User blog comment:Brandon Rhea/THE CHOSEN ONE: First four chapters released!/@comment-300259-20120930015452

It's been three long years since the release of any content from The Chosen One. And now, we finally have something other than blog posts and "updates" to talk about. We have four full chapters from the newest (and hopefully final) draft of the first novel in the ASWS. Like many others here, this is a moment I have looked forward to for years.

SOME SPOILERS BELOW

Like some of my fellow Fanoneers have so eloquently pointed out, TCO does not begin in space like so many other Star Wars adaptions. Instead, it opens on a desert twilight, where the setting is vividly described and plays a major role in the story. Indeed, it appears from these early chapters that the setting will have an enormous impact on the plot and characters, as the setting seems to be a major character in and of itself. The desert is given great detail, not just physically, but from a more figurative standpoint as well. The effects the harsh seas of sand have on the people of the world, particularity the main character, are wondrously described in detail, and it is clear that, although it is all he knows, Michael Lars hates the world he is damned to be on and longs for a better life, one full of epic adventure and stories worth telling.

Michael seems to be very self-criticizing, mainly after his little fight with Sara. Whether or not it is the author's intention, the character comes of as mad at the world and largely depressed. He seems dissatisfied with his life and everything in it. Although this usually would be annoying to read (let's face it, the world is depressing enough; who needs to read about a fictional depressing world in a fictional galaxy), the author keeps things interesting by always alluding to hope, be it true or false, which Michael clings to. Michael has his many problems, but it is clear that he is a young man who will not be defined by the life he lives now, but the one that is apparently awaiting him elsewhere. The reader, just by reading these first few chapters, is instantly aware of a larger greatness to Michael, despite the fact that nothing solid is written (yet) to hint at such an inference and that these chapters portray him as nothing more than ordinary. I suppose this sense of forthcoming greatness is due to the author's great characterization. It is clear that he is aware of his characters and what they want from themselves and also how they would respond in any situation. If I were to ask Brandon Rhea how Michael Lars would treat a rude obese woman with more than a hundred items in her cart clogging up the express lane at the supermarket, I have all the confidence in the world that he would be able to accurately create in detail a response that would make sense for the character. There are definitely no inconsistencies in personality in these first few chapters.

That brings me to what is probably my favorite thing about this novel thus far. From the "opening crawl" to the final page, it manages to have a very epic, prophetic feel to it while also maintaining a small-town boy vibe. As it's just a feeling I have, I cannot fully explain it. All I can say is that I love it. I'm not sure whether it's the excerpts from the Journal of Elias or the familiarity I feel with the world of Tatooine, which plays such a pivotal role in the canonical Star Wars, but there is a feeling that something greater is looming just beyond the horizon, something far more paramount than a moisture farmer's woes with a local girl and the not-so-small squabbles between the ruling Hutts and the impoverished residents.

Overall, these first few chapters are slow-starting, with no epic action taking place. But this is definitely a good thing, as it is clear that these chapters will lead to what is sure to be a blockbuster adventurer.