#ThrowbackThursday: FOW

I think it's safe to say that Fortunes of War is the most divisive installment of the Drake Chronicles. So far, anyway. Some people enjoyed it, some people swore never to return to the series after it, and some are, thankfully, hanging in there to see how the series resolves. 

For my part, I had a bit of wicked, writerly delight in twisting our already-tangled threads into even more difficult knots...but that's because I know what comes next. The author always has the advantage of foresight. And to some extent, those really angry reviews tell me that those pissed-off readers were really engaged with the characters, and are as a result feeling some big emotions in response to those characters' decisions and actions. The reader anger is a good thing, in the short term. And like I've said before: I've still got lots of cooking to do.

When I started writing Heart of Winter, I intended it to be the first book in a trilogy - but not in the way you're probably thinking. HOW was originally going to include the events of Edge of the Wild and Blood of Wolves, too. All three books of the existing series were going to be the first novel in the trilogy. My brain works best in long form, and fat books are my jam. I stepped away from my norm, though, because I'd not written in this genre before, and didn't want to invest months on an 800 page monster until I got a feel for how the story would be received (even in 2020, "romantasy" wasn't a word being used). As a result, each book in the series is shorter and more manageable. 

When looked at this way, books 1-3 are technically book one, which means books 4-6 are technically book two. The second book in any trilogy is one in which the characters' problems multiply, without any solutions in sight. The second installment in any trilogy is messy; a little scary, oftentimes hopeless. Think of The Two Towers, or The Empire Strikes Back. There are small-scale victories, sure, but overall, the story resembles a shaken can of Coke. 

I think Fortunes of War suffers for this. If looked at in the trilogy format, it's the middle part of a middle book, and it raises far more questions than it answers. 

For the final part of the "trilogy," I've decided to end the series on book seven. It'll be one big final act, in which all the conflicts are resolved. Some big action, some swoony romantic endings, and everyone goes home happy. I'm working on book six now, and it does answer some important questions...but also complicates things further. It drops a reveal that no one has guessed yet, so I'm very excited about that. It also reveals why we spent so much time on seeming side pairings in Fortunes. 

It was slow going at first, since I took so much time away from the series to work on That Giant Book, but now I'm back in the groove, and hoping Avarice won't take me much longer. If you stuck it out through FOW, you won't want to miss this one!