Kevin's Watch

I've run across several sites that list a June 20 2020 publication date for The Last Repository. That seems at least a year too early, although I would love it to be true.

I also see that date on multiple sites. Should it be true, that would be most welcome!

I would say 2021 is a better estimate. Donaldson spaces his books out fairly evenly.

SRD at one point said that he was allowing for - or perhaps even contracted for - 18 months between books, but "may not need that long".

It was 17 months between SD (Nov '17) and TWW (Apr '19). 18 months from April '19 puts us at October '20.

So if he's making good progress on book 3, June might be accurate.

Edited to add: I found the quote where SRD said this. It's in the News section on his website, in a post dated 8/17/16:

"My new fantasy trilogy, THE GREAT GOD'S WAR, has been acquired for publication by Berkley in the US and Gollancz in the UK. The first book, SEVENTH DECIMATE, is scheduled for October 2017. My contracts give me 18 months per book; but I'm hoping to do better than that."

HBJ

I'm also starting to see a date of October, 2021 for The Last Repository, but I'm hoping that's just a placeholder. June, 2020 is still mentioned on a few sites.

Or the reality could be closer to October, 2020 (given the 18 month period SRD is contracted for).

HBJ

From stephenrdonaldson.com:

"I probably should have mentioned this some time ago, but I've been embarrassed. I used to pride myself on meeting my deadlines. But for reasons of ill health (my wife's as well as my own), I've been forced to get a considerable extension. Sadly, I won't meet that deadline either. But in this case, the reason is the sheer heft of the story I'm trying to tell in THE LAST REPOSITORY. The book is already almost 50,000 words longer than THE WAR WITHIN, and I still have (just guessing) 25% of the story to tell. In addition, I never let my agent and editors see my first draft. My need to do a second draft (primarily for internal consistency and style) will further delay the book by 3-4 months.

I regret all of this more than I can say. But I have to live my actual life while I'm writing."

I can wait. I just wish him and his well. Excited about the 'heft' of the story though!

From SRD news

Against all the odds, I've finally finished the first draft of "The Last Repository," Book Three of The Great God's War. 1180 pages, roughly 290,000 words. Readers familiar with my process (perhaps from the Gradual Interview) will know that I always do at least three drafts (one for the story, one for me, one for my agent and editor). Unless, of course, something goes wrong, in which case more drafts become inevitable. So publication is still a long ways off. But at least the book exists now. In the event of my untimely demise, no one will have to guess where I intended to go with this story.

8/23/20

After going so long without any news, this is good stuff to hear.

That last comment, though -- someone is having morbid thoughts.

Fabulous news! Bit worrying that last bit though....

Dude's hardly a shining beacon of optimism on his best days...

Niftium wrote:Dude's hardly a shining beacon of optimism on his best days...

That is very true! There's good news in there though!

That's great news. It sounds like he struggled with this one. Hopeflly we will see it next year?

Stephen R. Donaldson News wrote:"The Last Repository": change of title

Many years ago, I was fortunate to have a mentor of sorts who introduced me to the realities of publishing. One of the first things he told me was, "It's a rare author who gets to choose his/her own title." Since "Lord Foul's Bane" (not my title), I've had my share of success naming my own books. But not this time. Marketing (the boss of everything, and the doer of nothing) has forbidden my title. So the new title for Book Three of THE GREAT GOD'S WAR is The Killing God. Which, from my point of view, is less than ideal, but not bad.

9/29/20

Stephen R Donalson, Fan of Marketing.

I'm sorry SRD isn't getting the title he wanted. I'm sure there were good reasons for his original choice, but I like the new title better. It's more active and few know what a repository is in any event. It also sounds too much like another word. Perhaps I'll have a different opinion after I read the third and final volume. In the meantime, be well SRD.

We've been there before. Shall Pass Utterly --> Against All Things Ending or Auger's Gambit --> The King's Justice are a couple examples.

An SRD book reads the same, regardless of the title. We fans are going to buy in any case; the last volume of this cycle is going to be a must-read.

Those not yet fans may be influenced by a title to delve deeper. Realistically, publishers are more driven by sales than by the quality of the literature or the faithfulness of the title to author intent. If they think this new title will move more copies, that is a good thing for them, for SRD, and perhaps for the fanbase.

What's more interesting to consider is, who is this titular Killing God?

That there is any god at all has only been hinted at until now. So on the one hand, this could go anywhere. On the other hand, it can feel unfair to drop a god into the plot at the last minute.

Mr.Land wrote:I'm sorry SRD isn't getting the title he wanted. I'm sure there were good reasons for his original choice, but I like the new title better. It's more active and few know what a repository is in any event. It also sounds too much like another word. Perhaps I'll have a different opinion after I read the third and final volume. In the meantime, be well SRD.

THAT shocked me! My wife and I were just discussing this. The Last Repository was a GREAT title. The Killing God seems lame. As far as marketing, if you did not read the first two in the series, I do not think you can start with the third, and the title does not much matter...

Amazon UK has a release date of Oct. 14, 2021.

Uh oh.

"The Killing God": bad news

My agent has submitted the book to my editor at Berkley. Without reading it (!), my editor informed me that Berkley will not consider publishing the book until I cut 100,000 words. Roughly 35% of the text. On the assumption that I will not do such violence to my own work, Berkley has removed the book from their publication schedule.

Their assumption is correct. At this stage, I routinely prune my manuscripts by 10%. I may conceivably be able to go as far as 15%. But whether or not anyone likes my characters and how I handle them, my stories are very tightly plotted. Each piece relies on--and is implied by--what came before it. I can't mutilate Book Three without making the entire trilogy incoherent.

My agent believes that where we stand now is not the end of "The Killing God." (Never mind of my career.) He has persuaded my editor to go ahead and read the book. He hopes that seeing how strongly Book Three caps Books One and Two (which she loved) will persuade her to rethink her position. I have my doubts. I suspect that her position is corporate rather than editorial: my books no longer earn enough to make them worth publishing regardless of their intrinsic merits. Naturally, I hope I'm wrong.

When I have more news, I'll post it here. I don't expect to hear anything until sometime in January.

12/6/20

My first take on this is this: unless something changes, this book won't be published.

We can always hope that the publisher changes their mind, of course. Or compromises.

And Donaldson has resorted to changing publishers before. Many times in fact.

And I cannot help but wonder what difference does the size make in the e-book market? Is the hardcover/softcover market still that significant that number of pages matters that much?

Then there is my nagging suspicion that this is the publisher's way of getting out of their obligation to publish. Be impossible, and make the author be the one to break the contract.

So call me worried.