I thought I'd make a status update here, as I really haven't made one lately and I figured you all might appreciate it. I'm currently working on Portals of Infinitey, Book 8 (working title: On The Border). I'd hoped to have the first draft complete last Friday, but I had outpatient surgery last Tuesday and I
ended up getting very little work done after that. So I'm hoping to be
first draft complete by the end of this week. I don't have a target date
on release for that one yet, it will be sometime this month.
On
the Valens Legacy. I'd hoped to start writing that this week, but odds
are that won't happen until next week. I'm still hoping to get that out
by the end of this month, but with losing a week that may slip a
little.
So that's where things stand currently. Hopefully I'll have some more interesting stuff for you soon. There are a lot more Valens stories to come, and a few other things in the works as well.
Hope you're doing better =)
ReplyDeleteSince I loved Shadow and the Valens Legacy I decided to give Portals a try... The first book was alright, but that second book was aweful, sorry =( Stephanie REALLY killed the story for me. And Will being so blase' about his ex sleeping with another man nearby REALLY REALLY killed it. Thankfully I chose to ignore that book completely. Loved 3-6 liking 7, can't wait for 8.
I don't understand why you had issues with it in the second book but not during the long trip where everyone slept around. Its not like Wil hadn't slept with at least 4 women we KNEW about by book 2.
DeleteI always get annoyed by the man being a "stud" but the woman is a "slut." :)
Yeah. I finished first 4 books of the Portals. Not well done. Particularly for main character who is supposed to be an engineer. The first time he does any engineering is in book 3 or 4 with the dam and the stirrups for the mounts.
ReplyDeleteIf you want a good few books with modern engineer in medieval setting, then you want the first 3 or 4 books of Conrad Stargard series by Leo Frankowski.
I am not planning on buying anymore of the Portals books anytime soon. I would rather wait and spend my money on Valens books.
You know that it was specifically mentioned, in more than one place in the series, that any knowledge that he had, was suppressed by the rules until someone else discovered the principle on Saladin?
DeleteIt was the same basic rule of 'Champions can't bring advanced items into their god's world'. I don't know why so many people miss that. Otherwise all of the gods would just bring in people from advanced worlds and build super weapons.
Again, I mentioned it more than once in the series. I don't know why people keep missing it. Everything that happens that makes you scratch your head is covered by a rule, that sooner or later gets explained.
Thank you for explaining. Yes, I completely missed the ban on advanced knowledge.
DeleteI don't want to waste your time, but I think it would be a good idea to make a post on your blog(s) specifically addressing this bit.
The sad part for me is that I was hoping for something similar to Conrad Stargard series, where engineer does some engineering. And when I did not find it in the first four Portals books, I felt extra disappointed. Obviously I was "projecting". This is no fault of your's. At the same time, I would rather spend my money on something else, including your Valens books.
I can't fault you for enjoying that kind of story, as an engineer myself (BSEE) I enjoyed those stories too. But the problem was if I had done that in this series, it would have become unbalanced, and done so rather quickly. So I had to do something to rein it in early on.
DeleteI'm not sure where a good place to post it would be, perhaps on my webpage where I have the subpage about the series?
And I'm okay with your not liking that series. I understand that everything I write won't please everyone. I'm still regretting the decision to publish 'Lost Souls' under my own name. While I enjoyed writing that story (and I have another entire novel in that world that now will never see the light of day) my fans didn't. Which is why the Stryvant pen name was born, to give me a little 'brand separation' so I wouldn't upset anybody.
Honestly, I'm rather surprised at how many folks who like what I write under the one name, enjoy what I write under the other one. But again, I understand that everything that I write won't please everyone, and just as an FYI: I'll be starting work on the next Valens book on Monday.
Thanks for enjoying the Valens stories and for buying them.
My thought on the rule about no new tech by a champion is that some one who would already know about a new invention would also know how to better exploit it and also would be able to look over peoples ideas from that world and know which ones to encourage. This may be bending the rules or notb ut it is a possibility. Also the champion might encourage studies in certain areas that he would know to be beneficial.
DeleteI am another retired BSEE. I find I like the stories of those who thing logically, but they also have to understand the dynamics of human interaction. I find you are also good at that, but the Valens series is better with that than Portals,
I look forward to more books in both series.
FWIW I caught the "rules" and though it was well covered. Really there was no reason the MC *had* to be an engineer. The small parts of his "training" that he uses could have been a history buff or wargamer. But it does speak to the logical mindset.
DeleteThe way you would game the rules though, is let in a few higher tech folks that are NOT your Champions. The gods seem to be self-balancing though. I rather like the series overall.
Just started reading your portals saga and so far I love it!!
ReplyDeleteAlmost finished the 2nd book which I feel slows down the saga so far, but still like what I'm reading!
The next books 3 to five just arrived so I can't wait to check them out(Also for the second book, I think Cyn's a major asshole)!! : D
Yeah, he is, isn't he? :-)
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