Discontinuing the Theonite Series
The following letter was copied from my most recent email to my mailing list, since I couldn’t bring myself to rephrase it all in a blog post. (2019)
EDIT: Scroll to the bottom of this page for an update as of May, 2023.
My Dearest Readers,
This is not a normal newsletter. This is an announcement and a letter of apology. And god, this was hard. Honestly, this felt like writing an email about how someone had died (don’t worry, no one has. I’m just being a drama queen). Anyway…
If you’ve been following this newsletter over the past year, you know that since The Sword of Kaigen came out, I’ve struggled to write the third Theonite book, kicked around half a dozen spin-off ideas, and struggled more. During my most recent boom of productivity (ironically, on Theonite 3), I came to an important realization about the Theonite universe. Namely, that it isn’t working.
I may have had fun (so much fun!) working on my various spin-offs this year, even nearly finishing some, but fun doesn’t constitute a cohesive universe. Between the size of Theonite’s cast, the breadth of its world, and the complexity of some of its content, I’m just not ready to pull it all together. Not at my current skill level. And continuously trying to spin off from a story that itself isn’t working is not a good strategy. So, even though this breaks my heart…
I’m putting a freeze on the Theonite series and all its spin-offs, including Flameless, Jamuttaana, and Rage and Whisper.
To everyone who’s followed the Theonite books up to this point, I’m so sorry I’m not able to deliver more at this point, and I’m especially sorry for insisting for so long that more books were coming. I was telling you what I thought was the truth.
When I published Theonite: Planet Adyn in 2016, I didn’t think for a moment that I was starting a series that I couldn’t finish. This was due partly to a lack of experience and partly to the fact that I had finished versions of the series back when I was a teenager. But my writing has changed so much since then that those drafts are no longer usable and I’ve realized that, as an adult writer, I lack the skills to make the series what it should be.
If I had more books to give you that were up to the standard you deserve, I would release them. Unfortunately, I just haven’t been able to wrangle the series into something worth publishing at this moment in time. I say at this moment in time because I’m still in my twenties, which makes me a baby in author years. Theonite is something I’ve been working on since I was twelve and will, I think, continue to work on for the rest of my life simply out of habit.
Just because it isn’t ready now doesn’t mean it never will be.
This isn’t the end of Theonite.
It just isn’t the right time for it.
I’m going keep working on this world in the background of my other projects until such time—maybe three years from now, maybe thirty—that the books are in shape for publication.
Thank you all so much for your support of the series. The fact that my first outing as an author received support at all means more than I can tell you.
I wish I could have delivered in kind.
So, what’s happening to the books I’ve already published?
Honestly, not much.
The Sword of Kaigen, being a standalone (and, incidentally, my main source of income), will remain for sale on Amazon in both ebook and paperback form as normal. Not going anywhere. Not touching it. Don’t worry.
I’m unsure if I want to take Theonite: Planet Adyn and Theonite: Orbit off Amazon or leave them with a note saying that the series has been discontinued for now. I’m open to suggestions. EDIT (5/21/23): At this time I have taken these two books off of Amazon. Regardless, if anyone wants a PDF of one or both books for their personal files, let me know and I’ll email them to you. EDIT (1/23/24): I am no longer distributing these PDFs, nor am I making the Theonite books available anywhere else.
2023 Update
As of this update (May 21st, 2023) I am no longer writing in the Theonite universe. Every time I consider returning to it, I hit a wall of deep fundamental issues with the world-building—an understandable consequence of writing in a world I conceived when I was twelve but not a problem with an easy fix. This doesn’t mean I’ll never return to that universe. It just means that, if I do, it will require a major overhaul of the world-building and collaboration with authors who have expertise I don’t (specifically authors from cultural backgrounds I don’t share and can’t write competently). Since I’m not a massive author like Rick Riordan, with the brand name recognition to pull other talent into their orbit and make it lucrative, this idea will not be viable for a long time if ever.
In the meantime, I’ve been plugging away at several other projects that resonate better with my current muse.
- If you want to read my next complete fantasy book for adults, you can pre-order my upcoming dark academia, Blood Over Bright Haven (coming out July 25th, 2023).
- If you’re only interested in adult fantasy featuring martial arts and action in the vein of Kaigen, you can find hundreds of thousands of words of that in the Altima-universe serials, Gunpowder Magnolia and Sazuma on my Patreon.
- If you want a fresher example of my YA writing (also with lots of martial arts), you can check out my new portal fantasy series, The Volta Academy Chronicles, publishing under my YA pen name, Maya Lin Wang.
EDIT (1/23/24): as mentioned above, the Theonite books are no longer available on any (legitimate) platform. At this point, I just feel so distant from and uncomfortable with the writing in those books that I want to be done distributing them in any form.
Thank you to all those who have left words of support on this post. I hope the updates have been helpful!