Agenda 21: Hot, Hot Expository Action

Agenda 21, pp. 188-197

Chapter 30 is ten solid pages of exposition. The good news is that once it's done, we'll head off to the Village for the book's final act. The bad news? At this point, you can probably guess what's waiting for us at the Village. But we'll mount that hill when we get to it.

I'd like to take a different approach to this chapter. When I do these updates, I usually focus in on a small part of each portion of the narrative - skipping around, omitting things that don't really matter, that sort of thing. This time, though, I'd like to show off every moment of this wretched chapter with a description of everything that happens in order. Ready?

Well, tough - we're already this far...

• 188 - More mooning over how sexy David is.
• 189 - David mentions that the Emma's mother was a Sunday School teacher; she doesn't know what this is because mom was such a wonderful teacher.
• 190 - More about church and how awesome it was.
• 191 - The next door neighbor is giving birth. This was mentioned in a previous chapter but it's only here to set up a truly repulsive plot point that we'll get to later.
• 192 - We get an explanation for that "I wonder where David is?" nonsense from earlier. That guy was sending a message on David's behalf. David says he doesn't trust the guy, which obviously made him ideal for the job.
• 193 - The new uniforms arrive.
• 194 - Emma worries that she will get lost on the way to the Village.
• 195 - David describes the layout of the compounds. Yes, we're getting this now for the first time almost two-thirds of the way in. No, it's not a good description.
• 196 - Some stuff about the Gatekeepers and how they're assholes (except for sexy David, of course).
• 197 - "I wish I could say that everything went well...But I can't. Time and events pushed us forward in ways I never could have imagined." This is a lie. Spoiler alert: Every part of Emma's plan goes perfectly and she is never in any peril for the rest of the novel.

So that's what a chapter looks like. Next time, we'll get out of this boring gray box and head to a place where things will happen. Warning: I might be lying.