2nd Edition Changes

MAJOR enhancements to the original first version

The original novel was too long and was unpublished for many months. This allowed me to split the book into 4 separate books and make major editorial and content improvements.

They shall be re-published as a 2nd edition of 4 books since there are so many improvements.

I'm thinking of how to make the 4 books free to my original VRO subscribers. I will not enroll in Kindle Select this time, so I cannot use free promotions. Thus, I will find other ways.

I was over-worked for my original book, but after a long break, I shall meet my promise to my original target audience to write to them.

I'm relatively happy with the new changes, although nothing's perfect! I did my best!

I honestly didn't like the first edition. It read more like a scholarly work with too many esoteric references and concepts from fields like Theosophy, which the common reader cannot relate to. It was also too experimental and genre-blending.

Thus, the 2nd edition resolves them all by making the books entertainment-based, follow a tested path & structure, simple, plot-driven, and stick to the orthodox. However, the philosophy and spirituality aspects are retained, albeit simplified and streamlined with easier concepts.

The only thing I couldn't change was my perfectionism. Thus, I kept making improvements even till 9 Aug 2022 after it was "finalized."

All Books: General Changes

Scroll down for the individual changes to each book

1) Ultra thorough round of copyediting and proofreading (6000+ enhancements). 6000+ is an underestimation; it's more like 12000.

2) About 16 to 18 new super high-quality pictures were added for each book (so about 68 in total). Getting licenses for them was a royal pain and was very expensive. I may add more toward the release date. (Update: Yes I did - added about 15 more)

3) All existing images upgraded to much higher quality and art.

4) Vocabulary is significantly toned down for easier access to a broader audience (hundreds of words).

5) Dialogue Improvements: Every dialogue has been streamlined and improved and made more natural.

6) Prose Improvements: Streamlined and enhanced.

7) Editorial Improvements: Info-dumps, irrelevances, redundancies, monologues, wordiness addressed for many parts.

8) Many unpopular scholastic content replaced for more entertainment-driven ones.

9) Genre is focused now on Dark Fantasy + Spiritual Novel, instead of Literary. It is now character-focused plot-driven instead of theme-driven. It is now more entertainment-driven.

10) Major pruning of content.

11) Original book split into 4 separate books!

12) 3 Additional book covers, now for books 2, 3, & 4.

13) Worked with a professional beta-reader and worked on her feedback.

14) Interviewed fans about what they liked or did not like. Also researched my demographics and rewrote the content to meet their demands.

15) Better foreshadowing of a major villain.

16) Spiritual tenets streamlined. They were too wordy and some were too wacky.

17) [27 Sep 2022] Perfectly formatted the dialogue tags, thought tags, action beats etc.

18) [27 Sep 2022] Streamlined readability even more. All 4 books have their readability grades reduced from 6 to 5.

19) [27 Sep 2022] Pruned some flow issues even more, such as minor redundancies, and over-introspections in battles or fast-paced scenes.

20) [26 Oct 2022] Added about 12 or so high-quality images.

21) [Oct 2022] Per FOUR 34-page plot computational analyses of my writings, everything's great for all 4 books in terms of the drama curve, fortune graph, pacing chart, plot curve, etc. The narrative beats are very consistent and regular. Structurally, the 4 books match the plot profiles of best-sellers through the reports. However, I still wanted to improve upon it. So, I enhanced the first plot point of book 1, the second pinch of book 3, and added around 11 major scenes, totaling about 15,000 words to the four books. These enhance the pacing, suspense, thrills, drama, and bad fortunes of my novels, even more, to create a roller-coaster effect in line with bestsellers. Combined with human beta readers and other feedback, I'm very very very happy with the outcome!

22) [26 Oct 2022] Made 1 last round of dialogue formatting finetuning.

Book 1: The Most Mythic Among the Four

Changes: Major

1) Arcs 2 and 3 had their Thus Spake Oneness excerpts severely pruned for better flow. Also added 6 new, significant scenes to make it more interesting in arcs 2 and 3.

2) Some Thus Spake Oneness articles changed and pruned of modern references to create an authentic dark fantasy atmosphere. (Earth references are still inside as they were from Earth)

3) Arc 5 has 2 chapters merged, redundant training removed for better flow and faster pacing. New scene added after Embodying Flame, a new chapter to make it more exciting.

4) Arc 5 has Darkness Incarnate vastly enhanced with new content.

5) Some content additions scattered throughout, that improve transitions between scenes, clarify character motivations, clear inconsistencies, explain origins of some excerpts. (4 or 5 new scenes)

6) Zelkova Risen split from the previous chapter for better thematic organization.

7) Qeazor's voice enhanced and streamlined.

8) "The Gift" and "Interlude" shifted to improve flow - I made this final change only on 17 June 2022 after sharing the manuscript with a small select group.

Last minute improvement (26 Oct 2022): Per the 34-page computational analysis of my plot report, I enhanced the first plot point even more. Also added 1 new picture.

Last minute improvement (12 Oct 2022): Added 2 new pictures, and 2 new scenes (to Heavenly Glitters & First Drops of Blood)

Last minute improvement (6 Aug 2022): Added 3 new pictures

Pre-publication improvements (27 Sep 2022):

- Perfectly formatted dialogue tags, action beats, thought tags.

- Pruned some redundancies, flow issues, over-introspections in fast-paced battles or scenes.

- Improved readability by 1 more grade level.

Book 2: The Most Innovative Among the Four

Changes: VERY Major

1) Arc 1 has many exposition-driven parts turned into narration. 2 to 3 bonus scenes. Also resolved some quality issues and added mild scenes.

2) Arc 2: Major pruning and voice fixes.

3) Arc 3: MAJOR revamp of nearly everything! Major content addition. Far more focused and purposeful now. Info-dumps fixed. Streamlined. Far BETTER.

4) Arc 4: Content additions for Tema battle. Streamlining.

5) Arc 5: Ei'lara chapters made far easier to understand. Many transitionary scenes and character arcs added. Major pruning. Ni'vim's overly-technical voice fixed.

6) Arc 6: MAJOR improvements to Tema's and Ni'vim's choices. Far more immersive and convincing and satisfying resolution and character development! Many new scenes!

7) Arc 7: Pruned training parts.

Last minute improvement (26 Oct 2022): Per the 34-page computational analysis of my plot report, I added 4 new long scenes to increase drama, bad fortune, and pacing even more. Also added 3 new pictures. Also made finetunes all around (too many to name), such as the opening chapter, and character motive consistencies.

Last minute improvement (6 Aug 2022): Added 3 new pictures

Pre-publication improvements (27 Sep 2022):

- Perfectly formatted dialogue tags, action beats, thought tags.

- Pruned some redundancies, flow issues, over-introspections in fast-paced battles or scenes.

- Improved readability by 1 more grade level.

- Chapters with most streamlining: Ei'lari Legacy, Let there be light, Holy Light, Ei'lara has been spoken

Book 3: The Most Dramatic & Psychological Among the Four

Changes: VERY Major

1) Arc 1 made simpler to understand for 1 chapter; has some unnecessary worldbuilding removed; a lot of technicalities cleared. A lot of new scenes added to reduce dialogue overload. Exposition turned into narration for many parts.

2) Arc 2: Thus Spake Oneness chapters have many scenes (4 or 5?) added to make them more interesting. Major pruning to improve flow. Rewrote some low-quality parts. Added images to make it more reader-friendly to follow the ideas. Also added 4 new scenes to make the arc far more interesting.

3) Arc 3: Many new scenes to enhance Shanyrria's character development and choices. Some streamlining of worldbuilding. Major pruning of flashback.

4) Arc 4: Major pruning of flashback.

5) Arc 5: Pruned unneeded training.

(31 Oct 2022): Added 2 new scenes to White Pallor chapter, Panacea chapter, and one other I forgot. Added 1 or 2 new pictures. Clarified Mira-Estu stuff.

Last minute improvement (26 Oct 2022): Per the 34-page computational analysis of my plot report, I added 2 new scenes to increase suspense and drama. One scene alone is 4000 words long. Also added 3 new pictures. Also made finetunes all around (too many to name), such as the opening chapter.

Last minute improvement (9 Aug 2022):

Added 3 new pictures. Replaced 2 low-res ones. So new 5 pics.

Arc 2 had improved character action and development by adding 6 to 7 new scenes. Heavenly Triad pruned a lot.

Ancient tongue chapter made easier to understand. Added 2 new scenes to replace the previous ones. Better action + more interesting.

2 introspective chapters got cut down a lot.

Battle scene extensions to 3 major battles, especially the climax.

Arc 5 improved with new scenes. Also pruned many parts for better flow.

Pruned over-introspections throughout (about 9 to 10 parts).

Pre-publication improvements (27 Sep 2022):

- Perfectly formatted dialogue tags, action beats, thought tags.

- Pruned some redundancies, flow issues, over-introspections in fast-paced battles or scenes.

- Improved readability by 1 more grade level.

- Warmth and Quills has a few paragraphs of new additions

- Chapters with substantial streamlining: The Ancient Tongue, all of Arc 5, the last 2 Interlude chapters, Temerity

Book 4: The Bloodiest, Most Climatic, & Action-Driven Among the Four

Changes: VERY Major

1) Arc 1: 2 new chapters added. Quality improvements to 2 major chapters. New scenes added to some 2 additional chapters. Also resolved quality issues for the rest.

2) Arc 2: Streamlining of the 2 philosophy chapters. Major re-writing of Flame in the Cosmic Candle into something far more entertaining and less scholastic.

3) Arc 3: MANY major scenes (3 or so) added to improve Ni'vim's and Qeazor's character choices and development!

4) Arc 4: Shanyrria's choices enhanced. 1 bad chapter deleted (the one with Os'los POV). 1 chapter split into two. Many additions and refinements and streamlining.

5) Shy'rasa foreshadowing enhanced.

(26 Dec 2022): Did some post-publication updates to the following:

1) The Calm Monkey chapter - added new content to clarify some ideas

2) Flame in the Cosmic Candle - clarified the chapter's spiritual themes for an easier read.

3) Bonus scene content to the following chapters: Exaltation + The Convention + All That Glitters Is Not Gold. (You all will love the first one; it's very philosophical and profound)

(3 Nov 2022): Final additions - Enhanced and extended Twin Flames, Hundred Shadows + fixed some minor inconsistencies and clarified some minor vagueness

(31 Oct 2022): Added new scene to Reforged and Intrusion. Added 1 new pic.

Last minute improvement (26 Oct 2022): Per the 34-page computational analysis of my plot report, I enhanced the first 25% more by adding 2 new important dramatic events. Also added 2 new pictures.

Last minute improvement (Early Oct 2022): Streamlined 1 chapter a bit more: At the Gates of Hell)

Last minute improvement (7 Aug 2022):

Added 3 new pictures

Changed 2nd chapter to Ni'vim POV since readers prefer consistency.

Enhanced Flame in Cosmic Candle with streamlining + Added lots of action to Calm Monkey.

Pre-publication improvements (27 Sep 2022):

- Perfectly formatted dialogue tags, action beats, thought tags.

- Pruned some redundancies, flow issues, over-introspections in fast-paced battles or scenes.

- Chapters with substantial streamlining: Gates of Hell, Twin Flames A Hundred Shadows,

- Improved readability by 1 more grade level.