Theft of Swords?

[MichaelSullivan]

I must say I really liked how two stories were put together into one book, because, when one story came to a very nice and satisfying close, there was still half the book left! Made my day over and over again.

You can thank Orbit for that. I wanted to keep the books as six (as that is how I originally envisioned the series) but they thought they were a bit "slim" for fantasy readers who like thick books so they wanted to double them up. As I said I was initially hesitant, but now that all is said and done - I'm glad they did it this way as well.

 

[ThinkerX]

Read all three books. For some reason, the main characters reminded me of Fritz Liebers 'Fafhrd and Grey Mouser'.

The near total absence of human magicians was a bit of a change from the norm these days. I do find myself wondering though - I was under the impression that the old magician who attempted to teach the princess magic in book one had several other students. Gotta wonder if

1) any of them ever amounted to anything magic wise; and

2) if any of them somehow survived the events in the series.

Also find myself wondering about the spread of humanity and the scale of the world; the maps appear to cover an area maybe a thousand miles across, if that, and humanity occupies only a portion of that area. That leaves a *lot* of completely unknown territory out there.

Main critique was that things were a bit...overly limited, I guess you could say, in that the one main character was also the 'rightful heir' and the possible rivals all had 'issues' of one sort or another that took them out of the running. Or to put it another way, something happened, the list of people who had the skill and the ability to do it was always pretty small, and always somebody who'd already figured somehow into the lives of the main characters. I might not be putting that correctly.

 

[MichaelSullivan]

Read all three books. For some reason, the main characters reminded me of Fritz Liebers 'Fafhrd and Grey Mouser'.

I hear that comment often. Interestingly enough I never read any of those books...and can't now as I'm afraid it would influence me. Someday I certainly need to check them out.

The near total absence of human magicians was a bit of a change from the norm these days. I do find myself wondering though - I was under the impression that the old magician who attempted to teach the princess magic in book one had several other students. Gotta wonder if

1) any of them ever amounted to anything magic wise; and

2) if any of them somehow survived the events in the series.

Not sure if you are speaking of Essrahaddon or Arcadius. Essrahaddon only had one student (Arista), Arcadius had other students but he wasn't really a practioner of "The Art" he was a faquin...could do a few minor things through manual means but never learned how to harness the power of 'true magic.'

Also find myself wondering about the spread of humanity and the scale of the world; the maps appear to cover an area maybe a thousand miles across, if that, and humanity occupies only a portion of that area. That leaves a *lot* of completely unknown territory out there.

Yes it does ;-p

Main critique was that things were a bit...overly limited, I guess you could say, in that the one main character was also the 'rightful heir' and the possible rivals all had 'issues' of one sort or another that took them out of the running. Or to put it another way, something happened, the list of people who had the skill and the ability to do it was always pretty small, and always somebody who'd already figured somehow into the lives of the main characters. I might not be putting that correctly.

I'm not sure I understand your statement fully. As I don't want to get too "spoilerish" here feel free to write me at michael (dot) sullivan (dot) dc (at) gmail.com and we can discuss it more.

 

[Steerpike]

I hear that comment often. Interestingly enough I never read any of those books...and can't now as I'm afraid it would influence me. Someday I certainly need to check them out.

I had a similar thought, but I think it is more to do with the warrior/thief pairing than anything else. Your style is not like Leiber's, and Hadrian isn't anything like Fafhrd other than being a warrior. I can see a little more resemblance between Royce and the Gray Mouser, but once you get past the thief-like aspects of the characters, they diverge as well. And your stories are quite different from those of Leiber as well. So while I think it is a natural association for people to make if they've read Leiber's work and then bought your book, I felt that there wasn't much similarity beyond the combination of the two archetypes in the protagonists.

 

[Steerpike]

Nice - I'm always amazed at what takes me years to write can be consumed by people so quickly - some in just a few days. Alas a writers we'll never be able to keep up with our readers.

This is quite true. You'll be dismayed to learn that I finished the book over the weekend (but pleased to hear I am going to buy the next one this week).

I don't usually go through books quite that fast, though I do read quickly. I wasn't feeling well this weekend so I was just laying around for extended periods of time. The book was good company.

PS: Nothing better happen to Arista! (no, don't tell me!)

 

[ThinkerX]

I think I can do this without getting spoilerish...maybe...

I had a similar thought, but I think it is more to do with the warrior/thief pairing than anything else. Your style is not like Leiber's, and Hadrian isn't anything like Fafhrd other than being a warrior. I can see a little more resemblance between Royce and the Gray Mouser, but once you get past the thief-like aspects of the characters, they diverge as well. And your stories are quite different from those of Leiber as well. So while I think it is a natural association for people to make if they've read Leiber's work and then bought your book, I felt that there wasn't much similarity beyond the combination of the two archetypes in the protagonists.

Almost. In the first book (more or less) Hadrian and Royce come across to me as being very much like Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, and that appears to be true of their backstory as well. The histories are different, but the mentality seems very similiar. Lieber also attempted to give Fafhrd and the Mouser a 'sense of destiny', and that element is present with Hadrian and Royce as well - and much more developed, to boot.

Not sure if you are speaking of Essrahaddon or Arcadius. Essrahaddon only had one student (Arista), Arcadius had other students but he wasn't really a practioner of "The Art" he was a faquin...could do a few minor things through manual means but never learned how to harness the power of 'true magic.'

Arcadius was the one I had in mind. And while his other apprentices sort of vanished very early on, one has to wonder if they were as devoid of true talent as their master. After all, Royce's girlfriend had smidgen of ability, so...you got somebody else like her out there, who happens to hear about a class on actual magic opening up...taking the class, learning a few things...(and then running full tilt for the hills when all hell starts to break loose)

I'm not sure I understand your statement fully. As I don't want to get too "spoilerish" here feel free to write me at michael (dot) sullivan (dot) dc (at) gmail.com and we can discuss it more

If at first you don't succeed...ok, what it comes down to, is that with just a couple of exceptions, Hadrian and Royce already had a history of sorts with nearly all the other major players. Hadrian had a reputation as a supreme warrior that extended even among the goblin tribes, and Royce was something of a legend throughout the underworld.

 

[MichaelSullivan]

I had a similar thought, but I think it is more to do with the warrior/thief pairing than anything else. Your style is not like Leiber's, and Hadrian isn't anything like Fafhrd other than being a warrior. I can see a little more resemblance between Royce and the Gray Mouser, but once you get past the thief-like aspects of the characters, they diverge as well. And your stories are quite different from those of Leiber as well. So while I think it is a natural association for people to make if they've read Leiber's work and then bought your book, I felt that there wasn't much similarity beyond the combination of the two archetypes in the protagonists.

Well having not read them I can't say for sure. The things that people have mentioned is that both have a fair amount of humor in them and they tend to be more low magic fantasy.

 

[MichaelSullivan]

This is quite true. You'll be dismayed to learn that I finished the book over the weekend (but pleased to hear I am going to buy the next one this week).

I don't usually go through books quite that fast, though I do read quickly. I wasn't feeling well this weekend so I was just laying around for extended periods of time. The book was good company.

PS: Nothing better happen to Arista! (no, don't tell me!)

I am indeed pleased that you are moving on to the next book - the series was designed to get more complicated and richer the deeper in you go. As to Arista - my lips are sealed. It is interesting though as she seems to be a very devisive character some love her, some hate her, very few seem to be so-so on the subject of her.

 

[Shockley]

I checked these out at my place of employment today, and I will probably pick up the first one very soon.

 

[MichaelSullivan]

I checked these out at my place of employment today, and I will probably pick up the first one very soon.

Nice to hear - I hope you enjoy - and thanks for the support.

 

[Erica]

I'm reading it. I love Royce and Hadrian so far, and the priest character makes me smile. Wish the gals in the story were a bit more interesting, but I've been enjoying it so far.

 

[Janga]

Book 1 was fantastic. I finished it very quickly. I find that Book 2 is dragging on a bit... especially the parts that do not include Royce and Hadrian.

 

[MichaelSullivan]

I'm reading it. I love Royce and Hadrian so far, and the priest character makes me smile. Wish the gals in the story were a bit more interesting, but I've been enjoying it so far.

Glad you are liking it Erica. As for the women...if you stay with the series you'll see that they will play just as important a role as Royce and Hadrian. The series actually has 4 main characters...two men and two women. I build all my characters over time, but you are correct the women have a slower build and in the early book(s) they are portrayed in such a way that their transitions are more impactful. So, I'll ask you to trust that any deficiencies are done for dramatic effect and not because of a lack of attention.

 

[MichaelSullivan]

Book 1 was fantastic. I finished it very quickly. I find that Book 2 is dragging on a bit... especially the parts that do not include Royce and Hadrian.

I've heard that sometimes. Crown was trimed of anything superfluous. It was very plot centric and as the story evolves I need to start providing background on both the characters and the world. Crown was very much stand alone and in fact could be removed from the series entirely. It does little more than introduce the characters. Avempartha, on the other hand, actually starts laying the foundation for a much more complicated story arc that is prevaliant through the entire series.

Actually of the two most like Avempartha better, but there are also some die hard Crown fans.

 

[Shockley]

Started reading Theft of Swords. I'm a hundred pages in so far, and so far it's pretty great. Good stuff.

 

[Erica]

Interesting that Orbit made you double up the books to make them longer. I've been told by people on several fantasy writers groups that it's hard for a newer author to get an agent or sell a book that's more than about 120k words long because shipping and distribution is prohibitively expensive for a longer book, and book stores don't want to allocate shelf space for thick books...even fantasy. That floored me, since most of the fantasy books in my library are much longer than that and are quite thick.

Seems like there's a lot of contradictory information out there about length and marketability.

And I agree that Royce and Hadrian remind me a bit of Faffherd and the Gray Mouser. Not in the particulars, but in some generalities...such as having rather different personalities and complementing one another well. Those books are definitely worth a read, as they are one of the 'classics' that were ahead of their time in many ways and have a lot of wry humor in them.

 

[MichaelSullivan]

Started reading Theft of Swords. I'm a hundred pages in so far, and so far it's pretty great. Good stuff.

Great to hear - I'm glad you are enjoying it.

 

[MichaelSullivan]

Interesting that Orbit made you double up the books to make them longer. I've been told by people on several fantasy writers groups that it's hard for a newer author to get an agent or sell a book that's more than about 120k words long because shipping and distribution is prohibitively expensive for a longer book, and book stores don't want to allocate shelf space for thick books...even fantasy. That floored me, since most of the fantasy books in my library are much longer than that and are quite thick.

The statement is still true - that most publishers want a new book around 100,000 (sometimes even less). I think in my case there were a few contributing factors. First...I really wasn't completely "new" I already had a following and some knew my name because of the self-publishng success so they looked at me a bit differently. For them I think the main issue was that there were six books and it's hard to keep 6 books in stock in a bookstore at once. Also they wanted to get the "whole" series out in quick succession so doing a book a month for six would mean 6 months of releases whereas doubling them up there is only 3 months.

Seems like there's a lot of contradictory information out there about length and marketability.

Again, for someone who is querying...I do think the lower word count is indeed accurate - I think my case is the exception based on this particular series.

And I agree that Royce and Hadrian remind me a bit of Faffherd and the Gray Mouser. Not in the particulars, but in some generalities...such as having rather different personalities and complementing one another well. Those books are definitely worth a read, as they are one of the 'classics' that were ahead of their time in many ways and have a lot of wry humor in them.

Yeah, that's what I've heard that both books have humor whereas some other fantasy books are very dry and serious.

 

[writeshiek33]

ever thought having audio book done of the series i might get that as i am doing that to books i already read in past