The Shadow Wolf Sagas: The Whores’s War Post-Mortem and link collection.
Last week I finished with the serial version of the third installment of The Shadow Wolf Sagas, The Whores’s War. Later in the fall I will be re-writing and editing the series and then releasing it in book format around Christmas. For now I would like to post my thoughts on the third book and the series as a whole.
Firstly, the title, The Whores’s War is meant to be kind of sensational. The titular war is a conflict in the book, but it is more about Unions and collective bargaining power than strumpets stabbing each other. I don’t know if it stands out other than that, we shall have to see if it drives interest in the book.
In the book, Ragnar finally uncovers the mysteries of his first death and his exile and then returns to the North to pass judgement on the person who killed his King. Honestly I find this to be the weakest part of the serial, and will likely flesh it out more in the final re-write. The stakes need to be higher, and the reader needs to feel Ragnar’s decision and understand why he comes to it better.
Finally, although this book has the best action scene of the bunch, I do feel it is lacking in that regard. The problems is that simply inserting action sometimes seems forced.
As a whole I enjoyed writing the series. I feel that I have a better grasp of first person perspective. I do feel that the first Shadow Wolf book was the strongest, and sometimes wonder if I should have left it there or taken more time with it later. My next serial will be more of a one-off, i think.
Thanks for reading!
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