A. G. Wren
asked
Michael J. Sullivan:
Is there any chance that you will write a series set AFTER the events of the original trilogy of Hadrian and Royce?
Michael J. Sullivan
There was a time . . . a long time in fact . . . To understand why I’ve resisted this idea you first need to know how I write my books.
I am not a fan of stories that start out fantastic and then quickly run out of steam with each added installment. Usually, this happens because the author puts all their “best stuff” up front to gain an audience. I don’t do that. When I started writing the Riyria Revelations, I didn’t think any of them would be published, so I wasn’t concerned about making a “big splash” with my initial offering. Instead, I saved all the juicy stuff for the end. As a result, the last book in that series has been the best — by design — mostly because it was the culmination of everything that came before. Knowing I couldn’t top that, I wasn’t about to try.
The entire notion was incomprehensible. How could I raise the stakes higher than they were? How could I make the climax more dramatic? The series-long plotline had been satisfied and there was simply no way to top Percepliquis. In order to do that I would need a larger, profounder, over-arching plot: something with even greater stakes, more characters, and a bigger bang at the end. Without knowing it, what people were asking me to do would require nothing less than creating a whole new series devoted to the forming of the world and the Novronian Empire. Then it would be necessary for me to write another series linking those books to the Riyria stories. And somehow in doing all that, I must nurture a growing desire — no, a desperate need — on the part of the readers to see how it all turns out.
And that is just crazy.
A good case could be made that I am not altogether sensible because, of course, that’s exactly what I did when I spent a decade writing the Legends of the First Empire and The Rise and Fall series. This effort, that culminating in the publication of Farilane and Esrahaddon, launched a new contender for the most requested suggestion that has rocketed to the top spot: the desire to know what happens to Turin.
In one sense this was good, as that was the point after all, to establish a hunger in my readers for something greater. But it’s also like getting everyone’s attention by grabbing the microphone at a wedding. The audience expects you to say something worth hearing, and as it turns out, laying the foundation was the easy part of this challenge.
The obstacles were overwhelming. I would need to invent new content and seamlessly marry it to aspects of Elan previously known only to myself. I also had to tie up twenty books in a comprehensive bow all while maintaining the established rules and laws of my world — meaning I couldn’t cheat. These pre-established, load-bearing walls that can’t be relocated or removed, would hinder, if not entirely prevent, me from creating my be-all, end-all masterpiece that could challenge Percepliquis for the top spot. Because of this, I didn’t know if what I hoped to do was even possible.
When facing such an insurmountable task, I did what any normal person would do in my situation. I formed a committee of highly skilled experts in the world of Elan and ordered them to deliberate on the feasibility of contemplating such a project. This became The Exploratory Committee and given the necessary requirements to sit on such an esteemed advisory council, the TEC became a committee of one — me.
On February 23rd of the year 2022, The TEC entered the research and development room, and the door was nailed shut. For more than two and a half years the committee has deliberated in secrecy. Recently, however, there have been some leaks — both good and bad. Perhaps the worst is that “The Project” cannot receive a green light until all the required books have been written. I don’t like promising something I ultimately can’t deliver, so I won’t. The best news is that “The Project” has been officially renamed: The Cycle. This wouldn’t have happened if the committee didn’t have a high degree of confidence in the outcome because giving something a name has the power to breathe it into existence.
So . . . these days, the answer is quit different. I've finished the first two books and I'm very happy with them. If the project continues to go that way, the answer will turn to yes, but I won't be able to say so until I have it written.
TL:DR - Maybe. I'm working on it and we'll see how it goes.
I am not a fan of stories that start out fantastic and then quickly run out of steam with each added installment. Usually, this happens because the author puts all their “best stuff” up front to gain an audience. I don’t do that. When I started writing the Riyria Revelations, I didn’t think any of them would be published, so I wasn’t concerned about making a “big splash” with my initial offering. Instead, I saved all the juicy stuff for the end. As a result, the last book in that series has been the best — by design — mostly because it was the culmination of everything that came before. Knowing I couldn’t top that, I wasn’t about to try.
The entire notion was incomprehensible. How could I raise the stakes higher than they were? How could I make the climax more dramatic? The series-long plotline had been satisfied and there was simply no way to top Percepliquis. In order to do that I would need a larger, profounder, over-arching plot: something with even greater stakes, more characters, and a bigger bang at the end. Without knowing it, what people were asking me to do would require nothing less than creating a whole new series devoted to the forming of the world and the Novronian Empire. Then it would be necessary for me to write another series linking those books to the Riyria stories. And somehow in doing all that, I must nurture a growing desire — no, a desperate need — on the part of the readers to see how it all turns out.
And that is just crazy.
A good case could be made that I am not altogether sensible because, of course, that’s exactly what I did when I spent a decade writing the Legends of the First Empire and The Rise and Fall series. This effort, that culminating in the publication of Farilane and Esrahaddon, launched a new contender for the most requested suggestion that has rocketed to the top spot: the desire to know what happens to Turin.
In one sense this was good, as that was the point after all, to establish a hunger in my readers for something greater. But it’s also like getting everyone’s attention by grabbing the microphone at a wedding. The audience expects you to say something worth hearing, and as it turns out, laying the foundation was the easy part of this challenge.
The obstacles were overwhelming. I would need to invent new content and seamlessly marry it to aspects of Elan previously known only to myself. I also had to tie up twenty books in a comprehensive bow all while maintaining the established rules and laws of my world — meaning I couldn’t cheat. These pre-established, load-bearing walls that can’t be relocated or removed, would hinder, if not entirely prevent, me from creating my be-all, end-all masterpiece that could challenge Percepliquis for the top spot. Because of this, I didn’t know if what I hoped to do was even possible.
When facing such an insurmountable task, I did what any normal person would do in my situation. I formed a committee of highly skilled experts in the world of Elan and ordered them to deliberate on the feasibility of contemplating such a project. This became The Exploratory Committee and given the necessary requirements to sit on such an esteemed advisory council, the TEC became a committee of one — me.
On February 23rd of the year 2022, The TEC entered the research and development room, and the door was nailed shut. For more than two and a half years the committee has deliberated in secrecy. Recently, however, there have been some leaks — both good and bad. Perhaps the worst is that “The Project” cannot receive a green light until all the required books have been written. I don’t like promising something I ultimately can’t deliver, so I won’t. The best news is that “The Project” has been officially renamed: The Cycle. This wouldn’t have happened if the committee didn’t have a high degree of confidence in the outcome because giving something a name has the power to breathe it into existence.
So . . . these days, the answer is quit different. I've finished the first two books and I'm very happy with them. If the project continues to go that way, the answer will turn to yes, but I won't be able to say so until I have it written.
TL:DR - Maybe. I'm working on it and we'll see how it goes.
More Answered Questions
A Goodreads user
asked
Michael J. Sullivan:
Any possibility down the line (10 year anniversary?) of re-releasing Revelations with updated cover art? I'd love to see the artist for Legends of the First Empire update the cover-art from your original self-published editions. Those were super cool, especially The Emerald Storm and Wintertide!
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