My Flame series, which was originally called a trilogy, has been split into two series because Defender of the Flame is a separate story set two centuries later that has a different hero and doesn't depend on having read the preceding books. Readers who don't agree with the controversial ideas in Stewards of the Flame, or who want more science fiction action, often like it better, and it is also more closely connected to my earlier novels Enchantress from the Stars and The Far Side of Evil--yet no one wants to begin with a book labeled Number 3. So now the "Hidden Flame" series consists of Book One, Stewards of the Flame and Book Two, Promise of the Flame, while the "Rising Flame" series consists of Book One, Defender of the Flame and Book Two, Herald of the Flame (a forthcoming book to be published late in 2014). The only disadvantage to starting with the "Rising Flame" series is that the included backstory would spoil some of the suspense of the first series if you plan to read both.