I've sold the audiobook rights of Thrones of the Fallen to Podium. I'm going to be structuring each 'book' as a 150k word arc, or roughly 45 chapters each.
This has caused me to step back and eye the narrative sweep of the tale thus far, and realize, reluctantly, that some profound pacing/structural changes are necessary.
On one hand, this will result in shuffling some things around, cutting others, and tightening everything up, meaning that the story you've been reading will become an alternate timeline of what the final and official version will be.
On the other hand, the story is going to get so much better as a result.
What changes? This is what I've planned/executed so far:
BOOK 1: (DONE)
The first 45 chapters will now culminate in Harald dueling Yeoric. That duel will remain square and center for the entire first arc, and Harald's energy and focus will remain solidly on defeating his first rival and foe.
This means that Yeoric's challenge gives Harald only 1 month to train, and he faces his nemesis at Level 1, with only Aura of the Aching Depths and Abyssal Attunement in his arsenal.
However, he changes how he distributes his father's Twilight Infinitum to give him an edge: he now suggests from the get-go that the Infinitum be broken into 10 Horizon's Whispers, with one going to pay Countess Sonora, another raising him to his Second Throne, and two going to Sam to repay her for her life's service. and help her Ascend to her Second Throne as well.
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The rest is dumped into the crew fund, and the Artifact's distributed accordingly. We skip the whole chapter where his friends react negatively to his largesse, and instead move straight into their discussing how the crew might best be set up.
Thus the arc for Book 1 is more tightly focused: it's a sprint to gain as much power as possible to face and defeat Yeoric, and the final chapter ends with the next big threat stepping onto the playing board: Lady Yseult Khan knocking on his door, asking for a moment of his time.
BOOK 2: (NEXT)
This is where the Royal Road chapters are right now. The second Book arc will encompass Chapters 45 - 86 or so, and will revolve around the auction and navigating the attention of the major Houses. House Celestis presses him to join, Harald and his crew assault the goblin levels, and the Shuddering only cements his prominence. Kársek joins the team, and the narrative arc culminates in events that will soon be revealed.
BOOK 3:
This is where the Patreon is at, and will also require some editing. Suffice to say, life doesn't become easier for Harry-boy.
As soon as I've polished the first Book, I'll post all the new material here, including the duel with Yeoric and the modified outline.
In the meantime, I'm going to continue posting the chapters from my backlog as I edit Book 2, and then I'll post those major edits. Then I'll revise what's been written for Book 3 thus far, and make a big announcement when I drop those edits and jump the rails completely to the new timeline.
Please note: this is all going to happen fast. Book 1 edits are done. Book 2 edits should only take a week or two. My goal is to have everything reoriented and done by early October.
With a little luck, the new arcs with be tighter, cleaner, and more focused. Harald's journey will make more intuitive sense, and the sense of progression will be sharper. His struggles and the plot will largely stay the same - I'm not doing a complete rewrite after all - but with everything moved around some, it should all be more satisfying to read.
So! Thanks for your support and sticking with the tale. Things are going to get better from hereon out, and I really hope you all agree.
Cheers!
Phil