Category: Blog Posts

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.

Pirates of the Tragosian Sea is the latest book in The Draakonor Chronicles series. It is available now Amazon.

I am calling this book an interlude as it is meant to be a side story that isn’t, strictly speaking, part of the main series arc. Much like The Fabled Beast of Elddon that came before it, Pirates of the Tragosian Sea can be read as a stand-alone book, or as part of the overall series.

After the events of in A Way with Magic, book 1 of The Draakonor Chronicles, the young wizard, Portia an Nachtwald, and her brother, Finn, accompanied by their elven traveling companions, Loth, Blayde, and Rayzer, journey south to the port city of Holston. Soon after their arrival, they discover there are no ships traveling east. A moratorium has come down from Holston’s powerful Merchant’s Guild, banning ships from sailing on the Tragosian Sea, and there are rumors everywhere concerning the notorious Captain Redbeard and his band of blood-thirsty pirates.

Fearing their father, Baron Cedric an Nachtwald, may soon discover he has been duped by his wayward children, Portia and Finn are desperate to get away. Fortunately for them, fate intervenes in the form of a Shaddarran smuggler who is willing to break the Guild’s moratorium and risk the crossing. Portia and her companions sign on as mercenaries to guard the smuggler’s mysterious cargo and, in the dark of night, set sail for distant Karavella. However, it doesn’t take long before things go awry, and the situation turns deadly.

An excerpt from Pirates of the Tragosian Sea is available here

Find Pirates of the Tragosian Sea on Amazon

Thanks for reading!

For anyone out there who has been following my work for a while, you may have noticed the addition of a co-author on the Draakonor book covers. This change is something I’ve been considering for a while now, and something I really should have done at the start.

Douglas Shuler is a well-known illustrator who has been painting professionally for over 30 years and worked for numerous game and media companies, including TSR, Wizards of the Coast, Lucasfilm, Paramount Pictures and the Sci-Fi Channel. He is probably best known for his work on Magic: The Gathering, but Doug has worked in numerous arenas, including creating art for comics and book covers. More to the point, Doug is the extraordinary talent behind all of the book covers in The Draakonor Chronicles series.

However, Doug’s skills are not limited to art. He is also a master storyteller with a wicked gift for putting characters into uncomfortable and potentially lethal situations. Doug and I met through a mutual friend nearly 20 years ago and since then I have spent at least one day a month hanging out in his basement consuming large quantities of sugary soft drinks and potato chips, and playing all manner of role-playing games.

The Draakonor Chronicles is loosely based on a long running game I participated in over the course of about four years. All of these games were plotted and developed by Doug, with a little help from others, and which he presided over as Dungeon Master. In short, I may be the one writing the stories but much of the plot and overarching structure of the tale are Doug’s creation. So, it seems only fair we should share credit on the covers. If you’d like to learn more about Doug and his art, check out his website. You can also find him on Facebook at Douglas Shuler Illustrations, or on Instagram @douglasshuler_illustrations.

Please allow me to welcome you to the new and improved David E. Barber website. I hope you like the updated look and feel of the site and that you’ll drop in every now and again to see what’s going on in my little corner of the world.

I don’t think I’m overstating the case by saying that 2020 has been an interesting year. Like all of you I’ve been grappling with various personal dramas and life challenges while simultaneously trying to make sense of everything going on around me. At this point I think we’re all looking forward to the new year and to seeing some positive changes in our lives.

In that spirit of change, I thought I’d get a jump on my New Year’s resolutions and give the website a much needed face lift. Also, I managed to crash the old site and pretty much lost all my content, so I really didn’t have much choice.

But let us not dwell on past mistakes. The future is already looking brighter. There are still countless books to be read and many, many great stories waiting to be told. And for that I am immensely thankful.