In the past few days, I have received repeated emails from people unhappy about Ride the Storm supposedly being the last book in the Cassandra Palmer series. They were angry that I hadn’t tied up every single strand and given them a proper send off. They were distressed because someone, somewhere, had told them that this was the last book and they believed it.
It occurred to me that, if I was getting repeated emails, there might be more people out there who believed the same thing, but who hadn’t dropped me a line. So here, for the record, is my official take on this: this is not the last book.
Originally, there were supposed to be nine books in the series, three interwoven trilogies, each dealing with a different challenge for Cassie to face. A sort of “Big Bad” around which her other adventures were framed. This book completes the second of these “trilogies” (the quotation marks are because they each took four books to complete, not three as originally intended.) So we have a ways still to go. I am not saying, btw, that there are exactly four books left; I am saying that it will take at least that many to complete the original design.
Thank you for reading this boring post, but apparently, I needed to get this out there.
I believe you mentioned something about the book beeing longer, because you needed to tie up some strands. Naturally, some of us thought it implied an upcoming end to the series. So thanks for the clarification.
I look forward to your next awesome book. (Which for me is Ride the Storm, since I´m still waiting for my copy to arrive from Bookdepository.) :)
You can tie up some strands without ending the series! Believe me, if it was the last book, I would have said something. I wish people would stop assuming things, and just ask.
Sorry for the misunderstanding. I tend to always assume the worst and then be pleasantly surprised by the reality. Also I´m often shy to ask. :)
Thanks for the wonderful books. I´ll make sure to write a proper review.
No problem. I think a lot of people were confused. I hope you enjoy the book.
Phew!! SO happy to read this! (Ok, not the part that you’re getting angry emails. That’s not cool! Although it does suggest that they love the story/characters/world you’ve created so much that the thought of it ending without knowing more is so upsetting that they feel compelled to write to you.)
I’d also interpreted tying up strands as possibly meaning an ending, and was concerned when your response to this question on FB was noncommittal – though I understand you aren’t responsible for the decisions of your publishers, and presumably this is in their hands..
Thank you for letting us know. Thank you for working so hard to bring us these books. I LOVED RTS, loved it, and the prospect of more books (potentially four or more) makes me almost giddy! The joy! :D
Fwiw, I wouldn’t have thought to write and ask you because I value your time, so I was stalking the FB page for confirmation instead. There may be others doing this, so you might make some people very happy by posting this there too.
Can we do anything to help? Want us to write to your publishers and let them know we want more?
The best thing you can do to help the series is to review. There are a lot of one star reviews bringing down the total and turning off potential readers. I know reviewing is a bore, but it really does help. Amazon, B&N and Goodreads are all great places to review, but anywhere helps. Thank you. :-)
I’ll admit that having a “Conclusion” instead of the normal “Epilogue” along with tying up of a ton of story threads freaked me out for a bit. Then I realized how much was still left untold and I calmed down.
This book really made my heart happy though. So many answered questions. So many new conspiracy theories to build over the next year or two :)
Thank you!
I should have used a different word. I honestly didn’t even think about it. I was probably thinking that it was the conclusion to a story arc within the series, which it was, but I never meant for people to think it was the final ending! How would that even work? There’s so much left to tell!
Ok! That’s not so hard. Whatever it takes to know the whole story!!
Thanks for the update. I love this series and will read as many books as your willing to write!!!
Thank you for reading!
I’m still rereading, currently on Embrace the Night, will continue until I get to Ride the Storm. Then I’ll start Dorina again.
So I’m trilled this series continues with it’s fast paced craziness. Thank you
First, I was also under the impression that RTS was the last Cassie Palmer book, which was why I ended up here as I just finished what definitely did not appear to be the end of a series. So so so happy it is not!
Second, read a few of your other posts and wanted to say you are one of my very favorite authors! I would (and do) pre-order anything that has your name on it without even reading what it’s about. It doesn’t matter – because I know I will love it and get lost in the story as I have with every one of your previous books. You mentioned once that some people won’t read longer books. That is not me! Take all the time and all the pages you need. It doesn’t bother me a bit to have to put off laundry or sleep or grocery shopping for a couple hundred more pages! *smile*
Third, my ONLY complaint is that your books are not offered in hardback. I normally read everything in an electronic format as I am pretty sure my reading habits would otherwise single-handedly decimate our forests! However, a very select few series of books – ones that I know I want to read over and over or maybe lend to my friends – I like to have in hardback. And darn your publisher for not seeing the worth in your books to do that!!!!!!
Thank you so much for the gift of your stories!
Thank you for reading! And I’m sorry for any confusion!
I feel silly. I saw conclusion instead of end and was worried, but I am glad you feel inspired enough to keep on the series. I am doing a re-read again on the series now that Ride the Storm is out and love it. Thanks for all you do!
I have to admit, the last few chapters tied up so many loose ends I thought it might be the last book, but the very end of the conclusion had me thinking otherwise. Glad to have it confirmed though, and very excited to hear that there are several more books to come!!! :D
I love these characters and universe. I can’t wait to see what Pritkin has in store for Cassie. I hope Mircea is happy with his wife and out of the picture!!!!
And YAS write as many books as possible. I am positive I’m not the only one waiting to read them :)
I want to start by saying that although the tone of many messages from those concerned about the end of the series may have been angry, at least they weren’t apathetic. I think the level of concern probably tells you just how invested in the characters we are.
I reread the series to get ready for Ride the Storm which I read in one sitting and finished last night. Whew! What a ride! Lol. I did think that surely that wasn’t the end and then remembered that she possibly has one more god to kill…
FYI – I keep going back through RTS looking for where Mercea figures out who Pritkin is and I still haven’t found where it happens. It must be very subtle.
Thanks for a great series. I look forward to the next book.