Dawn is ALREADY live!

12/6/2015

Amazon gets faster at this every time. Some might say...TOO fast.

Anyway, DAWN is up! Go get it!

12/7/2015 04:56:29 am

FIRST COMMENT!!! YEA

I bought it as soon as it came out!! But I'm going to attempt to pace myself and not read it all today!!

Andy

12/7/2015 06:27:39 am

Good luck with that, I wonder how many minutes you'll last.

Aaron J.E.

12/7/2015 06:57:35 am

Fantastic! Know this book has been soul crushingly difficult to write, but it must feel fantastic to finally have it finished. Outstanding accomplishment! Will be buying it and reading it immediately.

Will link

12/10/2015 01:12:44 pm

Thanks, Aaron! It's a relief to have it done so that I can take a step back and look toward the next project.

Dan

12/7/2015 08:17:32 am

It doesn't appear on your author page yet, and it's reviews are for the other book. Super excited to read it though. 😀👍😀

Will link

12/10/2015 01:13:15 pm

It takes a week to show up on my author page, and I FINALLY got Amazon to fix the reviews thing. Should be better now!

Cheerful link

12/7/2015 08:39:39 am

Yes! Just finished it! Awesome book! And cameos!

Will link

12/10/2015 01:13:43 pm

ALL of the cameos!

Jeremiah

12/7/2015 08:47:50 am

Ok, take a break. Get ready to write the next two. If you need a break from this universe, write some short story. Or go see a slack-jawed floppy earred mouse

Will Wight link

12/10/2015 01:14:44 pm

As a "break," I'm working on the Crimson Vault audiobook. The show must go on!

Jeremiah

12/7/2015 07:23:13 pm

Next...

My appetite for information about the great elders is insatiable

Will link

12/10/2015 01:14:15 pm

I'm still trying to decide how much of them to reveal in the next books.

Juan Julio Vasquez the Third

12/7/2015 07:28:08 pm

I just finished it, and I'm not sure what to think,while a quality book, and giving many details that I am sure we will need to know later, i find myself poised against Caldur. Not because I don't like him, or because he's in Amy way a bad character, but the knowledge gained from reading Shera's perspective lead me to think his obsession with becoming emperor will be the death of them all. while the Independents argument is so much stronger, they still need to realize that some form of control .needs to exist over the everyman.
Wow, that's a lot of words. Thanks, good book.

Juan Julio Vasquez the Third

12/7/2015 07:29:21 pm

Am I supposed to support one over the other? And I would love to see an appearance from the witnesses guild heads.

Juan(same as above)

12/7/2015 07:40:13 pm

I realize this is borderline spam at this point, and this is probably really random, but did you ever get that bottlenose dolphin from 1k sales of house of blades?

Will link

12/10/2015 01:16:53 pm

There's a lot here, so I'll try to address this in order:

1.) I'm glad you care enough to take a side!

2.) No, you're not necessarily supposed to support one over the other. I realize that some people will, but what I'm going for is more along the lines of, "If they would just cooperate and compare notes, everyone could have a happy ending."

They won't, though.

3.) I named him Andy.

Madeline

12/7/2015 09:35:24 pm

I am done reading this book, and while I still don't agree with Shera's perspective, I'm not sure if Calder is the right person to be their Emperor. Although his rejecting the offer to sacrifice Shera indicates a possible shift in his personality that will maybe lead to him being less susceptible to the Elders than his flashbacks indicate. I can't agree with Shera's hopes of breaking the Empire into multiple smaller groups because I have absolutely no faith in humanity's ability to live together under multiple rulers, at peace, even without the Elders factored in.

12/8/2015 01:45:38 pm

Shera could really do with getting in a room with Teach and Bliss, and have them all lay their cards on the table. Both sides make good protagonists because they both want to do the 'right' thing - they just disagree on what the right thing is. Huh, I just realized that in many ways, they're all making the same mistake the Emperor did; they're all assuming because they're the ones with the world-warping elder powers and mcguffins that they're the right people to 'take charge', because people are stupid/unenlightened, and they're all keeping tons of secrets for everybody. (I really want to know what Bliss knows and is keeping to herself- I suspect 'quite a lot'.) Maybe some transparency and a leader who isn't carrying around a hideous artifact of unmentionable power would be a better idea at this point.

Madeline

12/8/2015 02:52:55 pm

Well the weapon of unspeakable power is necessary because without it they have no means of defending themselves if Elders attack. Calder has some good points, and if he really sticks to the whole "I'm not paying that price" thing he seems to be going on now he will make a good Emperor. Because he seems to recognize when seemingly insignificant costs are really too costly to make. The person who saw the bad sides of the current Emperor and wants to change things is a good Emperor candidate. Hey maybe Foster would make a good Emperor if they NEED a Reader and Calder can't turn that into a pattern of not making deals with Elders. I just can't agree with Shera's proposed methods. How long will it be before the Regents age and die, and someone decides to seize power by going "<person with the power I want> is working with the Elders!"? My guess is, not long.

Will link

12/10/2015 01:17:57 pm

This is along the lines of what I'm going for.

Effectively, everyone in charge is making the same mistakes. And if they would just sit down and compare notes, they could come to a solution that would save everybody.

But they won't.

John

12/9/2015 09:11:24 am

There is something wrong with the Dawn page on amazon with respect to book formats. The page implies that there is a paperback format available, but if you click on paperback, it takes you to the "Of Darkness and Dawn" book.

Will Wight link

12/10/2015 01:22:11 pm

I'm aware of this, and I've let Amazon know, but they're still building the page. And they can be notoriously slow on things like this.

But hey, at least the reviews aren't for Darkness anymore.

John

12/10/2015 07:44:42 pm

Maybe the person handling it is a programmer. In boolean logic, A & B is equivalent to B & A. :-)

April

12/10/2015 08:30:02 am

Not too fast. Too fast would be publishing before you upload. Actually, I take that back. That sounds like a great idea. Who do I talk to at Amazon to make that happen?

Will Wight link

12/10/2015 01:22:42 pm

That sounds horrifying. "I'm almost done with the book...why is it for sale?"

Patrick

12/11/2015 05:32:21 pm

So I've just finished the book, and written a short 5 star review on amazon.
Like I said in my review, your world building skills are up there with the greats (Rothfoss and Sanderson). Very few authors in the genre are "true" world builders. For me, what sets apart the Great Authors from the chaff in this genre is their ability to build Worlds. Developing unique magic systems, complex eco-sytems and majestic and wildly exotic fauna and flora are the hallmarks of great fantasy authors. Both the Elder Empire and the Travelers Gate Worlds are amazing, and you managed to make both worlds without reusing ideas! Great Work.

If I have one concern with the book, it's that it is too short. I had to pace myself and ration my reading so that I could enjoy it for as long as possible.
I want to be able to immerse myself in the worlds that you've created, but its hard to do that when the story is so short.
I know there are financial considerations in writing longer works, but please, please work something out with a publisher maybe that will allow you to work on a good thousand pager.

If I had to choose which I would be more excited for: The new Star Wars Trilogy or A Travelers Gate thousand pager? The travelers gate would win by miles.

Really stoked for the next book. I won;t lie to you though, Calder's books are better. Why did you write his so much better then Shera?

Ben

12/13/2015 12:01:32 pm

Because pirates>ninjas. In all honesty though I was pro-Shera until this book came out.

Will Wight link

12/15/2015 07:47:53 am

For real, Patrick, thanks for the review!

You're right about the financial considerations. Releasing a $3 book every six months is more than twice as good as releasing a $6 every twelve months, so I have to release 2-3 books a year to be able to keep writing full-time.

If I was given my preference, the books WOULD be a little longer. Not a thousand pages, but probably 50-100 pages longer than they are.

Especially Dawn. One of the problems I had with Dawn, and what took me so long to figure out, was that I had to cut so much material I'd originally planned. The flashback story alone would have been almost the size of this entire book, if I'd kept going with all the material in my outline, and there would have been another whole subplot in the main story.

Maybe someday I'll be in a stable enough financial situation that I'll be able to make each book longer, but for now I just can't. I'll make $10,000 one month and $1,000 the next; there's huge variation in my income.

As for Calder vs. Shera...I think that comes down to personal taste more than anything. But I'm glad you enjoy Calder's so much!

Thanks for reading, Patrick!

John

12/17/2015 08:47:55 pm

" Releasing a $3 book every six months is more than twice as good as releasing a $6 every twelve months..."

Twice as good by what measure? It seems like you are implying that you derive more than double the income by releasing, say two 100K word books a year at $3 each as compared to releasing one 200K word book a year at $6. But that does not sound likely to me, so I guess I am misinterpreting you.

By the way, I hope you do not go the way of throwing everything and the kitchen sink into a book. Longer and unfocused is NOT better than shorter and more focused.

Zach

12/19/2015 10:35:42 am

Great Job!
Books perfect length, both perspectives are great both characters awesome! Really think a few novellas in between enriching the elder stories would give readers something to chew on an stop the cheese and wine sessions. Also give Mr Wight some extra holiday monies.
Seems like there's loads of material available based on the brief glimpses we get- I.e library- swords- regents etc. also novellas on the regents would be cool too, Jorins shrunken heads and sword knowledge, Thalos staff -bastions veil
Oh and the dude with no face....he rocks!
You do an excellent job of world building and think you are efficient with your writing please keep up the good work and timely releases.
From that prospective its you and Saunderson alone at the top!

In which we ramble on.
And by we, I mean me.