Week 1 Update: Gravesong Book 2
My working title for the book is ‘Huntsong’. It was gonna be ‘Warsong’, but this sounds cooler.
I have been working and I needed the month off. I need at least a month off. I have been working very hard.
This is an update to you Patreons, and I hope it’s already informative. I am not, as of this moment, ready to post any parts yet, but I thought I’d share my progress report.
Like I’m some child, or a game developer. And yes, I know not everyone cares, but I care. That’s probably why they write those things. Speaking of my personal life, let me tell you about Casette Beasts, a game I played in the few hours each day I wasn’t writing.
It’s got a Pokemon-theme to it, but it’s different in that you turn into monsters via the power of old-fashioned cassettes. I really liked it.
It was actually a smaller world than I wanted, and less Pokemon (though still around as many as the original games, so I guess these were just me wanting more and more). But the game was fun. It took all the things Pokemon fails at like movement systems, HM’s, even combat and added a fun twist to it. I played through the entire game without getting bored and I felt like it was just—balanced.
It’s not a game for wasting all the hours ever, or the depths of complexity but it has enough of all of it. The storytelling is good. There’s little sadness in it; at its heart it is upbeat over anything else and if there is sadness, it’s enough to hint at, and the melancholy is the most you’d get. Not high-drama in short, and yet…if Pokemon were to vanish tomorrow and this company were given the budget for a sequel, I’d play it in a heartbeat whereas if Pokemon Legends…3, or the next Pokemon game comes out, I’ll probably ignore it. I took one look at the motorcycle Pokemon in the new game and passed.
That’s my small rec/review. Back to the project I did. I am writing my update to tell you I have broken all records and written 88,000 words in one week. That is…one arc in Huntsong. There are likely three.
I hope that the next two arcs are smaller. But if I had to come up with a theme, it would be…‘dark’? I didn’t realize it fit so well, and I hate the term because it calls to mind Warhammer 40k and grimdark…and those stories suck. I’ve read the books. The books suck.
But the backdrop, the universe, and world-building are iconic for a reason. I just think you have to balance hope with despair, victory with defeat. The books of Warhammer 40k and the lore in detail is where it falls apart. The ‘desperate flailing Imperium of Man’ tends to win a bit more than a dying empire should. The good guys get to have ridiculous victories at times, and yet there’s also moments where great triumph is reduced to nothing.
Sort of like complaints of The Wandering Inn? The ridiculous victories, at least. Seriously. You want to complain to me about my characters living? The eternal war of Warhammer 40k has everyone survive. And it’s a war.
…I just feel like the large picture sort of works, and the details suck really hard for that franchise. Seriously. I’ve read their fight scenes and ‘arterial blood spray’ was used in almost every fight in one book. The stories are just about war, or so it feels, and you know what? War is really boring. The characters are all soldiers, and what I think the writers forget is that soldiers are people. Don’t tell me about how many times they polished their lasguns. Tell me why I should care about them beyond them being really, really brave.
This isn’t grimdark. Grimdark is the void without hope, and I would argue that Warhammer 40k doesn’t even really go there, just tells you it’s at the bottom. Grimdark is not as easy as saying ‘we have terrible, messed up stuff happening’. It’s establishing a good world and pulling you down below bedrock and I have never read anything in 40k’s lore or stories that truly go deep. The concept is there, but it’s like a dream the universe never achieves. Sorry, that’s my second rant. I have read a lot of lore and books and sometimes it feels frustrating, like wasted potential.
For instance, why did they unveil the new Primarch guy, Lion El Johnson by announcing he’s back then writing backstory? I have not read it yet, but it seems like it was designed to announce his figurines and books are coming out--instead of building to it.
That entire guy is Arturian in nature--he should have had each and every book released in the last 3 years hinting or building up to his return. Disparate arcs bringing characters together into one amazing final book that does justice to the character. A quest to bring hope to a dark universe. (Again, not so grimdark if every Primarch comes back to life.) Foreshadowing. Build up. Payoff. I can do it with one book. A gigantic franchise should do no less.
Warhammer 40k notes aside—my shoulders are stiff. I’ve worked hard. I am working very hard and this is my update. I can’t wait to play Breath of the Wild 2 when I have time. From the little I’ve seen, it’s going to be an amazing game, probably one of the best I’ve ever played if it meets expectations—and Breath of the Wild 1 was great.
And despite that, Nintendo are a bunch of copyright-striking bastards who also behave in incredibly unethical ways at times…and they make amazing games sometimes, when they feel like it, and terrible games you buy for nostalgia the rest of the time. I’m not exaggerating, either. They behave in ways no company or people should act and at the same time, are willed with wonderful creators so the company is a bad one in my mind, whereas I admire a lot of their employees quite greatly.
It’s a complicated relationship I have with them. And with writing. And with all kinds of stuff. For now, I’ll get back to work.
—pirateaba
…Here’s the link to the entire Arc 1 draft. Enjoy.
Password:
arc1EarlyAccess
Comments (43)
Hello the next chapter is up but not the password
Yay!
You're incredible Pirate!
Thanks for the book Pirate, absolutely fantastic
We love you to death Pirate 💖
Wonder how Bloodeborne characters would do in this situation
Anyone know when arc 2 is coming?
Made me think of Darkest Dungeon not 40k, personally.
I loved the dark, cutthroat setting you created with the hunter’s lodge, and the feelings of exhaustion that you conveyed so well. It felt like a cross between the movie Zootopia and the game Bloodborne. Wet-behind-the-ears cop gets sent to clean up a corpse-infested hell. Great work!
Any updates on when gravesong one will be out of Yonder jail for those of us who foolishly wanted to read it on full release?
Loved it! Better than book 1 IMHO. I had resigned myself to a month Innworld detox and then this came along. Thanks!
I really enjoyed this one, i wasn't a huge fan of gravesong 1 but I hope gravesong book 2 is a huge success because I would love it if you perhaps gave Drath or northern baelaros the same treatment with another spin off book series.
Wow…Just wow. Amazing read, thank you!
I just re read 6.44 and caught a few retcons or inconsistencies “Tagil crouched. His gear was simple, but Sylind saw the dozens of concealed, magical pockets in his armor. Her eyes even saw his equipment, a fortune’s worth. It made him one of the best [Hunters] in the Hunter’s Guild. And he was specialized for his task. As was she, but he was her senior. She shifted uncomfortably.” “Don’t get sentimental near the end of the hunt, Tagil. You’re twice the veteran I am” But in the gravesong draft Sylind calls Tagil out, as shes a half elf who’s far more experienced then him
Great read, P'aba. Thank you. Wish you hadn't turned off the patreon payments for this month.
That was a treat to read! How is that a rough draft?
For instance, why did they unveil the new Primarch guy, Lion El Johnson by announcing he’s back then writing backstory? I have not read it yet, but it seems like it was designed to announce his figurines and books are coming out--instead of building to it. — I assume that's because 40k is still tabletop at its core, with other media being supplements to GW's yearly income, books included. If GW was going to establish the return of a loyal Primarch, they'd do it through the new campaign book(s) rather than a fiction book. Also, I'd not say that his return was sudden for the community: since the end of 2017 it was known that Lion was asleep in the Rock, fully healed, and awaiting to return in the 'direst hour of Mankind'. IMHO: 40k had gradually lost its 'grimdarkness' since the 5th Edition. IMHO 2: P. Fehervari's 40k works are close to capture the spirit of the dark future. I recommend to check.
I don't know if it's true its been losing its "grimdarkness", the fall of cadia, the split of the imperium in half, the deaths of dozens of worlds and systems from the likes of Angron and Abaddon is definitely grimdark 😂 I mean, sure, Angrin was defeated by Lion, but only temporarily. At some point mankind will be overrun, the emperor will die, and come back. In that brief time daemons will flood the galaxy and the emperor will have to piece it back together
40K has fallen out of grim dark recently especially since they seem to now be experiencing a second revival. Cadia gone? They just got the magic warp squirrel to pop out entire legions from no where with Super Space Marines managed to get a primarch back before announcing a second one returning. If anything it is the revival of the Imperium instead of a falling system held together by a corpse and lots of hope, but one dying a slow death.
WHAT! WE GET TO SEE TE DRAFTS!!! why did you stop taking patreon then??? omg who cares. on to reading. THANK YOU!!
Damn that was good. Devoured this like the relentless dead myself.
Not to be a nitpicker but they kinda do foreshadow his return. They kinda showed the Lion’s possible return about five years ago if I remember correctly. However they didn’t do any buildup arcs besides just saying that he was alive etc
I was really getting tired of the "man, no one major died this time" comments I saw on reddit so I totally get Pirate's frustration there.
I can’t help thinking ‘Huntsong’ is one typo away from disaster. Newsreaders have slipped up with ‘Jeremy Hunt’ more than once…
They probably would have slipped less if he wasn't such a massive hunt
You should write a Warhammer 40K fanfiction
Well holy hell that was an unexpected chapter but what a great one at that. Thank you for writing so much even if we didn’t expect anything this month. I think it was great and didn’t put it down until I finished it in one sitting. Thanks again for creating this amazing world!!
Thanks for dropping the update 🙂 appreciate the info drop and random thoughts of aba, hope the rest of the book goes well and wishing for the month off to be more comfortable for you. 🫡
If you enjoy the backdrop of warhammer but are struggling with the low quality of some of the books, theres a few i read that felt genuinely fitting for the world. Path of the Eldar book series by Gav Thorpe its about the eldar and dark eldar and i feel may be something you would enjoy!! great wordbuilding and fleshed characters that actually work within the setting and the confines of their societies.
Gaunt's Ghosts series is good.
Maybe talk to your therapist about how you have thousands of people paying you money to do whatever you want to do and still crave validation nakedly enough to get called out in a Patreon comment
Expressing being unsure doesn't make anyone but you more sure of themselves babe
You are absolutely crazy for writing this much, and that's just one reason I love this story. Your game reviews are always appreciated too. I'm wrapping up Citizen Sleeper now and its been great for just a random game pass try. Anyway, thanks a ton for posting this so early to keep us hungry patrons satiated!
I love reading rational fiction (found out about The Wandering Inn because of it) and have been wanting to read a rational re-telling of the warhammer world a lot lately. Pirate would do a great job. Lol and would pump out an 80k novel in a week 😝
great now I want to read Gravesong again but it is on yonder... and this gonna go to that place as well later so double blocked.
LOLOLOLOLOL
I am also very excited for tears of the kingdom! This is going to keep me going until then. Thank you paba!
As someone who has never read warhammer, yeah I completely agree with what you just said!
You gotta have hope in order to squash it with the grimdark. Thats usually why the imperium wins more than they should, like a miracle victory occurs at one end of the galaxy, and an absolute soul rushing defeat at the other end makes the previous win basically null and void. And the only reason why there are currently a long string of consistent wins now, is because there’s about to be something that makes it all for nothing. Probably gonna have to do with Hive Fleet Leviathan devouring everything.
Piratebeas schizo ramblings are always welcome.
2m
Is there a way to read the first book of Gravesong through Patreon or is it locked to Yonder?
There was