The Final Calling: Progress Report Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Four is now online.

Chapter Twenty-Five is just barely paid for, and will be posted on Wednesday, December 1.

I’m midway through writing Chapter Twenty-Seven. There will be more than thirty chapters; I don’t know how many more.

I’ve sent out all the donor copies of Realms of Light, but about half a dozen went to unconfirmed addresses; I hope they’ll reach the intended recipients safely.

I had originally planned to include a copy of Nightside City with each copy of Realms of Light where the donor wanted one, but at the last minute I offered a choice of books instead, which meant that I wound up with several copies of Nightside City left over, which I’m putting on sale this week — see the left-hand column of any chapter page for The Final Calling for details.

I think that’s everything. Hope you’ll all have a grand Thanksgiving!

25 thoughts on “The Final Calling: Progress Report Twenty-Four

  1. Interesting. It’s a shame everyone seems so dead set to kill warlockry. I do hope that they ultimately fail in that.

    On the other hand; who are the Hierarchies and the Initiates? We know the Guild and the Sisterhood.

  2. Question in a similar vein; The western “edge” that sailors see and is in sight of Tintallion- is it actually an edge or does the mist just cut across the water?

    I never realized it was that close, I take it Ethshar is in the southwest of the World.

  3. Ah, nice explanation about gods there. Didn’t even think about that one. Very good chapter! And dealing with Vond, too 🙂

  4. You know, I think what I admire most about your writing is the way you put all the pieces in front of us, and then bring them together in a way that’s logical and satisfying, but not expected or obvious. The idea of a counterfeit Calling would never have occurred to me.

    The notion that Demerchan somehow gets away with unsanctioned use of wizardry is intriguing–as is the idea that even members of the Inner Circle don’t know why, and are answerable to a higher authority. I wonder if one or more of the Hundred might have their own reasons for wanting Demerchan to operate without hindrance…

    In any case, another great chapter. Thanks for writing it, and have a happy Thanksgiving.

  5. Lawrence, that was a pretty cool chapter. Ben said it very well. It’s interesting how your mind works :). I received my Realms of Light with the other book I chose. And the chapbook. Thank you very much and have a great Thanksgiving!

  6. The Hierarchies are theurgists and demonologists — it’s the collective name for several organizations. They aren’t all-inclusive.

    The Initiates of the Inner Mysteries are high-level sorcerers.

    Yes, it’s actually an edge that can be seen from the headlands on the western shore of Tintallion of the Isle, and the Hegemony is in the southwestern quadrant of the World.

    I believe this was the very first published mention of the Hundred, wasn’t it? I don’t remember ever mentioning them in public before.

  7. To the best of my knowledge, it is the first mention of the Hundred, yes–and I think it’s also the first time you’ve mentioned that the members of Demerchan use multiple different kinds of magic.

  8. I don’t recall it being mentioned. The member of Demerchan who visits Sarai USES magic, but I don’t think the type is ever mentioned, or the fact that other members use different kinds. It’s been a while since I read the book, though, so I could easily be wrong. The fact that they suspected Demerchan of a series of murders that involved multiple types of magic at least implies it.

  9. Yep. First mention of The 100, and first mention of multiple types of magic for the Demerchan.

    All in all, an interesting chapter. I don’t think they’ll have any trouble at all getting Vond to RUN into the tapestry.

    Another interesting item: they clearly think the world is flat. But state that you can fly over the green mist. That seems much more like our thin skin of an atmosphere over a our geoid-shaped planet. Now to the east of Vondish empire, there was a cliff and the mist seemed to exist over a desert. To the west of Tintallon, does the mist extend over the ocean, or is there another geographic divide?

  10. The Hierarchies I would suppose to be an organization of theurgists; the Initiates could be either demonologists or sorcerers. Or possibly yet another group of witches? We know there are at least two organizations of witches, and that there are some witches who are members of neither the Brotherhood nor the Sisterhood.

    I agree the idea of a hoax Calling is a brilliant one. I hope it works, but suspect it will only be a stopgap, making Vond hesitant to draw on the maximum possible power when he’s under attack.

    Lawrence: I received yesterday my package with Realms of Light, Setting the Stage, and The Reign of the Brown Magician; thanks!

  11. I received my Realms of Light (etc) package too… sometime this week. I don’t know when, because there was a small problem getting at my mail.

  12. It seems to me that the Initiates are more likely to be theurgists. It has a more humble feel than Hierarchies. OTOH, in RL churches are often hierarchies.

    Also, you could reverse it and say that demonologists need to be humble, while the theurgists don’t need to fear the gods. So, dunno.

    Anyway, only witches and theurgists spoke. It is unclear what disciplines were represented.

    My view is that given that the towers are sorcerous, there should be sorcerers, but the guild doesn’t get on well with them it seems, and so the invite may have been lost in the mail.

  13. I liked the explanation of why the gods didn’t see warlocks, too. — yes indeed. This also allows for warlocks sourced off smaller sorcerer amulets without any need to have them killed.

    I’ve also been looking forward to a wider discussion of the world and what is in the mists and beyond them (and the implication that the wall not only protects/strains/filters air as it passes back and forth, but water also).

    Guess I need to get around to a second donation so I can get a second copy of the book and move the serial forward. It would not hurt to repeat every so often the amount that qualifies for a free book (though, I know, any idiot can just do a little looking).

    Each chapter of The Final Calling will cost $250. $25 will definitely guarantee anyone with a U.S. address a copy of the finished book, if and when there is one — Wildside Press has expressed interest in publishing it, if and when it’s written, but of course there’s no contract yet. It’s possible, though not particularly likely, that I might cut that to $20 or offer an e-book option, so if you want to wait and see, you can. Shipping costs being what they are these days, though, a cut to $20 is unlikely, especially since this may (or may not) turn out to be a significantly longer book than my previous serials.

    Changing shipping costs and exchange rates mean I don’t yet know what the minimum for Canadian or overseas donors will be to guarantee a copy.

    Of course, you’re welcome to send less than the minimum, to help get the thing online; you just won’t be guaranteed a bound copy until your donations total $25 or more.

    Please note that when I say “guarantee,” that’s a conditional thing; it only applies if the novel is completed and published. If I don’t finish the book for any reason, then no one gets a copy, whether it’s because it didn’t bring in enough money, or because I got hit by a bus. This is why I call people who send money “donors,” rather than “subscribers” — you’re donating money, not buying something. You’ll get a book if there is a book, but I’m not promising one.

  14. Interesting to see that again. In fact, it will be longer than any previous sequel, though I don’t yet know by how much.

  15. Well, it certainly incorporates a lot of material from a lot of earlier books, so I suppose it’s not surprising that it’s going to be the longest. Honestly, short of a cameo by Valder and maybe Irith, I think just about every other book in the series is represented in one way or another.

  16. Oh, I don’t know…if you just mention that “Kelder stood in the background,” you’ve covered all your bases. 😉

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