The End Of OSOS
A POST MORTEM
AND A NEW BOOK
So, first off, let me thank you for reading my mess of a web novel. Not to be derogatory, I truly loved writing OSOS, but I think we can all agree it was a story full of faults. However, there was plenty to be loved here, and I think everyone who stuck around had an itch scratched by this story that was hard to find elsewhere.
Bad before the good though, I’d like to be upfront with all the small deaths that brought the end before I talk about what’s become of it, because OSOS is far from dead.
Anyways, onto problem number one. It was an lit-rpg isekai.
No disrespect to the genre, I’m a huge fan, but by writing it as such, it opened doors to narrative mechanics I didn’t understand yet, and couldn’t leverage effectively. Hindsight 20/20 and all that.
Some would call these mechanics ‘crutches’, such as bringing a modern-day person to a fantasy world lends one to make the mistake they don’t need to focus so much on making them relatable, but actually, the opposite is true, they need more work to demonstrate the dissonance. Additionally, it made the writing dense because I was still learning, so a lot of the book ended up reading more verbose than succinct.
The second problem is reflective of the first, I was unintentionally writing from a place of ‘fantasy fulfillment’ and it really, really, fucked with the entire story, and I’m sorry about that. Looking back, it almost feels wrong to have done what I did, but I love what I made, so no regrets.
The third problem was kind of the icing on the cake, and I like what I was trying to do, but I did not have the skill or experience to pull it off. OSOS was always written from the get-go as a mystery masquerading as an isekai, but it was always bogged down by its own promises and the aforementioned problems.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
I’d say the best analogy I could give for it all, is a very messy kitchen right before thanksgiving dinner. OSOS gave me the opportunity to lay out everything I liked, try things to see what didn’t work, and give me the time to truly put the whole story together. Even if it was never fully delivered on.
These three problems lie at the root of most issues I can point to throughout the story, from the constant expansion of story elements without proper resolution of existing elements, to the poor characterizations throughout.
I had reasons for every bit of OSOS that played into the larger pretzel, but I couldn’t deliver on them. I disliked how hard it was to write all the Maras, I felt the characters outside of her were lacking, and Debug was always narratively fighting Mara for space, rather than the elements working cooperatively for a better reading experience.
I am also ashamed of how bogged down the story constantly was, there was so much world building in the background that my supporters were in the loop on, but I could never seem to get to it, there was always just a bit more between here and there.
With all that said though, OSOS is far from a failure, but a gem of learning experience, and one I’ve taken every advantage of- These last six months have been so productive.
I have taken all the elements I truly liked hiding in the corners of OSOS and brought them front and center in a new story. That anti-villain tag? Yeah I could never deliver on that in OSOS as-is, but I think you’ll like what I’ve done in its place.
Going forward, you can find me writing my new book, The Last Obligate Of A Self-Ordained Sorcerer, or LOSOS for short. A spiritual sequel in the form of a prequel, and a whole reboot of the universe.
Gone is the isekai, LOSOS is a proper fantasy novel of its own merits about technology versus magic. There will be familiar faces and elements, but without all the problems under the hood. It’s a multi-protagonist story that reads a bit like the adventures of a D&D party, and the character dynamics are really good. ( By the new year you’ll see what I mean. )
Additionally, LOSOS will have a much more consistent upload schedule, and there’s already 6 chapters available to read on my Ko-Fi that are uploaded to RR and waiting to release. It takes me about 2 days to write and edit a chapter at this point, which I’m really proud of, and with the really strong roadmap I’ve got to keep me on track, I’ll be able to stick with it without burning out.
So, if you liked the sci-fi elements, or you liked the analytical take on magic, or the promises of Somniantes at large, I can assure you you’ll find all that and more in LOSOS, so please give it a read!
The Last Obligate Of A Self-Ordained Sorcerer
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