Arthyr's Note

Wow. This one was… hard.

Really hard at times.

When I started writing, my goal was to write a single book, start to finish. Exploration would be a big part of it. It was a whole new world and Seth needed to get his bearings. Figure out why he was brought there.

He needed to resolve things with Brand. But there were bigger things going on. I knew there was going to be a war. A big one. Battle of Five Armies sized.

And around 100k words in, Lunythera said one thing that made me realize that I needed a second book. “Start a war? No, you’ll end it.”

That’s not something you can just drop 100k words in and expect a resolution in the same book.

So book 2 became a thing.

It was darker. Less exploration and more survival. Bloodchildren. Dying gods. War.

The ending was frantic, which is what I was aiming for. I like when there are so many problems that all come to a head at the same time, leading to a point where you ask “how the hell can they stop all that?” And then you realize they can’t, and something has to be sacrificed.

I enjoyed writing all of that so much, when it was all done I felt kind of… lost.

I missed the characters. I’d spent almost five months with them. I wasn’t sure what to do next.

So I started writing again. I didn’t have a plan. I just put finger to keyboard and decided to see where it took me.

Turns out that’s not a great way to write.

So I recycled an old plot that I had originally considered for the first book(s) - Seth and his family go to Earth to fight off an invasion - a la Avengers. He’d meet Jessica again, realize he’s much happier with his new family, save the day, and go back.

I think there were a few issues with that.

First, it was a huge change of tone from books 1 and 2. I think any sequel kind of needs a change in tone. You can’t just rehash what you did before. But I think the return to Earth removed the magic, in more ways than one.

Second, I think there’s some truth in the saying “write what you know.” I know depression and self-loathing. I’m a people watcher and I’m lucky enough to have found love.

But I don’t watch cop shows. I don’t know anything about cults. I couldn’t investigate my way out of a paperbag. And I think that shows in this book. Seth fumbles through his investigation of the Covenant… poorly. He gets frustrated. He makes a lot of mistakes. And in the end, he has to rely on others.

That’s been a running theme through the books, but I think it was made painfully obvious here. Seth isn’t good at everything. He makes bad decisions sometimes. He’s good with people. He’s too stubborn to quit. And he surrounds himself with competent people.

Ashlara will always be stronger. Mirri will always be a better healer. Elise will always be smarter. Serah will always be better with people.

Third (though probably not finally), I struggled with the ending of this book. Really struggled.

I finished the book and went, “Wow. Finally done. What a load of shit.” Then I blew away 10k words, stared at the screen for a long time, and started again.

Even now I’m satisfied, but not happy with it. I think Seth doesn’t really do much. Everyone else is a badass around him and he… runs. And jumps. And then jumps again. He saves Naevira, but that’s it.

Then again, Seth doesn’t need to do everything. He surrounds himself with competent people. He relies on his family. And they’re super badasses, while Seth is just a badass.

But what I did like about this book was the ability to pop the hood and look at what’s going on underneath.

Early in Book one I joked to one of my friends, “I think I’m writing secret Arthurian fanfic.” In a way I kind of was. And it was nice to be able to give everyone a peek at that. And I think Myrrakai was the perfect way to do a data dump like that.

Starting to explain the color system for Faith as Seth sees it was nice. That’s been around from the beginning and I've been using that without explaining it.

I worked a lot more on Elithae, the elven language. Got some AI art that looks spectacular. And hinted at a few other things to come.

So yeah, book 3 was a struggle. A good struggle, but still a struggle. I may have lost a few people with the change in tone, flaws in the story, and me struggling to figure out what I can and can’t do.

But I want to thank everyone who’s gotten this far for sticking with it. And everyone who started reading, even if you didn’t finish it. Your likes and comments are a highlight of my day. I appreciate every single one.

Thank you!