My latest novella is quite different than the last one. It’s not about a starfighter squadron, in fact it’s not even about the good guys. The Blood Empress is about Empress Nykostra, ruler of the Votainion Empire. In Starforgers, Book 1 of the Star Saga, you are first introduced to the young Empress who has sent her military off to the far side of the galaxy looking for Kerra-Jorro, the home world of the Votainions. In that novel Nykostra beheads her Soothsayer and drinks his blood because he didn’t approve of her holy mission to find the Kerra-Jorro. After having done that the Soothsayer’s blood changes her and she begins to see her own future and the future of the Empire. From that point on she is known as the Blood Empress.
This novella is about what happens when she decides to leave Voton, the seat of Votainion power and venture out into space against her handler’s and a new Soothsayer’s wishes. It’s a coming of age story in which a sheltered young girl finds her destiny on a far off world and returns to shape the Empire into her own vision. I had a great time writing this story and it’s packed with adventure and action. Nykostra’s story was originally going to be in the second book of the series, The Rising. But while I was outlining that book, I realized her story was too big for one novel. So I created a novella that comes between books 2 and 3 of the series.
I later realized that there was room for a second novella in between book 1 and 2 and thus was born Devon’s Blade. So if you are reading the Star Saga in order here is the chronological order of the books:
Starforgers, Book 1 | Devon’s Blade | The Rising, Book 2 | The Blood Empress | Counterattack, Book 3
Fortunately, I’ve written the two novellas to be stand alone stories. Some characters in the novellas appear in the main books or are mentioned for narrative flow. But you can read each novella as a stand alone story. This novel, novella, novel, novella, novel pattern is also being used by Disney for the new Star Wars movies. Disney calls the in-between films Anthology Movies. So I think the idea is catching on in both literature and film.
I’m already hard at work writing the novella that will come after Book 4, Starstrikers in the second trilogy of the Star Saga. It’s another strarfighter type story called Knat Trap. I hope to have it out next summer. I’m also plotting and preparing to write Book 5, XiniX. So there will be the same pattern of novel, novella in the next “trilogy” of the series.
All of the first trilogy books will be out by January of next year. So in a couple of months, readers will have a clear path from which to read while they wait for me to write the next “trilogy”.
You can pre-order The Blood Empress today, it will appear on your Kindle the day before Thanksgiving. That’s about a week from now.