This book’s official title will be…

“World of Thera – The Dead Shall Rise – Book 1 of 3 – The Barbarian”

The Pitch: A dwarven barbarian is hunting down the demon that has cursed him with immortality. Time and time again he fails to destroy the vile creature as it manages to hide within the flesh of others. Now it looks as if he has stumbled upon the demon once more, but this time, he must play the part of being an ally if he is going to have any kind of chance of preventing an even greater threat to the realm.

Throughout writing book one of the “The Dead Shall Rise” series, I found it easier to break it down into the various novella parts which are as follows…

Novella “1” (first 50k words) – A grizzled old barbarian dwarf has been hunting a devil for most of his life. Hundreds of years later and after several close calls at catching him he now finds himself in a city with its own peculiar past. “Hi-jinx ensues” and he now finds himself “babysitting” a young rogue which seems to have some sort of connection with his life quest in hunting the devil.

Novella “2” (2nd 50k words) – The two traveling companions leave the city behind for the countryside in pursuit of their objectives. Only the carnage left behind challenges their beliefs as to what it is they are actually getting into.

Novella “3” (3rd 50k words) – They now reach the underground complex/dungeon and soon meet up with the person they were both pursuing. Deciding that it is in both of their interests to now work with the being rather than slay him they continue diving deeper into the complex.

Novella “4” (4th 50k words) – They are now stuck deep into the complex and understand this is a one-way trip. Only they are not the only players as a third situation presents itself and changes the rules all over again. One way or another it all is coming to an end.

I have elements in part “X” that tie back into part “Y” and vice versa. For instance, the cities peculiar past plays into the complex. I also have circumstantial ties of some character actions influencing future actions, by other characters later on, such as “Why are you paying me with a lich-king coin? The last man I took a lich-king coin from… blah blah.” It’s a double helix type story where actions that seem random come back to weave back in and affect other events later on.

Book 1 (above) has had its second draft completed, in its entirety, and awaits further review and cleanup.

Book 2 “The Phoenix” has a completed outline and I have started on it but that was some time ago.

Book 3 only has a rough outline completed. I’m thinking of calling it “The Seeker.”