Author Feedback and What Do You Want to See in Book 6?

Hey guys!

In case I haven't said it yet, thank you so much for reading along with me for book 5. I check on the latest post pretty much every day and read every comment. (I sometimes miss older stuff that gets posted on chapters that are a week or two old, but I do often see those too.)

This last book especially has been amazing. I've been seeing as many as fourty or fifty likes on a chapter, which is pretty impressive considering I've been used to getting 5-10, and it's a sign that there's a decent number of you enguaged and actively reading along, which is part of what has helped motivate me to maintain this 4 chapter a week pace.

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with how book 5 turned out. It wasn't my most focused book in terms of individual plotline, but it did drive the series forward in ways I wanted. While not my strongest plotline in isolation, I think it's a very good addition to the series, and by book 5 that's what's important.

Book 6 my hands are less tied and I can go into things with more structure in mind, so that's what I plan to do. I actually have a whole stack of outlines for earth arcs that I've had to sideline again and again due to how much the off-world adventurers were expanding, but now I can finally use my favorite from them.

I do need to shift the narrative a little from what was originally planned though. Carter is nearly A-Grade and way stronger than I thought he'd be at this point (I planned for the integration to end when he was reaching B-Grade) so I need to shift some stuff around. Some enemies will be buffed, but I think the better way of doing it would be to place more emphasis on non-physical challenges.

Carter didn't want to be a leader at the start of the story, but increasingly he's been forced into that role. I think it's time to really put him to the test and present him with problems he can't punch his way through. That way, even if the enemies are only C-Grade, he's still facing a real challenge.

It might lead to a bit of a lower-stakes book, but I'm confident it will still be fun, especially after all the Chaos God action we've had recently, and with Carter now going to have to struggle with being a Dad.

So basically, the next stage of the integration will have a much more elaborate plot with factions Carter can't just wipe out himself like he has in the past.

I do want him to talk to Jade again, but I'm hoping to keep that brief. The goal is to make this book 80% Crownhill stuff, to make up for the fact that the last two books have been almost all off-world adventures.

Here's some of the stuff I've picked up from you guys and my own notes:

Want to see Eowyn again.

Want to meet Sakura's dad.

Remain friendly with the Goddess in Jade.

Build up Crownhill into a real empire.

Anything I'm missing? If so, post it in the comments below.