Cassan Astor Series Likely to be Five Books, Not Four
As I write the Cassan Astor series of books, it is important to think ahead. Too many authors run into trouble by not planning out the ending well enough. As scopes tend to increase, more characters tend to be added, more threads are developed, and it can be an easy trap to bubble the story until it gets too unwieldly. Therefore, I wanted to plan the events of book 4, which I have tentatively called Cassan Astor and the Harbinger’s War.
The outline is good. Really good. As I was writing it, there were a few specific moments that I thought to myself, this is really awesome and I cannot wait to get to this moment.
What is Cassan Astor and the Harbiner’s War? A long epic primarily focusing on three main characters. The multiple characters thing is nothing new. Certainly, Cassan Astor and the Desert Empress shares two main characters about 50/50. But to properly tell the story, it is going to need a lot more than just that. There are big battles, bit political maneuvers, and lots of geography to cover.
Reasonably looking at it, I’m beginning to think it might take five books instead of four to finish the story I want to tell. Then again, I suppose I could just make the final book really, really long… but either way, it’s going to be a lot.
Right now, the series I have planned is as follows:
Cassan Astor and the Desert Empress (releasing May 18th)
Cassan Astor and the Sea of Krakens (in editing phase right now – releasing later this year)
Cassan Astor and the Immortal King (currently being written)
Cassan Astor and the Harbinger’s War (just wrote the outline)
Cassan Astor and the ??? (maybe fifth book – just wrote the outline)
Time will ultimately tell, but this currently seems to be the most reasonable outcome.
In the meantime, Cassan Astor and the Desert Empress is currently available for pre-order. Get your copy today!
