Recently found the Adversary Cycle/RJ/Secret History series and I'm loving it. Because there have been so many works published in the series already, I want to make sure I get things right before I finish with Nightworld. My research through the forum and with FPW's very helpful timeline told me to Read up to Nightworld then finish RJ series. I have a quick question about the books outside those main series.

I understand I should read Black Wind before By the Sword and finish the RJ series then read Signalz and Nightworld. Could I think proceed to Nightworld and read the other books (i.e., Panacea, Sibs, Wardenclyffe, etc.) afterwards? Or, is it more impactful to read them all before getting to Nightworld?

Thanks so much!

FASTER THAN LIGHT: The Story of The Sci-Fi Cannel's FTL Newsfeed (vols 1 & 2) are available in paperback on Amazon. They contain the backstory and all the scripts written by Matt Costello and me. The 2 volumes (7"x10") are necessary because the total page count is around 760 or so and I wasn't sanguine about the stability of a paperback spine that thick. Due to formatting issues there will be no ebook. It would need to be fixed format due to the AV layout of the scripts which would be indecipherable on anything but a large screen.
Volume 1 HERE
Volume 2 HERE

Was it something I said at GU Boston, GU Chicago, GU Las Vegas?

Asking for a friend.

Just finished ?Double Threat? and loved it. But the ending leaves with the feeling of an obvious follow up. I thought it was a stand alone novel.

An initial attempt to create a timeline for the Secret History. Input/suggestions encouraged.

600 kya - the Ally modifies adapiform primate to transfer hsa-mir-3998 to H. sap

15-16 kya - FIRST AGE
"Demonsong" (prehistory)
The 7 develop krkrs from much smaller creatures via ancient technology
The Great Cataclysm ends the First Age and resets human civilization

1317 – the Gaijin Masamune katana forged in Japan after Glaeken requests a heavy dirk to be refashioned into a kodachi. The dirk’s metal had fallen from the sky in a blaze of light. (NEW)
1476 - Rasalom trapped in the Keep
1498 - the Compedium rescued from Torquemada and the Inquisition
1579 – the first appearance of the Kuroikaze on Honshu’s Noto Peninsula (NEW)
1847 - Glaeken seals the Compedium and other books during one of his inspections of the keep
1860 - Rudolph Drexler born 4/7
1874 - noting that Joseph Wharton was buying up large areas of the NJ Pine Barrens, Glaeken stepped in as -Mr. Foster- and
bought a tract of woodland in order to isolate an area that had been frequented in ancient times by devotees of the Otherness.
1890 - Ernst Drexler Sr born
1906 - Tesla-s Wardenclyffe tower breaches Veil, causes -Frisco quake
1906 - Rudolph Drexler disappears at Tesla lab, Wardenclyffe
1923 - Ernst Drexler Sr diverts Karl Stehr's shot during Munich putsch ("Aryans and Absinthe")
1926-45 - Black Wind
1927 - Jonah Stevens loses left eye in Great Lower Mississippi Valley Flood
1930 - Jack's father born
1931 - Jack's mother born
1938 - looking for a simpler life, Glaeken moves to Tavira, Portugal, where he crews for a fisherman named Sanchez.
1941 - early April - Jasmine "Jazzy" Cordeau impregnated with a human clone
April 23, 8:56 PM EST - the signals start
May 3 - Rasalom's 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] -death- - invades the clone in Jazzy; no longer immortal, Glaeken begins aging; Jonah Stevens
has visions to care for the Vessel
June - Glaeken moves to Bucharest of be with Magda
July - Alexandru sells Compedium & other books to a Bucharest dealer
September - Prof. Cuza dies from complications of scleroderma
December - Glaeken and Magda marry
1942 - (Jan 6) the Vessel (a human clone) born to Jazzy
1942 - (Feb) Jonah and Emma Stevens adopt the Vessel from St. F's - name him James Stevens
March - the Twins are born
1946 - Walter Erskine born in Chillicothe, MO
1947 - the Lange-Tur project begins
1949 - an antiquarian dealer in Bucharest sells the Compendium to American collector
1950 - Jack-s father trained as a US Army sniper by Sgt. Nacht
1951 - Ernst Drexler II born
1955 – the Gaijin Masamune stolen from the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima (NEW)

1959 - Tom Jr born
1961 - Kate born
1962 - Jack's father gets vasectomy
1963 - "Muscles"
1968 - Feb 10 Reborn: Rasalom conceived in Monroe, causing a cluster of freaks (see Conspiracies and "Faces")
Feb 11 - Dr. Hanley crashes
Feb 11 - all the signals stabilize
Mar - Dat Tay Vao enters Walt Erskine in Viet Nam
April - Jack conceived
Sept - Weezy Connell born
Oct - the first of the "Monroe Cluster" is born
Nov 7 - Rasalom reborn in Hickory Hill, AK
1969 - Jan - Jack born
Feb - Mrs. Clevenger moves into Johnson, NJ
April - Walter's sister's (Adelle) husband Kurt Bainbridge transferred from Kansas, City, MO to his company's Trenton office; knew
Jack's Dad in Korea (calls him "Killer"); moved to Johnson for the trout and bass fishing; provides home for his brother-in-law
but not crazy about idea.
Oct - Eddie Connell born

SOMETIME IN THE EARLY 1970s - Jonah Stevens-s kids: Hank born in January; Jeremy 11 mo later in December; Moonglow / Christy born following December.

1970 - 24-yr-old Walt Erskine gets medical discharge from Army after treated for a mental condition at Northport V.A. Hospital.
Diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. Thought he could heal people.
1972 - Walt joins a faith-healing tent show in the South
1974 - After being kicked off tent show tour because he was never sober, Walt comes to live with sister Adelle in Johnson, NJ
1975 - American collector killed and robbed of Compendium by Jonah Stevens
1975 - Luther Brady receives Compendium after graduation from college
1979 - Jonah Stevens killed in elevator "accident"
1981 - Tom starts Seton Hall Law; Kate spends Junior Year abroad in France. Walt Erskine in DC for Vietnam Veterans Memorial dedication
1983 - Aug: Jack: Secret Histories
Sept: Jack starts South Burlington County Regional High School; Kate starts UMDNJ in Stratford. Jack: Secret Circles
Oct: Walt cures Miriam's child. Jack: Secret Vengeance
1985 - melis discovered at Lange-Tur and given to Maureen LaVelle for analysis at Ft. Detrick The Void Protocol
1986 – Operation Synapse initiated via DIA Agent Benjamin Greve (New)
1987 - June: Jack grads South Burlington County Regional High School
Sept: Jack starts Rutgers
1988 - Walt Erskine moves to New York; meets Martin Spano
1990 - Jan: Jack's mother killed by thrown block
Feb: Jack kills Ed
June: Jack moves to NYC at age 21. Cold City
1991 - Dark City
Horace B. Gilmartin Foundation opens the Modern Motherhood clinics (new)
1993 - Feb. 26: Jack and Burkes fail to stop WTC bomb. Fear City
2001 – Feb: Agent Greve delivers melis sample to Plum Island researchers (new)
2004 – Spring: Jack meets Chandler. “Fix”
2006 – Modern Motherhood clinics close (new)

YEAR ZERO (minus) FIVE:
Dec: Bill Ryan buries Danny Gordon in St. Ann-s cemetery in Queens

YEAR ZERO (minus) FOUR:
Jan: Bill Ryan ends up on West End in Bahamas
May: Department R3A (consisting of the Troika) formed in NSA
June: the Dusseldorf atrocity

YEAR ZERO (minus) THREE:
Feb: Dr. Lazlo Gates kills himself in Times Square. Sibs
Mar: Professor Sal Roma forms SESOUP
Summer: The Tomb; the Facelift killer strikes: "Faces"
Sept: Disturbance in the Veil: "The Barrens"
Oct: A Day in the Life"
"The Long Way Home"
Dec: Legacies

YEAR ZERO (minus) TWO:
Bill Ryan returns to US as Will Ryerson
April: the Ehler house disappears in Monroe; the Twins (who've been managing the yeniceri) disappear with it. Conspiracies
May: tire drop Long Island. All the Rage
June: subway massacre of 6, stopped by "Subway Savior;" C4 explosion at 7 Starfisher Lane in Ocean Beach, NJ. Hosts
Aug: strange emanations from Menalaus Manor in Queens; Shurio Coppe closed after owner Eli Bellitto disappears. The Haunted Air
Scar-lip Redux
Sept: Tropical storm and eventually hurricane Elvis. Gateways
Nov: Dormentalism / Luther Brady scandal. Crisscross
Dec: LaGuardia massacre. Infernal

YEAR ZERO (minus) ONE:

Jan: early - Jack in New Orleans. "Infernal Night;" Oculus murdered in Red Hook warehouse HQ Harbingers
April: early - Dawn Pickering conceives
The Fifth Harmonic
Panacea
The Creighton Institute for the Criminally Insane in Rathburg on Hudson. Bloodline
Stories about Kickers / Hank Thompson / Kick!
Alan acquires Dat-Tay-Vao / Walter Erskine dies. The Touch
May: Jack meets Glaeken; Massacre on Staten Island; kuroikaze on roof there. By the Sword
The God Gene
Sylvia's sculptures on display in NYC
July: Alan Bulmer's house burns on a Monday; 2 Kickers found dead in Manhattan of a host of diseases and avulsed intestines
Mount Sinai hospital shootout; repercussions as Lady dies 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] time.
Ground Zero
Aug: The Touch ends
Rasalom settles in Pendleton, NC as Rafe
The signals (stable since 2/11/68) start to change, moving inchmeal up or down toward a common frequency.
Sept: another disturbance in the Barrens. "TPOTC&OE;" Weirdness at Lakehurst naval station. The Void Protocol
"Tenants"
October thru December: The Order develops the Jihad virus. Fatal Error
Rafe/Rasalom in Pendleton, NC; works at seducing Lisl. Reprisal
Dec: Snowpocalypse! The Last Christmas

YEAR ZERO:

Jan: "Pelts"
Dawn's baby boy is late
Rasalom in Pendleton, NC. Reprisal
Feb: Rasalom - in Pendleton, NC setting up Ev and Lisl. Reprisal
Renny Augustino - in NC tracking Ryan; then in NYC with Bill and Glaeken to dig up and burn Danny Gordon in
St. Ann's Cemetery; dies in return to NC. Reprisal
Internet collapse. Fatal Error
Mar: (early) Explosive destruction in Nuckateague, LI. The Dark at the End
May: all the signals frequencies match the Sheep Meadow signal. Signalz
Nightworld begins

I finally got around to reading Watership Down and I have to tell you:
1. Its not about the navy

AND

2. This is not a story for young children.

Seven years without ever posting, then two in one day!

How do you pronounce Glaeken in your head when reading?

I'm forever stuck with how I read it as a teenager in the early 80s with The Keep...

Gleh-ken (the same 'e' as in 'met')

However I went though a phase of trying to say the 'ae' as in Michael - that is closer to Gluk-en

Has there ever been an official pronouncement (pardon the pun) on this?

I was reminded of the website when looking for news of any new novels - Double Threat.. yay!!

As a long overdue 1st post, I'd like to ask what did people prefer about the original Nightworld? (maybe even our esteemed author!)

This is not to say I don't love the new version. One of these things had to be done to make it fit.

Here are my thoughts.

1. Carol's husband being replaced as the sewer crawler baby chow. There was something more creepy about the original. A normal, probably good guy, turns selfish understandably in extreme circumstances and decides to look after numero uno. You got his full journey. The Kicker head replacing him was much more 'deserving' of his fate and somehow made it not as powerful for me.

2. The first meeting of Jack and Glaeken. When I first got to this meeting in the Repairman Jack novels, I was very excited but then thought - hey? How is this going to work with Nightworld? Obviously, this meant that the scene was removed. It was originally much cooler to me for them to meet without Jack being an Heir (a concept which fizzles out to nothing in the new Nightworld anyway - I prefer Jack without super recovery powers.)

About me - as this is my 1st post:
I'm from the UK and read The Keep as a teenager in the summer of about 1983/84. It was the best thing I had ever read and so obviously read The Tomb and The Touch. I re-read The Keep a few times and when I started university I was so excited to see Reborn and then Reprisal on the shelves and bought the hardbacks straight away each time. But then came Nightworld! Long before the days of Marvel Cinematic Universes, I was giddy with the joining up of all the novels. It became my favourite fictional book.

I reread all of these books over the years, but kind of lost touch with F Paul's output for a long time. Fast forward nearly 20 years and I don't know what alerted me to the whole slew of RJ novels when there was still a couple to be written. I devoured all of these with the same enthusiasm as the young me, and have bought all the new books on the day of publication ever since (Kindle, but I still have the 6 Adversary Cycle novels as 80s/90s edition paperbacks. I lost the hardbacks.)

Seeing as it's that time of year, I have Mrs. Murgatroyd standing ready!



Although I think maybe she's better off ignoring any thingy she might encounter and paying more attention to the triffids across the hall.

In the desert, Romania and California
Is this like Crisscross?
Asking for a friend