Patricia
asked
Kevin Potter:
Are the Metal and Stone series and The Calamity series set in the same universe? And if they are is there a specific order in which to read them?
Kevin Potter
Great question! And one I'm a bit surprised I don't get more often, to be honest.
The answer, unfortunately, is not as simple as I would like.
The short answer is they are absolutely connected and there is an order that will make more sense (chronological in story time rather than publishing order).
When I originally wrote The Fall of an Overlord, that seemed the logical starting point, and it progresses quite neatly into the Calamity prequel, Rise of the Overlord, which functions a bit like an interlude that ties the two series together.
Now, you can definitely start with Fall, then go to Rise and Shadow. You'll have a reasonably satisfying reading experience with that order.
If you want the complete story, however, I would ask you to sit through a bit of history.
You see, after Fall was written and Rise was mostly written, I was asked to contribute to a short story anthology called Glimpses.
While I was brainstorming ideas, it occurred to me that I already had an exceptionally large window of history I could use as a backdrop for a story. I ended up deciding I didn't want to spoil any of the secrets and mysteries coming up in The Calamity, so I went with the history of the world Fall takes place in.
The result of that was a story called Metal and Stone, which is the basis for my novella The Awakening, which kicks off the Metal and Stone series. And once I had that written, I was overcome with the need to tell the whole story.
And if that wasn't enough, here's where it can get a little confusing. The collected stories of Metal and Stone together make up what will be the first book in a three-book series called Blood of Dragons, of which the third volume will be an expanded and rewritten version of Fall.
So when all is said and done, it will look like this:
1- The Awakening
2- Fire and Ice
3- Blood and Scales
4- The Age of Extinction
5- The Great Council
6- Blood of the Dragons book 2 (currently untitled)
7- Expanded version of The Fall of an Overlord
8- Rise of the Overlord
9- Shadow of the Overlord
The answer, unfortunately, is not as simple as I would like.
The short answer is they are absolutely connected and there is an order that will make more sense (chronological in story time rather than publishing order).
When I originally wrote The Fall of an Overlord, that seemed the logical starting point, and it progresses quite neatly into the Calamity prequel, Rise of the Overlord, which functions a bit like an interlude that ties the two series together.
Now, you can definitely start with Fall, then go to Rise and Shadow. You'll have a reasonably satisfying reading experience with that order.
If you want the complete story, however, I would ask you to sit through a bit of history.
You see, after Fall was written and Rise was mostly written, I was asked to contribute to a short story anthology called Glimpses.
While I was brainstorming ideas, it occurred to me that I already had an exceptionally large window of history I could use as a backdrop for a story. I ended up deciding I didn't want to spoil any of the secrets and mysteries coming up in The Calamity, so I went with the history of the world Fall takes place in.
The result of that was a story called Metal and Stone, which is the basis for my novella The Awakening, which kicks off the Metal and Stone series. And once I had that written, I was overcome with the need to tell the whole story.
And if that wasn't enough, here's where it can get a little confusing. The collected stories of Metal and Stone together make up what will be the first book in a three-book series called Blood of Dragons, of which the third volume will be an expanded and rewritten version of Fall.
So when all is said and done, it will look like this:
1- The Awakening
2- Fire and Ice
3- Blood and Scales
4- The Age of Extinction
5- The Great Council
6- Blood of the Dragons book 2 (currently untitled)
7- Expanded version of The Fall of an Overlord
8- Rise of the Overlord
9- Shadow of the Overlord
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