reasonable monthly subscription fee (around $10), you get unlimited access to every ebook in their catalogue. Think of it as Netflix for ebooks.

I’ve already opted in to have my books included in Oyster, so they should be appearing on the service shortly. How it works is that I get a payment roughly equal to what I would get from any other Smashwords affiliate anytime an Oyster user reads a certain percentage of one of my books.

If you’re a big fan of ebooks, Oyster seems like a fairly good deal, and I hope any users of the service will take the time to check out the World Spectrum novels once they’re available.

World Spectrum: The Kids

I’m still working on building all my writing characters in Aion (and not actually playing Aion). I’ve gone beyond the World Spectrum and created many from my other works, but since you guys won’t be familiar with them, there’s little point in posting them.

Books of the World Spectrum bannerYesterday, though, I went back and made two more World Spectrum characters. You see, the act of world-building never really stops. I’ve already got plans for how Barria evolves in the years following Human Again. I don’t know if I’ll ever make use of any of these plans, but it’s nice to know they exist.

So I now present to you the next generation of the World Spectrum — two children of the previous cast members, already all grown up. In the (very) tentative fourth book idea I have, these are slated to be the main characters.

WARNING: This post will contain significant spoilers for Rage of the Old Gods and Children of the Gods and very minor (very minor) spoilers for Living for the Future and Human Again.

Spoiler free zone.

I once held a boa constrictor. It was really cool.

I like carob. There, I said it.

Let’s get to it.

Abiri Tor Lannis:Abiri Tor Lannis, daughter of Yarnig and NatomaNamed for her aunt, Abiri is the beloved daughter of Yarnig Tor Lannis and Natoma. I made this image based on the idea of her being around eighteen or nineteen.

Abiri Tor Lannis, daughter of Yarnig and NatomaShe’s a very cheerful and pleasant girl, an idealist and adherent to Aya’s humanist teachings. She has a minor magical talent and uses it to follow in her father’s footsteps, making sculptures and carvings of incredible beauty and subtlety.

Abiri Tor Lannis, daughter of Yarnig and NatomaHer hair isn’t 100% accurate. She’s supposed to have braided pigtails, a Tor style that contrasts with her largely Urannan appearance.

Hilda Tor Kellis:

Hilda Tor Kellis, adopted daughter of ErannaA Reborn orphan formerly of the labourer cast, Hilda encountered Eranna Tor Kellis by chance, and the empress took pity on her and adopted her, raising Hilda as her own daughter and even going so far as to name her the heir of the Tor Kellis house. I made this image based on imagining her around twenty-three or twenty-four years old.

Hilda Tor Kellis, adopted daughter of ErannaNeedless to say, the idea of a Reborn potentially taking the throne of Tor Som caused a bit of a stir among Tor nobility. Having them to help rebuild your country is one thing, but bending a knee to a former Arcanid slave is another matter entirely. Ever since, there has been a fair bit of debate over whether Hilda should be considered the true heir to the throne, or Abiri.

Hilda Tor Kellis, adopted daughter of ErannaHilda may not be Eranna’s blood, but she is her daughter in spirit: a dour, serious woman who rarely smiles and is prone to brooding contemplation. Unlike most Reborn, who are free-spirited and contented, the dark legacy of the Arcanids hangs heavy over Hilda’s head.

* * *

Hmm, I wonder if enough people read The Wounding for it to be worth making an Enora?