Nanyang Book 2 a graphic novel: Human-directed, AI-powered creation.

July 25, 2025

After authoring "Nanyang a graphic novel" the old school way using hand-drawn art style, but executed digitally with stylus on tablet, I proceeded with its sequel. I typed and formatted the script and sketched out all the pages, completed a mockup and put it on the back burner.

It was at this stage somewhere around 2022 that AI burst upon the art scene and stormed across the globe, disrupting the old established art order, and sending practitioners into facing an uncertain future. However, I more mesmerised by its awesome power than afraid i would be replaced by a machine. I had to be a part of this movement. It’s AI or die!

Now I can take my graphic novel to new heights using AI as my drawing tool, or so I thought. I blissfuly embraced AI, exploring its potentials, experiencing moments of ecstasy and disappointment in equal measure, all the while focusing on the goal of exceeding my creative skills for the task at hand. It turned out that while there's a genie spouting "master, your wish is my command," the fulfilment was hit or miss, mostly miss. To cut a long story short, after months of wild goose chases and dead ends, the job is now done and posted on Amazon.com.

Front cover

An enchanting historical adventure romance set in the exotic Orient.

As forces driven by God, gold and glory

collide with love, intrigue and betrayal,

a riveting story unfolds.

To the south of China lies this vast and timeless land that the Chinese call Nanyang, or the Southern Ocean. Encompassing Southeast Asia and the Malay archipelago, this exotic region teems with traders, adventurers and fortune seekers who brave the typhoon-lashed and pirate-infested waters of the South China Sea in search of the vast riches that are the stuff of dreams.

Many have become fabulously rich, others paid with their very lives. From their enterprise great cities have sprung up linking peoples of many skins and tongues through their common desire to trade. It is in this romantic setting that my story unfolds.

Book 1 of Nanyang tells of two brothers who, hearing tales of a city where the streets are paved in gold, embark on an epic journey seeking a piece of the action. After a traumatic separation and several harrowing experiences, the brothers finally meet on opposite sides of the law. Family ties triumph over opposing loyalties, and the saga continues.

Book 2 opens in a time of cataclysmic change as two worlds collide.

One driven by God, gold and glory as empire builders from the west invade the region. The other, a world steeped in tradition, peace and harmony, awakes to meet the challenge. In the chaos, star-crossed lovers grapple with longing, deception and betrayal as a new world order sweeps away the old.

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