Concept cover art for Kingdom Blades
I’m not sure what inspired me this year (maybe your calls through the ether have reached me subliminally), but it occurred to me that one way I could express my gratitude to you, my readers, is by posting a couple of chapters from Kingdom Blades, the upcoming fourth book in A Pattern of Shadow & Light.
I’ve never released chapters separate from a book’s publication before, so this is new territory for me. I wanted to give you actual chapters from the book, but the down side of this is that they’re written to build towards the conflict explored in Kingdom Blades. It wouldn’t seem like much of a gift to you if all I did was dump you right into the new conflict and then make you wait many months more for the book’s release to see where it all goes. I wanted to give you two chapters that stand alone, are whole within themselves, and offer some closure for you.
Fortunately, one thread early in the book allowed for this. And as I reviewed these two chapters with an eye towards a Christmas release, I thought there were even some thematic elements that seemed appropriate to the season.
I know some of you won’t want to read ahead of the book’s actual release. I’m usually the same way, but I also know that many of you are excited (impatient, darn right desperate) to know what happens next with Tanis and Pelas, so I thought I would give you a glimpse into their story thread as it’s been written so far. You can, of course, choose not to read it.
For those who are courageous enough to take the plunge, you’ll find below the first two chapters with these characters from Kingdom Blades. As always, I would love any feedback you’d like to share. Leave me a comment below, or feel free to message me via the site.
I am so grateful to all of you for reading and sharing my series with others, but I’m even more grateful to you for understanding my words, embracing my world and for loving these characters as I do. I hope you had a Merry Christmas. Have a joyful and prosperous new year!
As ever Melissa, perfection. I don’t think you could have picked a better 2 chapters for preview. What a wonderful way to provide resolution to the highly charged end of book 3 and so perfectly set us up for the adventure and drama of Kingdom Blades. I am always blown away by how your writings carry so much depth, yet never leave me confused or re reading passages to make sure I squeezed every bit of information out of the excerpt. Let me be one of the first to say Brava! I am eagerly waiting for more!
Perfection indeed. LOVE this glimpse: the beauty of the world (universe!) and the power of what the characters are going through. Powerful. I am SO excited for the release of Kingdom Blades!
What a wondrous glimpse into the world of Pelas and Tanis. I feel the game board is tilting in their favor! I look forward to the complete book. You’ve whet my appetite for your next installment.
A very nice beginning but I afraid I look forward to the brothers three reuniting with their father. Thank You dear lady for giving me a new world to enjoy, I look forward to my next journey there in the Kingdom Blades. At least I have Warheart to keep me company in the meantime.
Beautiful! I was worried I would’ve had to go back and read some again to remember where everything paused…I did not. 🙂 thank you so much for the Christmas gift. Your writing is a joy to read.
the most important question though remains; when can we read all of the rest of this masterpiece??????
Thank you for my new best/worst emotional rollercoaster. Best – because l am in love with this world, these characters and their stories, – worst because l will never have That new first read joy of discovering that world again. Best because l have the joy of anticipating the next installment – worst, because of the huge frustration of not knowing what is next or how it ultimately plays out. What a gift.
Just finished my 2nd read through, so this came as a nice surprise when I was hunting for news on book 4. Can’t wait for Kingdom Blades, I just hope that the father can follow the son’s example…
Funny you should say that, Andy. It feels like I wear a lot of responsibilities on my shoulders sometimes when I think about properly representing these characters and their choices and actions. Gydryn has three strong sons, and much of their outlook must’ve come from him, so I have a responsibility to show that in his nature and actions. It’s just interesting to me, because it does feel like a responsibility – to him, to his sons, and to readers like you. Thanks for your comment, and thank you for reading.
I still can’t bring myself to like Pelas :/ I just can’t.
You’re not required to like any of my characters. 🙂 But I am very interested in what you find off-putting about him. Share more of your thoughts?
The last few chapters were a trial to read, the writing itself was amazing as usual but the topic..
Just tough.. I just felt kind of empty after it..
I see. It’s definitely one of those situations that hits some people harder than others. There’s a lot of complex conflict – betrayal, ethicality versus morality, the ends justifying the means?, untenable futures, desperation, choices… Hard choices, for Isabel. I hope you’ll feel like reading Kingdom Blades. We head into resolving these conflicts right away – that is, as much as they can be resolved.
I might eventually get to it, I’ve read the first three after all so I’m sure I will. Maybe it’s just a quirk of mine that I can’t like him. He seems to be the real protagonist now so I’m trying to like him..Maybe it’s just that Pelas swooped in from nowhere to take point in the series or something. The handsome, Perfect, most powerful character who everybody seems to instantly adore and he gets the best possible outcome in all things.
Obviously what happened with Isabel played a major role in my negative opinion towards him but The actual act of re-channeling the compulsion through sex actually made sense.. I’m not needlessly mad at Isabel though, I can totally see the logic in her choice. She deemed it worthy to sacrifice her relationship with Ean for the greater good of everybody but it seemed to read more like a night of passion than an act of duty or sacrifice. Combined with Pelas’ sex powers and especially the removal of isabels blindfold seemed exceptionally cruel towards Ean if you’ll forgive me for saying.
Im starting to feel like her and Ean maybe signed up for different things anyway.
@Wez – I felt the same about Ean and Isabel maybe signed up for different things. I just feel like poor Ean is getting it from all angles, regarding Pelas’ relationship with Isabel and then Tanis and juggling his responsibilities hitting wall after wall. Ean just seems to be continuously bombarded with problems and dilemmas and Pelas just dances away free being adored by all. I can sympathise with Isabels situation and her sacrifice and the physical torture but Isabel and Ean are my favorited characters… The Blindfold was especially tough to read, that was harder to read than the sex sense or the apparent intimacy the two shared after.
Ella, I think you both hit the nail on the head in looking Ean’s dedication versus Isabel’s and what they are each actually dedicated to as their primary focus. Kingdom Blades expounds on this look. There were a lot of ideas I wanted to present with these chapters – obviously the ethical right versus the moral wrong, but also a look at those instances where our hearts lead one direction and our minds go another; those moments in our lives when we try to do something right and end up hurting someone else; times where an innocent misunderstanding creates an avalanche of repercussions. We all deal with these moments. How Ean and Isabel deal with them requires a different path for each, but they’re valuable paths for both.
Thank you Melissa for the quick response and such a wonderful series, it was tough reading those parts I will admit. I had a creeping feeling something between Isabel and Pelas was going to occur from the moment they met. I dreaded the shattering of my fairytail from that point on haha. Ean and Isabels story was wonderful in book two, they quickly grew to be my two favourite characters. I’m thinking the confusion stems from Isabel’s relationship with Arion and how it differs with the one she has with Ean. The whole thing feels sort of skewed now.. and I’m deeply conflicted about it. I’m half way through Kingdom Blades and dying to see whether this can be resolved or if they just call it quits… I don’t however want to leave you with the impression that I don’t love you or your work 🙂
Thank you for reassuring me that you’re sticking with the series, Ella. 🙂
I would love your thoughts once you finish Kingdom Blades. Then it will be safe for me to have more dialogue about those two. Thank you for reading!
NO!! Thank you!! I will be sure to post again when I have finished haha I’ve never been able to converse with a favourite author like this 😀
Thank you again for the opportunity, hope to speak soon!