Fantasy Buddy Reads discussion

With the upcoming series read of The Legends of the First Empire, the author, Michael J. Sullivan, is going to come to hang out and answer any questions you might have for him!

As a note, he will not be participating in/reading the other threads to allow members to share their feelings honestly and openly.

Thanks so much for joining us again here, Michael! :)

Yay!

Just wanted to say hey, and thank you for picking my books for your Buddy reading. The last book will come out on May 5th and I won't provide any spoilers related to it, but all other questions are up fair game!

My only question right now, is if you have any news about :D

I know the placeholder book page says you'll be writing it after , which have tentative release years listed as 2021/2022/2023...

So basically, does that mean we won't see Drumindor until 2023/2024, or can we hope for it sooner, since it's not tied to your next trilogy's release cycle?

Hi Michael. Congratulations on hitting your kickstarter goal in 48 minutes. Can’t believe you have exceeded it by 4 times with two weeks remaining. It’s really incredible.

So anytime I look at a series here on Goodreads there is always a steep drop off in the number of ratings by book as a series progresses. Do you take that into consideration when planning a series?

With soon to be 16 books published in the Riyria universe and the 4 Iain listed in his comment do you find yourself tiring of writing in the same world or even in the fantasy genre itself?

What fantasy authors would you say you are comparable to in terms of sales or publishing success? Feel free to ignore this I couldn’t think of a better way to phrase it.

No questions yet. Just wanted to say that I'm a huge fan of your books. Yours is one of my favorite worlds to read about.

Timelord Iain wrote: "My only question right now, is if you have any news about :D

Nothing new to report about Drumindor (because I've not started it yet), but once I start, you'll see updates on that page. And, no, I don't think you'll have to wait for 2023/2024 for it. Having the Rise and Fall books coming out one per year gives me plenty of time to "slip in" another book's release between their dates. Now, that said, I've done 3 books in the last 10 months, so I need some decompression time, but I'm already mostly done with The Rise and Fall's first two books, and I'm hoping to have the third one written by the summer. So "in theory" I could write it in the fall of this year and release it sometime in 2021. Now, that's not a promise, and as I said, I feel a need for some slower pace for a while, but that's probably within the realm of possibility.

Thanks for asking!

Diana Stormblessed wrote: "No questions yet. Just wanted to say that I'm a huge fan of your books. Yours is one of my favorite worlds to read about."

Why thank you. That's so good to hear. I'll do my best to keep the books coming!

Tammie wrote: "Yay!"

I'm thrilled to be here. Connecting with fellow readers is one of my favorite things to do!

No questions yet either. You always mention in your Riyria Chronicles books' prefaces that you'll write them if, and only if, there is a demand. So here's one more vote for more Hadrian & Royce. I really hope you'll eventually cover the entire period between their first meeting and the beginning of Revelations.

Michael wrote: "Tammie wrote: "Yay!"

I'm thrilled to be here. Connecting with fellow readers is one of my favorite things to do!"

We all love and appreciate that you do that.

Bill wrote: "Hi Michael. Congratulations on hitting your kickstarter goal in 48 minutes. Can’t believe you have exceeded it by 4 times with two weeks remaining. It’s really incredible.

Thanks! Yeah, it's been pretty amazing. My Kickstarter backers are always very supportive. We are just 5 days in and need just a tad over $2,200 to make it to six-figures! That's pretty amazing considering there are only a handful of fiction Kickstarters to reach that level (and two of the others are also mine ;-)


Bill wrote: "So anytime I look at a series here on Goodreads there is always a steep drop off in the number of ratings by book as a series progresses. Do you take that into consideration when planning a series?"

So, I'm not "exactly" sure what you are asking...so, I'm going to take a stab at it. If I guessed wrong and you want to provide some additional information I'll certainly augment my answer. So, the number of ratings is closely tied to sales, and yeah, by definition you are going to have some "fall off" from one book to the next. So there is A, and then B becomes a % of A, and then C is a % of B, and so on. What that basically means is that by the time you get to the end you've had x-1 dips where x is the number of books. So, what I "think" you may be asking is whether I consider how many books a series should be because of these fall-offs? Is that what you are getting at? If so, the answer is no. I never know how many books a series will be until I start writing. I think originally Riyria Revelations was supposed to be 5, but I realized I had a "large gap" with missing information so it expanded. Legends was supposed to be a trilogy, but then as I was "wrapping" it up, I realized I could take the story into a whole new area and so it grew and eventually became 6. So, while I may start off "shooting" for a number of books, I use as many (or as few) as are necessary to get the tale told the way I want it. From a "marketing" standpoint I guess if I were to put on that hat I would say, "Well two trilogies would be better than 1 six-book series, but since both of my finished series are six books you can see that the "fall off" wasn't on my mind. Bottom line. I want the story to be the best it can be, and I write the number of books required to make that happen.


Bill wrote: "With soon to be 16 books published in the Riyria universe and the 4 Iain listed in his comment do you find yourself tiring of writing in the same world or even in the fantasy genre itself?"

Not at all! If I were to get tired, I'd switch to something else. The fact that I keep returning to Elan is an indication that I really enjoy writing in this world. When I first started Riyria, there was a lot of "world-building" stuff that never made it onto the page (because it wasn't necessary to the story told). Also lied...a lot... because history is written by the victors and myths and legends can grow based on how powerful people chose to promote certain events or people. So, writing Legends gave me the opportunity to show what REALLY happened and I liked exploring the past through those tales. In the new series "The Rise and the Fall" I get to "fill in the blanks" between Legends and Riyria, so I've found those three books to be very fun to write. Once I finish them the story of Elan is prety much done -- with the exception of one book that might require a post-Riyria Revelations tale - and I'm not sure whether I will do that or not. Once all of Elan has been explored, I'll feel that it is pretty "nicely knitted up" and then I'll be looking for something else.

Now as far as the Riyria Chronicles...I just love hanging out with Royce and Hadrian, and my wife loves seeing the pair as well. I don't want the two to overstay their welcome, so if the readers indicate "it's time for them to go" I'll heed their wishes. But I really enjoy every time I sit down and reunite with them, so if I had my druthers, I'd revisit with them often.

Bill wrote: "What fantasy authors would you say you are comparable to in terms of sales or publishing success? Feel free to ignore this I couldn’t think of a better way to phrase it.

Hmm. That's hard to say because careers go up and down. I'm pretty fortunate that my career seems to be more up than down. There was a time when I felt I was "on par" (from a sales perspective" with author x or y, and now I think I've surpassed those people. Then there are others that I felt I was "catching up with" and they do a new release and I fall behind again. For many, many years I didn't think I had a right to consider myself to have earned a place at the "big kids" table and sit next to the likes of Sanderson, Rothfuss, Hobb, Eddings, Brett, and Weeks. I'm still not at their level, (and probably never will), which is fine. The only one I need to compete against is myself. As long as I'm writing books that I like, and others seem to as well. Then I've "made it" to the table I want to sit at.

Thanks for asking - great questions!

Virginie wrote: "No questions yet either. You always mention in your Riyria Chronicles books' prefaces that you'll write them if, and only if, there is a demand. So here's one more vote for more Hadrian & Royce. I really hope you'll eventually cover the entire period between their first meeting and the beginning of Revelations."

Hey, thanks! I'd put it just a tad differently -- it's not a matter of whether there is demand -- because that makes it sound like a financial decision, which isn't the case. It's more of a matter of not wanting to be "that guy" who kept on going long after he should have stopped. If the books start to get stale or become a shadow of what they once were (either because I've run out of ideas, or I don't have the same "spark" as I used to), then I would rather see them "cut short" and have the quality remain high, then to "keep going" and tarnish what used to be a good thing.

There's good news concerning the "jury being in" now that The Disappearance of Winter's Daughter has been out for a while. That's why there is a Goodreads page for Drumindor - it's an indication that I will write the next installment. As for more after that? Well, we'll have to take the pulse when that time comes.

Tammie wrote: "We all love and appreciate that you do that."

You are very sweet for saying that. I love Goodreads - and I'm so glad to be a member of this community.

Hi Michael. I’ve been sick so hadn’t noticed you replied before now.

You guessed right on my first question so thanks for that.

I’m always in the camp for more Royce and Hadrian. After reading through the entirety of Legends I’m planning on jumping back into a reread of all of the Riyria material. I’m so excited to get back to their adventures and seeing what connections I can make.

Thanks for the great answers and for taking the time to do this Q&A.

Hope you are feeling better, Bill. It is a lot of fun jumping back and forth between the series to see the various Easter eggs come into view. They certainly CAN be read independently, but for those who do read both, there is a bunch of added "winks and nods" because you are "in the know."

Thank you for answering my non-question, Michael. You're right, I didn't mean 'demand' in a financial way, but more as in 'a horde of fans clamoring for more Royce & Hadrian'.

@Virginie - Yeah, I figured as much. If people still want to read stories with the pair, no one is happier about that than I. I really enjoy writing the Riyria books.

So I just read Pile of Bones and I have a question. Maybe I missed it from the other books but (spoiler tagging for anyone who hasn't read it)(view spoiler)[was Tura really Muriel?? Or did Turin have multiple kids? I mean, Tura couldn't be Muriel right? Cuz Tura didn't live in a bog. Are there more Turin offspring we're going to meet? I have so many questions. Side note, I loved Minna and was happy to have her back in my life for even 46 pages. (hide spoiler)]

Hey Diana, Thanks for reading Pile of Bones, and for the question. I'll also answer with spoiler tags.

(view spoiler)[No Tura isn't Muriel. Your second guess was correct he has more than one child. As to whether there are other Turin offspring running around...I won't say more right now, because that could be a potential spoiler (hide spoiler)]

Glad your were able to have Minna back in your life for a bit.