New Concept Series: Imperial Colonies Saga - Input Welcome

[Steven Lake]

I've just today started putting together a story concept that's been stewing in my mind for a while and I'm looking for input. Here's the parent page for the saga, including links to the 5 books in the series: http://www.realmsofimagination.net/i...colonies_saga/

It's a bit off center from what I normally write, so I think it'll be fun to do. The biggest reason it's off center is because, while it has sci-fi elements, it's built with more of a medieval/fantasy structure to it, as the sci-fi elements will be very minimal, and the empire/royalty/medieval/fantasy elements will be very strong. Now obviously I've only posted teasers and temporary book covers (I always put filler images in to sorta set the stage for the final covers when they're published), but there should be enough there to at least give you guys an idea of the general story without really spoiling anything.

So please feel free to read through this, and then give me your thoughts, suggestions, ideas, etc on what I've built so far and what you think. I'm actually rather excited about this series, and hope you guys will be as well. Also, I'm looking at publishing this one under a pen name so that it doesn't interfere with my Earthfleet saga. Again, that part is tentative as well, but I figured to mention it anyways.

[crich70]

Sounds interesting. Presumably he (the duke) will have to work behind the scenes at first while trying to achieve his goals. I mean I would guess he's not the only power out there and if he moves too fast his enemies and others with similar goals of supreme power could cause him problems. Plus if he uses troops for example at some point before he's ready to declare himself I'd think he will have the problem of not tipping his hand then either. I mean you don't just move troops about without someone noticing something going on.

[Steven Lake]

Yeah, he's gonna be working behind the scenes like a puppet master the entire book. There's even one point where he does briefly take over before being kicked out of power. But then you find out that he did that on purpose to further his plans after they briefly got stalled. It might seem counterintuitive to do that, but he's got his reasons, and you see in books 4 and 5 why he did that and how that was actually a very smart move. Yeah, he's gonna be a fun baddie to write about due to all the subtlety and misdirection involved.

[crich70]

I think the villain is always more fun and easier to write about. Basically he/she doesn't have to worry about stepping out of character like a hero would. I mean the hero of a book can't do x often because if he/she did then they would be seen as less than the hero they were supposed to be. For example a villain can shoot down unarmed opponents in a given story and not dwell on it but the hero often can't do that even if it means that the villain's followers will cause more trouble for him/her in the future. Anyway your proposed series sounds very interesting.

[Steven Lake]

I think it's easier to write about bad guys because it's in our nature as humans to be evil/bad by default. We have to work at being good. And if you think I'm wrong, just watch a child. What's their first instinct?

On a side note, what's your thoughts/comments on the names I picked for the books? Do you think they fit with the teasers I posted?

[crich70]

I think the titles work well with the descriptions but I do think you have a typo in the description for book 4. When you speak of the thrown I assume you mean the ruler's seat, and the proper spelling for that is throne. Even if it wasn't a typo and you mean for it to be spelled that way readers might think of it as such.

[Steven Lake]

You are absolutely right! I did have a typo. So I went ahead and fixed it, and then tightened up the description a bit more too so it flows better.

[Steven Lake]

Well, so far I've had a lot of positive input on this series, so I think I'm gonna go ahead and work on it over the winter. I'm already comfortably worked ahead in my other series, so this won't put any additional pressure on my time.