Let's Talk About Iras
Several readers have said that Iras was their favorite character in Hand of Isis, and asked me to expand a bit more on Iras and her role. I'd also love to hear what you guys think about her!



Iras was an interesting character to write, and one of the difficulties I think in the final version of the book is that Iras' two big scenes in the second half were both cut for space. My draft of Hand of Isis was 180,000 words, or 40,000 words bigger than the final version, so I had to cut a lot. While I think it made a tighter and better book in many ways, the character who suffered from the cuts most was Iras.

That was because her subplots and scenes were in many ways the most independent. For example, one long scene missing is about Iras in her role as the avatar of the Lady of Amenti, just as Charmian represents Isis Pelagia. That's really Iras' story, not Charmian's. And so it was easy to remove without leaving a scar. Another scene addressed Iras' interest in Dion, and how she had been bitterly disappointed as a teenager when she discovered that Dion would never have feelings for her, but decided that she valued his friendship too much to let her one-sided feelings come between them. I think that vibe is still there between them in the earlier chapters, and I hope one may read that into Iras' actions.

Another cut is a much longer version of the scene earlier when Iras is poisoned instead of Cleopatra. That scene originally was quite long, with Charmian and Dion sitting with her while she was ill. But again, it was really Iras' story, not Charmian's. The important thing to Charmian is that she was ill, and she recovered, not what Iras took away from this.

So what do you guys think of Iras? Questions? Thoughts?