This Is The October Open Thread

[merlinscribe]

So Blade of Empire is out on 10/24 and the cover looks like this. It's a striking cover—in a Soviet Brutalist way. (That's supposed to be Runacar, I suspect. Now let's see if the image drives sales the way Marketing hopes it will.)

Greetings from the far side of the autumnal equinox (for those of you in the Northern Hemisphere). It's been a busy summer here in the Enchanted Forest, though none of it has involved responding to emails and other notifications from Tor because they haven't sent any. Most of what I'm learning about the progress toward publication of Blade of Empire has come from your comments. They are greatly appreciated!

I have one other project to deliver before going back to work on Scourge of Fate, but it should be out of the way by the end of the month. George RR Martin is a cautionary tale for modern storytellers, as we are all well aware, and I have no intention of forcing those of you who have been gracious enough to come along with me on Vieliessar and Runacar's epic adventure to languish for years without the rest of the story...

Meanwhile, a question: do you want to see snippets from Scourge as it is written—even if they might contain possible spoilers? Or do you want to go into the third book in the trilogy completely unspoiled?

And now, onto the comments backlog...

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Glad to read a post from you. As for the spoiler question. I am someone that anytime I pick up a new book, I would always read the last page first. I do the same thing when I get to a new chapter (in going to the last paragraph first). I know, that is highly odd. As you can guess I do not read much mystery books. I would defeat the purpose in finding out who did it, before I even start reading. As for getting snippets from Scourge, I would love too. I will will say (even though I know you would do this) you should at least mark it. So people that don't want the spoilers want continue reading. Once again just saying I love your books. Almost impossible to put down.

[(Anonymous)]

Will not continue

I hate automatic spelling

[iloverandomthings]

Like the person above. I always read the last few pages first. It isn't the ending of the book that's important to me but the journey to that ending.

I would love random snippets from the book.

[(Anonymous)]

I.

WANT.

SNIPPETS.

In a less demanding tone of voice, I certainly love your writing style, which has bled over a bit into my writing, and I'd love to see more of what you write. Spoilers don't really matter to me - I just love a richly detailed world like the Obsidian Universe!

[(Anonymous)]

Like the above, I don't mind spoilers. Not because I read the last page first, but because I simply won't remember everything. I even have to reread the previous books in a trilogy before I can read the new one (therefore I am reading Crown now)

....When Diana Gabaldon's next Outlander book comes out next year, I'm going to probably miss out on a few weeks of sleep to reread lol. (I also read her Daily Lines with no issue....I will forgot...most of it...)

[merlinscribe]

Thank you! I will certainly tag and flag spoilers as well as putting them behind a cut.

Once Blade is out there, I will be posting a scene from it that is actually AU, since I decided it didn't work within the context of the larger story.

[merlinscribe]

Excellent!

[merlinscribe]

Thank you! I love the World of Obsidian a great deal, and would love to share some of the background worldbuilding that would (probably) slow down the narrative if it was in the book. Also, not every character knows everything about their world, so to a certain extent, the character narrative I follow determines what I can tell.

[merlinscribe]

Thank you! That's good to know. (It's also a help in determining how much exposition is needed, and where it should fall in the context of the story.)

[(Anonymous)]

Can't wait!!!!

[destofworlds]

I absolutely love world building in books, it is one of the many reasons I love the Obsidian Universe as much as I do. It always makes me sad when good books must be cut, because I always want to know as much as I possibly can. Perhaps (besides the novellas I hope will come in the future) you could possibly do something along the lines of Tolkien's Silmarillion, some sort of collections of stories, general background information, and history.

[(Anonymous)]

Or (though far less likely) an entire history of the Endarkened Wars in 6 volumes would be amazing...

[(Anonymous)]

Unspoiled!

Question?

[(Anonymous)]

I have an odd question - what color is elven blood? In Crown Vieliessar seems to think that it is odd that Idalia's blood is red and the shadows of old palm prints on the shrine are bluish so I thought that elven blood must be silver. However, I'm sure I remember that in Obsidian Mountain books that elven blood was red. Am I remembering wrong or did it change over the centuries? Or is that a question that is answered in a later book?

Re: Question?

[merlinscribe]

Not an odd question at all, and the reason it isn't clarified in DP1 is that we aren't seeing a lot of Outsider Viewpoint (yet). The color of Elven blood, compared to human blood, is darker and more purplish. The blood of a human is going to look rather freakishly orange to an Elf. (We must also remember that Elves can see much further into the visible spectrum than humans can, and can distinguish a far wider range of colors. This is going to lead to some rather amusing confusion the first time an Elf tried to teach a human to read trail-wands...

[merlinscribe]

I think so myself, though alas! my publisher does not agree. As for snippets and general background, they'll probably eventually end up here and in the Wiki over the course of time...

[merlinscribe]

Done! All spoilers will be clearly marked and easy to avoid!

Spoiler away!

[(Anonymous)]

I have no issues with spoilers for current books (if they are out, they are fair game), but I’d rather not know what happens (dragons, but I can’t hear you, la la la la) to wrap up all the plot lines in Scrounge of Fate. When I pick up a physical book I may flip to the middle and read a page or two, but never the last thirty or so pages. Plus, with the size of the cuts Blade of Empire had (or did I not read that correctly in a previous post), who knows if spoilers from Scriunge will end up in the final book? Anyway, I like the idea is snippets because it keeps me in touch with the world and characters (though outtakes would be fine too). One of my favourite authors for fan-communication (and snippet choice!) is Ilona Andrews.

Oh, spoilers, or cut scenes or out takes!

[(Anonymous)]

Loved, loved, loved the cut scenes you posted from 'Crown of Vengance' and would be happy with anything that you post. I only read the end of the book when I get to it. :) and spoilers don't bother me at all.

The second war. The Great War.

[(Anonymous)]

Are there any plans at all to complete the story? The end is written, the middle is written, the prequel is in the works, so my question is what about the Great War? Are there any plans to write that story?

Re: The second war. The Great War.

[merlinscribe]

OH yes. The trilogy is plotted. The working title is "The Glories of the Autumn" (which will undoubtedly change of Tor has anything to say about it) and it deals with the Great War--as well as the story I have been waiting years to write: the defense of Vel-al-Amion by the Seven...

[sanders1800]

I loved Blade of Empire. When I read a book I can get too involved in them. I think this one was the hardest for me to read from all the series. I put my self so much into the characters. That I can get in tears and my stomach gets tied in knots. I hope Scourge of Fate doesn't take as long to come out. I just don't see how those two get together.

I was also wondering if you could post the meaning of the different moon turns? Sword Moon, Thunder Moon, Rain Moon, etc. Some of them I have probably matched up to our months,but I am most likely off on some.

Thanks for another great book.

Expo no!

[(Anonymous)]

Please...no expositionm. I am so tired of having to Wade through 50 pages because editors don't think we read prior story!! Exposition I should only occur as a natural event like when Runacar is musing about meeting Varuthir the day she goes to the sanctuary.

[syriem]

I absolutely LOVED, LOVED, LOVED "Crown of Vengeance" & have probably read it about eight times, ruining it in the process. (I have since bought it in hardback.) I got my daughter hooked on it, too. She bought me Blade of Empire for my upcoming birthday & I've just started it. I love that this is a precursor to the the other Trilogy's, as I always wanted to know the story of Vieliessar. Thank you so much for this "escape" into a completely & wonderfully believable story.

Pronunciation

[randirelarwen]

I have a question about pronunciation. I have been reading your books since I was 17. In the last 5 or 6 years I started reading (listening?) the audio books. I started, of course, with the Obsidian Mountain Trilogy, then read (listened?) to the Dragon Prophecy series, and after Blade of Empire decided to listen (read?) to the Enduring Flame series, since I had not before. I was extremely bothered by the lack of continuity in pronunciation. Particularly as it applies to cities and Vieliessar.
That leads me to three questions. The first is: was this deliberate?
I turned to a group forum I take part in and some chose to believe that this shift in pronunciation is perhaps a deliberate shifting of what might happen over thousands of years.
The second question is: what is the proper pronunciation for the cities and Vieliessar?
My third question is this: do you and/or Misty have any say or decision in who narrates the audio books? I enjoy Kate Rudd's narration of The Dragon Prophecy series, though as Susan Erickson was the first I heard I am partial to her. She did a wonderful job voicing so many different characters. To be honest I am about to lose my mind listening to the Enduring Flame narrator. The pronunciations are so different from the other two series and his portrayal of Tiercel and Harrier comes across as whiny, though he does well on many other parts.