marthawells

Hi Martha.

Since there isn't an official map of the Reaches and beyond...how much and how fungible is the geography of the Three Worlds in your head?

It's pretty vague. I know where all the main settings I've done so far are in relation to each other, how long it takes to get to them, what the country is like between them, but that's about it. The rest of it is waiting for me to fill it in. :)

Is this your final work in this world or do you plan on writing more stories involving these characters? Just so you know, I wouldn't mind a few more (dozen) Books of the Raksura. :-)

So far, the publisher asked me for four Raksura novellas to be made into ebooks, which I'll be doing next year. Two will definitely be about Indigo Cloud, and Moon and Jade and everybody; I'm not sure yet about the other two. After that, I'm not sure about anything. :)

I have been wondering what the Raksura groundling form looks like. Is it essentially human, or are there differences? Other than that they have hair and skin in groundling form, my mental image of it is kind of blurry :)

They would look like humans from a distance, but up close, the texture of their skin, their bone structure and other subtle things would tell you they weren't entirely human.

Is there an Official Explanation for why this world has so many distinct, and apparently unrelated, intelligent hominid species? (I should perhaps add that I loved all three books, and would keep buying and reading them as fast as you could write them.)

I haven't completely worked out all the details, but at some point, there were a deliberate efforts by some species to create more and different species. My idea of the Three Worlds has always been that there were many different civilizations, some with very advanced technology, that have risen and fallen over and over again, and made huge changes to the landscape in the process.

And thank you!

Thanks for taking the time to answer questions. :)

1) Am I correct in assuming that the Raksuran queens' arbora-like form looks very much like a naked woman? i.e. with breasts, curves in the right places, etc.? Several times it's mentioned that queens tend to make males of other humanoid species uncomfortable due to their lack of clothes, which would only seem to make sense if there were a sexual component there and they weren't, say, formless lizards.

2) Related to #1, why is it that only Raksuran queens go unclothed? My best guess is that because they don't shift to full groundling, they don't benefit from the "clothes meld into form" deal that the others have going on. i.e. their jewelry remains the same in either form. But that isn't based on any textual evidence I could find in the novels themselves.

3) Are the Raksura entirely bi-sexual? More than ever in "The Siren Depths" it seemed extremely commonplace.

4) Could you explain how Raksuran wings differ from Fell wings? I'd always thought of Raksuran wings as dragon-like, but the text makes a distinction that Fell wings are "leathery" suggesting that Raksuran wings are different. Feathers seems unlikely so...

Thanks for taking the time to answer questions. :)

1) All Arbora forms have a body shape, so yes, they would look female, but their skin still has scales, and they still have some spines, their tail, and so on.

2) They don't wear clothes because they don't shift to groundling forms. Groundling forms have softer, more sensitive skin, and need clothes for protection, for the feel of the fabric, etc (for all the reasons humans wear clothes, basically). Arbora forms still have scaled skin, and don't need clothes. The queens' Arbora forms have more sensitive skin than their winged forms, but it's not soft enough that they would need or want clothing.

3) Bisexual is their default as a species, but there are individuals that would tend more to heterosexual or homosexual relationships from personal preference.

4) Raksura have scales on their wings that they can use like feathers, Fell don't.

No prob! Thanks for asking! :)

1) There seems to be a LOT of intelligent species. Do all the arboreal and flying ones share a recent common ancestor? Is there more than one intelligent species of groundling?

2) I get the impression Raksura are smart, but just not quite as bright as the groundlings or us for that matter. Am I reading too much in? If it was a conscious decision why did you write it that way?

3) Do Fell corpses really draw other Fell, or is it just superstition? If so, is it a pheromone released by the dead critter? Some insects give off alarm pheromones when squished inducing most of their kind to run away and warrior caste members to run towards the smell

1) No, they don't all have common ancestors. And groundling is a general term for any species that lives on the ground, as opposed to the air or the water, so there are many intelligent species of groundling.

2) They're intelligent in different ways, and interested in different things. I didn't write them to have an inferior-to-human intelligence.

3) It's not pheromones, it's the mental connection between Fell that can draw another ruler to the site of a ruler's death. Once the ruler is dead, the mental connections are severed, but cutting the head off and burying it is a way to make certain the ruler is dead. It's a useful precaution that's become a superstition, if that makes sense.

I adore Stone - grumpy badass grandpa - and I was interested that he's the only line grandfather we've seen so far. Is it rare for a consort to live long enough to reach that point, and if so is it just a matter of luck/good genes? Or is there another reason we haven't met any others?

It's implied in a couple of places that as consorts grow they develop their own kind of powers, like queens. Is there more to this than we've seen yet?

How much fun do you have coming up with Raksura social mores for Moon to get a headache over?

I really love these books - I'm going to be stalking the novellas next year! Thank you for writing them :)

It's rare, and probably genetic. But also in the books they just haven't met that many courts yet. Also, many line-grandfathers are like Stone, where they do spend time traveling away from their courts.

Yes, Moon will gradually get stronger as he gets older, and his winged form will change to be more like Stone's, though that won't happen for a long, long time. As he gets older, he has the potential to develop more mental influence on the court, kind of the way the queens have influence, though not as strong.

A lot! :)

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed them!

Thanks for answering my question about naming of clutchmates in the other post. :)

I've been wondering about the way that queens mark "their" consorts. Is this mark/scent something that can be overridden or removed when a consort is stolen? Does it fade with time?

Also, while I love the gender role reversal, I'm curious to know why consorts are kept so sheltered. Physically, they're stronger, bigger, and can fly faster than warriors, right? So why don't courts take advantage of that instead of excluding them from most activites?

No prob!

It isn't something that fades, or can be removed. Other queens are always going to be able to detect it.

It's because the Raksura are still a sexist society. Consorts are symbols of a queen's power, so they're kept sheltered, even when it would make more sense not to.

I'm also really curious about the relationship between the Raksura and the Fell. How did they evolve into two such different species from a common ancestor? Did the Fell develop a hivemind along the way or did the Raksura lose theirs? Are there any other species out there related to them that we haven't met yet?

In Siren Depths Moon says in several places that Raksura are prey for Fell, but in Cloud Roads (I think, I don't have my books with me so I could be wrong) Stone told him that the place of the Raksura in the Three Worlds is to hunt Fell. Are they both wrong, or is one of the two species a natural predator to the other?

Oh, and a general question about the world: how do so many different species co-exist more or less peacefully? Have there been any other species or societies besides the Fell that have tried to spread out/conquer the rest of the continent?

I've also been curious about the way Moon speaks so many languages so fluently and the way he remembered Raksuran even though he hadn't spoken it at all since he was little. Is this a general Raksura trait? Are they all good at languages?

Is it okay if I ask more questions later? There's so many little things I've been wondering about. :)

The answers to this are things that I might want to address in later stories, so I don't want to talk about it when it's not fully developed yet.

The Raksura aren't prey for Fell. They're vulnerable to Fell at times, like anything else, but the groundling species are the Fell's natural prey. Stone felt that the Fell were the natural prey for Raksura because he saw it as partly a necessity, and partly a moral obligation.

Sometimes they don't co-exist peacefully. The way I see the world, there's way more than just one continent, and there are lots of species that have had wars, tried to conquer each other, or who prey on each other.

Being good at languages is partly because they have very good memories, especially for sounds.

I just may be slow to answer. :) Between getting ready for the holidays and finishing a book, I'm kind of pressed for time right now.

I was re-reading the ending of "Siren Depths" the other day and was struck again by the contrast between the raksura, where social power can be physically taken by force (Malachite challenging Onyx, Ember saying he didn't want to challenge Moon, etc.) and the Adem in Pat Rothfuss' series, where, despite being a martial culture, leaders pointedly *aren't* chosen based on the ability to defeat all comers.

Has this system of leadership led to problems for raksura as a culture in the past, where the strongest isn't necessarily the smartest?

Also, does this mean that in order to take over from Pearl, Jade would have to defeat her in combat?

Secondly, where does a line-grandfather fall in raksuran hierarchy? It seems to be based mainly on physical strength, but it seems like Stone would be able to easily defeat any queen in single combat at this point.

It could definitely become a problem for individual courts -- their system is far from perfect. But the Arbora as a group do exercise a lot of power. If the Arbora agreed en masse not to support a queen, she wouldn't be able to rule a colony.

It doesn't necessarily mean that. Pearl and Jade are currently sharing power to a large extent, and as Pearl gets older she will probably let Jade have more decision-making ability. To a large extent, it would depend on the individual queens. A court with several queens who get along well might have one who was technically in charge but in practice they would all be in on the decisions. Malachite and Onyx had issues extending way back to Malachite's return from the East, so their relationship was more fraught then say, Celadon and Ivory's relationship, where they grew up together and were used to working together.

A line-grandfather would basically be an adviser, but he would be an adviser who couldn't be easily physically intimidated. Though actually, a battle between a powerful mature queen like Malachite and a line-grandfather wouldn't have a foregone conclusion. But if something like that happened, the Arbora would probably get really upset, which would be a good reason to avoid it.

I had the impression from the books that female aeriat are bigger than male aeriat (with the exception of, say, Stone). What's the size relationship among Arbora? Is it the same, equal, or closer to human?

If queens would be larger than a consort of similar age, do queens not live as long as (some) consorts? Or have we just not seen any that do? I guess a side question is how big was Ice compared to Stone? And I've been assuming that their Arbora form does not grow larger in the same way (though it would make sex logistically interesting if it did), is that correct?

Thanks for answering questions! I love the books and hope to read many more. :D

The male and female Arbora are generally about the same size.

No, queens don't live as long as the consorts who become line-grandfathers. Ice wasn't nearly as big as Stone's winged form; I think I imagined her as maybe close to seven feet tall. And right, a very long-lived queen's Arbora form would probably get a little taller, but that's about it. It would be like Stone's groundling form, which is normal sized compared to his winged form.

Hope that all makes sense! And thank you! :)

Is there a particular reason Stone doesnt speak in his shifted form ?? Or is it just by choice/some traumatic event in his past ??
(Or is this just a trait of very old Raksuran consorts ??)

Also how old approximately would Stone be ?? Im guessing around 200 years or so..is this more or less correct ??

I've also noticed that the relationship between Queens and their progeny is very informal, almost aloof-like (This could be because said progeny belonged mainly to Pearl and Malachite ) Is this true for all queens/Raksuran Parents ?? i.e that they distance themselves from their own children after a time unlike us humans who tend to form long lasting bonds with our parents ??

Thanks for taking the time to answer!!

It's a trait of line-grandfathers. His voice is different in his shifted form, and I want to do something with it in a future story, so I don't want to give too many details right now and risk contradicting myself later. :)

It's probably about that.

It's not true as a rule, and part of the reason it looks as if it is is we're seeing it from Moon's perspective, and he hasn't been around long enough to see too many normal Raksuran queen-fledgling relationships under normal conditions.

No prob!

In The Cloud Roads, Moon feels a strong aversion about seeing anything bad happen to the Arbora of Indigo Cloud, even though he hasn't seen another Raksura in decades. In The Siren Depths, we see that punishing an Arbora is seen differently than punishing a warrior. Combining this with previous comments on physical vs. social power and role of Arbora in the court, it seems like Aeriat have an instinctual urge to protect (or at least not harm) Arbora. Am I totally off base here?

In our society, young males are often the troublemakers. Among the Aeriat the same is true, even though they're female-dominated and you might expect that role to be reversed. Why is that?

Thanks for writing these books! All of your books are treat for anyone with an interest in anthropology, but as someone else mentioned, the Books of the Raksura throw in so much fascinating biological detail that they're a real treat for someone (like me!) with a background in biology.

You're right, it is an instinctive urge that's also backed up by their culture.

It's because it's assumed that the female warriors will have more important roles, so they're given more responsibility and attention earlier on than the males, who are sort of treated as useless until they get older and can show they're responsible, etc. The males have to work harder to get favorably noticed, and a lot of them don't realize that for a while and goof off and make trouble.

Thank you very much! :)

I read the review in Rising Shadow, and it's good as far as it goes, but of course it doesn't go into details. Although I did note, "Moon isn't sure if Jade will fight for him. This is just one of his worries, be[c]ause..." and couldn't help finishing the sentence, "...he's an idiot." Well, of course he isn't. But I think it'll be some sizeable fraction of another forty turns before he internalizes the fact that just about everyone he knows would come back for him, fight for him, want to spend time with him. Instead of thinking about the people who obviously want him, like Chime, in order to counter his pessimism, he sort of forgets they exist so he can be thoroughly miserable. Probably a survival feature, but I don't blame Stone for swatting his head.

I'm glad the Raksura, at least the Arbora and warriors, don't have as much of an emotional bramble patch around sex as most humans. I love Chime, and I want him not to be forlorn because Moon (at least in his own ruminations) thinks of their sexual involvement as, "He really wanted me, and I didn't mind."

Shade is such a sweetie! I want to huggle him (in groundling form) and possibly bite his ear. Malachite was properly terrifying -- not just a huge mature queen but a grieving, furious mother. I have no trouble believing that even a line-grandfather would hesitate to take her on. Celadon charmed me, a young heroine whose behavior felt just right. Oh, and I cried over Flower, especially for Moon, who was yet again blindsided by something everyone else assumed he knew.

Raksura society, within a court at least, isn't perfect but feels fairly egalitarian considering how much of people's destiny is biology. The Aeriat are simultaneously a proud, quarrelsome aristocracy and an expensive but satisfying hobby of the Arbora. Consorts may be decorative trophy husbands for queens, but the Aeriat are all a little spoiled, except when they're desperately needed defenders... So there are checks and balances going on. Still not much fun if you're not cis-whatever you're born as. I wonder how many aren't, like Chime and maybe even River the would-be consort, but less noticeable. Teachers who wish they were mentors, sort of thing.

If Teachers do most of the artisanal work, they must have quite a lot of Teachers! Generally I imagine teachers as run too ragged by students to have time for other hobbies.

The Aeriat are simultaneously a proud, quarrelsome aristocracy and an expensive but satisfying hobby of the Arbora.

I really like this description. :)

And thanks for your comments!

I can see why some classify these books as science fiction despite the prominent features that can't be anything but magic (or technology so advanced over what they currently have that it might as well be). What it feels like is SF spiced with magic so these beautiful things can be. I definitely approve.

Hi Martha,
I loved the Siren Depths and how you tied in the mystery of Moon's background into the challenges facing the Raksura, and I also enjoyed learning more about the society -- of course, I want to learn more! A few questions:

1) Babies/fledglings are raised by teachers, but Moon seems to take real enjoyment in spending time with the children (and not just his "clutch" -- there was a scene earlier in the series when he first encounters a nursery, and felt a connection with the kids there.) Is this typical for consorts? Are they generally more involved in raising children than the queens?

2) The bits of scenes with Moon and other consorts are fascinating. Are you planning on exploring this part of the Raksuran society in your novellas?

3) Are queens hands-off with their children? Pearl and Jade don't seem to have much affection for each other, but Stone and Moon have a bond that appears both warm and strong, even though they aren't related by blood.

Thanks, Martha!

1) Yes, they're usually more involved, and fill the nurturer role.

2) Hopefully. I'm not too sure what all I'm going to do yet.

3) Some queens are, and some are more involved. It really depends on the queen and the situation in the court.

No prob! :)

1) We know both consorts and queens gain power as they age, but are some naturally stronger than others (It seems that Moon is fairly strong for his age)?

2) It seems most Raksura (and the Arbora in particular) are insular and not terribly interested in the groundlings or the world around them. In contrast Moon and Stone and even Shade and Shadow seem to have more of an interest about events outside of their own court. Are consorts in general more curious or is this just specific to individuals? (you also said most line-grandfathers travel outside of the courts)

3) In Siren Depths we saw the reaches home to large animals that were never identified as either some kind of groundling or just general monsters. Are there other sentient groundlings other than the Kek that call the reaches home? In particular I'm wondering about the frog like creature around the Indigo Moon court that Moon saw when he was hunting the creature that took Sand. It seemed to understand his question but you implied there was a barrier of communication between the two species. Is this common in the Three Worlds that with so many different species sometimes two separate cultures just can't communicate. (I know that in particular waterlings seem to have this problem with groundlings.)

4) Now that we know Shade and the other hybrids from Opal Night are more or less Ancestors than Fell will they interbred with the courts or still be excluded? Is this something that an augury similar to the one done by Heart early in the book could answer?

5) You've implied that the magic of the mentors is more or less unique to Raksura is there any crossover with other species? Also how can the court of Indigo Twilight learn the magic that they lost when the court moved is there a kind of cross training/mentoring between courts for Abora ever?

6) Do the progenitor's have a 2nd groundling form?

7) Is there a neutral area between all courts somewhere in the reaches at all? We know that the different courts act with their own sovereignty and control certain areas of the upper forest, but do they all agree that certain parts are in general for all Raksura?

8) It's been implied that mentor powers came when the Arbora crossbred with the Ancestors. Do the Arbora have any natural magic to themselves other than sifting? Is there any groups of Arbora that did not become part of a Raksura court? Do the Arbora and the Teth have a common ancestor like the Fell and Ariet?

9) Moon seemed passably familiar with fighting in groundling form did he ever learn to use any types of weapons other than the bow? Also Archery/projectiles seem to be unknown to the Indigo Cloud court is this just a reliance on their own natural weaponry or do the courts not like such weapons. Will Moon possibly teach it to the soldiers/hunters?

10) I haven't seen any strong reason for why Pearl would be considered a good queen/leader for the court. Is there a reason she has so much backing from the Abora or do they just not have confidence in JadeMoon yet.

11) Will anyone ever sit Moon down and try to correct the shortcomings in his education? He keeps running into situations where people are force-ably reminded that he doesn't understand what's going on yet they just leave him in ignorance. Do they assume as a consort he won't listen to teachers?

12) I can't believe River just meekly accepted being replaced by Ember, he obviously wants some more power/respect in the court is there any real avenues open to him that would do this?

13) What did Tempest think of Moon toward the end of their journey? It seemed that she was annoyed at how competent he was did it ever give way to respect or did she take it as comment on her own ability as a queen? Will that as well as the snub from Opal Night make problems between their courts when she replaces Ice?

14) Why wasn't there any outcry from the Arbora to Moon's leaving? They had begun to accept him it seemed and I can't believe if they sometimes overrule their own queens that they wouldn't argue about an order from a queen and court they never met before.

Can't wait for the novella's

gallandro

1) Yes.

2) It's more specific to individuals.

3) Yes, there are other groundlings in the Reaches, and yes, there are species that have great difficulty communicating.

4) If they do, it will probably be within Opal Night.

5) Other species use magic, but it's going to be different from what the mentors do. It's certainly a possibility.

6) Yes, but no one other than the Fell have seen it.

7) There is a lot of open territory that isn't under the control of any court, so that could function as "public" space.

8) Not sure what you mean, here. The Arbora and Aeriat are both Raksura, and whatever species the Arbora originally came from doesn't exist anymore. By "Teth" do you mean "Tath"? The Tath are a completely different species and don't have any relationship with the Arbora.

9) They know how to make projectiles, they just don't use them very much in the kind of hunting that they normally do.

10) Yes, and no, it's not because they lack confidence in Jade.

11) Probably, and no.

12) Not really.

13) Their relationship is always going to be complicated, and the two courts will probably never have a very close relationship.

14) Yes, but it happened after he left.

Thanks!

I adore Moon. He's become one of my favourite fictional characters. I like to think that with Moon's influence and the time he spends amongst the fledglings that the next generation of Raksura will be a much closer group, with less fractions butting heads with one another.

I was wondering, will any of the female Arbora be approaching Moon to father their children?? And if so, I'd love to be a fly on the wall to witness Moon's reaction to being asked :-)

I'm looking forward to buying the short stories when they're released. I don't think I could ever get enough of Moon and the rest of the Raksura!

Thank you very much!

Yea, that would happen eventually, and yeah, it will probably be pretty awkward for Moon. :)

I was a bit surprised to read Moon's casual mention of sleeping with Chime in The Siren Depths--not that it HAPPENED, because I'd been of the firm belief that Chime had a crush on Moon since the very early pages of The Cloud Roads, and I was worrying in The Serpent Sea about Chime getting his heart broken. But I wasn't sure that Moon was actually aware of Chime's longing, since their previous cuddling seemed pretty nonsexual. So when did Moon wise up? (Or did I simply miss that, somehow? My first read-through was on Kindle and went pretty quick.)

On a side-note, kudos for a casual depiction of bisexuality. Though you managed to break my heart pretty thoroughly well doing so--first for Moon with Liheas, and later for Chime, with "Chime really wanted to, and Moon didn't mind." Of course, Chime has been breaking my heart pretty regularly all along. He talks quite a bit about regretting the loss of his mentor powers; did he have a similar, quieter struggle with the loss of his fertility?

I think Moon always knew Chime was attracted to him, but he's just really hesitant about sexual relationships. I've always seen him as a person where someone else is always going to have to make the first move.

Yes, he would definitely have had some issues about losing his fertility. I don't know if you've seen it yet, but I touch on Chime's feelings a bit in the story "Adaptation" which linked is on my web site on the Raksura page.

I haven't had a chance to red The Siren Depths yet, so if it is in there, you can just tell me to go read it :D Or if it is in one of the other books and I missed it. I just have tiny Raksura babies on the mind, for Reasons.

How do the Raksuran clutches work? It the term implies eggs to me, but do they have live births? Or if they do have eggs, how long until the hatch? Do the teachers care for them in that state? It three a typical number for a clutch?

It's actually in The Siren Depths, but yes, they're live births. The maximum in a clutch is five, but three wouldn't be an unusual number.

I absolutely love your work, I picked up The Cloud Roads maybe 6 months back and after reading the 2 in the series that were out I couldn't wait for the third, I quickly went in search of all your other books, I love them all. The Wizard Hunter's series was especially great, I fall quickly in love with all your characters! I love how some of your series are set in the same world's, all your ideas are so different and vast, I find myself always longing for another chapter after I've finished.

I just got finished with all of your books in time to read the Siren Depths, and blazed through it, it was so exciting! I am now going through all the little side stories and things you have up on your site, so happy when I discovered those!

Anyhow, I just want to say I really really hope you will make more Raksura books, I love those characters so much, it is my favorite of the journeys I've delved into!

Thank you, you are amazing.
Arianne MacDonald

Thank you very much, Arianne! I'm so glad you enjoyed all the books! Comments like there are a great Christmas present. :)

Uh hi me again :D Just a few more questions please !!

1) It is shown that Moon can resist the shifting geas of Queens if they are young (i.e Tempest) does this mean that Stone being much much older could resist/outright oppose the shifting imposed even by the strongest of queens (i.e like Malachite) ?? Or can some queens, who have reached a certain Age and Status impose the shift on all Raksura regardless of Age or Physical Strength ??

2) Why do the Raksura become tired after spending a certain amount of time in their "true" forms (as it were)?? Again as in Stone's case, his shifted form is vastly stronger than the others,with proportional stamina gains but conversely his groundling form is like any other old man.

3)We have seen a lot of evidence in the books that the Raksuran behaviour of hissing,growling and the almost unconscious mirroring of their spine/frill displays are reflected also in their groundling forms.My question is specifically this, In the Siren Depths when Stone growls in his groundling form the whole floor shakes, does this mean that the Raksura (Queens and Consorts in particular) retain the volume,pitch and tenor of their growls even in groundling form ??

Thank you again for writing the books, i cannot express how much of a joy it is to read something so unique and beautiful, unlike many run of the mill books out there.

Cheers !

1) Stone could resist being forced to shift by any younger queen, but resisting one as powerful as Malachite might be iffy for him.

2) This has to do with how I the shifting works (at least in my head) where the winged form is drawing power/existing in a slightly alternate dimension. When the Raksura are in their winged (or for Arbora their scaled) forms, they're existing in two dimensions simultaneously. When they aren't, they're just in the one dimension, so they're using less physical/mental/magical power.

3) It's a trait of line-grandfathers, but would only show up in much older queens.

Thank you very much for reading them! :)

Since I'm busy arguing with other people in the comments, might as well ask my own question!

I've now read several of your books (except the Ile-Ren ones; saving those for later), and noticed a common thread of Eldritch Horrors From Beyond (EHFBs). I suspect you can't answer this because you're still writing in this universe, but I'll ask it anyway. Is the "fake forerunner" of The Siren Depths the EHFB of this universe, as the Inhabitants of the West were to the City of Bones universe, and the whatever-they-weres of the dead realm in Wheel of the Infinite? And if so, is there any connection between the Three Worlds and those other books' EHFB-plagued worlds?

This is weird. I'm sure I answered this question a few days ago and the reply isn't here now. I wonder if LJ lost it or I just imagined posting it or I just posted it randomly somewhere else.

Anyway, the ones in City of Bones and Wheel of the Infinite are related and came from the same world. The fake forerunner is really more of a creature that is part of the reason why there are so many past destroyed civilizations. I haven't worked out all the details, and if I do other books, I'd want to try to explore all that a bit more.

I am a member of Audible.com and that is how I discovered your fabulous books! Can you say when the new one will be out with Audible? I am totally entranced with the Raksura and how you portray the roles, feelings and conventions of the 'people'. Thank you, I love your books so far, I am off to try some of the others.

Thanks!

Linda Carol Adrienne
www.PerspectivesHolistic.com

I don't know when the new one will be out on Audiobook -- I'll post as soon as I find out or see that it's available. I would think it would be sometime next month, but I'm not sure.

And thank you very much! I'm so glad you enjoyed them!

While we know that the alliance with Opal Night is helpful enough to Indigo Cloud, did Moon come with a dowry, much like some Middle Eastern brides do here on Earth?

Is he already thinking of names for his first clutch? What might they be?

Are you still writing the fourth book of the Raksura, since you mentioned that it was originally planned to be a four book series (at least, initially)?

They don't really do dowries for consorts. If they did, it would probably be more like a bride price, where Indigo Cloud would have to give something valuable to Opal Night in exchange for Moon.

I've actually already got the names worked out, but I won't say yet, because I'm still hoping to release the story where their first clutch is born as a novella.

At the moment there isn't a publisher for the fourth book, though I'd really still like to do one. Everything is very up in the air right now, so I really don't know what the future of the series is going to be.