Book 2 Complete
Our fearless, often hapless, heroes from Tyrconnell are no longer "lost" in the Otherworld. They're reunited, and they've got the lay of three lands.
I want to thank you for reading this. As I mentioned on RoyalRoad, this whole... saga? Is everything a saga now?
This story began in another media (video games) as a way to connect with a son stricken by a disorder very similar to our hero, Donal. Then it became inspiration for another media (music). Halfway through The Blighted Treasure it became catharsis. After Reforging a Blacksmith and Wolf Hunt it held promise, and halfway through Lost in the Otherworld it became an absolute labor of love.
Initially, the Sílrad were supposed to be in possession of the Sword and Spear by the end of the second book to prepare for the final fight, but there was no way to move the plot that quickly without sacrificing character development and world immersion.
"That means they'll get the weapons in Book 3, right?"
You'd think so, right? Here's what I can tell you about the story so far:
If you've come by this post without reading any of the books, there are some light to moderate spoilers in this list.
Expand these items at your own risk.
Changed or scrapped plans made while writing Scions of the Otherworld (so far):
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…wasn't supposed to follow the trio into the final fight in Wolf Hunt
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…was supposed to be the acolyte to her uncle in Wolf Hunt, forgotten by the start of Book 2
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…was a no-doubter to join the Sílrad in the Otherworld.
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…was given Breaslin's "Prince Zuko" arc. Does that mean Breaslin is irredeemable? Never say never, but also, I've never liked anti-heel-turns for the sake of them.
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not only was Finn and Maeve supposed to the couple, one of my Top 3 rules for the entire series was that Siobhan and Finn would never get together at any point.
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…the steward was supposed to bestow one of them with the Sword of Light.
So what is the timetable for Book 3?
One lesson I learned from Book 2 is that I will not give into impulse and go live before the entire story is done. The last third of Book 2 took as long to write as the first two-thirds. Some of that time was promotion and graphics, some of that was due to personal matters, but I didn't get as many editing passes before Book 2 went live (specifically here) as I did for Book 1.
(I've gone back through of course for a hybrid continuity/line edit pass on both Patreon and Royal Road)
If I have the same summer schedule as I've had for the past two years, I'm tentatively targeting late September/early October 2026 on Royal Road, with 15-20 chapters live on Patreon before the RR release.
Thank you
I want to thank my paid access audience. I don't have the money for professional covers yet, but your help has drawn me closer to that goal.