There’s some nice dovetailing going on here, as Cal’s superpowers and Kay’s ambitions combine with the technology of Red to make this globe-trotting evangelising possible. Lots of different story elements have combined in this latter half of Arc 4, which I hope makes for a satisfying read. (more…)
For the longest time, a vague notion existed in the ADoF plot document which involved space travel. An early outline for Arc 2 included this:
While on the trail, the police start suspecting and move to arrest her, but she’s rescued by a Human. A completely normal Human, who is somehow on Locque and looking for Cal. Human has amazing technology, including space travel, and whisks her away (more…)
Last time I observed that Arc 4 has swelled to twice the size of previous arcs (I’m writing this particular diary retrospectively).
‘Stimulus’ could quite happily have marked the beginning of Arc 5, if I’d chosen to delineate it that way. I may still decide to split it that way when I create the ebooks versions, keeping each arc roughly the same kind of size. (more…)
I’d like to say this was planned from the start. I really would. Truth is, this twist was a fairly late addition to the story.
The plan had always been for Furey to have an unknown side, and that ‘Rose Furey’ wasn’t her real name. She was intended to be a bit of an enigma, even something of an overly-familiar trope (self-constructed, in her case), who would then be turned upside-down around about now. The specifics were always a little fluffy, though. (more…)
There’s a bit more exposition in this chapter than I’d like. It’s one of those pivotal chapters that reconfigures the story and points it off in a brand new and unexpected direction, and I feel like I did that somewhat less gracefully than I’d have liked.
That said, it’s also serving as something of a breather, giving readers (and the characters) a moment to sit back, relax, and have a break from the continuing tension. Essentially, Kay and Marv have been on the run in one way or another for about two whole arcs and haven’t had proper downtime since leaving the farmhouse at the start of Arc 3. They deserve a moment of peace and reflection. (more…)
The opening here is simultaneously a reminder of just how scary Cal and Kay can be, as well as showing how you always have a choice about how to act. Cal wields unimaginable power, and Kay is a strong and dangerous person, physically. But she’s not defined by what she is: she’s defined by what she chooses to do. Cal’s not quite as good at that.
This is Kay growing into her leadership position. Ezekiel is a horrid person. Revenge is easy. It even makes sense – one less enemy to worry about. But it sends a certain kind of message, and builds a certain kind of world, and that’s not what Kay’s about. (more…)
In my planning notes for this chapter, I wrote “Kind of a horror chapter”. That was the driving force behind it and what dictated the style and approach.
It’s a horror chapter in two parts. The first is Kay’s hopeless situation, as a mentally tortured prisoner. The second is Ezekiel’s increasing terror as his carefully controlled power centre disintegrates. Both are told from Kay’s limited and subjective perspective, but the victim shifts from her to Ezekiel as it progresses. (more…)
And so begins the mid-arc 3-parter! A fair few chapters in arcs 2 and 3 are relatively self-contained, due to the road-trippy nature of the plot. Metabolism shakes things up, by pulling the rug out from underneath our heroes.
Thus far they’ve been doing rather well. Even in Limbic System, when they’re in serious trouble, it’s mostly about Furey kicking ass. In Metabolism we see that they’re just as vulnerable as they’ve ever been. (more…)
A structural oddity of A Day of Faces is that there’s rarely an evident antagonist, let alone an obvious Bad Guy. Holt fulfils that role for a while, but otherwise there’s only a general sense of insurmountable, conspiratorial forces. It’s rare for Kay & co to actually run up against them.
On the one hand, this runs into the Lord of the Rings ‘issue’ of there being no meaty Big Bad. Hence why the movies kept adding in Hero Orcs that the audience could properly dislike, while Sauron continued to be a vague background threat. (more…)
This is the chapter in which Furey finally takes the gloves off. She’s been a controlled, simmering background player for the most part, with only occasional, brief moments of actual action – most notably at the end of Arc 3 on Hong Kong’s Peak.
‘Limbic system’, while still from Kay’s perspective, is essentially a Furey chapter. This is where she shows her quality, and demonstrates why she’s good to have along. That we see the action from the point of view of two people who are from a very different world (literally and figuratively, I suppose) makes it all the more entertaining, I hope – Kay’s experience of watching Furey at work is much like ours. (more…)