12 Comments

Oh, niiiiice. Very nice. I honestly didn't even begin to suspect the guy until he started talking about stopping winter itself. The way that just turns and then I'm realizing "wait, *what*?, is just beautifully done.

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HOOOOOooo. Wow. I know I'm behind, but this is so good. I'm not even into magic systems, usually, and yet that part's just as interesting as the characterization. Very nice.

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author

Not behind at all! There’s no expiry on these stories, right? Thanks for reading, EB!

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I LOVED this. The prose was beautiful, and the narrative voice reminded me of a less self-aware Screwtape. You handled the twist in the story’s dynamic so well, and I’m excited to read the rest!

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author

What a lovely comparison—in a sense—to Screwtape. Weird to say that but you know what you mean. There will be more to come!

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Aug 9Liked by Eric Falden

OOOOOOOKAY BUDDY. OKAY. I see you. I SEE YOU SNEAKIN' AROUND HERE.

There is much much much more to this than meets the eye.

The gradual progression of Maldurian from "concerned father" to "final boss" was excellent. The gradual elucidation of the Problem At Hand. The references to "That time in the room" that go unexplained. The deliberate refusal to explain your magic system and YET your ability to make me come away with a clear picture of how it works.

This Epistolary format is incredible and I am quite partial to it myself (cough) but I read this and I think two things. 1- I want more. 2- I want to collab a back and forth somehow? Is that even possible? It feels more difficult than the average fiction collaboration. 3- I want to write my own. You simultaneously entertained and fed my creative fire. Excellent, excellent, excellent. Keep going with this. I love it.

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Looooooved the twist! I don't know the full story, but the letter format showed me everything I needed to know to understand the stakes.

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author

Thanks! The idea here with this serialish thing is to have everything be understandable in every episode, no other context needed. Glad you enjoyed it

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Now I wonder if there has been any epistolary fantasy novel. Thank you for the nice read!

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author

I’m not sure if there have been, but I’ve seen many sci fi epistolaries. It’s such a fun method of story telling. Thanks for reading!

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Nice build-up, effective twist!

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author

Thanks, Bill! I appreciate it.

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