Welcome to the first in a series of blog posts that introduce The Rail City Chronicles. There will be many more to come...
Science Fiction Meets Fantasy
The story is a combination of Science Fiction and Fantasy. The idea is "fantasy setting and tropes with loose Science Fiction explanations." Much like Star Wars, or Star Trek. This is not hard sci-fi. We end up with what looks like three distinct "magic" systems, wielded by three distinct characters.
A Bit of History
I've been writing The Rail City Chronicles on and off for 10 years now. It grew out of a four page writing prompt. The original title was Songs of Soft Snow and the Raven. "Soft Snow" was a reference to a character that has made it into this story--I'll let you guess who. I wanted to write something that was epic in nature, but also unlike anything I'd ever read. So the story was, first and foremost, heavily inspired by Stephen King's The Dark Tower series--a combination of science fiction and fantasy. The story has changed significantly since then. But here are the things that have stayed the same:
Meet The Cast
There are essentially three main characters--and many of supporting characters. However, the names are still being finalized, so I won't reveal them in this post.
"The Scorned Daughter" (Main Character)
First--we have our main character--a 20 year old young woman, who becomes a kind of big sister to "The Wild Child"--but she is the polar opposite of said wild child in many ways; if "The Wild Child" is attuned to nature and prefers solitude, then "The Scorned Daughter" is attuned to the city, and prefers the company of others. She's born into a position of power and wealth upon the city, and she is bored of it. She's in an arranged marriage that she does not want to be in. We'll see how long before she cracks.
"The Wild Child"
There is the youngest of the three--a girl by the name of Massak ("Soft Snow"). She has always been hateful of the City; always been inclined towards being alone, and in nature. In various iterations she's had powers of nature--the ability to control animals.
"Spiritual Warrior"
"Spiritual Warrior" is my gunslinger, my Roland Dechain. Thing is--he's always been attuned to the dead. He has a complicated relationship with dead people, and has always represented a kind of bridge between life and death, the living and the dead. He is an older man, with a lot of past and a lot of baggage, of course. Close to 40 years old.
The Planet of The Rail City
The world of The Rail City Chronicles in general is mysterious to most who live there. Is it Earth? No--we've known that for a long time. We know of a place called Earth, that the ancients speak of. We know that the ancients took the world we live on now and made it what it is today, with their ancient powers. Those powers died along with the ancients, well, here we are!
There is no gunpowder or explosives; there's limited technology. Warfare therefor is waged with precious metal weapons.
The City Itself
Then there is the Rail City itself. The Rail City is an enormous city on wheels, upon which millions live and work. It is made of a mysterious metallic material, commonly known as "the godmetal", called so because it is unbreakable, uncuttable, and does not melt under even the hottest of flames. It is mysterious and otherworldly, and all attempts to recreate it from traditional alchemy have failed. It has always been there. Of course it cannot be forged or reforged, so whatever godmetal exists, has always been the way it is today. That is, until the events of "The Rail City Chronicles"...
The world as we know it is ruled by those who live on the city. Like many major cities in the world you and I inhabit, power is most concentrated where the wealth is--and the wealth of Rail City has always been in its disconnection from the land.
A Quick Update
Book 1 Outline Pages: 120
Of course, I've been outlining an entire trilogy and doing lots of back story. I think the finished outline will end up probably around 160 pages before it's done. I anticipate the finished novel being roughly twice as long as the detailed outline, or at about 320 pages. Of course--that's totally counting eggs waaay before they're hatched.