Age of War (The Legends of the First Empire #3)
Michael J. Sullivan
Author’s Note
Welcome back to The Legends of the First Empire! When I started this series, I planned to write a trilogy that told the events leading up to the first conflict between men and elves. Age of War was slated to be the final book. As a result, you’ll likely notice many plot elements and character arcs have come to fruition. There is a kind of finale feeling to the book. But when I finished the tale, I realized I hadn’t gone far enough. If the series had ended here, I’m sure you would agree.
My problem was that this series was titled The Legends of the First Empire. Sure, I’ve introduced you to the characters, the Legends if you will, but the formation of the Empire was still an untold tale. If you’ve read The Riyria Revelations, you already know who won the war, but if I ended the series here, I wouldn’t have fulfilled my mandate. Also, those who haven’t read Riyria would be left confused, wondering what the eventual conclusion came to be.
Those who have read The Riyria Chronicles (my prequel Royce and Hadrian tales) know that I strive to do more than rehash previously mentioned events. I search for ways to make those stories fresh and worth reading. I’ve done this by revealing untold aspects and, in some cases, showing how what readers believed to have happened, didn’t—at least not the way they thought. This is the same technique I employed to get from the end of Age of War to the formation of the First Empire, and I did so by doing something no one expected, including myself. I wrote three more novels to provide readers the closure they deserved. The result is two closely related trilogies under a single banner. In practical terms, what that means is that the next book, Age of Legend, will continue the tale but with a slightly different focus. Don’t worry, it’ll pick up where Age of War leaves off, and you’ll continue to travel with the same characters, but the tale will expand. I’m quite proud of my solution and how I turned a potential problem into an opportunity, but that’s for another day and another book’s author’s note.
As for Age of War, one of the reasons I write author’s notes is to give readers a backstage pass, a behind-the-scenes look into my head. I’m not vain enough to think such a tour matters to many, but some people have found these insights interesting. I’ve already mentioned a lot of things regarding this book and the series as a whole, but I’ve not previously talked about my inspirations, so let’s do that now, shall we?
The most significant influences for Legends of the First Empire are The Wizard of Oz and the island of misfit toys from the Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer Christmas special. Some similarities you might already recognize. Many of the characters in my story weren’t likely to be picked first in gym class. They are the castoffs, the unwanted, the useless. They are the broken toys losing hope of ever finding happiness with each passing year.
You may also have noticed that the majority of the primary characters are women. Few classic fantasy books have featured females in all the major and most powerful roles (good as well as evil) with as much success as The Wizard of Oz. One of the things I noted from that story (and from my own life married to an incredible businesswoman, who spent much of her early career in the male-dominated engineering field) was how women deal with conflict. Male protagonists—even my own—have a proclivity to play the hero by charging in, often alone. By contrast, Dorothy Gale of Kansas gathered a team of like-minded individuals of diverse backgrounds and unique abilities that afforded her victory. I saw value in Dorothy’s approach that I sought to build on. Now that you know I’ve been having fun paying homage to these two classics, maybe you’ll know what to look for, and I suspect you’ll likely spot when I tip my hat. I hope you’ll smile when that occurs.