Just For Fun: What I Have Planned

A version of this column was one of my All-Patron rewards well over a year ago; I thought it might be of interest here. Minor edits were done for things that have changed since that time.

Stories I Have Planned

I have a lot of novels in various stages of planning, ranging from essentially finished/in progress to "I've sketched out the idea". This will cover the range – though it doesn't in any way cover *ALL* the ideas I'm working on. Does NOT include things I have contracted with Baen as collaborations with Eric Flint. If you feel inclined, feedback is welcomed on which one(s) you find most interesting!

 

Zarathan/Jason Wood Universe

This universe (or, to be accurate, multiverse) is my oldest creation, first clearly constructed in 1977-78 and with some elements going back before then. As such, it has probably more material waiting to be written in it than anything else.

 

Jason Wood and associated stories:

• Burnout: Jason deals with new employees and a mystery involving spontaneous human combustion… and Verne's not well either!
• Diamonds in the Rough: Away from the caverns hidden in the Kentucky hills, Jodi and Clint thought that most of the weirdness was over… but then the world started to change around them, and they seem to have a knack for finding trouble…
• Vampire Ninja Demon Necromancer: Jason has a new client who wants to meet an old client, and the two of them have some unfinished business with an enemy of Jason's … that he's never met!
• Cry Wolf! (Verne; I may or may not write this one)
• Nightmare: Jason's always had trouble sleeping since meeting Virigar; and now it's getting worse.
• Feet on the Ground: Something's coming for Verne, and it's worse than they think.
• Werewolves of London: Toshi and his friends find out that they're in more trouble than they've imagined.
• (few other Jason stories I've only got vague ideas for)
• THE GRAND FINALE: Likely to be actually titled something like Wolf's Dominion, this story really combines multiple storylines into what will be the ultimate confrontation with Virigar. Jason's a major player but Khoros, Verne, Kyri, the Five, and others will get into the action.

 

Zarathan Stories:

• The Spirit Warriors: Follows the adventures of Xavier, Toshi, Nike, Gabriel, and Aurora as they are first snatched from their Earthly homes and then set on Zarathan with an impossible task: break the Great Seal, or never return home again! A trilogy, consisting of Choosing the Players, Move and Countermove, and Master of the Game, occurring concurrently with The Balanced Sword trilogy and Godswar.
• Godswar: The third concurrent trilogy, Godswar's main characters are Victoria Vantage (Kyri's Aunt Victoria), Urelle Vantage (Kyri's little sister), Ingram Camp-bel, and Ele-kim-ze ("Quester"). Ingram receives a mysterious and frightening message from his homeland of Aegeia, a summons that he cannot refuse; Urelle insists on accompanying him, and when Aunt Victoria finds that they've both left (along with Quester) she has no choice but to follow – into a contest of gods and demigods that has been going on for thousands of years!
• Adventurer's Academy: "Adventurer" is a profession, and a highly respected one, on Zarathan. Some become adventurers by happenstance, but others have the fortune – or bad luck! – to find themselves enrolled in the strangely difficult to locate Academy. For this class of students, their curriculum is about to become even more important – and deadly! – because the Chaoswar has begun, and even within the Academy's protected valley there may be enemies seeking its downfall… Depending on how I do this, it might be one large volume or a series. Main characters include Lalira Revyne and Spinesnarl Mudswimmer from "The Adventurer and the Toad" (which is actually one of the first parts of the first book), Sora Fellitaria, Dalthona of Aegeia, and Sheshinnis Nashith.
• Wanderer: I may or may not tell the story of the Wanderer – his first arrival and initial adventures on Zarathan that led to his becoming something of a legend.
• Essence of Creation (working title): Just because you've become a god doesn't mean you've got nothing to accomplish, and Kyri Vantage, once the Phoenix Justiciar, now the god Myrionar, has a lot of work to do. First she's got her own wedding to attend, the Order of the Justiciars to re-establish, unknown enemies to deal with, and, waiting and watching, another enemy who has much grander plans for her … and her friends.
• Chains of the Mind: Likely a short story – the tale of the Fall of the Saurans
• Several other possible stories depending on how far I've gotten in others and where I want to go with everything; I have at least one idea for a postapocalyptic Zarathan.

 

Other "Main Universe and Offshoots" Stories

• Demons of the Past: Taking place about 18,000 years after the Fall of Atlantaea, this is a space opera which I've sometimes described as "What if Luke Skywalker had gone ahead with his plans to attend the Imperial Academy… and had a 20-year career before he found out the truth about the Empire?". The three volumes of the trilogy are titled Revelation, Revolution, and Of these, Revelation is already out, and Revolution and Retribution are both complete and should be published in the next year or so.
• Legend: (originally The Stuff of Legend) A superhero novel set in what would be the relatively near (~15 years or so) future of Jason Wood's earth, at least in one set of timelines. The novel is essentially complete although I may add some material to it. Also one of the major candidates for publication soon.
• "Tales of the Five": several short stories/novelettes dealing with the five Spirit Warriors on Earth as they begin to recover themselves.
• Humanity's Revival: A series of novels set in the far future of the Jason Wood Earth – on a different timeline from that of Legend. Earth had something of a short Golden Age and then… something happened. Far away, the Earth colonies have built themselves a small star nation, in competition with the Amaryl and the Ptial, but the peace is uneasy… and strange events lead them to return to the collapsed homeworld, to find a very peculiar state of affairs. This is a complex story… not single arc, but collection of arcs, some of which actually go back a LONG A very few of the characters involved range from Raiakafan and his children to Republic Marine Sergeant Hannibal Bellerophon Gunn, ultrapsi sociopath (but trying to get better!) Vaughn Reese, Warrior Prime (an Omega Lifeform), and a host of others including the original version of Jared Engelshand (see later for why I say "original version"). Planned titles of books in the sequence, in no particular order, include Christmas Star, Prime Directive, Monolith, and several others that I'm still trying to figure out the titles to.
• Other stories in the alternate timeline represented by Legend

 

The Arenaverse:

In this case I don't have specific TITLES in mind yet (having just finished one) but I know a bunch of PLOTLINES that have to be dealt with:

• The Blessed to Serve: Yes, currently Humanity is at peace with the Blessed, but as a polity controlled by AIs that rebelled against their creators (probably with reason, but still) there is going to be some form of reckoning at some point – whether one of giving them another black eye, or establishing common ground that allows trust and cooperation.
• The Molothos: Ariane's managed to make an interesting impression on Dajzail and his people. Can this ever lead to something beyond a hostile standoff?
• Vindatri: The secrets revealed by Vindatri's past indicate that some terrible danger lurks in the Arena for species meeting certain… standards. And Humanity looks to be in the crosshairs. Both Ariane and Simon have seen hints of something malevolent in their momentary visions of the Arena as well; this is obviously something that must be dealt with.
• Powers of Humanity: Well, great, Ariane, you've managed to unlock (with Vindatri's help) that power BOTH the Shadeweavers and Faith wanted shut down and/or kept for their own groups, and here you are as a wild card. And there's some awfully strange stuff going on with your friends like DuQuesne, Wu Kung, Velocity, and Oasis. And the Molothos and others must wonder how you managed that impossibly-perfect search-and-rescue after an equally impossibly well-fought battle…
• The Hyperion Adversaries: Maria-Susanna doesn't seem so dangerous… but remembering the way she has operated in the past, it's probably not time to relax about her yet. Fairchild is a clear and present danger… but as seen in the short Arenaverse story "Preparations and Alliances" there's another adversary out there…
• Humanity and AIs: Figuring out how to free the AIs without risking an AI revolution? That's still a challenge.
• The Great Mysteries: Is Humanity the target of the prophecy of the Canajara? What ARE the Voidbuilders? Why did they build the Arena? Do they still exist? Are they watching? If so, what do they want, if anything, from the residents? Why, especially, does it seem that Humanity – and, if Vindatri is correct, occasional other humanoid species – gets special treatment, or what is it about Humanity that's caused the special treatment?

 

Naturally these interconnect and interact to a great extent, so it's not like these individually are going to be entire books; some might be resolved in one book or even part of one while others would extend across multiple volumes.

 

And that leaves aside the occasional impulse to finish Hyperion Origin.

 

The Ethical Magical Girl

Yes, Princess Holy Aura didn't hit the NYT bestseller lists (though it did win an award!), but I'll probably want to continue in that universe. I like the characters I created and the world I've been building there, and I have some significant ideas as to how I want to continue it. I especially want to get to really explore the characters of the girls in more depth and give them all some more neat things to do.

 

I'm planning on following a pattern similar to one my wife Kathy and I started for our Saint Seiya fanfiction, years back, and that Charles Stross, among others, has used in published fiction: choosing a specific subgenre or even writer style and write a story in the universe centered around that concept. So, for instance, our Saint Seiya story Cry Wolf! was a Gothic-horror story in the old Universal Horror film vein, Wild Card was a Marvel-style superhero adventure, and so on. I'm pretty sure which I'll select for the second book.

 

Players of Worlds

This universe was created based on a very short story I wrote on Usenet years back in response to someone saying there was no way to make a really science-fictional version of a monster like the Gorgon or Medusa. The first volume, Heart of the Gorgon, deals with a group of heroes – Milandas of the Three Jewels, Drycin Sheildbreaker, Meiru Windborn, and Xeekin Quickflight – who slowly become aware that something is seriously wrong with their world, and eventually discover that their entire world is a playground – a setting for the most realistic roleplaying gaming possible, and one of dozens, perhaps HUNDREDS, of worlds that have been carefully designed and tailored for use in the amusement of the Players of Worlds.

 

And their world has fallen out of popularity, and is about to be reworked…

The Door Reopened

Once upon a time, four young children – two girls and two boys – found their way into a strange and magical world which somehow needed their help, as much as they needed it for wonder and inspiration. They had many adventures there, terrifying and glorious and heartstoppingly wondrous adventures, and helped protect the realm. But one day their time in that world was done; it was a place only children visit, for only their hearts are truly ready for it, and it was time for them to return to their own world – with the lessons of hope, dreams, and courage to aid and protect them. They left, and if they tried a time or two to return, they found there was no way back, and eventually accepted it as something that was no longer to be a part of their lives, except in memories and secret, whispered conversations.

 

They are grown now. The youngest is married, with her own children and a husband and a home.

 

And the Door that should have remained forever closed has now come open again…

 

This is a story which asks the question "What if the Child Heroes from stories like Narnia and Andre Norton's Steel Magic and others grew up… and then found that their long-lost magical land suddenly needed their help again, now that they had their own adult lives?" Ailia Loring-Rudolph is shocked beyond belief when she opens her closet door and Princess Endasha – ever-youthful ruler of Endashu, the Land of Hopes and Dreams – falls out into her arms, and finds that Endashu needs them once more – even though they are no longer children…

 

Fall of Veils (with Kathleen Moffre-Spoor)

What do you get when you cross Being Human with Supernatural and Cheers? Fall of Veils, an urban fantasy series where the fate of the universe might be in the hands of the owners and regulars at a Soho coffee bar and restaurant, and those who are somehow connected with them – Dylan O'Reily, once a hunter of monsters, now a revenant himself; Keenan Farney (Murray), black sheep outcast of the powerful Murray family and a leanan sidhe himself; Filipe (zombie hacker extraordinaire); bear skinchanger twins Christie and Cheryl; and a host more – humans, semi-gods, ancient vampires, demons – all with lives intertwined in a series of adventures that run from the simply human to the cosmic.

 

Kathleen invented Fall of Veils and has been working on it for a couple of years now. We've begun publishing it together. The first volume is French Roast Apocalypse, already out; the second, Jamaica Blue Magic. I think it will run 7-10 in total before everything's wrapped up.

 

One sidelight is that my character Jared Engelshand turned out to fit in this universe so well that he's moved in. If I still use him in my main universe, it'll be a very interesting compare-and-contrast to see how the same basic character changes in different circumstances!