Hey, all, itâs me, Robin. Iâm Michaelâs wife and âhelper bee.â You probably donât know me or what I do, but I see myself as having two primary roles. First, Iâm here to take as much of the administrative burden off Michaelâs plate so we can get more stories. To that end, I manage the Kickstarters, organize and run the beta and gamma reader programs, and I also coordinate with . . . well . . . everyone: agents, copyeditors, printers, narrators, designers, and distribution partners. Second, Iâm Michaelâs alpha reader, which means I get to read the book before anyone elseâone of the perks of being married to the author! Hopefully, Iâve made the story better through my early feedback and the editing support Iâve provided throughout the creation process.
For people who have read my other afterwords, you know this is where I get to âdishâ about my favorite (and sometimes disliked) parts of the book, so letâs dig in.
Michael often teaches new authors that writing a book is similar to flying a plane. By that I mean that the most critical times are the takeoff and landing. I couldnât agree more, and I think he nailed it in this one. Itâs not easy starting a new series. There is so much to convey, and you want to do so efficiently while still being entertaining. For me, I felt a connection to Nolyn right from the start. But the best part of the opening was watching the unspoken communication between Jerel and Amicus that had me gleefully anticipating when I would find out what they knew that I didnât.
Oh, and before I go any further, let me state for the record how much I enjoyed the masterful way that Michael spun the tale. Yes, dear, I said masterful, but donât get a swollen head. What Iâm referring to are the early mentions of (a) Audrey, (b) losing your soul if you break Ferrolâs Law, and (c) how important it is for the dead to reach Phyre. It wasnât until I re-read the book that I noticed how these things come full circle. I tip my hat to you, dear husband. I knew I was wise to snatch you up when I did.
Okay, other likes.I adored every scene where we were inside Arvis Dyerâs head. The way her scrambled mind thought, the bravery she exhibited when Death pays a visit, and her courage to fend off the foes in the sewers to save Nurgya were all favorites of mine. Please do me a favor, go back and reread the first two paragraphs of chapter ten. The opening of the scene is beautiful and heartbreaking.
Another favorite aspect of mine was the camaraderie of the men-at- arms that are the Seventh Sik-Aux. Jerelâs unrestrained devotion to Nolyn, Amicusâs initially skeptical view of his new commander that bloomed into shared respect, and even the comic relief of Smirch made me look forward to the scenes when we returned to this band of brothers.
And then there were the surprises! To be honest, I didnât expect to see Malcolm. And I completely missed all the clues during the scene with the bakers. In fact, when MawynduleÌ first mentioned that Seymourâs name was obviousâI, too, was taken in. I thought to myself, Why didnât I suspect this all-too-convenient monk. And then I was proven wrong when Malcolm dropped the bow string to Sephryn.
While it may seem odd, one of my favorite parts of this book is that things didnât go the way Malcolm planned. Iâm a massive fan of the old television show Quantum Leap, where Sam Becket is âstriving to put right what once went wrong,â and that is Malcolm in a nutshell. If everything always worked out for him, this series wouldnât be nearly as interesting. But Michael upped his game in this book by showing us that even Malcolm can trip and fall. And my husband broke my heart by making Sephryn pay the price for Malcolmâs shortcomings.
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Speaking of which, I know from my interactions with the beta readers that Sephrynâs fate is a disappointment to some. But I have a different perspective. First, I think she, Nolyn, and Nurgya will have hundreds of bliss-filled years together. Also, Sephryn is like me in that we are happiest when we have goals to strive toward and positive results come from our efforts. I see a lot of potential for that in her new role as empress, so that gives me hope. But I also know that Michael is a âhappily ever afterâ kind of guy, and Iâm confident he has some tricks up his sleeve. And, no, this isnât a carrot Iâm dangling because of things I know about privately. Itâs just that after forty-two years, I know how Michael thinks, and we are both romantics at heart. But even if Iâm wrong about that, another book of Michaelâs has taught me that people who have broken Ferrolâs law can still have a happy existence filled with purpose and fulfillment even if that means finding it on the face of Elan rather than in Phyre.
While we are on the subject of Sephryn, I should mention that just because Iâm not singing her praises doesnât mean I didnât like her. On the contrary, I enjoyed her quite a bit. But as I already mentioned, we are a lot alike, so itâs awkward for me to say too much about her.
Now for my one gripe: Moya. The first time I met her in Age of Myth, I wasnât impressed. To me, she was a âpretty girl with a cheeky mouth,â who I had seen before. In many ways, I thought of her as a throwaway character. But then came Age of Swords, and Michael changed my entire perspective (something he has done on multiple occasions, so I shouldnât have been surprised). Anyway, after one particular scene, she became one of my favorites of all time. Because of my love for Moya, I wanted her and Sephryn to be close. In many ways, they are, but not how I wanted them to be. I wasnât fond of how Michael portrayed my beloved Moya in this book, and even though what we saw was âMoya as seen through Sephrynâs eyes,â I hope new readers donât get the wrong impression. From a story perspective, I know why Michael made the choices he did, but I still wish I could have convinced him for some changes.
While I wasnât able to influence the book in that particular case, there are places where my feedback did result in alterations. One of the cool things about writing an afterword is providing a behind-the-scenes peek into the creative process, so Iâd like to share one of those now. In the original version, Trilos was in Seymourâs body from page one. When I discovered this, it âtaintedâ my early impressions of the monk. What I saw as a genuine and sincere person turned out to be a deceptive and manipulative cretin, and that didnât sit well with me. After much debate, Michael conceded that I could have my well-loved monk and that Trilos would take over âat some point,â but he left the time of transition vague and untold. As a readerâs advocate, I thought some would feel they had been the victim of a bait and switch, so Michael eventually added the scene where we see Trilos step in.
That illustrates just one of the thousands of decisions made during the creation process. Ultimately, how much you enjoy a book depends on how often you agree with the authorâs choices, and I hope that in the case of Nolyn, itâs more often than not.
Well, my time is up. I sincerely hope youâll return to Elan for the release of Farilane in the summer of 2022. Itâs one of Michaelâs favorite books and for many valid reasons. For now, Iâll bid my adieu by saying thank you for the continued fantastic support. Michael and I will keep working hard to provide you with the best stories we can.
Robin Sullivan April 20, 2021