Chapter 4 - Departures
Read by me today, Litnight 17th 2008
We emerged on to the parade ground – packed with persons and slaves. There was tumult of cheering and shouting – walking into which, from the quiet of the palace, felt like leaping into hot oil. At first, I could see nothing but a confusing mass of bodies. Neither slaves nor low born persons parted to make way for us.
This is a bit like entering the novel itself! Very cinematic in this chapter. Hitting all the senses.
Two example snippets:
It was now clear that several persons had been skewered by arrows – and a larger number trampled. The slaughterhouse smell brought the taste of blood to my mouth, and then I was sick. Vomit was added to the blood that already glued my blouse to the skin beneath. In the increasingly rich blend of stinks, I now detected piss and shit.
Slappa selected a large but unripe plum from a fruit bowl, tossing it above her head. Her right arm and weapon became a blur of movement, the fruit landed neatly sliced in half, stone as well as flesh.
Then the concept of canal pirates!!
“How can there be a canal pirate?” Jenna asked. She sounded irritated. “Pirates at sea have plenty of room to escape the law, bandits on a road may take to the woods or hills, but where can a fugitive escape justice on a canal?”
Two possible typos I've noticed:
Nadine Next’s well discipline force
“Not basking our victory?”
The author has kindly provided me these names for the months:
Chillflurry (January)
Iceflake (February)
Windrush (March)
Drizzlemoon (April)
Cornsprout (May)
Litnight (June)
Glarehaze (July)
Thunderhead (August)
Swellbelly (September)
Mistream (October)
Dankfog (November)
Blinkday (December)
CHAPTER COMMENT LINKS: http://weirdmonger.blogspot.com/2008/06/odalisque.html
