Ishta’s Companion: Progress Report Six

Chapter Six of Ishta’s Companion is up.

Chapter Seven is not quite paid for as of this writing — I have received $246.99 of the required $250.00. I expect it to be covered shortly, though one never knows.

I still have maybe four or five pages to go on writing Chapter Nine, but it’s further along than it was a week ago.

The money is not exactly pouring in on this one; maybe starting so soon after the Kickstarter was a mistake.

Well, we’ll see how it goes.

Added 9/4/13: Okay, Chapter Seven is paid for.

18 thoughts on “Ishta’s Companion: Progress Report Six

  1. “My people did not think demons were inherently evil,”

    — What do we really know about demons from the earlier books? I seem to recall some references saying that demonologists had much shorter expectancy than other magic users, and tended to die by violence at the hands of demons. But demonologists have appeared more rarely and played smaller roles than wizards, warlocks or witches. Actually, I think some of what we heard in earlier books about demons was from wizards and theurgists, or lay people, and may be less reliable than what a demonologist — or someone like Tesk — would tell us.

  2. I think the KS probably is a factor, but this is kind of an odd story as well. It’s mostly been about 2 kids talking to a guy in a forest. 6 chapters and not much of anything has happened.

    And I think they aren’t particularly likable kids. Ishta seems very spoiled and Garander doesn’t seem very bright. Especially this chapter. If he thought Tesk was dangerous, why would he confront him like that? Why would he bring his sister along?

  3. >If he thought Tesk was dangerous, why would he confront him like that?

    Tesk is so dangerous he can wipe out a regiment (or a village), but he’s been living in the woods, minding his own business. For decades.

    He’s dangerous, but not necessarily threatening.

    I don’t find the kids unlikable except in the way that all children can be disagreeable. Ishta, for example, is immature, but at her age she’s supposed to be.

    Bill

  4. >demonologists had much shorter expectancy than other magic users

    Maybe in Ethshar they have to bargain harder than they did in the North.

    Bill

  5. Re; demons- dangerous is not the same as evil. Bears and lions maul animal handlers, farm equipment (historically) regularly maimed farm hands… that doesn’t make these things evil.

  6. I’m debating whether or not to explain more about the nature of demons. I probably shouldn’t.

    But I can point out, as it said in The Misenchanted Sword, that the gods were on Ethshar’s side, and the demons were on the side of the Northern Empire. That some Ethsharites learned to work with demons after the war (or even during it, really) doesn’t change that — the demons haven’t forgotten.

  7. That’s an interesting tidbit of information that makes me wonder about “modern” (warlock era and after) demonology/demonologists. Tesk, and his calmed mezgars if they exist, is evidence that the Northern Empire wasn’t quite as thoroughly eradicated as some might like to think… are there people around that the demons consider “proper heirs” to whatever goodwill the Northern Empire might have had?

    I, for one, am always a fan of those sorts of peeks behind the curtain to see the nature of things. Whether it fits the flow of the story is a consideration I’ll leave to professionals like LWE. Apropos of the Kickstarter comments, though, a primer on ethsharatic/northern demonology (or magic in general) of some sort would make an interesting “stretch”/bonus thing that I’d happily kick money into.

  8. Oh, we know mizagars exist — one killed an ex-warlock in The Unwelcome Warlock, more than two hundred years after Ishta’s Companion. And that scene — well, the geography is a little tricky, but that happened less than twenty leagues from Grondar’s farmstead.

    Whether Tesk is actually restraining the mizagars is not as definite at this point.

  9. That’s what I meant regarding the mizagars existing; that they are currently in the area and being controlled, rather than simply being elsewhere. Sorry I wasn’t clear (neh, that may not actually be any clearer).

    As for the geography, unless I’m mistaken, that also means they’re not to far from where Dumery’s business partner makes her home…

  10. You’re right — that’s also a little under twenty leagues, but in a somewhat different direction. Hadn’t given that any thought, to be honest, since I don’t think she’s going to get involved.

  11. That’s a little disappointing, but not at all surprising. I can only imagine that even the barest bit of her involvement would change things pretty significantly just because of who she is. On the other hand, those sorts of crossover links are always fun and there’s a part of me that kinda geeks out at the thought of seeing her literally half a lifetime earlier. Two of the most powerful weapons of the Great War end up sitting down to tea… (or whatever would actually happen).
    On the other hand, Grondor’s wartime instructions (and presumable reaction to finding out about Tesk) makes me wonder if he knows about the other farm…

  12. Be it also noted that the gods of the losers frequently become the demons of the winners. Both could easily be the same sort of entity, and neither particularly evil OR good.

    And I don’t know about the talisman making a reappearance, but when the weather picks up, we could see more of the Baron or his men. What else of possible danger might be out there? Heck, the Baron could turn out to be the biggest danger of the lot, quite unintentionally.

  13. Pretty much anything you can put on a static webpage can be put in an ebook, but dynamic stuff, not so much. You could include the complete text of a past discussion, but I don’t think you could include an ongoing active conversation. At least, I sure wouldn’t know how to do it.

    (And even static stuff may look like crap; the page formatting is less flexible than on an actual webpage.)

  14. If nothing else, one could put a link in the front or back matter of the ebook to a website where one can discuss the book with other readers. Not just a general link to the author’s website, perhaps, but a link to specific page on the site for discussions on that book.

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