Scott’s answer to “Are you planning a sequel to The Library at Mount Char? I need a sequel. Please, will there be a se…” > Likes and Comments
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I'm mostly commenting so I can get updated whenever that goes live. Loved The Library at Mount Char - I found it incredibly hard to put down. The pacing and style were fantastic, you managed a large cast (and concepts) perfectly.
I'd be interested in a prequel covering the story of Father up to and including adoption day.
Hi Dan,
Not a bad idea, but I already tried it once and I couldn't make it work. There was supposed to be about five pages of the Nobununga-Father-Mithraganhi conspiracy that ended the third age. It was going to show up early in the book, around the time Nobununga first appears. I spent a couple of weeks working on it and came up with around fifteen thousand words. It wasn't godawful, but it had all the emotional resonance of watching a youtube video of the finale of some game you didn't play. It didn't even make the first cut.
It was kind of a good exercise in that it shed some light on a good way to approach Big Epic Conflict by highlighting strategies that didn't work.
That said, it might conceivably show up in this hypothetical sequel.
I finished the book today and checked the site but still no short story :( Any idea when you'll post it?
Hi Ricky,
So, the deal on that is that I have written a fairly long (~18,000 words) story set about a year after the events of Mount Char.
The problem is, it's not very good. My wife, who's usually a pretty good judge of this stuff, thinks that it's bad enough that I need to start over. Other people I've showed it to hate it less, but no one seems to like it much.
Rather that put out something that's crap, I'm going to take another look at it (at a minimum) and possibly start over from scratch. The problem is finding time. I'm working on an unrelated book at the moment, and it's taking all of my time.
FWIW, I really am sorry.
Scott
No problem. Take all the time you need. I can't wait to see your next book.
It was a great book, really enjoyed it. Don't see where the sequel question is coming from though, except people are attached to the characters of course. Naturally the next step is for Erwin to start plotting against Carolyn - I recommend she keep him out of the Library.
Thank you for writing a book that doesn't need a sequel, but is open for one maybe. Thank you for putting so much detail into your universe and sharing it all in one book. Thank you for not knee-jerk releasing a book that isn't as good as you want it to be, just because it would sell. Your other commenters are right, we'll wait. Thanks.
My gut reaction is to be leery of a sequel; this is a tremendous book, and too many very good books are poorly served by their sequels. In deference to popular trends, editors and houses are pushing authors too hard for the series right now; most of the time, the results are a story whose initial power and impact are diluted and dissipated into series of diminishing returns. Ann Lecke's "Ancillary" series comes to mind. What a tremendous story! totally deflated by the silly sequel hook added in the last chapter.
That said, if whatever forces moved you to write this in the first place converge into the need to write a sequel, then please do! Just know that some of us are very, very happy with the story as is, and are looking forward to what comes next even if it's unrelated.
P.S.- Props on the Hodgson references! Also a tremendous standalone book that more people should read...
Actually, no. Seriously, don't. Not to disparage your talent and your abilities, but this book would not be served well by a sequel. None of us can go where it would need to go to have a similar power, IMO. And anything without that power will dilute it in retrospect. So, better left alone. People always clamour for sequels because we become attached to the fictional universes that fill us with wonder, but most great books don't have sequels, have you noticed? ;)
I'll happily read any other book of yours though! That was a fantastic ride. Thank you!
Just have to chime in and say that this is one of the best books I've read in a very long time. I always think the mark of a good book is that you're still thinking about it when you've put it down, and I find myself thinking about Library at Mount Char through out the day. I'm not quite done yet (nearly there!! Trying to stretch it out because I don't want it to end!), but I can tell you that if and when you publish another book (whether a sequel to this one or something completely different), I will definitely be buying it.
If you're going to write a sequel, please have more of Q-33 North- I like him / her (do icebergs even have gender?)
It's been a long time since I've read something as satisfying as this, characters, universe rules and events are though through to the tiniest of details. I would gladly read more material set in this universe, but I fear that any direct sequel (or prequel) would put too many constraints on the narrative. Whatever it is you choose to do Mr.Hawking, just please don't stop writing.
I am reminded of this...
"Joni Mitchell jokes on her 1974 live album, “Miles of Aisles”, that the major difference between the performing arts and being a painter is that a painter paints his painting and then it’s done. That’s it. It might get bought or sold, hung in a gallery, it might collect dust in the artist’s loft until he or she dies, but nobody ever asked Van Gogh: “Paint a starry night again, man!” For that matter, nobody ever asked him to chop his other ear off for another self portrait either. “He painted it and that’s it!”
Joni was responding to incessant shout outs for Carey, Both Sides Now and Chelsea Morning, the audience seemingly oblivious to the impeccable set list they were being treated to that evening. When an audibly annoyed, very hippy-sounding woman exclaims: “Play what you want!” Joni replies with an appreciative and almost relieved: “All right!”
Please, write what you want.
Waiting on the edge of my seat for the sequal, Library at Mount Char was literally my favorite book of the past few years (and I read a bunch)!
Loved this book so much! I've been recommending it on my Bookstagram for the upcoming spooky season and am going to reread it this year. <3
Has there been a post regarding the short story? I haven't been able to find it.
No date, so this comment could have been made seconds ago or years past. I love the idea of a sequel, of course. Thanks for everything you do.
My comment was from 2023. Scott's was from 9 years ago. Looking at another response from him from 6 years ago, he dropped the short story because it didn't do well.
I'm sad to say that we'll probably not get that sequel.
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Jun 29, 2015 01:03PM
I'm mostly commenting so I can get updated whenever that goes live. Loved The Library at Mount Char - I found it incredibly hard to put down. The pacing and style were fantastic, you managed a large cast (and concepts) perfectly.
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I'd be interested in a prequel covering the story of Father up to and including adoption day.
Hi Dan,Not a bad idea, but I already tried it once and I couldn't make it work. There was supposed to be about five pages of the Nobununga-Father-Mithraganhi conspiracy that ended the third age. It was going to show up early in the book, around the time Nobununga first appears. I spent a couple of weeks working on it and came up with around fifteen thousand words. It wasn't godawful, but it had all the emotional resonance of watching a youtube video of the finale of some game you didn't play. It didn't even make the first cut.
It was kind of a good exercise in that it shed some light on a good way to approach Big Epic Conflict by highlighting strategies that didn't work.
That said, it might conceivably show up in this hypothetical sequel.
I finished the book today and checked the site but still no short story :( Any idea when you'll post it?
Hi Ricky,So, the deal on that is that I have written a fairly long (~18,000 words) story set about a year after the events of Mount Char.
The problem is, it's not very good. My wife, who's usually a pretty good judge of this stuff, thinks that it's bad enough that I need to start over. Other people I've showed it to hate it less, but no one seems to like it much.
Rather that put out something that's crap, I'm going to take another look at it (at a minimum) and possibly start over from scratch. The problem is finding time. I'm working on an unrelated book at the moment, and it's taking all of my time.
FWIW, I really am sorry.
Scott
No problem. Take all the time you need. I can't wait to see your next book.
It was a great book, really enjoyed it. Don't see where the sequel question is coming from though, except people are attached to the characters of course. Naturally the next step is for Erwin to start plotting against Carolyn - I recommend she keep him out of the Library.
Thank you for writing a book that doesn't need a sequel, but is open for one maybe. Thank you for putting so much detail into your universe and sharing it all in one book. Thank you for not knee-jerk releasing a book that isn't as good as you want it to be, just because it would sell. Your other commenters are right, we'll wait. Thanks.
My gut reaction is to be leery of a sequel; this is a tremendous book, and too many very good books are poorly served by their sequels. In deference to popular trends, editors and houses are pushing authors too hard for the series right now; most of the time, the results are a story whose initial power and impact are diluted and dissipated into series of diminishing returns. Ann Lecke's "Ancillary" series comes to mind. What a tremendous story! totally deflated by the silly sequel hook added in the last chapter. That said, if whatever forces moved you to write this in the first place converge into the need to write a sequel, then please do! Just know that some of us are very, very happy with the story as is, and are looking forward to what comes next even if it's unrelated.
P.S.- Props on the Hodgson references! Also a tremendous standalone book that more people should read...
Actually, no. Seriously, don't. Not to disparage your talent and your abilities, but this book would not be served well by a sequel. None of us can go where it would need to go to have a similar power, IMO. And anything without that power will dilute it in retrospect. So, better left alone. People always clamour for sequels because we become attached to the fictional universes that fill us with wonder, but most great books don't have sequels, have you noticed? ;)I'll happily read any other book of yours though! That was a fantastic ride. Thank you!
Just have to chime in and say that this is one of the best books I've read in a very long time. I always think the mark of a good book is that you're still thinking about it when you've put it down, and I find myself thinking about Library at Mount Char through out the day. I'm not quite done yet (nearly there!! Trying to stretch it out because I don't want it to end!), but I can tell you that if and when you publish another book (whether a sequel to this one or something completely different), I will definitely be buying it.
If you're going to write a sequel, please have more of Q-33 North- I like him / her (do icebergs even have gender?)
It's been a long time since I've read something as satisfying as this, characters, universe rules and events are though through to the tiniest of details. I would gladly read more material set in this universe, but I fear that any direct sequel (or prequel) would put too many constraints on the narrative. Whatever it is you choose to do Mr.Hawking, just please don't stop writing.
I am reminded of this..."Joni Mitchell jokes on her 1974 live album, “Miles of Aisles”, that the major difference between the performing arts and being a painter is that a painter paints his painting and then it’s done. That’s it. It might get bought or sold, hung in a gallery, it might collect dust in the artist’s loft until he or she dies, but nobody ever asked Van Gogh: “Paint a starry night again, man!” For that matter, nobody ever asked him to chop his other ear off for another self portrait either. “He painted it and that’s it!”
Joni was responding to incessant shout outs for Carey, Both Sides Now and Chelsea Morning, the audience seemingly oblivious to the impeccable set list they were being treated to that evening. When an audibly annoyed, very hippy-sounding woman exclaims: “Play what you want!” Joni replies with an appreciative and almost relieved: “All right!”
Please, write what you want.
Waiting on the edge of my seat for the sequal, Library at Mount Char was literally my favorite book of the past few years (and I read a bunch)!
Loved this book so much! I've been recommending it on my Bookstagram for the upcoming spooky season and am going to reread it this year. <3
Has there been a post regarding the short story? I haven't been able to find it.
No date, so this comment could have been made seconds ago or years past. I love the idea of a sequel, of course. Thanks for everything you do.
My comment was from 2023. Scott's was from 9 years ago. Looking at another response from him from 6 years ago, he dropped the short story because it didn't do well.I'm sad to say that we'll probably not get that sequel.
