I’m about to finish my longest running series. When I do, I’m going to rebrand/renumber it in order to make it less confusing. Unfortunately, there is no way I will avoid confusing some people, but I’d like to confuse as few as possible. So let’s walk back in time…
In the misty pasts of 2007, when the internet was still a teenager, and the all the artists were still on DevientArt, and the first iPhone had JUST been released, I started a book called The Guild of the Cowry Catchers. It was set in the same world as my Prophet of Panamindorah novels, but intended for a more adult audience. I thought it would be about sixty thousand words. *insert hysterical laughter*
Three hundred thousand words and one year later, I had a 5-part epic - a high fantasy, action/adventure story, wrapped around a gay/bi romance, featuring an entirely non-human cast. As you may have guessed, the market was not begging for this at the time (or ever). Nevertheless, I released the books in 2010, first in podcast form, then in ebook and paper. The story attracted a small, but fiercely devoted audience. These are my oldest fans (hi, guys!).
I wrote quite a few short stories for those fans. The short stories filled in gaps and provided additional insight above the characters. Sometimes they spawned new plot lines. I began packaging those stories into collections. The first collection was actually about the Prophet of Panamindorah characters. Put a pin in that for later.
Around 2014, I had an idea for an airship story, and I wanted to set it in Panamindorah. While Cowry Catchers gives a reasonably happy conclusion for our main (MM) couple, the broader world is in chaos when the story ends. There's clearly a long road ahead to peace, and some readers found that fact unsatisfying. I thought I could use my airship story to show how things wound up for the broader world.
That book was The Scarlet Albatross, and it was intended to be an entry point into the setting. For this reason, I called it Book One of a new series (Refugees). However, the book ended up containing tons of call-backs to Cowry Catchers. While it is a new cast of characters, they have many personal ties to the Cowry cast. At the end of Albatross, the two groups run headlong into each other.
The next book, Jager Thunder, is one of the most difficult novels I've ever plotted, because I had lots of smart characters with strong opinions meeting, interacting, and bouncing off each other as they tried to solve difficult problems. In addition, the book showcases big, sweeping changes in the larger world. I was happy with the results, though, and the readers seemed to like it.
In between each of these books, I kept writing short stories to showcase interesting tidbits (and occasionally significant details) that didn't make it into the novels proper. By this point, there were 4 volumes of short stories. And, I remind, you long-suffering reader, that the first volume of short stories is about Prophet, which is barely related to Cowry Catchers. Confused yet?
Now we come to the present. I have ambitious plans to wrap up this entire saga in one novel - The Cormorant. It will give satisfying conclusions to all of the major players. The novel has been challenging, but the end is in sight.
At this point, I'm thinking about how I want to present this series when it's finished. I know I need to do some renumbering/rebranding. Originally, I had hoped that people would arrive through both Cowry Catchers and Albatross. I also intended many of the short stories to be entry points into the series. In actual fact, most people start with Cowry and read straight through. Some of them stop after Cowry because they don't realize there's more story. Many of them skip the short stories because they think they're optional. It's kind of a mess.
My current suggested reading order is:
The Guild of the Cowry Catchers (available as 5 individual books or the complete series volume)
Secret Things (Stories from Panamindorah Volume 2)
The Scarlet Albatross (Refugees Book 1)
When We Were Young (Stories from Panamindorah Volume 3)
Jager Thunder (Refugees Book 2)
Before the Wind (Stories from Panamindorah Volume 4)
The Cormorant (Refugees Book 3)
So...this "series" is listed under 3 different series names, and one of them doesn't even start with Book 1! *weeps*
My plan to fix it: I'll rebrand the entire series as Pirates of Wefrivain. The books will be:
Book 1 - The Guild of the Cowry Catchers (Currently Cowry 1-3)
Book 2 - Shores Beyond the World (Currently Cowry 4-5)
Book 3 - The Scarlet Albatross
Book 4 - Jager Thunder
Book 5 - The Cormorant
I will tuck the short stories into the backs of the novels. People may still skip them, but at least they'll know how I intend for the story to be read.
Now, I know that some of you have purchased all the previous books and want a version of Cormorant that says "Refugees Book 3" and matches the old series. I have heard your cries! I will (briefly) issue a limited edition version of Cormorant that matches the old set.
In addition, some of you have partially complete paperback sets, or you just like the old covers. Folks: grab those old books in the next couple of months, because they are going away! You can get a limitless number on Amazon (obviously) until I unpublish them. But if you want signed copies, it's first come, first served, and I will not replace my stock. I only have 1 copy of some of these books, so if that's what you want, get them now!
Because I am trying to clear these books out of my signed book store, I'm offering a 25% discount. Enter this code at check out: BWXTRRG
In order to make it clear which books are discounted, I've created a category tag called "Discounted." These are the books I'm talking about.
If you're thinking of starting the Cowry Catchers/ Refugees series, you might want to wait and get the renumbered/rebranded books, particularly if you're reading in paper. However, all the same content will be in the story either way. I'm changing the presentation, not the content, so do what makes sense to you. If you want to start reading now, you might catch up with me just in time for Cormorant. ;)
Finally, a warning for those of you coming to these books from my A. H. Lee romances: this is epic fantasy. It has strong romance subplots, but the structure is epic fantasy. If you can think of a trigger warning, it probably applies. There is assault and major character death and attempted suicide and and and and. There is NOT cheating (by my definition). There is, however, quite a bit of polyamory.
Romance guarantees you a happy ending. Epic fantasy does not.
However, I will say that, if you follow me all the way to the end (and I do mean ALL the way), you will get a pretty comprehensive Happily Ever After for more characters than you will think possible at the mid point in the series. If you walk with me into the dark, I will eventually lead you back out into the light. Hard-won warm fuzzies for readers who persist.
~Abbie