Ah, poor Gerald

I was working with my editor last evening on 'Sword of the Crown', and we were discussing whether or not to have a prologue, as I did with 'Servant of the Crown'. I have researched this in Facebook groups and on the web, and it is a really split opinion. Some say that they skip the prologue, and get right to the meat of the story, while others like a relevant prologue as long as it is not too long. Almost unanimously was the opinion that a long prologue should just be renamed chapter 1!

We went back to first book to see the relevance of the prologue, and I really enjoy how the prologue ends and leads the reader into the first chapter so I am going to share it here. Does it compel you to turn the page to chapter 1? (We did decide to start Book 2 with a prologue)

He stepped forward, determined to stop the madness and collapsed to the ground, his leg giving out in front of him. He sat, stunned for a moment, staring at the pool of blood forming around him. He’d been cut in the assault, but the numbleaf and adrenaline had prevented him from feeling it. Now he was bleeding out, too weak to do anything but look on in horror as his life ebbed out of him. “How did I get here?” he wondered. “How did my life culminate in bleeding to death in this stinking street, of all places?”