justMANGO asked James Islington:

When Licanius got as big as it did, did it come as a surprise to you? Did it create any pressure on the writing of Hierarchy, and do you have any tips for alleviating the daunting fear that readers won't like the next one as much as the last? (Asking from the perspective of a little-known fantasy author debuting in '26.) Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions!

James Islington It was very much a surprise! I think the worst pressure I've felt was while writing Echo - partly because I was worried the first book's success was a fluke, but mainly because that one felt very 'make or break' in terms of whether I could really make a career out of it (particularly with the responsibility of starting a family around the same time).

(Hierarchy, funnily enough, was almost the opposite - I'd proven I could complete a fairly complicated series with what I felt was a really satisfying ending, which let me take some swings with the story which I'm not sure I would have been confident enough to do, otherwise)

Having said that, I think that fear that the next book somehow won't live up to the last one is pretty natural (and I don't think it ever really goes away, no matter how many books you've written). I'm not sure I have any tips to deal with it, unfortunately! Except I suppose it's important to remember that as much as we want readers to love our books, it's impossible to guess what's going to click or not click for everyone else, and in the end it's still your story first - so as long as you're happy with it, that's kind of all you can do!

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