4 Dec 2016

The Soul Blade Chapter 5 - The Real Commentary

The commentary catch up commences!

Chapter 5 of The Soul Blade saw Trish make a mistake.  It wasn't one she could have foreseen, either.

Trish's part came out because there was no other way to show what was happening.  Brenna is in a position where she, for the most part, reacts to what's happening.  It's the nature of a mystery*; the investigators can't do anything until the villain starts his or her plot.  Murder mysteries* need a body before the detectives can even be called in.  Thus, Trish and her scenes.  Including Trish in the story let be flesh her out.  It's one thing to say that she's power hungry and doesn't mind getting her hands dirty; it's another to show how far she'll go in her search for power.

The entity Trish reports to is also after power.  Trish just happens to be the right fool for his own power games.  The entity has Patrick McNee's voice, specifically the one used in his role as the Cylon Imperious Leader.  The time limitation means that whatever plot he and Trish have can't wait.  There's a bit of urgency in what needs to be done.  Since Trish was the point-of-view character in the scene, there's no telling what the entity has in mind beyond what she believes.  Power and freedom are good starting points, though.

Brenna is a natural at learning languages.  Her late grandmother had all these interesting books, so Brenna started reading them, picking up languages here and there.  She also took several language courses to try to break through her shyness as a young teenager.  Brenna can at least read through the older books now, to research how to deal with the different entities.

Matt's return sets up a few details for later.  One is Brenna's internal conflict; will she act on her impulses or will she fight them down?  The return of Matt also ties off a plot thread left dangling from the beginning - the tail light on Brenna's van.  It's a chance for Matt and Brenna to get to know each other a little better before things get weird again.  Or before Brenna got weird again.

The age of the story is starting to show.  The van, a GMC Savana**, was meant to be an older model, but not that old.  With work, a van can be maintained, especially if it's not carrying heavy loads daily.  Brenna would need someone who can keep the van running, not being that mechanically inclined herself.  Communications is another aspect that starts to date the story.  In 2009, smartphones weren't unusual, but not ubiquitous like today.  That's the main reason for posting the story; it's not going to age well, especially with hard dates in it.

Tuesday, the commentary catch up continues with The Soul Blade Chapter 7.
Thursday, the commentary for The Soul Blade Chapter 8.
Friday, Trish has second thoughts in The Soul Blade Chapter 11.
Also on Friday, over at Psycho Drive-In, Superman.
Saturday, over at The Seventh Sanctum, Young Frankenstein.

* Cozy mysteries are an exception.  The longer a series goes, the more likely that the crime is included as a side plot as the familiar characters catch up on each other.
** Sic.  That is GMC's official spelling of the model.  Brenna had the van painted a custom colour.

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