Blade of Empire Update

[merlinscribe]

As of last week, BLADE OF EMPIRE has gone through *two* editorial revisions and is now in production at Tor! This puts it on schedule for a Fall 2017 release.

I will almost certainly be turning in SCOURGE OF FATE by the end of this year, though what Tor does with it after that, and when, is anybody's guess.

Comments

Rar!

[(Anonymous)]

Pre order already in. James, I just re-read the original trilogy and it re-kindled my desire for more on Kellen. I mean how did he do in the flower wars? Surely he participated. Did his relationship with Vestakia flower or whither? Kids? And was Shalkan special among the unicorns or just a particularly nosey though amiable personality with a penchant for sweets?

Re: Rar!

[merlinscribe]

I've had a novella in mind about Kellen and Vestakia's honeymoon for quite a long time--perhaps when Scourge is delivered, I'll have the time to write it. I don't think I'm spoiling anything to tell you that Kellen and Vestakia had a long happy life together--after all, Harrier Gillain, though he doesn't know it (and might not care if he did, considering the events in Phoenix), can trace his ancestry back to one of their children.

The Flower Wars are such an Elven thing that I don't imagine Kellen ever really wanted to participate. As a Knight-Mage, he would probably win, at least in practical terms, but the Flower Wars have developed such an incredibly elaborate set of rules over the millennia that it would be supremely unlikely that Kellen would have the patience to learn or follow all of them.

As for Shalkan...I actually don't know. I have a strong sense that there's much more of his story waiting to be told, and I think, once you read Scourge, that you'll see why. Meanwhile, I can only hope that Shalkan himself will wander back into the story at some point so that we can all find out more about his past.