A Selenoth fan would really like me to finish the extended edition of A Sea of Skulls:
Please Vox, for the love of all that is Good and Beautiful and True, PLEASE try and find the time to complete TSoS extended edition. I have read (ahgmm.. “listened”) to AToB 3 times and read ASoS once. This is quality stuff that serves as a gateway to many truths people would otherwise never be exposed to. If I could be so bold as to give you feedback from my time in Selenoth, it would look like this:
I first listen to A Magic Broken, then AToB, then the Last Witch King Collection, then read Summa Elvetica, then most recently read ASoS. I’ll spare you any fan boy text walls but I have to explain what I love as well as what don’t understand so far. I listen a A Wardog’s Coin weekly on my daily commutes. It is a wonderfully balanced tale that never gets old and would be the first thing I recommend to a new reader.
You said on a Darkstream once that you didn’t expect the strong response to Lodi. He is hands down my favorite character. Maybe this was overly influenced by my reading A Magic Broken first, but I LOVED his story line in AToB and was left wanting much more in ASoS. Lodi is without a doubt the first character you would pick if you needed a buddy in a good ole-fashioned brawl. Ironically, a Big Bear, if you will.
I really don’t understand the importance of Severa and her character arc. At first I assumed it was because she was a strong female personality so most likely I just didn’t relate to her. But after the second and third pass at AToB, I can say with confidence that Fjotra is one of my top three favorite characters so Severa remains an enigma to me because I’m not sure what I want from, or even for her going forward. My shot in the dark prediction is that Severa actually personifies you in a way, born into more privelege than most but the powers, that be take her father, and life forces her to unforeseen places. Still, assuming that to be the case I don’t understand her place in the story.
Again, thanks for all you do and please forgive me for carrying on so long. God bless and keep crushing! I pray that you will not grow weary of the path laid before you. God equips those He calls. Conflict may be the air we breathe but no one is having more fun than us!
Believe me, I would very much like to finish ASOS and move on to the next book in the series. But my time is finite, and so every time I need to hunt down someone’s failed credit card or respond to someone else’s deplatforming, or deal with someone who has failed to utilize a coupon during the allotted time is a distraction from even starting to write anything. That doesn’t mean those things don’t need to be done, but it’s not possible to do them while getting into the right frame of mind. I wish I could simply switch gears at will, but apparently I don’t work like that.
I appreciate that people enjoy my work as much as they do, indeed, the overall response to the Arts of Dark and Light has significantly exceeded not only my expectations, but even my hopes. I do find it a little strange, however, when the some of the very people who really want me to finish various works don’t seem to grasp the obvious consequences of asking me to deal with various other things that often have nothing to do with me.
Anyhow, I am determined to finish it during the first half of this year. The extended delay is on me, not anyone or anything else, and I’m neither excusing nor rationalizing my tardiness. But I am not apologizing for it either, because I’m absolutely not going to allow the quality to decline just so I can call it complete and get it off my plate. To the contrary, I am determined to make the remaining sections better than the previous parts.
But Selenoth fans should be pleased to know a) Chuck Dixon is working on the six-issue comic of the Legion-Goblin battle and b) there is serious film/TV interest in ATOB.
UPDATE: After thinking about it and talking with Spacebunny, I’m going to put myself on an alternate-day schedule for the Darkstreams until ASOS is done. That should do the trick.