The Talon Saga, Book 8: War of the Shadows

This is the last book in the Talon Saga.  By Friday the complete saga should be posted.  If you've been waiting to read it until it's all finished, you can start this weekend.

As usual, please comment.  I love comments.

(posted from the Item Information Page)

Comments.  ;P

Fenixreign wrote:

Comments.  ;P

Heh heh heh!  I was hoping for something a little more substantial, but I'll take what I can get.

The complete Talon Saga is now uploaded!!!  Enjoy!

(posted from the Item Information Page)

Really surprised me with Summer taking out the  demon master. Enjoyed the entire saga.

thehilz wrote:

Really surprised me with Summer taking out the  demon master. Enjoyed the entire saga.

I'm glad I surprised you like that.  A good plot twist is tough to do.  It has to be something that the reader can look back on and see that it makes sense, but if there are too many hints it becomes obvious.

As for the prophecy of the Demon Master's killer dying shortly thereafter, I came up with that idea after deciding I wanted Summer to kill him.  I had always wanted a scene where the doppelganger dies and they think it was Summer, but I couldn't find a place to put that.  I briefly considered having the doppelganger kill the Demon Master then lose her life, but that would have made no sense whatsoever.  Finally, I realized that Lusela had already established that a doppelganger's body can house the mind of the original without any ill effects, so I had a perfect setup for Summer to die and come back to life, with a little help from a recovering goddess.

I also dropped a few misleading hints that Talon might not survive the battle.  The most obvious of course is the prophecy, but I also set up Janicus as a potential successor to the throne.  As the only surviving Royal Hunter and a bit of chemistry between the queen and him, it would make perfect sense.  In the scene where Leyli and Krylda argue about leaving the throne unoccupied, my goal was to have the readers immediately think of Janicus as a potential solution to that problem.  But those hints might have been too subtle, and in the end Leyli made the right choice and decided not to kill Talon.

Then again, anyone familiar with my stories knows I'm a big fan of mega-ultra-happy endings, so it probably shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

I have been a fan of your work since Allison and the Primdales and I just want to thank you for another epic story.

(posted from the Item Information Page)

NoMercy745 wrote:

I have been a fan of your work since Allison and the Primdales and I just want to thank you for another epic story.

(posted from the Item Information Page)

Thanks!  It always makes me happy when fans appreciate my work.  Now if I would just get up off my lazy butt and finish that update to Allison and the Primdales that I started working on, I'll upload it here.  Eventually.

I'm actually sad Talon Saga is over.  It's one of the best series I've read in a long time.

(posted from the Item Information Page)

Severin wrote:

I'm actually sad Talon Saga is over.  It's one of the best series I've read in a long time.

(posted from the Item Information Page)

You, sir, just made my day.  You can't see it but I have a grin on my face right now.  Not just because you consider the Talon Saga one of the best series you've read in a long time, but because you've made a total of 2 posts on the Wolfpub, and 1 of them is complimenting my story.

I concur this was a great read and sad that it's over.  Well written.

One of the most awesome, amazing, and powerful stories I ever read. Once started could not stop hated to see it end.

(posted from Chapter 10: Slumber No More)

All throughout reading this, I had to resist the urge to look at any of the comments because of spoilers, the anticipation of seeing the conclusion to this story is killing me.
Wow. What a way to end this saga. I absolutely loved the story that you created here, the plot was always interesting, the premise unique, and the pacing perfect. The characters are memorable, with my favorites being Summer, Janicus, and the Chrenne. I’m sad that it’s over, but I am also glad that I was able to read it. I honestly thought you had stopped being an author after your departure from previous sites, so this work excited me greatly upon my discovery of it. While I have high expectations of you as an author, this definitely exceeded them.
I know you’re a fan of ‘mega-ultra-happy endings’, but everyone being able to come back seemed a little much. Summer was the one shred of consequence, besides Krylda not being able to be a paladin anymore, for the actions of Talon, and the path he had chosen. That being said, I certainly was glad for Elindra when she came back to them. I was also right that Summer Red did end up returning, although not in the capacity that I had hoped for.
I must admit, I’m curious why you always have such massively happy endings. So why is it that you don’t ever leave a story without a happy ending? While I wasn’t really surprised to see that all worked out in the end, I was perhaps thinking you might end this one different. I also was very happy that pretty much every loose end was tied up in a satisfying manner, that certainly helped make this a very satisfying story.
I absolutely loved this book, devoting most of my free time in the past two weeks to reading it. There seemed to almost be a pattern for me, I would finish one of the books, be reluctant to start the next knowing I would sink all my time into it, start anyway, and find myself saying just one more chapter til suddenly its 1 in the morning and I’ve finished another book.
Second, what’s this I hear about an update to Allison and the Primdales? That sounds like an amazing prospect. When I was going through the comments directly after finishing, seeing you write about how you were planning on writing more about their family sounded very exciting, but I have no idea where you could go with it. It seemed like their arc was complete, except for perhaps Jeff and his sister/daughter. I am also curious if this would be just a simple addition, like a short story that has the same characters, or would evolve into something larger.

(posted from the Item Information Page)

Pureleaf wrote:

All throughout reading this, I had to resist the urge to look at any of the comments because of spoilers, the anticipation of seeing the conclusion to this story is killing me.
Wow. What a way to end this saga. I absolutely loved the story that you created here, the plot was always interesting, the premise unique, and the pacing perfect. The characters are memorable, with my favorites being Summer, Janicus, and the Chrenne. I’m sad that it’s over, but I am also glad that I was able to read it. I honestly thought you had stopped being an author after your departure from previous sites, so this work excited me greatly upon my discovery of it. While I have high expectations of you as an author, this definitely exceeded them.
I know you’re a fan of ‘mega-ultra-happy endings’, but everyone being able to come back seemed a little much. Summer was the one shred of consequence, besides Krylda not being able to be a paladin anymore, for the actions of Talon, and the path he had chosen. That being said, I certainly was glad for Elindra when she came back to them. I was also right that Summer Red did end up returning, although not in the capacity that I had hoped for.
I must admit, I’m curious why you always have such massively happy endings. So why is it that you don’t ever leave a story without a happy ending? While I wasn’t really surprised to see that all worked out in the end, I was perhaps thinking you might end this one different. I also was very happy that pretty much every loose end was tied up in a satisfying manner, that certainly helped make this a very satisfying story.
I absolutely loved this book, devoting most of my free time in the past two weeks to reading it. There seemed to almost be a pattern for me, I would finish one of the books, be reluctant to start the next knowing I would sink all my time into it, start anyway, and find myself saying just one more chapter til suddenly its 1 in the morning and I’ve finished another book.
Second, what’s this I hear about an update to Allison and the Primdales? That sounds like an amazing prospect. When I was going through the comments directly after finishing, seeing you write about how you were planning on writing more about their family sounded very exciting, but I have no idea where you could go with it. It seemed like their arc was complete, except for perhaps Jeff and his sister/daughter. I am also curious if this would be just a simple addition, like a short story that has the same characters, or would evolve into something larger.

(posted from the Item Information Page)

It's interesting that you mentioned Janicus and Chrenne as some of your favorite characters.  I'm actually planning a spin-off story with Janicus as the main character.  It will be about his search for redemption.  He's another one of those characters who's not purely good nor particularly evil.  He's mostly kind and honest, but he can be a bit of a hot head sometimes, and that tends to get him in trouble.

I always regretted that I didn't develop Chrenne's character a little more.  As the leader of the king's bodyguards, she had so much potential, and I wished I had devoted more time to her.  In my mind, she's a lot more interesting than I made her out to be in the books.  So I'm glad you liked her.  (Although Arya is still my favorite of the bodyguards)

As you said, I love me a good "mega-ultra-happy ending."  I tend to fall in love with my characters, so I just can't bring myself to make them unhappy for very long.  It would feel too much like a betrayal.  The closest I've ever come to an unhappy ending is my short story Shelter From the Cold, where the ending isn't really an ending, and you can imagine your own conclusion, from beautiful and heartwarming, to dark and depressing.

I also made sure to tie up all the loose ends, because it's a pet peeve of mine when stories leave things unresolved.  I was a fan of the TV show Lost for the first couple of seasons, until I realized that there was no way they were going to resolve everything, and then I lost interest because it felt pointless.  Why try to guess what's going on when there may not even be an answer?  (My apologies to anyone who liked the show)  So I make sure that in my stories, I never start a subplot unless I already have the resolution in mind.

So here's the deal with Allison and the Primdales.  I'm planning to go through the story and come out with a new version.  The differences will mostly be minor; some proofreading, editing, and at most changing a few scenes or adding some new ones.  I started working on it but then lost interest (I'm terrible that way), but it's still on my To Do list.  I'm also working on a few other stories set in the same universe, and some of the characters from Allison will make an appearance, but I have no plans to write an actual sequel.  That story arc is finished.

Anyway, thank you so much for the depths of your comments, and once again I apologize for not responding sooner.  I really appreciate your enthusiasm.  Although you can't see it, I'm smiling right now.

I liked the story but I find it difficult to understand just what the Demon Master needed with Thereya if he could control Talon all along. Once Talon became King, he could take control of Sorathale any time he wanted.

(posted from Chapter 10: Slumber No More)