Sylvanus makes his entrance

The in-laws are back safe in China, and the house feels quiet again as my wife and I adjust to their absence. They didn’t stay quite as long as last year, but two and a half months is still a long time to share a life so closely. Saying goodbye is always bittersweet. On the one hand, we have our privacy back and can take a breath; on the other, the silence feels a little like empty-nest syndrome. Strangely, it always hits me harder than it does my wife, though I’m not sure why. I miss them already.

To make their departure easier, we traveled with them to Seattle, spent a few days together, and then saw them off on a direct flight back to Beijing. My wife had been there before for work, but it was my first time, and it seemed like a perfect city to explore with her parents. We laughed a lot, had a few small adventures, and made some good memories to close out their visit. Saying goodbye at the airport was nerve-wracking, as it always is when they’re navigating things without English, but there were no real mishaps—apart from my father-in-law being patted down by TSA for forgetting his passport in his pocket. He took it in stride.

Now, it’s back to work. I managed to write while they were here, though not at my usual pace. As I mentioned before, I had been working on The Monk of Thanatos but lost some steam on that project, so I turned to Sylvanus, the story of Koen’s younger brother and fellow conspirator in the rebellion against their father. He appears briefly in the first chapter of Dawn of the Lightbearer (book 1 AMS) and again in the final chapter of Destiny of the Daystar (book 4 AMS). His name surfaces throughout the main series and in Koen: Quills from the Raven’s Nest, but until now, he’s never had his own dedicated space.

Halfway through writing Koen, I realized I could only cover his three-year disappearance in that volume—at 538 pages, it was more than enough. That still left five years before the events of Dawn of the Lightbearer, a period of turmoil in Lucardian history that begged to be explored. When I finished Koen, I felt his arc had reached a natural resting point, and it became clear there was another major player whose perspective could carry the story forward. Enter Sylvanus, whose journey sets the stage for his reemergence in Dusk of the Demon (book 5 AMS).

Though I had always intended to write his story, I wasn’t expecting it to happen now. But as I revisited Koen in preparation for its upcoming release (tentatively October), the spark returned. One chapter turned into five, and I suddenly found myself 17,000 words deep, swept up by Sylvanus’s voice and presence.

He is a different man from Koen. As the third son, he lacks the prestige of Ivar, the heir, and the obligations of Koen, who was Vesper’s favored child. Instead, he rules Westgate, a principality that embodies the contradictions of Lucardia: rich from conquest, rebellious in spirit, and restless under the shadow of empire. His youth and impressionability left him shaped by these forces when, at just eighteen, he was sent to rule Runemaul, the old Anworth capital. He is quick to anger when pride, honor, or family are challenged, and he feels everything—joy, grief, rage—with a raw openness that makes him rash in decision and dramatic in speech. His style of dress and manner are political theater, lessons inherited from his mother, a way to project defiance and strength. He’s a peacock among crows and knows it. His speech is full of sharp wit, gilded threats, and barbed insults. His court has also steeped him in idealism. He clings to notions of honor, truth, and a “better Lucardia,” even as whispers of dissent and betrayal feed his paranoia.

I’m enjoying the process of discovering him in these early chapters. I have a few destinations in mind for where this book will go, but the journey itself is unfolding with its own energy. I’ll follow it until it runs its course, knowing The Monk of Thanatos is still waiting for me when the time is right. Once the semester cools, I’ll be able to return to the darker halls of that story with fresh energy.

For now, I’ll keep writing Sylvanus, and I hope to have news soon about Koen: Quills from the Raven’s Nest—preorders and a release date should be coming before long. When they do, I’ll share the details.

Cheers!