The Chosen One

[rune]

Just finished this book -

This finally book in the series pulls together a few storylines. Bek and is friends are heading back to Mantor after the escape from Shandar. Calvyn, is travelling with the Magicians and Jenna, also on his way to Mantor in the hopes of meeting up with Perdimonn. Selkor is trying to attain the last Key and become the Chosen one. And an the sorcerer Vallaine is possing as the Emperor or Shandar and planning to dispatch Calyvn.
There are a few stories in this book and this (IMHO) meant character's didnt get the attention I would have liked. Such as Selkor, even though he is an important villan in the series, we only touch on his story. I kinda like villan's and feel a well crafted villan can add a lot to a plot.
I found Calvyn's storyline the most interesting and engaging. I especially liked the excitement of demon's attacking his group on their journey. The Warder's were quite interesting and I found the magical elements to their plotline engaging too. The ending was good, I enjoyed the combat between Calyvn and Selkor, and it's left open for more in the series.

[Mark Robson]

Glad that you enjoyed the story, Rune. My problem with detail and developing the villains was really down to length of story. In order to wrap up the majority of the thread lines that were running after 3 books, I had a lot of things that had to happen for the main storylines to resolve. This is aimed at a fairly young audience, so I didn't want to make the length of the book too daunting. Admittedly, I have left some threads open for further stories, but then life is like that - it is rare for everything to be resolved.

I do have ideas for a subsequent series picking up with the lives of many of the major characters two to three years on from The Darkweaver Legacy, but I'm not in a hurry to write it. I think I need a break from Calvyn and Jenna in order to give any subsequent series a fresh feel. In the meantime, I intend to hone my writing skills a little more with the Imperial Series. I think you will see a big improvement with my storytelling skills with the new book, though it may not appeal to you so much as there is little to no magic in it, and I know that this is the major draw for you. Thanks for your comments.

[rune]

Your right, magic is a big drawn for me, it's what grabs me and drags me into a story. I also think it's one if the things that makes a story fantasy for me It must speak to the kid in me that likes magical thinks

I would like to return to these character in the future, and I understand what you mean about needing a break before you return to them. You've probably got the right idea there

I dont know how many other readers feel as I, but having a strong villain can be a draw to a story. One of my favourites series - baring in mind it's not a YA series - is The Black Jewels by Anne Bishop. My favourite characters there are light and dark. They can do good thing and they can do really bad things. But I've come to feel their terrible things they do are as compelling in reading as their good deeds/intentions

I understand that this series is for YA. But even they love a good villain
I'm probably one of the few people that's rooting for the Alien's in those movies and want Dracula to win that story.

[charles]

i just love the way the oricles came true, he quite litreally had the keys in his hands!

[Mark Robson]

Originally Posted by charles

i just love the way the oricles came true, he quite litreally had the keys in his hands!

Yes, I do like a touch of irony.

If I could change anything about this book, though, the first thing to go would be the title. Do you have any idea how many books have the title 'The Chosen One'? I certainly didn't when I came up with it. Try putting it into the amazon search engine under books and see how many come up. It's frightening.

[Red Phoenix]

yes i do :P 323

[Mark Robson]

Was that 323 listings for books with 'The Chosen One' in the title? Good grief! It was more than I thought.

[Red Phoenix]

from what i saw, but that may have included "special editions" and the choice of paper and hardbacks.

[danny]

Blimey, 323!

[Joel007]

ok, now that I've read all of them... what was the last rune that perdimon/calvyn cast on calvyn's sword in the first book, which I still don't get?
And where did you get that dem taqat (or whatever the legendary swordsman thing was) from? was it already around or did you make it up?

I'm probably confused about many other things but these were forefront in my mind

[Mark Robson]

The final rune cast on the blade in the first book was the rune of power for the earth element ie the Key of Earth. Perdimonn already had an inkling of the significance of the sword from the words of the Oracle, Drehboor. The presence of the rune (albeit hidden) on the blade magnified the effects of those spells Calvyn had cast that utilised his element. He was unaware of this effect, but the increased effectiveness of his spells was what made Selkor give the blade back to him on the battlefield.

Dem taqat is a totally made up term. I just liked the idea of labelling a legendary swordsman in some way. Legends sometimes build around titles, so I thought I'd create one of my own.

[Joel007]

aha!

In the immortal words of the great pet detective: "Spank you very much".

[Paradox 99]

Just got around to finishing "The Chosen One" last night.
Well done Mark. Great ending - you just can't beat a big stormy light display at the end (I got what I was hoping for )

Have to admit though, it wasn't the best in the series - "Trail of the Huntress" was a superb story with a great twist, and I found it hard to put down "First Sword" (the build up to the end fight was superb). Whilst "The Chosen One" had some great moments (the central battle), it didn't work as much magic on me as the other two.
Like Rune, I would have liked to have seen Selkor developed a little more too. "Forging of the Sword" did some good work there, but you really needed more of the same in this one.

In hindsight would you have considered expanding it to more books than 4?
Actually, come to think of it, 4 is an unusual number - was that always the intent?

[Mark Robson]

Glad you enjoyed it, Paradox. I must admit that Trail of the Huntress was my favourite storyline of the series as well. When I wrote The Chosen One, I did what I knew was expected, so there were no really big surprises. The only major surprise for me was how Femke's character evolved through the book to a point where I really wanted to write more about her - hence Imperial Spy and beyond.

The series was always planned as four books because someone once told me that a publisher would expect to lose money on a first book, break even on the second and make on the third - I planned four just to be on the safe side!

I do have vague plans for a follow on trilogy set 3 years on with all the same characters, but it's going to be on hold for several years now, I feel.