This is a good place to explain that The Viscount of Adrilankha is not a trilogy, it is a three volume novel. That is, it should be thought of as a single book. The Khaavren Romances are, in fact, a trilogy, of which Viscout is the third novel. Therefore, these five books are clearly seen to be a triolgy consisting two one-part novels and one three-part novel. Each part consists of two “books.” Therefore, chapter four of book two of part three of the third book is easily seen to be chapter fifty two of the third novel, or chapter one hundred and twenty of….
Okay, to hell with it. Call it a trilogy. I don’t care.
How do you think these three (I picked this slot randomly to ask :) turned out? In your other book listings you comment ‘this turned out okay’, that sort .. I’m a big fan of your work (I tend to re-read the Vlad books and the Phoenix Guards every few years, just like having to catch Bladerunner for New Years :)
I’ve always thought ‘backfilling’ a very difficult thing to pull off (such as others trying to write prequals to The Watchman comics, say.. bad idea!); mind you with Vlad you’ve tended to jump around in the timeline without actually backfilling so much as writing up a fun story and placing it in the puzzle ‘here’; the Viscount stories in turn seem like actually trying to tread over territory that as readers we’ve already covered in our minds eye.. lightly tread before, but now covered in detail.When you’ve said ‘Morollan is a badass’ and we believe you, and then later you go to show how .. its a tough thing to pull off without coming off lesser than our impressions want it to be.
I need to re-read these, but honestly, at the time, I felt they detracted a bit from the legend in my mind; Morollan and Sethra are epic beings that I’m glad Vlad gets to hang around wtih; they’re scary and awesome and witty… but going back to fill in the backstory seems to weaken them somehow. In the world view.. every Draegaran knows about Sethra, but they probably don’t know her origin.. they’re just afraid of her. But knowing the origin.. makes you less afraid?
Anyway, I adore your work and look forward to every release. Also, they make me hungry.
Thanks. I’m pleased with them; had a blast writing them, and I don’t wince when I need to reread a section.
After I read Sethra Lavode I almost immediately got this one and read it.
It emphatically does not need the token preface that claims to explain what came before. I had no trouble following any of it without reading anything that was supposed to come before it.
Possibly reading the book that came after it made a difference, though. To really nail it down we should get somebody to read this one first who hasn’t ready anything before or after.
But given some general Adrilankha background, a little bit about the paths of the dead and the gods and the Jenoine, there are no problems. Very likely with a little suspension of disbelief and an SF attitude to get a sense of those things, it would be fine as a first Adrilankha book.
Excellent story.
I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this one is actually my favorite book of all you’ve written (I don’t know where The Incrementalists will fit in as a favorite since I won’t be able to afford it for a few more months). The entire Khaavren romance is wonderful, as is the plot of the Viscount of Adrilankha as a whole, but I especially love the way Morrollan is presented as well as the interaction betweens the two generations of heroic friends.
It occurred to me to mention my favorite since I’ve been having to read some tedious material lately, and to cleanse my brain I decided to re-read several of my top shelf books – those I keep most easily accessible because I like them so much. You and Frederick Forsyth are the only two whose every book is in that section.
Thanks kindly; that’s a delight to hear.
Piro at the end of this book was heart breaking. Can’t wait to get to the third (sixth?) part of these books!
My wife was feeling very down and discouraged a few years back and was ready to quit her career and return to her teenage job as a server. I read her the passage about Morrolan studying sorcery too intensely, and that his friends feared he would accidentally destroy his mind by performing spells beyond the point of exhaustion.
Morrolan did not care about his friends missing him or his place in history, but when he considered that his enemies would learn that they would now be safe from his vengeance, he was convinced to show some care at last.
It was just what she needed to hear, and since then she has built a small empire in our profession. And, along the way as a happy side-effect, caused great discomfort to those remaining enemies who have not yet been run out of town.
I always thought of her as a Dzur, but maybe a bit of Dragon in there, too.