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Odyssey to the Northlands, Review Topic


Maganar

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You've just stumbled upon something big...

 

Welcome to the hub for all thing related to Odyssey to the Northlands.  This topic will be updated and linked to any related content for this six-part epic saga.  I will warn you in advance that it stretches to incredible length.  If you continue to follow my writing, you have been warned.  As is usually the case on BZP, clicking linky-looking things should generally take you to the epic posting topic in question and clicking on any banner graphic I have in-text should also take you to the posting topic for which it is a banner.  Let me know if I forgot to link any banners.

 

To give you an idea, I will have you know that I have my epics written in full prior to the release of even the first chapter.  In order to force myself to complete this epic on a (relatively) timely schedule, I forced myself to avoid being distracted by other BZP stuff and abstained from the site until it's writing was completed.  That turned out to be a mistake, for I now fear I have estranged myself from anyone who knew me before with the one and a half year hiatus I took.  Writing was underway before that period begun, but it took until then to finish.

 

I ask you, no beg you, to please read this epic if you feel it appeals to your taste for fiction so that I may receive feedback on what has become a positively exhaustive venture for me.  My only request is that in your feedback you please bear in mind that I have spent roughly two years creating this and I never plan on undertaking such an extreme venture again; this is to be my magnum opus on BZP.  If you see any way for me to improve my writing - I want to know!  Just be respectful and consider how much of myself I threw into this.  I know that is all in the epic forum rules and guidelines thread: I just feel it kind of goes double for me with this epic saga.

 

Premise:  To receive an idea on what this epic is about and whether the premise appeals to you as a fan-fiction, please read the PREFACE located at the beginning of the Part I topic.  This describes the scenario and sets the stage for the following saga.  In short, we are looking at a largely unexplored period of time following the Core War on Spherus Magna while set on the Bara Magna "shattered" piece of the whole.  Because we were led to believe the Core War took place on a positively massive scale and must have had countless Glatorian soldiers, you will run across far more Glatorian characters than exist in the six Tribes by the point of time that was GregF's story-telling present.  To some extent, I try to explain why there will be so few Glatorian still around in the six Tribes as arena combatants during story telling present.  In case the PREFACE is unclear to you, this is set in time at 85,000 years before story present (15,000 years after Core War at 100,000 years before story present).

 

Release Schedule: This epic was initially meant to have a fixed release schedule.  However, due to lack of attention as I started posting, I want to slow my rate to give myself time to try and re-establish myself on BZP after a long time out of the loop and the rate of posting will be flexible based on traffic to this topic.  Seeing as I have received no replies at the current time, this means I will be drastically slowing down until I know I at least have ONE reader.  Thank you if you do stop by!

 

Table of Contents:

 

Preface

Part I: Igniting Ice

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Prologue: "Condemnation"

Chapter 1: "Fiery Ice"

Chapter 2: "The Ice Calls to its Own"

Chapter 3: "Smoky Dealings"

Chapter 4: "Vulcanus"

Chapter 5: "Insurgent Ice, Resurgent Fire"

Chapter 6: "The Trial of Fire"

Chapter 7: "Atero"

Chapter 8: "Rek"

 

Part II: Among the Lowlifes of Treason

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Prologue: "Wrong Turn"

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Part III: ?????

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Part IV: ?????

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Part V: ?????

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Part VI: ?????

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Character ListingPrimary, Secondary, Cameo/Mentioned 

Pronunciations: (Simplified Phonetic, Dictionary Symbolic)

 

Ocucko - (OH-COO-koh, ō-kü-kō)

Ice Lord - ("Ice Lord," īs lȯrd)

Nardohi -  (nar-DOE-hee, när-dō-hē)

Adani - (ah-DAH-nee, ä-dä-nē)

Ackar - (AH-car, ä-kär)

Raanu - (RAH-noo, rä-nü)

Malum - (MAH-LUM, ma-lǝm)

Hesmit - (HEZ-mit, hez-mit)

Dektor - (DEK-tohr, dek-tȯr)

"Rek" - ("Rek," rek)

Skid – ("Skid," skid)

Clunk - (“Clunk,” klǝŋk)

 

 

 

FAQs:  I expect some questions to be swirling around in your grey matter by this point; here's some of the ones I don't want to have to repeat to much.  If I get pestered much with some other important question, I'll add it up here.

 

Q: About your previous work...

A: Let's not go there.  I had to start learning to write somewhere.  Actually, let's go there on second thought.  What I mean by that is that I am currently in the process of writing an anniversary edition of Lightfall.  That saga was by nearly any standard a poor piece of writing, but it was a necessary learning experience that paved the way for what I believe is a far more professional piece of writing right here in this saga.  The anniversary edition will be expanded, correct plot errors/loopholes/inconsistencies, explore scenarios and characterize individuals better, remove the excessive suspension of disbelief and make me proud... hopefully.  But that's a tall order when you look at the lengthy list.  At this point, I suggest you not read the train-wreck that is Lightfall if you have not already - if you have read it already, you were very helpful and I used your feedback to produce what feels like a much better piece of writing to me - and by that I mean this saga.  As for Sordid Shafts, I actually still really like that one and never intend to rewrite it at all, but as a spinoff from Lightfall, I only recommend newcomers to my writing read it after the anniversary edition is out.  That will be awhile.  In the meantime... there will be a LOT to read here.

 

Q: You keep saying this epic saga is long.  How long exactly?

A: Really long.  It is not in short story or novella length.  It is in full-blown novel length.  For now, I will keep the exact length a secret to be revealed by its posting.  Have fun reading; I'll keep you at it for a long time with this hunk of text.

 

Q: Is that a reference to...

A: You can ask to be sure, but it probably is.  When I was trying to keep myself going, I put in sneaky little references.  Not glaring big obvious ones that ruin the story-telling with their blatancy.  Just a name here and there that may or may not have rearranged letters from something else or a name that is phonetically similar-sounding to something from something else... I'm sure any well-read person will catch a couple.  Please see my answer to the next question if you are curious as to why I snuck in these little references.

 

Q: Any inspirations on writing this?

A: Lots, but I worked to keep them as merely inspirations.  This epic saga is entirely of my own imagining.  It is worth noting that some of the sneaky references I make that seem like I am very clearly mimicking some character from something else were references that were made in retrospect when I realized the number of similarities, not characters that were specifically created as an homage to anything else.  This epic as a whole is in no way meant to copy from any other work of fiction, nor is it even an homage to anything.  Note the "as a whole:" a significant part of Part IV was written as an homage to a classical work of literature, but that one portion of that one part is the only one like that.

 

Q: Who does your banners?

A: I do.  I've had some graphic design experience and create them myself using only personal photos and stock images from Lego released in conjunction with the Bionicle line to avoid any potential file theft without credit that may result from Googling images and editing them into banners.  I use Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 in order to access the necessary editing tools and to create layers.

 

Q: Why write something so big?

A: To be completely honest, I had no choice in the matter.  The story seemed to grow a mind of its own and was driven by the character that acts as a protagonist.  I felt compelled to include all the content that eventually made its way in there.

 

Q: What sort of story are you trying to tell here?

A: This was a workshop of sorts for me.  The multi-part format allows me to try and tell an extensive array of types of stories, which I felt helped me to grow as a writer by exploring all these different types of writing.  Fear not, I did not let the temptation of trying my hand at different genres get in the way of the story-telling (let me know if you feel it did, but I've extensively proofread with that possibility in mind and have found myself "not guilty").  Different types of writing were explored only as appropriate for the overall story I was trying to tell.  For the most part, though, the name says it all: this is an odyssey - a globe-spanning adventure.

 

About the Author:  I don't know guys, what do you want to know about me?  If you want to request that I reveal something in this section, feel free to PM me with a question and I'll add it to this if I feel it belongs!  (Too preoccuppied at the moment to think of what stuff might interest BZP-goers about me.)

 

Final Words: I hope you enjoy the read.  I hope that I can bring something new and involved to the epics forum with this saga and I intend for this not to be the end of my writing on BZP even though I seemed to have dropped of the face of Spherus Magna for awhile there.  I'm back guys... and this time I mean business.  This saga is go!

 

Rise Above the Traces of War

Kindle the Fires of Change

Wander the Wastes of Sand

Grant the Jungles Deliverance

Dive into Water's Darkened Depths

Hold Fast Before the Might of Rock

Overcome Ice's Ire

And Find the Signs of Hope

 

 

Maganar

Edited by Maganar

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Review Topic

 

I AM OFFICIALLY BACK! :D After 18 months on hiatus, I have returned, but I have spent that time well. If you want to see how it was spent, click on the banner to start reading the result or click on the linky-link below to get further information off of the review topic.

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