Dr. Wilson:

I'm a fan. I'm a huge fan. I discovered you back in 1979 when I read The Keep on a Greyhound Bus on my way to a college interview, and I never let go. I've read two of your medical thrillers (meh), the entire LaNague cycle and, most importantly, both the Adversary Cycle and the Repairman Jack series.

And, after reading Black Wind and By the Sword back to back over the last week..... WTF are you doing?????????

You already wrote what is probably the best horror/adventure/sci-fi combo series there has ever been. The Adversary Cycle is a true work of art, spanning 50+ years and at least four different literary genres to tell an amazing story... a story that is neatly wrapped up and actually contained within the six books.

As much as I love Jack, you've lost all focus.

And I DO love Jack. The Tomb rests solidly amongst my Top Ten books of all time, and I do my best to sing your praises and win converts on other book/Kindle forums.

But... WTF????

By my last count, you now have at least seven different players involved in the Nightworld-Endgame. There's this unborn baby--that means everything... even though we know it doesn't. (Cuz we've all read Nightworld and we know it comes down to a showdown between Glaeken and another Rasalom-rebirth/empowerment.) Septimus. Kickers. Kaze. Dormentalists. Kakureta Kao. The Katana that means nothing because we already know the source-metal for the Sword... The Lady... you have, over the last few years, made them all important in the final scenario... when you already had a perfectly crafted final scenario!

I admire you greatly as an author. But do you truly believe that you can somehow wrap all this together and write a better version of Nightworld when the time comes with all these disparate, random (though fascinating) threads out there?

I just don't get it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Welcome, Jim. You'll like it here.

...and he did it just to upset you.

Seriously though...the battle between the Adversary and the Ally have been going on for eons (according to The Keep)...there's going to be a little more going on in the backstory than what is revealed in The Keep, Reborn, The Tomb, Reprisal and Nightworld.

FPW has stated for a generation that he was thinking about a swords and sorcery exposition on the original short story, "Demonsong"...in a way, the Jack books are a teaser on who we'll see in that series (more than one servant of the Ally, Septimus Lodge, Srem, more Infernals, Q'krr, the Cataclysm, etc, etc.).

With the dreck out there that passes for quality novels these days, I'll take a convoluted FPW storyline and a slightly modified Nightworld any day of the week.

And a good shot of rum.

Can't forget the rum.

Heh.

-Wapitikev

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I for one am enthralled by the turn of events. It is a treat for fans of the original AC to see how everything will tie together in the end.

He's not re-writing the original AC, he is expanding it. And I have full faith that Paul knows exactly what he is doing...he is one step ahead of us as readers and he is keeping us guessing...crafting perhaps the best mystery of all.

I have said it all along...we know how the story ends...getting there is half the fun.

Welcome to the forum, stick around and post more.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I for one am enthralled by the turn of events. It is a treat for fans of the original AC to see how everything will tie together in the end.

He's not re-writing the original AC, he is expanding it. And I have full faith that Paul knows exactly what he is doing...he is one step ahead of us as readers and he is keeping us guessing...crafting perhaps the best mystery of all.

I have said it all along...we know how the story ends...getting there is half the fun.

Welcome to the forum, stick around and post more.

Tony,
I love that you have become the official old-timer welcomer of the Board.

I agree, Tony, I'd never second guess Paul. He's way too smart and he has a cunning plan. Namely, to sell as many books as possible and retire a happy man. But along the way to that dream (if indeed it is Paul's dream), FPW has continued to keep this reader on the edge of her seat, on pins and needles and acting like a nervous Nellie while reading books in a series whose outcome I already know. Tell me that is not the mark of a fabulous writer.

The thing that I love most about Paul's work is the grand scheme behind it, the interconnectedness of it all. I live to find those links and threads, and they are everywhere.

Welcome to Bacardi Jim. I agree with Tony that the wild ride is the thrill, and not the ultimate destination.

Maggers

Welcome to the board. Yes indeed, we do know where we're going....but the trip there is filled with twists and turns. The excitement and discovery along the way of the journey is half the fun.

Dr. Wilson:

You already wrote what is probably the best horror/adventure/sci-fi combo series there has ever been. The Adversary Cycle is a true work of art, spanning 50+ years and at least four different literary genres to tell an amazing story... a story that is neatly wrapped up and actually contained within the six books.

And I DO love Jack. The Tomb rests solidly amongst my Top Ten books of all time, and I do my best to sing your praises and win converts on other book/Kindle forums.

I think he does it because he can and series fiction is where the $ is at these days. That said, I tend to agree to a point. I agree completely that the original AC is the best story I've ever read and to a lesser degree about the loss of focus. I am not of a fan of series fiction, but I think FPW has been quite successful at keeping the series fresh. He has consistently introduced exciting new elements into the series and if you think about the scope of the Ally/Otherness it's not surprising that all these disparate groups have been operating without realizing that they are part of something bigger.

I must admit that the book I am most looking forward to reading is the first one he writes after the RJ series is concluded.

And welcome.

Thanks, everyone, for your respectful replies to my mini-tirade. I wrote it mere minutes after having finished By the Sword and I was a tad worked up.

I agree that FPW has done an amazing job of keeping the series fresh and interesting. I continue to buy each book in hardback as soon as it is released. I love Jack and thrill to his varied adventures.

I just... I just came away from this last book scratching my head. It seems that rather than trying to tie up all these other threads as he heads into the home stretch to Nightworld, FPW is intentionally unraveling and knotting them up as messily as possible. Yes, it's fun to read, but I don't want to see the climax ruined as a result.

Does that make any sense?

Also, I have another fear that I didn't express in my original post. It concerns the character of "P. Frank Winslow." Remember how we all fell in love with King's Dark Tower series? How we grew to adore it as a breathtaking work of scope and imagination? And then remember our dissapointment when it turned into the single most massive exercise in literary masturbation ever?

I'm praying that I'm not seeing it happen again in front of my eyes.

Did you throw the last book of the Dark Tower series against the wall after you read the last paragraph......while swearing a tirade.....like I did?

Did you throw the last book of the Dark Tower series against the wall after you read the last paragraph......while swearing a tirade.....like I did?

Actually, I loved the last paragraph. But I kicked the wall repeatedly (as well as making the old familiar "jacking off" gesture) while reading the last two books.

Also, I have another fear that I didn't express in my original post. It concerns the character of "P. Frank Winslow."

I suspect PFW is just FPW pulling a Hitchcock on us...