Ooo, this is beautiful and not terrible at all. I was worried, what with the talking to the wall people and slaves and the potential shooting at the beginning, but this set up for a very nice long form story.
It's funny how one really has to write differently for a long story compared to short; you have to dole out the secrets in small doses, and build up the main storyline as well as setting up little spiraling side stories. Some of them play out into something bigger, and some just twirl away into nothing.
You have all the pieces here for all of that. A great read!
Whew! I’m so glad it’s “not terrible”!
Seriously, thank you. I think perhaps that is all one can wish for from a first chapter of a first novel — not terrible, and plenty of track to run on. I did indeed want to set up a main story and additional threads that will run throughout. It will be fun to tease them all out.
Hey I can’t wait to read yours!