Synopsis
Christie always knew she was different. Orphaned as a child, her adoptive father kept her safe from those who hated who she was: an Ancient, someone who could manipulate the world around her according to her will. Now, with her friend Samden by her side, she hopes to discover the truths about her past and the hidden world of those Ancients whom she left behind.
It won't be easy. Assassins are hunting her, psychotic creatures lurk in the forests she must traverse, and she herself continues to change as the powers within her begin to Awaken.
Meanwhile, an Ancient spy, Kennet, learns the horrible truth of the desires of those who hunt down the few Ancients left. They desire to pull the power into themselves, leaving the Ancients a drained husk.
Together, they must find a way to stop those who hunt Christie and hope to break the world as malevolent forces implement the Terra Campaign.
It won't be easy. Assassins are hunting her, psychotic creatures lurk in the forests she must traverse, and she herself continues to change as the powers within her begin to Awaken.
Meanwhile, an Ancient spy, Kennet, learns the horrible truth of the desires of those who hunt down the few Ancients left. They desire to pull the power into themselves, leaving the Ancients a drained husk.
Together, they must find a way to stop those who hunt Christie and hope to break the world as malevolent forces implement the Terra Campaign.
Background
I started this novel while I was a freshman in college. I would sit in the back of my history classes and draw (badly) the characters. I had a notebook filled with character sketches, world building and history, and concepts of locations.
Then I had a teacher criticize my writing. It was the first time I'd ever received anything less than appreciation for my effort, and it sent me into a horrible tailspin. I couldn't write anything for weeks. I used to keep a file on my hard drive labeled TIPs (thoughts in progress). I had at least a dozen starts to this story that I could never get more than two paragraphs into.
I'm not sure what finally broke that mental block, but when it finally came time to write this novel, it was nearly three years later. I wrote the prologue (written from the point of view of a guy named Milton, whose name I happened to like; I knew nothing about Paradise Lost or John Milton at this point) about two months before marriage. The early years of nuptial bliss included a lot of time hammering out this story.
Writing the synopsis was an interesting mimetic experience. I haven't really thought about Terra Campaign: Impetus a lot since I stopped working on it back in 2006. I thought it was a really good book, but, thinking back....it has some serious problems. It's extremely cliche, if only in the common ways of a late-teen, early-twenties writer. The characters behave according to plot, rather than characteristics, there are enough holes to plant a garden in, and attempts at humor, horror, and pacing were all pretty imbalanced. It has some fun stuff, I won't deny--I'm a fan of the breathrobbers, which are twisted humans with claws for hands and no face from the nose down. They kill people by pinning them down, then drinking their hot air from their victims' lungs as they suffocate them.
Cool.
Then I had a teacher criticize my writing. It was the first time I'd ever received anything less than appreciation for my effort, and it sent me into a horrible tailspin. I couldn't write anything for weeks. I used to keep a file on my hard drive labeled TIPs (thoughts in progress). I had at least a dozen starts to this story that I could never get more than two paragraphs into.
I'm not sure what finally broke that mental block, but when it finally came time to write this novel, it was nearly three years later. I wrote the prologue (written from the point of view of a guy named Milton, whose name I happened to like; I knew nothing about Paradise Lost or John Milton at this point) about two months before marriage. The early years of nuptial bliss included a lot of time hammering out this story.
Writing the synopsis was an interesting mimetic experience. I haven't really thought about Terra Campaign: Impetus a lot since I stopped working on it back in 2006. I thought it was a really good book, but, thinking back....it has some serious problems. It's extremely cliche, if only in the common ways of a late-teen, early-twenties writer. The characters behave according to plot, rather than characteristics, there are enough holes to plant a garden in, and attempts at humor, horror, and pacing were all pretty imbalanced. It has some fun stuff, I won't deny--I'm a fan of the breathrobbers, which are twisted humans with claws for hands and no face from the nose down. They kill people by pinning them down, then drinking their hot air from their victims' lungs as they suffocate them.
Cool.
Status
I have no plans of editing or rewriting this novel. It was the starter novel--that piece of work that showed me what it took to write, to edit, and to continue striving to improve. I'm proud of it, even if I never really want to write it again.