A brief explanation concerning my book series, The Draakonor Chronicles, and the order in which the stories take place.
I recently launched a new book in The Draakonor Chronicles series and I realized it was becoming somewhat confusing regarding what each of these books is and how they fit into the overall series. For the sake of clarity I thought it would be worthwhile to tackle that subject here.
The first book in the series is actually a prelude to the series, meaning it comes before the overall story arc of The Draakonor Chronicles begins. The Fabled Beast of Elddon is essentally book 0. It introduces two of the main characters who play a pivotal role in future events and follows them on a fast-paced adventure involving a ruined city and the return of a terrible monster from out of the past. It is meant to be a stand-alone story and is a nice introduction to the world of Ninavar, the world in which all of my books take place.
A Way with Magic is officially book 1 in The Draakonor Chronicles, even though it takes place after the events of The Fabled Beast of Elddon. A Way with Magic is a full-length novel that focues on a young female wizard and her irreverant younger brother as they attempt to negotiate family obligations and their own hopes for the future in the midst of a castle siege instigated by a dark sorceress with a hidden agenda.
Pirates of the Tragosian Sea is book 1.5 in the series. I call it an interlude, meaning it takes place in-between books 1 and 2. It too is a stand-alone story, for the most part, although it does make reference to events that came before it. It is a short novel, a tale of pirates, monsters, and haunted treasure that takes place on the high seas. It has little to do with the overall story arc of The Draakonor Chronicles, but I think it is a fine tale and well worth reading.
Unfortunately, Amazon does not allow a writer to label their novels as book 0 or book 1.5, so it would be easy to miss them if you’re looking at reading the entire Draakonor Chronicles series.
Writing side stories like this, while entertaining, is probably not advisable. If you’re a writer and you’re setting out to write an extended series I would highly recommend that you keep it straight-forward and linear. No need to confuse your readers if you don’t have to.