Master Samak
Productive! Steward Leprechaun L&L
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Chapter 1: Limit and Reciprocal quote:
Sukaku Araku, the old blacksmith rested his head on the pillow, smiling contentedly as he let his gaze on an aimless wander across the fields and meadows, so that they could capture every bit and piece of the traditional beauty of Lorian countryside. I would put a comma here: "...blacksmith, rested..." quote:
His smile didn't come without a reason- stretching in front of him as far as his age-worn eyes could see was the pinnacle of peace and quietness a man could hope for, wherein cute, puffy and woolly sheep were grazing happily away on the meadow of green grass laced with a multitude colorful butterflies, while the refreshing chirping of early nightingale provided ample entertainment for any artistic soul in the background. There should be am "of" -- "...multitude of colorful..." --- And as Mastin2 had said, there is a good possiblilty that you should break up these thoughts into several sentences... quote:
A short distance away from that perfect harmony was an even more pacific sign- schools of pigeons were there fluttering about the chickens' feeding ground, eating from the same stash of grain as their domesticated cousin in an act of avian brotherhood of the highest order. You had already mentioned where this was taken place, so I would remove "there". quote:
His life is wearing away everyday due to his old age, but as long as he could stay in this place for his remaining time, with his nearest and dearest, his life would never be wasteful. This should be "was", due to the fact that everything should be in the past tense. quote:
"Grandpa!" a young, high pitched, but very gentle and loving voice unexpectedly sounded right beside the dozing man, and he turned back only to find himself faced by his beloved granddaughter, Lilina. While he is on his hammock, using "turned back" makes it seem that he was walking away and is doubling back at the sound of the voice. Perhaps using "turned over" or "leaned over" or something like that. What do you think? quote:
Her purplish hair shone perfectly under the sun, and her deep blue eyes... was an exact replica of her grandmother. I get what you are trying to say. Firstly, "was" should be "were", but then again they shouldn't. When I read this, I thought he was trailing off distractedly, and then returns to his thoughts. If I may, would it be better to change "was" to "they were an exact replica of her grandmother's"? Just think about it. quote:
Now that the old smith had outlived his less fortunate spouse, and both his children were far, far away, his granddaughter was his only friend and relative there enjoying the peaceful life with him. To me, "there" made it seem like a referrance to a place away from where they were. Would "here" work better? quote:
"Let me see... Is it Maths again?" I don't think this needs to be capatilized or pluraled. I would change it to just "math". quote:
"Yes, grandpa, I am not sure about this..." Writing this as it is makes her seem hesitant about doing something, rather than being unsure about a problem. Maybe adding, "I am not sure about this problem..." or "question" or something to that effect. Just a thought... quote:
On the sheet of paper as rosy white as his grandchild's cheek, lay a mathematical question that he didn't expect to see, "What is the limit of 1/x^2+4x+6 when x approaches infinity?" There should be a comma to begin the additional thought: "...paper, as rosy white as his grandchild's cheek, lay..." --- Also, if you changed the comma before the math equation to a colon, would it fit better? "...to see: 'What is..." quote:
"Lily, I need to rest for now... I am sorry I can help you no more with your homework" I would change "for" to "right". Do you think that would be better? Also there should be two periods. -- "'Lily, I need to rest right now... I am sorry. I can help you no more with your homework.'" Do you see what I mean? quote:
"There shall not be too much problems with me..." Sukaku said, "I wonder if you could go and check on the chickens for me..." "much doesn't work well with this particular sentence. I think it should be "many". --- Also, I think it would help if you ended the last "..." with a question mark: "me...?'" quote:
"Alright, grandpa..." Lilina replied obediently, before pulling a blanket to cover her grandfather and left. Repetitiveness and tense here. You already used "alright" recently in a previous sentence. Not in the same usage, but nevertheless, it may be better to play it safe and use "Sure" or "Okay" or something. --- Also, because Lilina said grampa, the "her grandfather" is unnecessary because we already know who is going to be covered. I would just put "him". --- Additionally, you used "pulling" as her actions (present tense), therefore you should keep with that tense. But, since you are about to use "left" again in a following sentence, I would change "left" to "then exiting" or "then departing". -- "'Sure, grandpa...' Lilina replied obediently, before pulling a blanket to cover him and then departing." quote:
As Lilina left his grandfather for the chicken barn, the old smith Sukaku slipped fully from reality, before getting finally lost in his own chain of thoughts and reminiscence... Lilina is a girl, so I would change "his" to "her". --- Also, "before" was already used in the previous sentence, and I really don't think before is necessary, so I would delete it. quote:
Not many people lived there, and at its peak, some time before the most recent Dwarven Gold Rush drew more than half of all residents from their happy-go-lucky lifestyle, the village enjoyed a population of less than four dozens. I believe that this shouldn't be plural. "dozens" to "dozen". quote:
Located near a barren canyon with little water for irrigation, as well as having no special trades to speak of, no resources to mine and harvest, and that no mage would ever come there, Salacar was fortunate to be still standing until that day. Using "until" makes it seem like everything was going fine until that day, when a catastrophic event ocurred. I don't think that is what you wanted, so I would change it to "up to". quote:
After the Gold Rush, the town was even in a bigger mess- a village would be as dysfunctional as an understaffed factory when barely five households inhabited there, with dwindling production and still more diminishing interaction. The word "it" would alternatively work here. quote:
And yet on that day, the village hall was filled to the top- a very uncommon, and very unrealistic to speak of. Having "a" in here doesn't make the sentence make sense. I would delete it. quote:
Still stranger, mlost of those occupying a seat in the dilapidated hall weren't residents, as shown by their dress code. A misspelling, this should be "most". quote:
Leather clothing and large sacks of merchandise, as well as the considerable number of horses and donkeys tied up outside around the place gave their identity away- traders and caravaneers having come from as far as Battleon to seek out maximum profit, being even more illogical. Because you inserted a comma earlier in this sentence to add another thought, should there be another comma to return to the main one? -- "...place, gave..." quote:
The look of things revealed that an auction was about to take place soon, as everyone was facing a podium in the very center of the room, where a muscular, tall and rather handsome man was standing, possibly giving out order for people to calm down, and keep quiet. Calming down and keeping quiet are related, so there shouldn't be a comma to separate them. I would take out that comma. quote:
his rather frightening look meant that he didn't have to yell much- holding an imposing smithy hammer in one hand and an even bigger sack that kept clattering as he moved it about was about the most striking features. "His" should be capitalized, since it is the beginning of a sentence. --- We don't know what the sack is even bigger than, so I would add "...even bigger sack than normal ...". --- There is more than one thing described, so "was" should be "were". quote:
"Legendary, legendary! That is godly hands you've got there!" a bald caravaneer in the corner of the room shouted heartily. Hands are plural, so "That is" should be "Those are". quote:
His pwerful and extremely skillfully crafted weapons became a vital part of many lords and nobles' arsenals long before his 30th birthday. Misspelled, "pwerful" should be "powerful". quote:
Before long, all the more famous weapon shops around Lore carried his weaponries into their back room as specialties. Since there are more than one shop, there should be more than one room. -- "room" to "rooms" quote:
Needless to say, traders and caravaneers all over Lore would do whatever they need to get to him and his freshly made artifacts, regardless of where he stayed. The "would" is past tense, so so should the "need" be. -- "need" to "needed" quote:
Still, not all of the caravaneers got the honor, and some had to but utter some swear words and head back to their caravan empty-handedly. "but" isn't necessary, and I'm unsure if it makes sense to have it, so I would take it out. quote:
Sukaku never mass-produced his weapons however highly priced they could be, whatever he forged was no longer a weapon, but a serious work of art whose beauty and efficiency no one could deny. There should be a comma to identify an additional thought: "...weapons, however..." --- Also, there shouldn't be a comma here, but a period because there is a new thought starting: "...be. Whatever... quote:
That was why the very moment the last caravaneer left the room, Sukaku started laughing contentedly as he poured the gold coins into a glittering stream of gold, that seeped through his fingers and clattered noisily on the table- the glittery sound of fortune and wealth. Using "gold" twice would be repetitive, so I would take out the first "gold". The sentence would still make sense with just "coins". --- Also, the word "glitter" was already used in this sentence. I would change it to "...the jingling sound of fortune and wealth." I used "jingling" because that is a sound, and "glittery" isn't one... quote:
"Ha, I am afraid I am the best out here... so much gold..." Sukaku cried joyfully as he tossed a handful of coin over his head. I don't think anything is technically wrong here, but using "coins" would make me feel better. quote:
"Not quite," A sullen voice from the village hall's gateway instantly stunned Sukaku in his track, "You are, as far as I know, NOT the legendary one, or not one yet" The "A" should be decapitalized because there is a comma after "quite". --- Also, the comma at the end should probably be a period because it is a complete thought that was given. quote:
Sukaku reactively turned to the door to face his challenger, and was more than astonished- there at the gateway stood an apparition-like figure of a man, with a mass of beautiful golden hair and held in his hand a huge hammer- twice the size of his own, which didn't appeared logical at all, considering the newcomer's slender body. I would separate these two thoughts because this sentence appears to be too long. "...astonished. There at the..." --- Also, this phrase doesn't appear to flow well with the golden hair part. If I may, "...golden hair and a huge hammer held in his hand..." What do you think? quote:
The guest looked straight into Sukaku's eyes upon stepping inside, a gaze so stern and cold that it made the skilful smith turn away almost at once- the kind of accusing gaze that would force one to requestion his morality. A misspelled word, "skilful" should be "skillful". quote:
To avoid the cold gaze, Sukaku could but look at the man's feet, but as he did, felt a cold chill running down his shoulder- the man had no shadows, a quality only visible in a ghost. I am unsure of this piece. It seems to give Sukaku an option to look down, not tell us that he did. I would change "...could but look..." to simply "...looked..." --- Also, it is only one man, and one man should have only one shadow, so I would change "shadows" to "shadow". quote:
"Why not? I am going to do that anyway," Sukaku's self-esteem grabbed hold of himself again as he stood up straight and returned Kuraodo's look, "So... you came here to buy my stuffs?" I'm uncomfortable with the commas in this situation. In my opinion, those commas should be periods becaue the text and thoughts are too distinct to be tied together, but it is your choice. --- Also, because "stuff" can refer to more than one thing, I think "stuffs" should be "stuff". quote:
"If I wanted," Kuraodo said, "I can get one like yours anywhere" Using "one" makes it seem like he is referring to a single weapon, instead of the entire selection. I would change "one" to perhaps "arms". quote:
"Your weapons, however good they are, are just made to kill humans," unraveled Kuraodo, "What a legendary weapon is, however, is different" "different" shold have a period to end the sentence. -- "different." quote:
"How? Weapons used to finish monsters in a hit?" Sukaku asked impatiently, "I have that too!" I don't think this gets enough emphasis. How about, "...a single hit..."? quote:
"No. A legendary weapon is one that can be used to kill a god," Kuraodo answered, "A god-slayer" There should be a period here. -- "god-slayer." quote:
Apparently his parents, his grand parents, even his ancestors didn't show him in any books of something such as a godslayer. "grand parents" should be a single word, "grandparents". --- Also, I think it would be better to use "hadn't shown" here. quote:
"No offense, Sukaku, but you must revamp your Maths knowledge," Kuraodo said sarcastically, as he handed Sukaku a sheet of paper, "Until you can answer me this question" Its that "Maths" thing again. I don't know if it is correct in capatilizing and pluralizing that word... --- Also, "question" should have a period. quote:
Sukaku took the piece of paper, and looked through it. This makes the paper seem translucent. I would change it to "examined". quote:
"Anyone having finished 10th grade would know the answer is zero. And I am not that retarded," growled Sukaku, "Now, tell me what is it that you want with me" "me" should have a period added to it. quote:
"Now you have learnt the way to kill a god, Sukaku," smirked Kuraodo. "Learned" would also work here... quote:
"I don't understand," Sukaku replied, slamming his hammer on the table. "replied" doesn't seem to compliment him angrily slamming his hammer down. I would change it to "fumed" or "replied angrily". quote:
"Do you want to do this, Sukaku-sama?" Kuraodo looked at Sukaku in the eyes again, before asking very politely, "Please answer that question first" "first" should have a period to end the sentence. Critiquing Complete!!! There is one more thing, though. Many times in a conversation, you have them say something, then put a comma and write "said so-and-so", and then put another comma and keep writing dialogue. I don't think you need to do that every time. Some are just fine with periods because we still know who is talking. An example: quote:
"Anyone having finished 10th grade would know the answer is zero. And I am not that retarded," growled Sukaku, "Now, tell me what is it that you want with me" Right there at the bolded comma. That would be just fine, if not better as a period. Do you see what I'm trying to tell you? Still, I like the story very much. You did an excellent job combining more modern things with fantasy. An excellent merge. I've read other stories where there is this rough transaction of role play with BattleOn and it sometimes makes a person want to roll their eyes. This is not one of those. I can't wait to keep reading. Well done.
< Message edited by Master Samak -- 6/29/2008 18:04:28 >
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