Thank you for checking out my story! I am aware that act one tends to try the patience of some people, and to ameliorate this problem, I have created this guide to which chapters of act one can be "safely" skipped and which are vital for comprehension of the story.
If you are enjoying the story, I do highly recommend reading the whole thing, but I offer this as an alternative to those who find the pace too slow.
It may be also helpful to think of chapters as belonging to "episodes" of the story which are best read together. I have listed which episode each chapter belongs to in the chart below.
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Chapter?</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Point of View</td>
<td>Required?</td>
<td>Episode</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>One</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Two</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Aymon</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Three</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan and Aymon</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Four</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Five</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Six</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Seven</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Eight</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Nine</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan </td>
<td>No</td>
<td>2</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Ten</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Eleven</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Aymon and Yan</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Twelve</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan </td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Thirteen</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan </td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Fourteen</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan </td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Fifteen</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Aymon </td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Sixteen</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan </td>
<td>No</td>
<td>4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Seventeen</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Eighteen</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Interlude: The Book of Secrets</td>
<td style="text-align: center"> </td>
<td>No</td>
<td>n/a</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Nineteen</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Twenty</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan and Aymon </td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Twenty-One</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan and Aymon</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Twenty-Two</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>Yes (first scene only)</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Twenty-Three</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Twenty-Four</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Aymon</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>6</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Twenty-Five</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>7</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Twenty-Six</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>7</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Twenty-Seven</td>
<td style="text-align: center"> Aymon</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Twenty-Eight</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Aymon</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>8</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Twenty-Nine</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>9</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Thirty</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Aymon</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>10</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Thirty-One</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>9</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Thirty-Two</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>11</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Thirty-Three</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>11</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Thirty-Four</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Aymon</td>
<td>No</td>
<td>10</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Thirty-Five</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan </td>
<td>No</td>
<td>11</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Thirty-Six</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>12</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Thirty-Seven</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>13</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Thirty-Eight</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Aymon</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>13</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Thirty-Nine</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>13</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Forty</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Aymon</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>13</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Forty-One</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>14</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Forty-Two</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Yan</td>
<td>Yes</td>
<td>14</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Please be aware that because of the number of chapters omitted to make this abridgement, there WILL be significant plot and character information that is not conveyed. If you find yourself confused, consider reading the preceeding skipped chapter for context.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
I do plan in the future to significantly edit all of act one, but for now, this is a stopgap to make the story more accessable to new readers.
(Chapters can''t include hyperlinks, so see the author''s note for a linked list.)