Chapter 1.3 Analysis

First off, book sales are going great! Purchase today if you haven't already, and please share this with your friends and various interest groups. Word of mouth is truly the best way to market pieces of work such as this one.

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Currently it's ranked #7,753 in the entire kindle store, and #53 in "Dark Fantasy"

That said, here's the analysis from Tuesday's excerpt:

This segment is focused entirely on the Arias family, and how each of them is dealing with the tragedy of Galen's death. Raiden, having been hit hard by the loss of his father, is now seeing his grief through the eyes of his son. Raiden, himself, has yet to reach the grieving phase and is fixated on his anger and a unrelenting desire to avenge his father's death. Being so caught up in what has happened before his eyes, it is the only solution that Raiden can see. As he watches Riles say his good-bye to Galen, Raiden knows that he's not ready to do the same, and that Riles was the reason for why they went after Rexus in the first place. He feels terrible for leaving his son, but he insists that killing Rexus is the only way to resolve things.

In the final moments in Raiden's POV segment, he makes a promise to a mostly unconscious Riles that he will return in the morning once the deed is done. The promise is meant as much for Riles as it is for Raiden, who is well-aware that he may not return. Riles simply gives him more motivation to do his best during his vengeful quest.

The other relationship developed here is between Raiden and his wife, Wessena. Wessena isn't has hurt by the loss of Galen, but even if she was, Raiden wouldn't know it. He makes several comments about his wife's problems with alcoholism throughout the story, primarily in this segment because this is where we actually see it. Despite pounding wine by the bottle, she is the one keeping her men together. She's successful in this case because she is the strongest of the three during the day of Galen's funeral, but this isn't always the case. Riles has a much closer bond with Raiden and Galen--both of whom leave him by the end of this section. Raiden worries that Riles will have to fend for himself in his absence, unsure if Wessena can be up to the task of taking care of their child.

As for Raiden and Wessena's marriage outside of this tragedy, well, that can be best summed up by this exchange:

Raiden noticed the wine glass in Wessena’s hand as he walked down to the main floor. How was she drinking again already? This was an impressive feat—even for her!

“Ray,” she said between sips. “I was just about to wake you. We’re leaving shortly. Are you really going in that?”

Raiden ogled his wife’s attire. She was dressed more appropriately, sporting a long black dress and a golden chain necklace that his father had once given her for her birthday.

“I wore this on our wedding day,” Raiden replied.

“Hardly the same occasion, Ray!”

That's all I've got today! Check in for the next segment on Tuesday. I'll also update this blog once or twice in between with news of how the promos are going.