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[JanusTwoface]

Chapter 12 - Eve

For those of you keeping track at home, this marks the halfway point. If anyone has comments about what I've posted thus far, I'd love to hear it--even if it's just a sentence or two.

[JanusTwoface]

Chapter 13 - Missing

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Chapter 14 - Madeline

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Chapter 15 - Artifact

[Donuts]

You are good at this, nice to read a book that is different than the ones i got

I got no good sci-fi, so this really is nice.

[JanusTwoface]

Thanks!

Chapter 16 - Collision

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Chapter 17 - Darkness

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Chapter 18 - Daedalus

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Chapter 19 - Traitor

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If you enjoy this, perhaps you'll enjoy my NaNoWriMo for 2012. The first day is up if you want to check it out:
- First update
- RSS feed

Spoiler: Excerpt (click to show/hide)

“Bless me Father, for I have sinned.”

The man on the other side of the screen was tall. I could tell that much just from the shadow he cast; and he was broad at the shoulders.

“It has been–too long–since my last confession.”

There should have been more there, perhaps an inquiry, a request for clarification. But after a pause–

“Since then, I have…”

There were sins, so many sins. Mostly minor, although the number alone could have been enough to elicit a response. The list started with those, although the standard order was for the reverse.

As the sins went by, I thought about the man on the other side of the screen. I didn’t recognize him. I couldn’t make out any details, but he had the sort of presence that was hard to forget. But then again, this wasn’t my church. This wasn’t even my country. I was only here because I had been told that to be here, at this church, and that it had to be now. And when you are given a commandment, given as I had been… you don’t disobey.

The sins were greater now, although still far from grave. There was an undeniable sense though, of building towards something, of something drawing strength.

While the list continued, scarcely slowing, I thought of my journey. Of a span of miles nearly beyond count which lay behind me and those I knew yet lay ahead.

And then I paused. The lesser sins were finished, lain bare.

I heard the man, the priest, on the other side of the screen drawing a breath. He believed me finished. But no, there were three more sins that I had yet to confess.

“Forgive me Father, but I’m not finished.”

The breath stopped. I heard weight shifting and knew that the other man had settled back into his seat. Perhaps he had grown bored with my sins, drifting even as I had.

I started with the sin he was least likely to believe. Even a priest has limits and I was about to test his. I very nearly felt sorry for him. But I had been called to this church, to this priest, for him to hear my confession. And hear it he would.

“I confess to the sin of sorcery, of magics not of God’s making. Done with the noblest of intentions, but done nevertheless.”

Silence. I knew he was processing what I had said, trying to discern if I had meant it. So few believed in magic any more, even those who otherwise believe in miracles. Before he could respond, I went on.

“I confess to the sin of murder, of ending another’s life when there may yet have been another option.”

The air felt thicker now, tension drawn tight around the both of us.

One more. One more sin and I could rest, knowing that at the very least I had confessed. Forgiveness still felt as unobtainable as ever. Only God had the power to forgive and with all that I’d done…  I didn’t deserve it.

Yet, I knew that confessing this sin in particular would do me little good. There were things over which a priest had no say, no power, things that by Church law only the Pope could hope to absolve.

“And last of all, I have broken the seal of confession. I have revealed another’s sins.”

There. It was done.

This is the only time I'll mention it here. Otherwise, I'll return you to your regularly schedule thread in 3... 2... 1...

[JanusTwoface]

Chapter 20 - Spacewalk

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Chapter 21 - Triage

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Chapter 22 - Reboot

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Chapter 23 - Trust

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Chapter 24 - Aftermath

And just like that, it was done. That's the last chapter. I'm not perfectly happy with it, I know that I'm not so great at endings. But I think it works out well enough. Out of curiosity, has anyone read the Coyote books? If you have, just let it be known that I actually wrote A Sea of Stars before I read those, believe it or not.

When I first started posting these back in August, I didn't know how it was going to go, if people would actually like what I was doing or if I could basically be shouting at the wind. There's been a bit of both, but for the most part, I think it was pretty successful.

If anyone has been reading along the whole time and would like to leave a comment, I'd love to hear it, even if if's just a 'hey I read this' sort of thing. I can tell how many people are visiting my webpage, but I have a feeling at least a few people are reading solely in RSS feeds and thus I can't as easily count those.

Constructive criticism would be great as well. I hope to put this (and other works) up on Amazon in the upcoming weeks/months so I'll be doing another editing pass before that.

I'm also hoping to start posting another novel shortly, although I'll probably wait until December to start as NaNoWriMo is still in full swing. I have two in the works that I could publish: The Gates of Heaven (urban fantasy, will probably get a new title) and Shadows and Steam (dark steampunk, from last NaNoWriMo, unfinished). I doubt I'll be keeping a bi-weekly thread like this one, but I'll probably at least post when I start.