Dragon Prophecy 3: The Art of War. An update you won't like.

[merlinscribe]

Dear Friends:

This is not an email I wanted to write. But I have always promised I would keep you "in the loop", as it were, and not simply retreat into a mystifying silence when things happened.

So.

About a month ago, around the time I was expecting my revision letter for The Art of War, what I got instead was an email from my agent that Tor was rejecting the book. This is a fairly rare occurrence, especially for the ninth book in a series. They said they required major changes before they would consider accepting the book.

Since they would not specify what these changes should be, aside from "a better ending", there is a bit of a scramble going on, especially when working within the constraints of eight previous books of lore and canon.

I have one in mind, and it should certainly work, since Ancaladar told Vestakia about it all the way back in the first trilogy, but right now you know as much as I do about the state of play. Negotiations, as they say, are ongoing.

I am currently, and off my own bat, revising the manuscript so that I can add on the sort of ending Tor may be thinking of. As it stands right now, The Art of War is more like a book report on the book I actually wanted to write—and I have to find room for another rather large chunk of story. Somehow.

I am very sorry. I did not expect anything like this to happen, and I apologize.

TL;DR: The Art of War will not be out this year because editor.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Right. I wish they could publish through kickstarter. I know other authors have but they are probably under contract with TOR for the complete trilogy. Maybe for the next trilogy if there is one they can do it with kickstarter. That way as soon as its done with their own in house editing we can get digital copies and hard copies can follow in a couple months. Plus they can write whatever story or ending they want. The fans trust Mercedes and James and if they think its good then we want to read it. I don't care what some TOR employee who probably hasn't even read any of the other books thinks about it. --End of Rant.

[(Anonymous)]

I would absolutely donate to that.

.....and as a rule; I don't donate to kickstarters.

[megan_may_poetry]

I agree! A writer should be able to stay true to their vision. If the editor wants to give criticism and suggestions, that's great, but they should never force the writer to change things. It's not right.

[bleedingraindrops]

I'd donate to that. The Obsidian universe is my favorite universe to date, beating out even Jim Butcher's famous works Codex Alera and The Dresden Files. I even built Kellen Tavadon as a D&D5e character.