Or how we dig into the meat and potatoes.
So in this round, I’m supposed to take EVERY sentence in the one-paragraph summary of the novel’s plot and write a new paragraph for EACH of them. And I wrote a two-paragraph summary in the first place. So I’ve got something like 10 new paragraphs to write, 40 new sentences. Okay. Here we go.
Here’s the two-paragraph summary I’ve already got. Let’s add numbers.
1) Surviving the end of her world, the shopkeeper’s wife discovers a vast, broken universe. 2) It’s all breaking down, the Spider and her Dreamcatchers struggle to pull things back together, and Len has lost everything. 3) Ziegander the Abysswalker gives Len an opportunity to see her husband again, but in all her searching all she finds are Shards of sundered worlds in peril of being swallowed up by the Void just as her world was. 4) She finds her calling. 5) With the powers vested in her as a new Dreamcatcher she can link Shard worlds to the Spider’s web to prevent them being lost to the Void, and she resolves to find and save as many as she can. 6) If her husband is out there she’ll find and save him too. But if not…
7) After toiling away in her new role for some time, Len is approached by an Eldar Thing, an empty wurm that burrows through the stars. 8) It tells her of another place she might find her lost husband, indeed *everyone* that has been lost to the winnowing dark. 9) If she were to travel to that evil place, perhaps she could free them all from oblivion… 10) In the end, Len must choose: will she traverse the Abyss to save her husband or will she seal away its evil power forever?
Right. 10 new paragraphs. I can do this.
1) Surviving the end of her world, the shopkeeper’s wife discovers a vast, broken universe. A great, black raven bears her through the stars. She doesn’t know where the creature came from or even what’s happened, but she is alive — and alone. They come to a street corner, paved asphalt and concrete with wrought-iron fencing, a streetlight, a bench, and a man in chains. There’s scarcely room for the giant bird to land on this shard, but it is here where Len’s journey begins.
2) It’s all breaking down, the Spider and her Dreamcatchers struggle to pull it all back together, and Len has lost everything. “Ha! Well, there’s one I’ve not seen yet,” the chained man says of the great raven, “Alright, then, where are we headed?” “We…” Len looks about falteringly, her eyes lingering on the impossibly gargantuan spider weaving in the distance, “I don’t… where are we?” “Right,” the man mutters to himself. He introduces himself and explains what the Switchboard and the Waybetween are.
3) Ziegander the Abysswalker gives Len an opportunity to see her husband again, but in all her searching all she finds are Shards of sundered worlds in peril of being swallowed up by the Void just as her world was. “Lost husband?” he narrows his eyes and turns to look into the distance, “If he’s out there, your best bet is with the Dreamcatchers. Maybe you should pay Slumberland a visit.”
4) She finds her calling. Len meets with Nemo, the Prince of Slumberland who asks her to assist his Master at Arms in sealing a portal from which nightmares have invaded Slumberland from the Void. When they return, the Master at Arms reports to Nemo that she proved to be valuable aid and so Nemo agrees to train her as a new Dreamcatcher. To this end, Nemo grants her a spool of silver thread and a ring of keys.
5) With the powers vested in her as a new Dreamcatcher Len can link Shard worlds to the Spider’s web to prevent them being lost to the Void, and she resolves to find and save as many as she can. She can even bind lost souls to the web to save them from oblivion, and tether them to herself or to a Shard so that even death, such as it is given the broken nature of things, cannot pluck them prematurely from the Spider’s web. Travelling the Void on the back of her giant raven, Len begins her mission, and soon finds the shards Ticonderos and New Haven, using her silver thread to secure them against the Void, and she finds her friend Elayne out amongst the stars, tethering the knightess to herself.
6) If her husband is out there, she’ll find and save him too. Unfortunately, search as she might, Len does not find him, nor any sign of the world they and Elayne lived on. She just wants to know that he’s safe, that he’s alive. She doesn’t want to be with him anymore, but she still loves him. Elayne hated him, ever since they first met. Elayne can’t understand why Len cares so much about finding him. All he ever did was keep her locked up in that shop of his. Just come to Ticonderos with me and we’ll rebuild The Garden, Elayne thinks dejectedly.
Phew! Okay, that’s enough blogging for now. Let’s split this one into two parts. I’ll tackle the second paragraph and the last set of four new paragraphs in the next one. Thanks for reading!
The Waybetween 