I just stumbled upon the original list of books for Swords of Fire! There were twenty.
Book 1: The Prophecies of Madatar
The rest of the original series has been abandoned in favor of changes to the saga.
Book 2: Fernando - King of the West
Book 3: The Freedom Fighters
Book 4: The Warlord's Darkness
Book 5: Elden's Quest
Book 6: Hail the King
Book 7: The Dragon's Revenge
Book 8: In a World Alone
Book 9: Lords of the Land
Book 10: Private Challenge-To Where the Winds Blow
Book 11: Era of Men
Book 12: The Life
Book 13: Conquest
Book 14: Dragons and Horses
Book 15: Attack on Eternity
Book 16: The Cloud
Book 17: Highway to Freedom
Book 18: The New Land
Book 19: The House of Fernando
Book 20: The Great Sea
The original Book I is now Book I and Book II. Some of the remaining stories I feel bad about losing, but changes to the saga meant a completely new direction after the current Book II. (Remember I've talked about losing important scenes because of the way a story flows? Well how about this: I lost nineteen books.)
The original Books 3-12 are especially painful to let go, but there is no going back now. The new direction is so much better. A lot of interesting characters are not going to exist, though. Pity.
But I wanted to show that my thirty+ years of effort haven't been spent on a single book, but instead on a saga. This story is vast. I'm so glad I didn't throw that list away.
Sailors on the Sea
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
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2 comments:
I can't imagine having all those books thought out - and then being willing to let so many of them go as the story develops.
It's impressive.
I had written the first, and most of the second. I may even have finished it. Can't remember.
When the time came, in the late 1980s or early 1990s, that the story took an unexpected turn, I struggled with it for a long time before realizing the turn made for a better story. The outlines for the remaining stories were all in my head.
The new saga doesn't go out so far. I've only got six books on tap, which coincidentally brings me to about the same place as the original Book 6.
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