First Eurasia character designs!

This one for the protagonist, Jivaka, is only preliminary, but they are on the verge of being finalized. :) Thanks go to Keiichi Iwakura for his amazing game designs.

Current Projects

This week shouldn't have been a busy one - all I did in terms of actual work was write up a report, and send a few emails so that article publications and other housekeeping matters would go smoothly. So why am I absolutely knackered, and have been so since Wednesday?

Visual novel. I makes it.

Visual novels belong to a genre of video game that is not very popular outside of East Asia, although this is very slowly changing. Ripped straight from the Wikipedia page (which is, to be fair, reasonably informative):

Visual novels are distinguished from other game types by their extremely minimal gameplay. Typically the majority of player interaction is limited to clicking to keep the text, graphics and sound moving (most recent games offer 'play' or 'fast-forward' toggles that make even this unnecessary).

Most visual novels have multiple storylines and many endings; the gameplay mechanic in these cases typically consists of intermittent multiple-choice decision points, where the player selects a direction in which to take the game. This style of gameplay has been compared to the Choose Your Own Adventure books. Most, however, strive for a higher level of plot and character depth than the aforementioned series of interactive children's books. These can be more closely compared to story-driven interactive fiction. While the plots and storytelling of mainstream video games is often criticized, many fans of visual novels hold them up as exceptions and identify this as a strong point of the genre.

In Hong Kong and Japan (and I suspect in China, Taiwan and Korea to some extent too), visual novels for both guys and girls are reasonably popular. Japan most certainly leads the way, with diverse sub-genres of visual novels that can cater to many different demographics.

In keeping with the "creative media" concept of this blog, I decided to expand my silk road storytelling into this field and make A Thousand Hands more or less my own creative platform. Currently my visual novel is powered by Novelty, a very beginner-friendly platform and engine for visual novels. When I'm finally done with it, I'll export, zip, and upload it here at A Thousand Hands, where it will be available to be downloaded and played for free.

Lives of Spice Series

This is a preliminary story listing for my flash fiction series about the Silk Road, Lives of Spice. There isn't a fixed schedule for when I'm uploading each entry, but I'm confident that the current list will be able to showcase just how diverse the cultures of the Silk Road. More will come!

1. What the Caravanserai Does Best (Sogdiana)
2. Snow Meets Rime (Imperial Tibet)
3. Peony (Tang-era Chang'an)
4. Lost and Found (Abbasid Caliphate)
5. Drum, Lute, and Harp (Oasis kingdom of Kucha)
6. Starborn (Oasis kingdom of Khotan)

Lives of Spice

I'm not a professional novelist, although I love stories. I've enjoyed reading about myths and legends since my teens and writing has always been my hobby since I was a kid. After completing my MA at SOAS, one lasting thing I've taken away aside from my degree is a fascination about silk road history. 

The Silk Road is a generalised catchphrase given to the many, many landlocked routes that spanned Eurasia for thousands of years, reaching a decline with the rise of the littoral, naval powers in the 18th century and falling into its current impoverishment and cultural decimation at the hands of modernity. These silk routes were diverse - at the height of the Han Dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE), Rome served as the western terminus of trade - a truly extraordinary distance, even if neither empire was really aware of each other's existence. By the Tang era (618 - 907), the eastern terminus shifted from Luoyang to Chang'an (Xi'an), and traded freely with Byzantium, Damascus, and Baghdad, centres of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Umayyad, and Abbasid Caliphates respectively. All the while, an extraordinary conglomeration of other powers, such as the Persian dynasties, the Indian kingdoms of South Asia, and the Tibetans contributed their arts, crafts, and cultures to the silk routes flowing between China and the rest of Eurasia.


Central to the survival of these routes were the Central Eurasians - a lamentably underrated and stereotyped people who have found expression in many different cultures, from the Jurchen peoples to the Huns, Sogdians, Mongols, Uighurs, Turks, and others who were "peripheral" to the great sedentary empires. They were the main facilitators of Eurasian history, having imparted not only the horse but also the wheel, writing, and many other inventions to the sedentary powers. They also survived by trade, and their activities in Eurasia ensured the survival of the silk routes for over two millennia.   


I'm starting a series of flash fiction (stories of less than one thousand words - it sounds short but it's actually very appropriate for online platforms) called Lives of Spice on this blog. This series is about people that lived along the timeless silk routes. From a Kuchean courtesan to a Chinese official, from a Tibetan soldier to an Arab writer astride his camels to a sculptor from the oasis kingdom of Khotan and a Turkic princess, Lives of Spice is my light exploration into the relationships, dramas, and affections of medieval Eurasia. If you happen to read some of this flash fiction, thank you for checking it out and I hope you enjoy it.