Announcement for Azarinth Healer (Patreon)

Hello everyone (TLDR at the bottom).

I've been thinking about how to tackle all this but I suppose I'll just go with it.

You may or may not remember me testing the waters with Leaves of Terranthir, trying to produce a story beside Azarinth Healer to clear my head. I talked about various considerations like Ilea being insanely powerful, being a little burned with the constant updates and working on the same story.

Now I'm working on Infrasound, another side project to develop, to learn and understand more about the process of writing and storytelling. To set up a new world and see where it leads. The process has been fun and super rewarding, with both stories.

Beside the reasons I stated for starting these projects, one of the major ones was one question.

When does Azarinth Healer end?

And what would it mean for me? Was it all a fluke? Was I just lucky? Can I even write anything worth reading? Oh my god nobody will give a shit. I have to keep going, forever and ever.

Well, since I first asked myself those questions, I've learned quite a lot. About writing, about what I want to write, and about what I enjoy writing.

When I used to read more progression fantasy, there was usually a point where things just got a little boring. The main character was fighting gods, or forever stuck building their village, maybe they got bogged down with too many side characters, too many political responsibilities, or they just ended up in an endless constantly escalating slew of tensionless battles.

I think some of that has happened already with Azarinth. I do think I continuously managed to get back to some of the main themes, the slice of life, fun fights, and the adventure. But at the same time I don't want the story to turn into a corpse of endless repetitive cycles.

Which is why, about a year ago, I started to consider and outline potential endings for the series. I'm not exactly a planner, and enjoy more to mostly just go with the flow, which meant this wasn't the simplest process and more detailed planning is still ongoing.

We're at a point now in Azarinth Healer where the current arc will be the final one of Ilea's story.

After nearly two and a half million words, and nearly four years of writing this adventure, I hadn't thought I would ever get here. The consideration of ending the story was strange. Impossible in a way. It was all I had. It's what I did. It had to continue. But I think I've reached a point where I'm confident enough in my skill to try and step into the void. Whatever comes, will come.

This is also one of the reasons why I was getting more stressed with chapter releases. As I come closer to the conclusion of the story, I'll have to take more time with planning and rewriting.

At the same time, I signed the series with Portal Books, a small publisher based in the UK. I'm now working with my editor Brook, to edit (more or less rewrite) the series from the ground up.

It's been fucking painful to read through some sections of my early writing. And at the same time incredibly rewarding, to go back and fix many major issues both with characters, scenes, and certain plotlines. He's fixing up most of the technical issues that the early sections suffered from, adding descriptions, and clarifications, while offering developmental and characterization advice that has already been invaluable.

The first book will come out on Amazon when it's done (and an audiobook as well, hopefully).

If you're thinking of a reread, I wholeheartedly suggest you wait for the edited version. It's not going to be perfect, and it's still the Azarinth you know, but it's already shaping up to be a lot better. I'll be sure to pack in a few easter eggs here and there for those who have been around for a long time, whilst we remove most of the cringe and improve the reading experience overall.

I do have non definitive plans to work on Elos in the future, even after Ilea's story is done, there will be plenty left to discover :). While I considered having Infrasound be set in the same universe, I'm sure by now that it's an entirely new and separate thing. The skill percentages alone would make it a little lame if it were in the same universe as Azarinth.

As to definitive questions like at which chapter the story will end or how the release schedule will look like before and after, what projects I'll be working on, if I'll take a break, I don't know yet. I'll just try to keep you informed as I go and as things come up. I hope I can bring the story to a conclusion in the next 3-9 months, but who knows, it might end earlier or later.

This series has always been an ongoing project for me, one that often meandered, with random adventures here and there, certain plot threads coming and going, and I love it for what it is. It's really quite weird to think about finishing Ilea's storyline, getting a proper edit done (which will take years for the whole series), and having a final and finished version out there.

It's been a ride, it is a ride, and I hope it will continue to be one, until I end it with a bang. One worthy of Lilith, the blue eyed girl who found herself in the lands of Elos.

TLDR: I have now outlined the ending for Azarinth Healer, and it's likely that the current arc we're in, will be the last one for Ilea's story.