Book 3 was too packed — the lock-build arc and the grievance-elevation
arc were competing for the same climactic space. Split at Ch15/Ch16:
Book 3 is now 18 chapters ending on "The Night Before" (lock built,
tested, holds; house funded; storm visible on the horizon). Book 4 is
13 chapters starting with "The Ambush" and carrying the
confrontation/standoff/elevation/aftermath arc.
Left deliberate gap chapters for future character development: 2 in
Book 3 (Ch10, Ch17), 3 in Book 4 (Ch02, Ch07, Ch10).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Phillip Tarrant
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