The Year of the Scythian

A year and a half ago, as I was finishing up The Icon Thief and preparing to go out to publishers, I had no intention of writing a sequel. When the possibility of a second book was raised by New American Library, I said “Sure,” mostly for reasons of sheer pragmatism: it was the only way I saw to get the first novel into print. As time went on, however, and I dove into the writing of what became City of Exiles, I became much more excited about the idea of continuing and deepening this story and its characters, and the result is a second novel of which I’m extremely proud—I think it’s as good, if not better, than the first book. There also came a point, inevitably, when it occurred to me that I might be writing a trilogy. Three, after all, is a nice round number. But although I quietly laid the groundwork for a third installment, and even prepared a short synopsis, there was no guarantee it would happen.

I’m very pleased, then, to announce that my publisher has signed off on a third, and presumably final, novel in the series. The details are still being worked out, and we’re holding off on the official announcement until closer to the release of The Icon Thief, but it’s definitely on. And although regular readers of this blog know that my novels tend to change their titles with surprising frequency, I think the working title for this novel is pretty solid: The Scythian. The release date will likely be in the summer of 2013, which means that, once again, I have about nine months to take a very complicated novel from outline to final draft. Can I do it? Well, I’ve done it before. But it’s going to be intense. As always, though, I look forward to sharing regular updates here, as part of what promises to be, by any measure, the most interesting year of my life.