Reader Question Day #66 – all about The World Of The Demonsouled

Bob L asks:

What is the World Of The Demonsouled, and in what orders should I read the stories?

Short answer: the World of the Demonsouled are short stories and novellas set in the setting of the DEMONSOULED books. There isn’t really an official order, since all the stories take place before DEMONSOULED actually starts, but in terms of the setting’s chronology, the stories go in this order:

THE WANDERING KNIGHT

THE TOURNAMENT KNIGHT

THE DRAGON’S SHADOW

Cover image Copyright Sauderdarcher | Dreamstime.com & Antares614 | Dreamstime.com

The two KNIGHT stories deal with the younger days of Mazael Cravenlock, while THE DRAGON’S SHADOW is sort of an origin story for Lucan Mandragon.

Now for the longer answer. 🙂

Back in 2012, I had the idea to write alternating novellas in THE GHOSTS and the DEMONSOULED series. Like, when I released a novel in THE GHOSTS, I would also release a novella set in DEMONSOULED, and when I released a novel in DEMONSOULED, I would also release a novella set in THE GHOSTS. I hoped this would tide people over between novel releases.

In practice, the idea didn’t quite work out. People were annoyed, since they wanted a full novel, but instead received a novella. Additionally, there was some confusion about chronology. For instance, GHOST DAGGER takes place between GHOST IN THE FLAMES and GHOST IN THE BLOOD, but several people thought it took place after GHOST IN THE STORM. Plus, while I am a pretty quick writer, it took at least two weeks to write each novella…which was would further delay the next novel release. I was also worried about the novellas degenerating into prequelitis and failing to move the overall story forward.

So I adjusted tactics, and instead decided to write a short story, set in the same world, to accompany every novel release. Additionally, I would give the short story away for free to my newsletter subscribers as a thank you.

That was a lot closer to the spirit of what I wanted to do, and it has worked out pretty well so far, so I will keep doing it for the foreseeable future.

That said, there will be more short stories in the World of the Demonsouled at some point. If you read to the end of SOUL OF SWORDS, you know I intend to write more novels in the setting. But before I get there, I might want to do a short story or two in the setting.

There will also be a World of the Frostborn, naturally. 🙂

Many people write to ask:

When is GHOST IN THE ASHES coming out?

Soon! 🙂 If all goes well, hopefully the week after the Fourth of July.

-JM