Son of Sedonia (46 page)

Ben Chaney grew up with a passion for SciFi and Fantasy that led him to study visual storytelling and illustration at the Savannah College of Art and Design. After graduation, he worked his way up through the video game industry: QA testing at Epic Games and Redstorm Entertainment; game art production at Schell Games in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; then art direction at Villain LLC in Cary, North Carolina.

But storytelling had taken a hold of him at SCAD, and manifested in a pet writing project. Often neglected or pushed aside for other things, Son of Sedonia grew slowly over six years. Somehow, the image of the boy on the slum rooftop endured. As Ben honed his craft, the world changed. America plunged into recession, political discord, and uncertainty, triggering a desire for information the likes of which Ben hadn’t before experienced. His writing, and this book, matured as he did.

Video game development had given Ben the confidence in his abilities. What to do with those abilities became impossible to ignore. That and the ceaseless, loving voices around him, all saying the same thing: “Follow your heart.” In June 2012, Ben quit his successful job in game development to do just that.

The book you hold in your hands is the result.

Copyright © 2013 by Ben Chaney

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, Web distribution, or information storage and retrieval systems—without written permission of the publisher.

First Edition

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book,

write to TIPS Techincal Publishing, Inc.,

108 E Main St, Carrboro, NC 27510

www.technicalpublishing.com

Cover by Ben Chaney
Design by Erin Campbell
Copy Edit by Abby Workman

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress

eISBN: 978-1-890586-22-5

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

Table of Contents

Title Page

Dedication

Contents

Prologue

PART ONE: Family

1

2

3

4

5

PART TWO: Choices

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

PART THREE: Consequences

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

PART FOUR: Civilization

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

PART FIVE: Destiny

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Copyright

• Title Page
  
• Dedication
  
• Contents
  
• Prologue
  
• PART ONE: Family
  
  • 1
    
  • 2
    
  • 3
    
  • 4
    
  • 5
    
• PART TWO: Choices
  
  • 6
    
  • 7
    
  • 8
    
  • 9
    
  • 10
    
  • 11
    
  • 12
    
  • 13
    
  • 14
    
• PART THREE: Consequences
  
  • 15
    
  • 16
    
  • 17
    
  • 18
    
  • 19
    
  • 20
    
  • 21
    
  • 22
    
  • 23
    
  • 24
    
  • 25
    
  • 26
    
• PART FOUR: Civilization
  
  • 27
    
  • 28
    
  • 29
    
  • 30
    
  • 31
    
  • 32
    
  • 33
    
  • 34
    
  • 35
    
  • 36
    
  • 37
    
• PART FIVE: Destiny
  
  • 38
    
  • 39
    
  • 40
    
  • 41
    
  • 42
    
  • 43
    
  • 44
    
  • 45
    
  • 46
    
  • 47
    
  • 48
    
• Epilogue
  
• Acknowledgments
  
• About the Author
  
• Copyright