I tried to work out the flashback scene out loud on my way home from church today (I don't have to be at work till 5pm, so I was able to go to church). All I got through was a long dialogue scene between Avalon and Princess Ru-Intara. Better to keep things short and sweet.

I finished A Star Curiously Singing a few moments ago. I had got to almost the end of it when I got home from church (having read it before church started - since I was early - and having stopped to read it and have a snack on the way home), so I just sat down on my bed and finished it. It was really cool. The battle scene was awesome. I also like how the Christian element in the novel - since this is a Christian novel, after all - came out, not too preachy, just subtly. That was the problem I had with Pete Zindler's book Spirit Warrior, which is also Christian sci-fi -- it seemed a little too preachy.

The novel does leave you wondering whether you'll hear more about the singing and DarkTrench and a ton of other things, but since A Star Curiously Singing is the first in a series, I expect we'll learn more later.

I also liked the notion of Sandfly's turning to A-A³ (A-not A-cubed) being a freeing experience, given the Islam idea of everyone being God's servant, or abdul, who must, as I mentioned in this post, submit to God as a way of thanking him for their existence. While the Christian God (who I assume Nietz's A-A³ refers to, the "cubed" referring to God's triune nature) wants us to submit to him, in his case it is a matter of choice. We can choose not to submit to him. In Islam, you don't really have a choice. If you do not submit, you are guilty of kafir, or ungrateful truth-concealing, considered one of the worst sins.

As the Bible says: "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32). This actually fits very well with HardCandy's first message to Sandfly: "A taste of freedom. In case you ever need it. A special place. Where there's a little more truth." That really starts everything for Sandfly, I think, that visit to the "special place."

The idea that HardCandy is untouchable also fits very well with the Muslim view of women as needing to be veiled and protected. Hence the burqas and such that we hear so much about these days in regard to Iraq and Afghanistan. We generally view this as a sign of their inferior status, but the Qu'ran actually states that men and women are equal before God. It is differing interpretations of the Qu'ran -- as well as of the ritual law, or shari'a -- that has led to the issues we see today.

At any rate, I'm looking forward now to the next book in this series! Also, I will probably try to work on my novel again today. Somehow, I'll work this scene out, or at the very least come up with something reasonable that I can then tweak in revision. Like someone once said, "Most books are made in revision." Or as Hemingway said (much less gracefully), “The first draft of anything is s***."