the official website of Allan Frewin Jones

People have been asking me for an update on the situation with The Faerie Path series.  Here’s the low-down, as I know it in May 2009.

The original trilogy is now out in both Hardback and Paperback editions.

These are:

Book 1: The Faerie Path

Book 2: The Lost Queen

Book 3: The Sorcerer King/The Seventh Daughter

The reason for the two titles for book 3 is that it is called The Sorcerer King in hardback edition and The Seventh Daughter in paperback. Apart from that the two books are exactly the same. The change of title was generated by the Publishers, because they decided that “The Seventh Daughter” was a more reader-friendly title than The Sorcerer King.

Of the second Faerie Path trilogy, the latest is:

Book 4: The Immortal Realm

Is out in hardback (May 2009) – and will appear in paperback form, so I am told, in 12 months time.

Book 5: The enchanted Quest

This is written and ready for publication. It is due to be published in February 2010 in hardback, and, as with The Immortal Realm, will be released in paperback form 12 months later.

Book 6: ???? (No title as yet)

I have been gathering ideas and plotlines for this book over the past few months. I am due to have a meeting with the UK editors in June 2009, where the storylines will be discussed and a “final” plot worked out. (I write “final” like that because things tend to change during the actual writing process).

This sixth book will then go through the usual two-tier editing process (once in the UK – once by the Publishers Harper Collins in New York) with the aim to have it finished by the end of this year. It will then be published in February 2011 in hardback form, and in a paperback edition 12 months later.

Well, now - I thought you might be interested to know that I have just this morning sent off the full version of The Faerie Path Book Five: The Enchanted Quest, to the UK editors. Phew! Of course, as those of you who message me and get messages back may know, this is not the end of my duties with this book, or with any book.

What will happen now is that the UK editors will read it and get back to me with thoughts, suggestions and comments on how to make it even better. I will then make all the smart changes they suggest. These can include explaining things more clearly. (Just because I know what’s going on, doesn’t always mean I’ve explained it clearly enough for a reader to get it.) It can include taking stuff out where I explain the same thing twice, or take too long over explaining something! (Easily done when you’re in the middle of a longish book.) It can also include the editors suggesting a different order in which to present bits of the action, so the book flows better. (Again, in a book the length of The Faerie Path, it is easy to lose sight of the “story arc” now and then. I think it’s called “not being able to see the wood for the trees…” - a fairly normal writer’s problem!!)

Anyway, once everyone in the UK is happy with the book, it will then get sent to Harper Collins in New York, and - of course - they also have editors who will want to suggest changes…although far fewer now, hopefully. So, I get the book back again to do some final tweaking and nipping and tucking before we end up with a “final” version. This whole process usually takes about three months.

Everything then goes quiet for a few months - and then I get a “copy-edited” verson of the book - which looks pretty much the way it will look when it comes out in print. I and my UK editors will go through this for any mistakes that have crept in. Then, hopefully, the book will go off to be printed. And - believe it or not - by then most of a whole year will have gone by. And this is why The Faerie Path Book Five: The Enchanted Quest is not due to be published till January 2010.

So, what goes on in the book? Well, unfortunately, I can’t tell you a whole lot about that, because Book Four: The Immortal Realm is not due out till May this year, and if I tell you what happens in book five, it’ll give away some of what goes on in book four. It’s kind of annoying, actually - because there’s lost of things I’d LIKE to tell you - but it would spoil things for you to know in advance.

And there’s one particular thing that I’d love to let you know - but that doesn’t happen till book 6, so I have to keep really quiet about that for the next eighteen months. You can try guessing, if you like - but I shall refuse to let you know if you’re warm or cold or whatever.

One thing I can tell you about Book Five…or a hint I can give you, is to go back to The Sorcerer King/The Seventh Daughter - and go to the end of the book, just before Tania enters the Mortal Realm to get her parents - and read what Queen Titania says about The Divine Harper. That will give you a big clue as to what happens in The Enchanted Quest.

Well, that’s it for now - and in case you were wondering, I’m off to start thinking about Warrior Princess Book Three now!

[cross-posted from MySpace]

The third book in the first Faerie Path trilogy is due out in paperback on January 27th 2009. Great news for all those who have been waiting to own or read the entire trilogy in paperback form.

But a word of warning! The publishers have changed the name of the book!! In hardback form the book is called The Sorcerer King - but in its paperback form it will be called The Seventh Daughter. Don’t be caught out, guys! These are two different titles for the same book!!!

I have only just found out about this, and I would hate for anyone who has already bought The Sorcerer King to see this new title and think it’s a different book, okay? I’ll just say it again so we’re all clear: The Sorcerer King and The Seventh Daughter are exactly the same book!

If you’ve read and enjoyed the whole trilogy, then the next book you’ll be interested in buying or reading will be book four: The Immortal Realm, which is due out Summer 2009. I’ll get you more information on this when I hear it.

[cross-posted from MySpace]

I have just finished writing book one of the new Faerie Path Trilogy, or book four of The Faerie Path series, depending on how you look at it.

I sent the book off to my UK editors on Saturday 31st May. They expect to get it back to me in a couple of weeks with their thoughts and comments and suggestions. When I’ve made the changes I think improve the book, it will then be sent off to my American Publishers in New York - who will doubtless have their own bunch of thoughts comments and suggestions which I will be asked to take on board. Heigh-ho - a writer’s life!

Actually, I’m quite pleased with how this book has come out. For those of you who have read the first trilogy, I can give you a few pointers as to what goes on - without spoiling the plot, of course.

As the book opens, it is three weeks after the end of The Sorcerer King. Everyone is gathered in Leiderdale in the Earldom of Dinsel, to witness and celebrate the wedding of Princess Cordelia and Bryn, the Unicorn-friend from Weir. Tania is having a great time. Her Mortal Parents are visiting Faerie and despite the trials of having two Fathers and two Mothers in the same place at the same time, everything is going smoothly. Tania’s Mortal Mother is getting on really well in Faerie, and likes Titania, but her Mortal Dad is having problems adjusting to this new magical land, and besides, he has a really annoying summer cold, which is dampening his spirits more than somewhat.

One of the small problems that Tania has to face is the fact that her Mortal Dad thinks she should go back to London to finish her education - then, he says, once she has some academic qualifications under her belt, she’s free to come and live in Faerie if she wants to. He makes it very obvious that he doesn’t think she should stay in Faerie at all. “You’re living in a fairy tale right now,” he tells her, “but what happens on the day after happy ever after?”

And as if Dad isn’t being annoying enough, a second problem hits Tania when, out of the blue, Edric proposes marriage to her!

Well, she loves him, and really wants to be with him, but she’s sixteen and she’s never even thought about getting married. She kind of freaks out at the suggestion and Edric takes it badly - feeling totally rejected by her. Of course, it’s okay for Edric - he’s been around for hundreds of years - and in Faerie love is forever. He can’t understand why Tania won’t agree to marry him, and she can’t understand why he’s making such a big deal out of it - after all, they’re together, aren’t they?

Anyhow, they have no time properly to talk this thorough when something truly terrible happens. A small infant dies - of an illness! The death of a little baby is tragic enough in any circumstances, but in Faerie there is no illness - so how has this happened? What Dark Power has brought sickness into Faerie after ten thousand years? Is it some last malediction from Lyonesse? And if not, who is attacking Faerie and why?

Tania, helped by her sister Rathina, sets out to answer these questions, despite the opposition of the powerful Council of Earls and in particular Lord Aldrich of Weir, father of the evil Gabriel Drake, whose schemes almost destroyed Faerie in the all too recent past!

One clue - Lyonesse isn’t at the bottom of this deadly attack on Faerie!

[cross-posted from MySpace]

Readers who have enjoyed The Faerie Path trilogy - “The Faerie Path”, “The Lost Queen” and “The Sorcerer King” - will be pleased to know that I am writing a further three books about Princess Tania and the Immortal Realm of Faerie.

The books are planned to form a second trilogy - three linked stories which will take place in the Immortal Realm of Faerie and in The Mortal World. Most of the characters from the first three books will be reappearing, and the action will begin about three weeks after the end of The Sorcerer King.

Without giving too much away at this point, I can say that the Faerie Court has travelled west to the Earldom of Dinsel, where Princess Cordelia is to marry Bryn, the Unicorn-friend. Something truly terrible happens at the wedding ceremony - something that has not happened in Faerie for thousands of years and something which throws the whole Realm into turmoil.

To makes things worse, serious problems develop in the relationship between Tania and Edric as Tania is forced to face the reality of the word “forever” when used by an Immortal. In Faerie, forever truly means for ever!

[cross-posted from MySpace]