Sample of Part 1 of The Saeshell Book of Time

The Saeshell Book of Time is a 4 part serial novel that is part of the book series, The Children of Sophista. Each part of the serial novel is a full length novel in itself, but the story continues on into the next part or installment of the novel. The end of each installment is not a cliff hanger, so the reader does partially get a conclusion.

The sample contains paragraphs that are marked with bullets. An "@" bullet means that the speech is occurring on a private telepathic link that only a few characters can hear. A diamond bullet means the telepathic link is only heard by characters in physical contact with each other. Physical contact links can also transmit images much like virtual reality. Italicized text means that what is being said is a telepathic broadcast receivable by any nearby telepath or computer capable of receiving telepathic transmissions. Telepaths frequently talk aloud and telepathically at the same time. So the bullets help the reader follow the two or more interleaved conversations happening at the same time.

The novel is targeted for ages 6th grade through adult. One reason I say the novel is targeted toward the gifted is that the interleaved conversations cater to the asynchronous way gifted people think. It is not meant to be exclusionary, it's just means I have removed the sequential constraints so that these readers may better enjoy the novel. Gifted teen's lives tend to be more metaphorically similar to the lives of the characters of the novel.

Unless a publisher comes knocking on my door, I will be publishing this novel myself in the middle of fall, 2011. The version of this sample is MS4 (manuscript 4). This version has not been through a professional edit so I apologize in advance for the errors you may find. Early readers: this is a later version than you have read.

To read the sample (hosted on Google Docs) please click here.