Hello, all!

I’m very excited to announce that the beta readership has begun. So far I have 4 potential sources of feedback and I’m looking forward to what they have for me. This being my first novel, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to be inundated with tsunamis of red ink and feral criticism. That said, if you’d like to hop on the pain train, you can email me at [email protected] to request access to the google doc. For everyone else, standby a little bit longer for the finished product as I make this prelude novel the best version of itself that it can be. Also: the book will be offered in the kindle store at no cost for a limited time upon release. I’ll post the release date a week in advance so that you don’t miss anything.

The future of the Shine imay look bleak, but the future of adventure therein is just beginning to unfold.

- Luke Joslin

I've just finished the final chapter and I gotta say: it was an absolute blast to write. Now I'm into the rereading (again) and editing (...again) portion of the process. There are some things I have to tighten up and some inconsistencies that need to be rectified. A lot is on my plate for the next two months if I'm to get this out by mid February. In any case, to celebrate I wanted to post the opening parable to the book. Taken from the mythology/religious text of the main culture, it really sets the scene and pokes at the themes of what is really happening. Hope you enjoy it!

            (The Analects of Deusz-Os Amydrahl, Rites 4.12-20)
 
Hearing that their minds were open, the Khavyrym gave them the history of the first man.
 
The God Maw spoke, saying: “Before the cities of man, when the Shine was untouched by the blemishes of time, there was one wise man among the animals: Ki Uunu, whose name means ‘'First Born of the Khavyrym'. He was a perceptive man, not given to the wiles of the flesh. Unburdened by the puzzles devised by the minds of his fellow man, Ki understood that the Shine was tilting. Soon, all of human kind would be poured into the Yurolgu Sea. Accused of being a fearmonger, Ki was driven from the sovereignties of men. Following his feet even until they bled, he made his way downhill until he came to glittering shores. Resting with half its body in the waves, a great beast gnawed on the Shine with a set of jaws as wide as the horizon.
Struck by its splendor, Ki asked, ‘How can such a magnificent creature exist in such secrecy that no man knows your name?’
Eyeing him with a mischievous grin the beast answered,‘'You expect much of those who deny their nature and miss the signs of a coming calamity. Behold, even the bird knows to take flight of this land.’
The beast spoke true. For as Ki turned back, the fires of Alszla Kyl were blotted out by a canopy of feathers headed for Ondyr Syur. Ki again marveled at the beast. Knowing he could not implore it to move into the sea and right the Shine, he instead sat in its mouth.
The beast chuckled, 'For all the men that have broken against my teeth, none has ever offered himself with peace.’ At that, the beast released the shore and slipped into glowing tides.
Immediately the ground rose up and Ki saw that the Shine was a world resting on the face of a coin; flipped by the thumb of a god. Before his eyes, the sovereignties of men were wiped clean from its surface. Only when it came to rest did the beast spit him from its mouth, returning him to land. After a time, the birds returned. Seeing that Ki also wished to return home, the beast gave him one of his teeth and said, 'Go. Tell all of what you have witnessed here.’
When Ki arrived back at the Khavyrym he saw that man had been reborn in the Shine. They were no better than before. Among their number there was not a one who upheld the tenets or sought the old ways. Ki Uunu admonished the masses for their ways and told them of what he had seen, showing them the toot of the beast as proof. They only mocked him, saying, 'Old fool! No such beast could exist. What animal doesn’t eat that which lands in its mouth?’
Cast from one land to another, Ki carried the beast’s tooth. With the bearing of the tooth came both suffering and great power. Eventually, Ki began to persuade all whom he came across to follow him. He entered the lands of men one after another until there was not a man, woman or child who did not chase after the tail of his robes. As the Shine began to tilt once more, Ki led humanity to the beast and bid them enter its mouth.
Its belly full of flesh, the beast was pleased and looked approvingly upon Ki Uunu. This time, when the beast released the shore, it was Ki who flipped the coin."