Strong intro here. I appreciate the economy of description here- too much exposition can really kill the flow in fantastic settings.
That last scene is easily the most evocative of this chapter. Bookended by the grounding description of Akashi in the city at the very beginning, it makes a nice intro that doesn’t rely on an action sequence to be eye-catching.
Oh, soooo excited for this! Looking forward to following Akashi in this next adventure -- seeing how his relationship with Shara develops, whether he recovers from Monroe's machinations, and what happens with the Jewel of the Void!
Also, something that occurred to me - is he called Pacè because "pace" is "peace" in Italian??
Ah, you caught me! So I can’t divulge too much of the origins of his name without spoiling some of his future, BUT yes you are correct!
Strange fact, the original iteration of Akashi was an Italian-Japanese detective. By ‘original iteration’ I mean one single noir short story I wrote in highschool. He has come a long way since then, but has retained a few key personality traits! He has changed a lot, but I always liked the flow of the name and the sort of idea of a meddlesome guy who had a good heart but a defiant streak!
Anyway, I can’t wait to share what happens next. As weird as it is, we’re actually getting into the first stories in Astra now and I am so unbelievably excited!
Nice! I only realized when an Italian friend was talking about the use of “pace” recently. I love choosing meaningful names for characters, so I love that you did this! And very cool that his history goes back such a long way in your writing life! 😁
Strong intro here. I appreciate the economy of description here- too much exposition can really kill the flow in fantastic settings.
That last scene is easily the most evocative of this chapter. Bookended by the grounding description of Akashi in the city at the very beginning, it makes a nice intro that doesn’t rely on an action sequence to be eye-catching.
Excited to read the rest!
Thank you for reading! That was something I was trying to figure out how to balance, so I'm glad it worked for you here!
Thanks for sticking around for the rest, I hope you've enjoyed chapters 2 and 3 as well so far!
Oh, soooo excited for this! Looking forward to following Akashi in this next adventure -- seeing how his relationship with Shara develops, whether he recovers from Monroe's machinations, and what happens with the Jewel of the Void!
Also, something that occurred to me - is he called Pacè because "pace" is "peace" in Italian??
Ah, you caught me! So I can’t divulge too much of the origins of his name without spoiling some of his future, BUT yes you are correct!
Strange fact, the original iteration of Akashi was an Italian-Japanese detective. By ‘original iteration’ I mean one single noir short story I wrote in highschool. He has come a long way since then, but has retained a few key personality traits! He has changed a lot, but I always liked the flow of the name and the sort of idea of a meddlesome guy who had a good heart but a defiant streak!
Anyway, I can’t wait to share what happens next. As weird as it is, we’re actually getting into the first stories in Astra now and I am so unbelievably excited!
Nice! I only realized when an Italian friend was talking about the use of “pace” recently. I love choosing meaningful names for characters, so I love that you did this! And very cool that his history goes back such a long way in your writing life! 😁