October 15, 2017

Authors Note:

At the very beginning, The Dragon King was a three part story. Those three parts were eventually condensed into the first story, with the exception of the scenes of finding Valka in Greenland. The idea for a different sequel was already in my mind when the first Dragon King was being written, but it was not until about October 2016 that the plot for The Eye and the Alpha began to take shape. The first thing written was the death of Adoncia, but it was not until after The Dragon King was finished that the sequel went into real production. And within five chapters I decided the story was not clicking and the plot was little more than a bunch of episodes where the Dragon Riders get captured and somehow escape, which made both sides look increasingly stupid. So I opted to start over.

In some ways this was easier to write than the first story. There were fewer plot alterations this time around, and many of the characters were firmly established. On the other hand, work at times proved hard and tiresome to the point where I started writing new stories just to get a break from it. Reviews were not encouraging either at first, and I grew so discouraged about it I wondered if The Dragon King's success had been accidental. The Dragon King was getting new reviews almost daily and at its height saw nearly 2500 views in a single day. The Eye and the Alpha sometimes never got more than three reviews in a week, and only twice passed 400 views in one day, and those did not happen until the final postings. If it had not been for a few regular reviewers who had stuck around since the beginning, I would probably have cancelled the story. So thank you to those who have been with me for so long, and thank you all for the kind words of encouragement.

So why did I decide to kill off Hiccup? I do not quite know myself how or when that decision came about, but it was not a hasty or last minute idea. Perhaps I did it because as a writer I dislike repeating myself and I want to push boundaries and take bold steps at times. Perhaps I wanted to firmly prevent any possibility of a third story. Perhaps I wanted to make people get emotional. Perhaps it was because I felt Hiccup had escaped Death so much that it was high time Death caught him. Was it unfair? Of course it was! But so much of life is unfair and so many good and innocent people are killed needlessly and prematurely, that perhaps I wanted to use Hiccup as a symbol of such loss and waste. Would I resurrect him or find some way to keep him alive? No. I feel that to change it now would be a huge mistake and detrimental to the story's emotional center, and completely implausible. No, the more I think of it, the more resolute I feel about my choice.

So what next? I suppose some are clamoring for a third story but, while I have considered it many times, I have no real interest in writing one. For one thing, I do not wish to spend another year writing yet another full size book. Writing and revising over 400 pages can be a very exhaustive process and I would like to spend my time on other things. For another, I have no notion of what such a story would be about, and I do not think I would be able to keep a new plotline fresh and interesting. Even with The Eye and the Alpha I was worried that I was just repeating situations and plot elements from the first story. And for another thing: considering that this story never came close to matching the original's success, what reason do I have to expect a third volume would do any better? I do have some unrelated stories in mind which I would like to work on eventually, but frankly, all I want right now is to take a break. I do not say another story will never happen, but for now my mind is firmly decided against such a possibility.

It's been a long and hard road to get this story finished, and now it's equally hard to believe that it's finally done. But it is, and I can think of nothing more to say, except: until next time, whenever that may be.