Hey @warpedpoetic, thanks for your post!

I've not been active in this community (which I realise has gone through a lot of changes) for almost two years. And I'm back with a purpose :). Writing stories has been a big love of mine, ever since I was very little. And due to some recent life changes, I've decided that if I ever really want to pursue my dreams of writing, this could be a great time to do so. And of course that brings me back here - a community of authors, with the intention to learn and grow together.

About your post. I enjoyed reading why you love fantasy so much, I feel those could have been my words. It's that description that got me hooked to read your story outline with a lot of interest. Because it made me feel you have a great way with words, but also that telling stories is more to you than just entertainment. Gave me the impression your head is always full of questions and you use your stories as a means to get closer to the more subtle and involved ways of understanding life.

I love the story outline. It feels like there is a lot of depth / richness / layers to it. I love how it includes mystery, magic, multiple perspectives (including a 'non-reliable' narrator, the mentally ill man), big life and death topics and conspiracy.

Even though the different parts and perspectives to the story really spoke to my imagination, and together seem to allow for a beautifully balanced story, I feel a little in the dark as to how these different story parts will be coming together. If you'd summarise the whole thing in just a few sentences (set-up, journey and conflict, resolution), how would it go? Do you have a clear picture of how you are going to wrap this up?

I'm working on a novel, and like you, I just love layers and mystery and fantasy. But the story line was growing and becoming more complex, and I got kind of lost in it. I followed this course on writing, and it really helped me to work on the basics by defining explicitly who the main character is and what challenge she is facing. I found there is really one larger story arch, and all the other story elements fell into place when I summarised my whole story in just a few sentences. From that core, I can move into detail and complexity as much as I want, but will be able to answer the reader's need for knowing what's going on and where it is all leading to sufficiently (I hope).

If you would actually continue working on this project, I would love to read more from it. I'd read it cover to cover :). Maybe you already have outlined idea's about the main challenge in the book and how you're going to tackle it. Otherwise, making things simple before you dive into detail might really help. I personally hope you don't give up on this story. Thank you for sharing these ideas with us!