First, I came across a post titled "CT put off again...vent here", which I assumed was going to be rife with complaints that Rawn was working on Spellbinder 3 rather than Captal's Tower. That's what I thought. But, the first post included an update from October 2009:
What a stunning surprise! Melanie just announced she finished Diviner!!! It's much smaller than the Golden Key, but it's finished and hopefully we'll have a release date soon. I honestly thought she'd abandoned the project.
As far as I know, her next project is Spellbinder 3. She hasn't made any promises on Captal's Tower, but I for one am faithfully hoping it will get it's turn after Spellbinder.
Melanie is trying to sell her house and move to Oregon. Whenever that happens will only push back publishing dates for Captal's Tower or Spellbinder 3.
Oh, really?!
Honestly, it didn't even occur to me to think that Rawn was going to write Diviner. I chocked that one up to a lost opportunity. Diviner is either a sequel or a prequel (not really sure, doesn't really matter) to The Golden Key, an outstanding fantasy novel written by Rawn, Jennifer Roberson, and Kate Elliott. The Golden Key was intended to spawn three spin-off novels, one written by each of the original co-authors. Only hitch was that Roberson and Elliott couldn't write their entries until Rawn wrote Diviner. Well, here is Melanie's announcement.
The Golden Key was published in 1996.
(again, fellow Ice and Fire fans, you've got nothing on Melanie Rawn fans...unless you're waiting for more Haviland Tuf stories from GRRM, in which case, I feel you)
So.
Color me extremely surprised but quite happy to find out about Diviner. I don't know if we can expect a 2010 publication or 2011, but Diviner is automatically one of my most anticipated volume for whichever year it is announced. Yes, The Golden Key is that good.
What inspired me to even check Rawn's website / message board was that I'm seriously considering doing a re-read series of posts for the blog on her Dragon Prince / Dragon Star trilogies and I wondered if there was anything new. All I expected was that the third Spellbinder book was on the way and not much else. Didn't get Captal's Tower, didn't expect to.
Got the unexpected. Got Diviner.
Thank you, Melanie. I can't wait to read this one.
4 comments:
Quite a coincidence. I only just started on the first book in the Dragon Prince trilogy yesterday. It was mainly down to my reading a post on the westeros boards regarding the Diviner about 2 months ago or close to that. I hadn't heard of Melanie Rawn at the time and needless to say I searched for some info and then drew up a list of some of her books that I'd like to read. Fast forward a few months and I'm now in posession of The Golden Key, and the two books so far in the Exiles trilogy, as well as the first dragon prince book.
It's probably one of the main reasons I keep checking those boards (mainly sffworld and westeros) and those particular threads (books to look forward to in 2010 etc) to see if anyone has bumped them with any more recent info.
I'm secretly hoping that once the Diviner hits we might get some news from the other authors about their books in the universe and of course a possible revival for the series.
I really hope so!
I don't know how involved Roberson or Elliott were in the planning stages of Diviner, or if they have to wait until there is a finished manuscript, but I have to hope that they'll still be interested in continuing.
One can hope.
The Dragon Prince is a favorite of mine, so I hope you like it.
Okay, I'm, not Melanie, but we're very good friends. 8-)
No Spellbinder 3. She has a brand new fantasy trilogy due from Tor. The first one isn't out yet, but is called Touchstone. I was able to read the bound galleys to give a blurb for it, and really liked the book a great deal. Fans will be very pleased.
No word on Captal's Tower. Some have noted that DAW might be holding onto the manuscript--no, absolutely not. They don't make any money until the book is published. Especially as it's the third volume in a trilogy and so many fans want it.
--Jennifer Roberson
Thank you for the update, Jennifer. I appreciate it. I'm so very excited to see what Melanie has in store for us with a new fantasy series. She's so good with that stuff.
But since I have you here, I don't suppose the new Cheysuli books are on the horizon yet, are they? I saw on your website that you were writing Karavans #4 first, but I loved the Cheysuli books from the first time I stepped into that world. I couldn't help but ask. :)
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