A Study in Samples: Gunmetal Magic: Information

Information in Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews

One of the marks of a professional writer is the deft handling of information, and there are some nice examples of this in this sample by Ilona Andrews.  The first nice handling comes in a character introduction.  If you recall in the last post, I mentioned that in Chapter 1 the sound in the MC's dream had a mirror in reality.  It was someone knocking on the door: Mrs. Haffey.  At Kindle Locations 193-200, the MC (Andrea Nash) describes the disheveled and worried appearance of her neighbor a floor below.  She has come pounding on Nash's door in her nightgown.  Just after this description and reveal of relationship, Andrews writes, "Normally Mrs. Haffey viewed her appearance as serious business.  In terms of battle readiness, she was my hero--I've never seen her without her makeup and hair perfectly done.  Something was really wrong" (Kindle Locations 193-200).  Andrews ties physical description reveal into the plot, into what is happening now.  She makes the description relevant.  After all, Monica Wood in her book Description, declares that good description is not only accurate but relevant (4).  Andrew's use of description here is not only relevant, it adds to story.  It adds tension.  Great job there.

A Study in Samples: Gunmetal Magic: Openings

Openings of Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews

Gunmetal actually has two openings.  One is an untitled prologue, and the other is the proper chapter 1.  I'll cover them both.

Untitled Prologue

This world needs setup, because it is our world, modern times, but it isn't.  Or rather, it is, but with a major, interesting twist.  The world has suffered an apocalypse by magic, but it is recovering well.  Andrews does an excellent job of setting this fact up right away through a faux document that explains that magic hit the world hard, but the people are still persevering.  Besides giving some basic facts about magic waves and magic powers, this document gives a hint of time frame.  This magic attack happened 40 years ago.  This information is told in an engaging writing style, and it is brief and quick.  It gets the simplest facts across, it gets emotion across, it hints at cool stuff, and then it moves on.  And this all within four paragraphs and one set of attributions.