Reading Order_The Elan Dossier

The question I get asked the most is: Where should I start? Unfortunately, that's not an easy inquiry to answer because there are many places depending on what your preference is. Let's start by giving an overview of the books in each series (listed in the two most common ways (order of publication and chronological)

Order of Publication (Mostly)

* The Riyria Revelations: Theft of Swords (contains: The Crown Conspiracy & Avempartha) • (contains: Nyphron Rising & The Emerald Storm) •  Heir of Novron (contains: Wintertide & Percepliquis)

* The Riyria Chronicles: The Crown Tower • The Rose and the Thorn • The Death of Dulgath • The Disappearance of Winter’s Daughter • Drumindor (coming in 2024)

* Legends of the First Empire: Age of Myth • Age of Swords • Age of War • Age of Legend • Age of Death • Age of Empyre

* The Rise and Fall: Nolyn • Farilane • Esrahaddon

Chronological Order

* Legends of the First Empire: Age of Myth • Age of Swords • Age of War • Age of Legend • Age of Death • Age of Empyre

* The Rise and Fall: Nolyn • Farilane • Esrahaddon

* The Riyria Chronicles: The Crown Tower • The Rose and the Thorn • The Death of Dulgath • The Disappearance of Winter’s Daughter • Drumindor (coming in 2024)

I say "mostly" with regard to order or publication because the third Riyria Chronicle book came out before Book #1 of the Legneds of the First EMpire and book 4 of the Riyria Chronicles came out in the middle of the Legends books. But each of these books are "lumped" into timeline frames as follows:

* The Riyria Revelations: Furthest down the timeline

* The Riyria Chronicles: Occur a few years before Revelations (10 to be precise)

* Legends of the First Empire: Goes back to "pre-imperial time"about 3,000 years before Riyria

* The Rise and Fall: Spans a period of time from 850 years - 1,000 years showing the reign of the First Empire

Okay, so let's start by figuring out what series you should begin with. Generally, that will be "Riyria" or "Legends" and answering the following questions will help you determine which.

* Do you like epic fantasy with world-changing events or smaller more personal tales? Epic = Legends • Personal = Riyria.

* Do you like large casts or small ones? Large = Legends • Small = Riyria

* Do you prefer female protagonists or male? Female = Legends • Male = Riyria

* Do you prefer chronological order or order of publication? Chronological = Legends • Publication = Riyria

* Do you prefer books with "dire consequences" or those with "fun romps"? Dire: Legends • Fun = Riyria

* Do you prefer humor or gritty, dark tales? Humor: Riyria, Legends, or Rise and Fall • Grim dark = None of the above

* Do you prefer series or standalone books? Series: Riyria Revelations, Legends • Standalone = Riyria Chronicles #3+ or Rise and Fall

Now, let's start with the last question first. I'm going to assume that most people here prefer long tales, but let's say you're not necessarily "sold" on me as a writer, and you don't want to invest a lot of time to find out. If that's the case, here is my recommendation. If you are going to read only one of my books, I would suggest Farilane (Book #2 of the Rise and Fall). Now that might sound rather strange, no one in their right mind would suggest the "middle" book of a "middle" series but hear me out. First, I think that pound-for-pound it's my best work. And all three books in the series are pretty much standalone tales. Each focus on a particular main protagonist at a specific time in history - so you can actually read any of them. Farilane shares what all books do: characters people love to hang out with, compelling plots, and minimal world-building. But where it really shines is in its ending. It rivals the conclusion of Heir of Novron (which reigned as king for the last ten years), but that book had the advantage of five previous books where a massive number of dominos were perfectly set so that they a simple touch would send of a cascade of thrills and a huge firework display when the last one goes down.

Okay, but let's say from the other questions, you had a hard leaning one way or the other between Riyria and Legends. Then here is what I suggest.

* For Riyria: I'd go with The Death of Dulgath (Book #3 of the Riyria Chronicles) Again, another middle book? Yes. And let me explain. The best part about Revelations is its ending, and since you only plan on reading one - you won't get to that big payoff. Also, Revelations is written oddly, it starts out deceptively simplistic for a reason . . . so I could build the mysteries and backstory across the whole tale a bit at a time. This series was designed to have each book get better than the one before, so by design, the first book of that series is the weakest. Plus, it was the first novel I wrote, and hopefully I improved over the 16 years since the first book released. Because of that reason, the Chronicles tend to be better written than the Revelations. So why not suggest The Crown Tower (Book #1 of the Chronicles)? Well you could do that, but Book #1 and #2 of Chronicles are kind of "paired." Together, they tell the complete "origin story" of Royce and Hadrian's rogues for hire enterprise. While I wouldn't say it ends on a cliff hanger (it should be evident what happens next), it does end "suddenly" and that might not be as satisfying as other choices. From book #3 on in the Chronicle series, the tales are pretty much standalone tales so you could go with either Book #3 or #4 (and both of them are being posted for free on Royal Road). But if you start with 3 and THEN decide you want to read more of my books, then you might as well start in chronological order within that subset.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

* For Legends: then there really is one place to start - and that's Age of Myth (Book #1 of The Legends of the First Empire series). The best way to describe Legends is two closely related trilogies. In other words, books 1 - 3 get to a kind of "mini climax completion", and books 4 - 6 take the story on a whole different track. Unlike the Rise and Fall Trilogy and Riyria Chronicles #3 and on, only the first book of Legends of the First Empire is truly "stand alone" and all the subsequent books take the same route rather you read chronological, or order of publication.

Okay, now that we have the "only one book" case taken care of, let's look the more usual case which is you prefer series. There are several things to note here.

Each series is pretty much self-contained in other words you could read "just Legends" or "just Riyria" or "just Rise and Fall" and you get a beginning and end that are a satisfying read. That said, those who read all the books (and especially those who read the books multiple times), you'll find there are many winks and nods to people who are "in the know." For instance, I already mentioned Farilane, and what a great ending it has. And if that is the only book you've read, you will be emotionally moved with the ending . . . but . . . if you've read Legends of the First Empire first . . . well the amp is going to be turned up to twelve. There are certain aspects about various characters past that will make its ending even more impactful.

Second, when it comes to Riyria the question always becomes which should you do first, Revelations or Chronicles? Let's take a closer look at these ten books (sold through three two-book omnibuses and four individual novels.

[https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1MBQ9_3GhgY/WmMrursB9SI/AAAAAAAAOMo/kiJ5fSk8VRMPfNeDX2WFIg6UOkOiykKPwCLcBGAs/s1600/riyria_order.jpg]

My personal preference is order of publication. As it's the way I intended you to be introduced to the various characters and that whole "wink and nod" thing really plays out well when you go in that order. That said, The Riyria Chronicles are "better written" because there was about ten years separating the two of them, and I learned a lot during all that time.

Now, if you were convinced you were going to read absolutely everything I've written, my suggestion would be "mostly" order of publication but with some minor tweaks to stay "in series." In other words if you go strictly on order of publication, then you would read Riyria Chronicle #3, then jump over for three of the Legends books then jump back to Chronicle for #4, then return to Legends for the last thre books in my series. That's a a lot of "hopping around, and is mainly due to publication deadlines and non-complete clauses.

So, rather than doing that I suggest to read in the following order: Riyria Revelations •  Legends of the First Empire •  Riyria Chronicles •  Rise and Fall. This gives you a little "Riyria breather," and when you go back to the antics of Royce and Hadrian, it will be like returning to old friends.

Chronological Order revisited

For those that are chronological purists, then the list from the start of this post applies, but here it is graphically because book covers are easier than a list of words that all run together.

[https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqZJ_W7cPo-NeW-i0H47QZcqYFB3OK5wjt-yxUKuYtJlV77vm318L4n5jyvjK1X22NDrbiEPiUmRhu-06y-jq4v4-I6juGb71D32ryDoY8LveJhr_SW2dIbknXu8ltd5uHUV0Jbd54fnT_DFgkre92-epmZxDBqcuVFFiW0M6xV-JXz1F58kwJ_ya_5iSS/w640-h314/books_of_elan_chron.jpg]

A Note about Legends and Rise and Fall Trilogy

There are many Riyria purists who never go back to the books that occur "back in time." I get it. They love the Riyria characters, and it's hard to leave those you love for those you don't know. But I encourage you to take the dive. Is this because I need more book sales. No. If I never sold another book for the rest of my life, I'd be just fine. It's really because those "early works" do two important things.

* First, you learn the truth about a great many lies that I told you in Riyria. That's because history is written by the victors, and there are powerful people who usurped power such that some really great deeds are erased from history.

* Second, there are some fabulous characters in this book - some of which also exist in Riyria (because the have really long lifespans. Roan, Gifford, Suri, Minna, Arion, Persephone, and even Nyphron, with all his bravado and baggage are well worth meeting. I have my favorites from Riyria, but some of these charcters became even more endearing to me.

* And Last, these books thake a "little tale" and blow it wide open. You learn all about the origin of Elan and the Gods (Ferrol, Maribor, and Drome. You even get to "meet" the elves and dwarves who you barely see in Riyria. It's as if you've looked at a folded up tapestry and found it "pretty" but then you open it up and you see you've only seen a very small piece of a much bigger story and being able to see the "full thing" really takes a good thing and makes it even better.

Now that said, from time to time, I hear people say they just didn't connect with Legends of the First Empire, which is fine. And I don't want you to read something you don't like. But if you find yourself in this case, go ahead and skip them but DO NOT miss the Rise and Fall series (especially if you have read or will be reading Riyria). Farilane and Esrahaddon are both highly touted as my best works to date, and I have to agree. Not only did I grow as a writer over these many long years, but the plots and characters in those books really tie in beautifully with Riyria.

Reading Legends Last

I have already heard from a number of people who did skip Legends, but then came back to it as they just wanted "it all." One thing to keep in mind iif you take this route is you WILL run into spoilers. And by run into, what I mean is there are certain aspects about the Legends books that will be spoiled by reading the Rise and Fall first. For instance, given that the name of one of the Legends books is Age of War, you'll probably not be surprised that there is . . . well . . . a war. And of course since Rise and Fall shows the growth of the empire that emerges victorious from the war, you'll know who that is - as well as who dies and who survived. Even so, I still recommend reading those books - oh, and if you fall into despair half way through, all I can say, is "keep going" it's not until the entire tale is done that you'll know the method in my madness.

In conclusion

Whew, that's a lot. I hope this helps, and whether you read one or all of my books, I appreciate your support. And please tell a friend. My first published book from this series was released in 2007, and because of this exceptional "word of mouth" those early books still sell well, even after 16 years.

Reading Order

目录