By now, I’m guessing many of the people who’ve read books 1 – 4 have given up on me. So many series authors end up not finishing, that I’d be in very good (or actually terrible) company if I took that easy route. But I woudn’t do that to my readers, some of whom once were goading me non-stop to finish, and to whom I’m eternally grateful for keeping me going during those middle book times when it seemed the end was forever in the future. That point has passed, and so have those emails, because I took inordinately long and no one keeps trying forever.
But beneath the surface, the story is bubbling and about ready to erupt. Book 5 is finished, is at the beta readers, and I’m waiting for them to complete it before I make the final changes and publish. So far, the feedback has been great, which makes me happy, because I wanted to end the series with a bang. And, above you see the book cover, painted by the incredibly talented Raoul Vitale. The picture and reason for the title will become apparent as you read this final drama.
Yes, this is the end. Spellgiver is reaching its grand finale, but not before it turns the world upside down once again.
In book 5, Larin, Sirte, Trana and Rhelas continue their quest to find the last surviving indigen gods, who hold the key to the fate of every living creature. But before they can waken the Carvers, Larin and his friends must first survive the bloody streets of Tenictlan, a city founded on a prehistoric curse and buttressed by ancient knowledge that could either render all Larin’s power obsolete, or magnify it a hundred-fold. For atop the crimson-stained pyramids of the city stands an ancestor Queen with impossible magic that bends reality itself. And before he can face her, he must first survive bloody priests, treacherous nobles, and a city power structure that values him and his friends no greater than the trash that bobs along the canals.
Meanwhile, another quest is brewing. Tira, Laniette, and a strange mystic who can’t look away from the future must embark on a journey to the Shernock Swamps to retrieve Klimoths—a race cursed by a feud from the mists of history. These indigen creatures will bond with humans in a way that no other living being could, a binding that will forge from us something new. For the world is shifting, humanity is bending, civilization as we know it is in peril, and nothing will be as it was. On their quest, Tirla and her compatriots will have to brave not only the strange flora and fauna of Shernock, but a lidathi society that is fracturing, and a humanity whose very civilizational foundations are crumbling at the core. Yet they have no choice but to continue, for only their mission can save the world from the indigen apocalypse.
I’d love to say more, but obviously I have to avoid spoilers. Still, I promise: as this is the end of the Spellgiver series, all questions and mysteries will be answered. I hope you’ll take this ride with me, and follow this epic journey to its final conclusion.
As for timeline? I’m planning to pubish book 5 in October of this year, and will write another blog when it is released.
Til then, thanks so much for hanging in there, my readers. We will talk soon.