the Author

Frequently Asked Questions

How many books will the Cast series be?

I think of the Cast series as a quasi-mystery series. There are many stories in Elantra I want to write, and while I have stories, I intend to keep writing them. I do have a defi­nite ending in mind, but it’s discrete: when I have no more stories to tell, I will write it (I think the end arc will be two or three books).

I am not really good at writing novels that stand entirely alone. I’ve tried, with the Cast novels, to have contin­uing elements but closing story-arcs.

* * *

How many books will the House War series be?

Six in total; the three that take place in Jewel’s early years, and three that occur later.

Update: (Seven. Seven in total.)
Update Again: Eight. Eight in total. T_T

Will that be the end of the Essalieyan universe?

No. There is one final arc, which I think of at the moment as The End of Days arc. I am gener­ally not good with titles, so my internal titles often change. I do not know how many books it will be, because by the end of House War things may look some­what different. In the way of writing (for me) things changed and opened up in Skir­mish in ways that both made complete sense, but that I hadn’t intel­lec­tu­ally mapped out, and those changes have had an avalanche affect on all future events in the world.

Will the Sun Sword books be released as ebooks?

They are now all avail­able, through DAW, as ebooks. They should be avail­able in all juris­dic­tions, as DAW held world rights for those.

* * *

Will you join Goodreads?

The short answer is no.

The longer answer was a blog post, which I’ll link here instead of cutting and pasting it in its entirety.

43 Responses to Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Liz says:
    April 24, 2012 at 12:18 am

    Hi
    My name is Liz, and I am currently reading Skir­mish from the House Of War Series. I was wondering if you could make a more notice­able nota­tion on the House of War Series web-Page about The Sun Sword Series ‚involving Jewel, happening before the fourth book. Also if you could make a note on the Sun Sword Series Page to the reverse effect that would also be wonderful. I am a person who tries to read from the begin­ning of a time­line of a series to the end so having those notes would really help to make sure I kept the series time lines straight. I love your books and I really appre­ciate all the hard work that you put into your books.
    Thank you for your time.
    Liz

  2. Ralph Walker says:
    May 11, 2012 at 12:16 pm

    Liz,
    We, over at the MichelleWest­Ya­hooGroup, have had this discus­sion about reading in time line or not many times. Here is the answer I would recommend:
    If you have all of the books, I’d prob­ably do it one of two ways:
    #1: Hunter duology, Hidden City, City of Night, House Name, Sun Sword
    series, then Skir­mish, or…
    #2: Hidden City, City of Night, House Name, Hunter duology, Sun Sword
    series, and Skirmish.

    These make the most sense in terms of the time­line, IMO.
    But, however, you read Michelle’s work , you will enjoy them!

    Ralph

  3. michelle says:
    May 11, 2012 at 10:56 pm

    I’m sorry I didn’t answer this one sooner — it’s a page, so tech­ni­cally there aren’t comments on it, but I forgot >.>. I didn’t see your post until tonight, when I was looking at the FAQ and thinking about what else needed to be added.

    I did, on the other hand, make notes on the series pages of both series, so thank you :)

  4. Charley Hansen says:
    June 6, 2012 at 9:20 am

    Hi, Michelle,

    I stum­bled onto the Cast series and loved it. I have them (and have read them) all. Thanks for many hours of pleasure!

    The local used book­store propri­etor told me about the Sun Sword series, so I bought the first & third one, because that’s all he had. I’ve read The Broken Crown (and enjoyed it) so went to the library to find Book 2. 

    But — the public library here in Greeley, Colorado, has only The Hidden City, so I picked that up, and am in the midst of reading it — and now I am totally confused.

    Because it’s easy for me to lose track of what is happening in a book (never mind in a series!!!), I would find it most helpful to know in which order I should read the books of your Sun Sword world. Ought I to start with the Hunter books? Or keep reading in the House Wars series? (I just ordered books 2,3, & 4 from Amazon). 

    Please help me out here.

    Thanks so much!

    Charley Hansen (age 70)
    Greeley, CO (in the process of moving to Arizona)

  5. Tara says:
    June 9, 2012 at 1:40 pm

    I found the Chron­i­cles of Elantra (aka Cast) series, and have read every­thing in 2 weeks… so looking forward to the next book. Great books! I stopped watching TV and got allot less sleep while reading, it just wasn’t impor­tant enough to compete with them. Very glad the char­acter is evolving and the rela­tion­ships changing and devel­oping, it makes it so much more interesting.
    So, my stan­dard advice to my favorite authors… Write Faster! And Thanks!

  6. CHRISTINE RABATEL says:
    July 3, 2012 at 2:07 am

    Please, do you know when the end of Cast sery will be avaible in french ? I have the fourth ones but i can’t find the others ?
    thanks you

  7. Genese says:
    July 5, 2012 at 1:30 pm

    Hi!

    Will the Sundered series be revisited?

    I’m inter­ested in whether Stefanos/Sara-Erin had children.
    What happened to Sargoth and the other Dark Servants.
    What exactly happens/happened to any Light/Dark servant when they’re defeated.
    Does everyone, good or bad, get to cross the Bridge.

    Also, love, love, love the Cast series.

    Thanx.

  8. Lauren says:
    September 18, 2012 at 1:28 pm

    Will Kaylin become a dragon?

  9. shannon says:
    September 20, 2012 at 1:51 pm

    I LOVE YOUR CAST BOOKS BUT I LIKE TO LISTEN TO THEM I DON’T HAVE A LOT OF TIME TO READ.ARE ALL YOUR BOOKS COMING OUT ON AUBIDLE
    SOON ?

  10. sharon says:
    October 6, 2012 at 2:08 am

    Michelle,
    I loved Cast in Peril! Stayed up all last night reading it. Looking forward to the next book!
    Sharon

  11. el edwards says:
    October 19, 2012 at 11:57 am

    Cast in Shadows was published 7 years ago. It is a complex and detailed world. I have read all the books and will continue doing so ( am half way thru Cast in Peril). However there are times, as a read a new book that my memory can not keep up. Have you ever thought of adding a section to your WEB page that would include some some of the details, a map, or other infor­ma­tion that would help jog my memory as i start a new book.

  12. William Craig says:
    November 13, 2012 at 9:00 pm

    Loved the elantra series and trying to patiently wait for the next in the series.

  13. Jess says:
    January 4, 2013 at 10:23 am

    I’m reading my way through the Chron­i­cles of Elantra and was wondering if there will ever be a map of the city in a book or on your website? I have a bit of one in my head but with each book, it changes and I would really like to see how the city works.

  14. Rae says:
    January 9, 2013 at 4:40 am

    Hi Ms. Sagara,

    I’ve recently gotten your Cast books, and I truly enjoyed them! I have to admit that Severn became my favourite char­acter almost right from the start, and as I was reading the books, I wonder…we didn’t get to see much of what really happened when Severn was with the Wolves, or even how Severn would interact with other Wolves(the cama­raderie or lack­thereof) in duty — only that one or two lines or so in one of the books. Hmmmm. Would we get to see the Wolf Lord in the next book? I am so curi­ousXD It would defi­nitely be inter­esting to see Kaylin’s reac­tion to seeing Severn as a Wolf(which I think we would get to see at least partly in ‘Cast in Sorrow’) and how he is in front of the Wolf Lord, taking into account Kaylin’s uncon­scious posses­sive­ness about the people she care about. Haha.

    Thanks for taking the time to read my comment:)

    Rae

  15. Gene says:
    January 12, 2013 at 6:43 pm

    A friend and I are reading through your Cast series and have just started Cast in Secret. I have no doubt that we will read every­thing in the series. The char­ac­ters are rich with a wonderful back­story, distinc­tive person­al­i­ties and they draw you into caring what will happen to them. The plots are clever and throw twists in that catch me off-guard (I LOVE that!) And your theme of doing good in a dark world is so very appealing.

    But my ques­tion has nothing to do with Kaylin’s adven­tures. Instead, I noticed your dedi­ca­tion at the very begin­ning of Cast in Secret. From what you’ve written, I’m convinced that you enjoy a certain MMORPG, which imme­di­ately spawned a million ques­tions. The one that caused the bet was which class you like to play, most. I’m certain that my betting luck is no better than Kaylin’s, but we simply must know: Mage, or warlock? Or did we miss it, completely?

  16. hailey says:
    July 2, 2013 at 12:02 pm

    I love the Cast series and have read all of the books many times. I would like to know though if you have a time­line for upcoming book releases in the series.

  17. Angel says:
    September 2, 2013 at 8:08 pm

    Cast in Sorrow just came out which means I gener­ally go back about three books and read from there so I don’t mis-remember anything. Which means I have read the Chron­i­cles of Elantra ALOT. Anyways, my CoE books are all on Kindle, and there is one comment that Kaylin makes in Cast in Ruin that confuses me. Near the end of Chapter 6 (Kindle Loc 1679), Kaylin says “I think there are five dragons in total.” That doesn’t mesh with what I get from re-reading. I count six: Tiamaris, Emmerian, Diarmat, Sana­balis, Arkon, and the Emperor (as known up to this point in CoE timeline).

    I totally hate to be nit-picky, but it just always strikes me as odd when I re-read this passage. Kaylin always says she remem­bers the impor­tant stuff, and to me, Kaylin knowing the number of Dragons would be impor­tant in her view of the world.

    I love the Chron­i­cles of Elantra, and while I can’t wait to find out how it all ends, I also kind of dread it; because once it is over? It means no more stories about Kaylin :( I bet that will make me very sad. And even Kaylin could take that bet and win. I just need to make sure there are no stakes involved :)

    Thanks for intro­ducing this world and I hope for more stories to come.

    Angel

  18. Karen Huang says:
    December 5, 2013 at 3:09 am

    Ms. Sagara –
    Do you have a place where you accept dona­tions to the author? I tend to read books from the library or buy them used, which means that authors don’t receive addi­tional royal­ties when I read their works. I like to make dona­tions directly to the authors whose work I most enjoy, as a “thank you” and as a “please keep writing!”. I’d rather donate the retail cost of a book directly to the author, so that he/she receives a bigger cut than what an Amazon sale might bring.

    Thanks very much for the many hours of reading plea­sure you’ve given me.

  19. Larry Boyd says:
    December 13, 2013 at 5:40 pm

    Having read all the “Cast” series upto and including Sorrow I have 3 questions
    1. does having a name really make Kaylin Immortal, leaving Severn to grow old and die?
    2. Do Night­shade and the Consort ever have kids, and will Kaylin midwife the births?
    3. Can the immortal Kaylin and her familiar clear the corrup­tion from the outcaste dragon and take over the fief of Ravellon?

    addi­tional thoughts would revolve around how good an author you are, and how much I have enjoyed the stories, ( and how much sleep I lost reading them),

  20. HILDA says:
    April 28, 2014 at 3:52 pm

    Michelle, I tried leaving my ques­tion in the Forums, but it keeps giving me a secu­rity problem message (I think from my computer not yours), and recom­mending that I leave the Forums. I’m regis­tered there and have left comments. So, I decided to leave my ques­tion here and you may still see it. I hope you can see it and answer. I haven’t seen this topic before. You can leave your answer (if there is one) here or in Forums. I can see it and I will check.
    Have you ever consid­ered having movies made of your 2 older series. I really believe they will be so successful. It seems the Cast series. would be an easy one for movies, and people will love them. After the success of The Catching Fire series and the Diver­gent series first in books, then in converting them to also successful movies, I’m so sure yours will be a much bigger success. I have read the books, and I truth­fully believe (and my expe­ri­ence as reader agrees), that Cast and the 2 Jewel series could be an even bigger and better success.
    Have you ever tried giving them to a producer or someone with good connec­tions in the movie filming industry. Maybe a Cana­dian producer or with connec­tion with the Holly­wood industry. I can easily see the Cast in two or three movies long. You may need to find and end to what Kaylin will even­tu­ally become. But with and end in mind as to Kaylin, I can see 2 or 3 hit series.
    Jewel story is different. I can and will compare this series with The Lord of The Rings. Your books are that great, some even better in narra­tive, ideas, char­ac­ters, devel­op­ment. You can see that in your readers devo­tion and comments. There is a missing link some­where that hasn’t let each and everyone of these books to become huge best sellers. Some­times I close my eyes, and can see lots of sections in these books like a movie. Three or five movies long. Your books are that good. Please consider it; more than that, send your books to producers, people that are involved on these type of movies. Maybe you can find a Cana­dian who will be willing to enter into part­ner­ship with a producer of these series. I would love to see one of your books in movie before I no longer can. Good luck.

  21. TomeCollector says:
    September 7, 2014 at 4:30 pm

    Hello.
    I read Michelle Sagara and Michelle West books (love both!!), and I think of you as one of my all-time favorite authors (whichever name you use). I started out with your books in print but later switched to ebook format to save space in my home.

    I have a long commute to work, and I listen to audio­books instead of music, when I’m on the road. After I read truly good books, I like to listen to them on audio­book, and I have all the Elantra and House War books in audio format too. 

    My ques­tion: What about the Sun Sword series and the Hunt Brother duology? Will they ever be offered in audio­book format? Please say yes! I really want to be able to listen to these as well. 

    Thank you for your talent and your writing!
    TomeCollector

  22. Jenna says:
    December 31, 2014 at 3:45 pm

    I live in the USA and have two small kids. Due to those, and other hindrances, I know the chances of meeting you are slim to none. I was wondering if there was a way to get a signed copy of a CAST book from you. I would really love one, but have no idea how to go about getting one. Please let me know!

    A Devoted Fan,
    Jenna

  23. Jenna says:
    December 31, 2014 at 3:47 pm

    I agree!!!

  24. TiredMom1964 says:
    June 8, 2016 at 9:00 pm

    I’m a long­time fan but new to posting. I couldn’t resist commenting because I just read that House Wars will now be 7 books instead of 6. Hurray! I got the sense after reading Oracle that you wouldn’t have enough space/time to conclude the story in just one more book, so I’m glad you’ll have the space/time to flesh it out more thor­oughly. Thank you very much for providing so many hours of wonderful reading!

  25. John DeRinzy says:
    August 4, 2016 at 10:46 pm

    When is Kaylin finally going to get a promotion!?

  26. Jana says:
    October 23, 2016 at 5:18 am

    I just finished reading cast in flight and it was really good. However, this was book 12 and there are still a lot of unan­swered ques­tions. What happened to the story­line of Kaylin and Night­shade? I feel like he has prac­ti­cally been cut out of the story. Is Kaylin still mortal? After all, Night­shade seems to be the only one who thinks that she isn’t. What exactly happened between her and Barron? I love this series, but I feel like it’s gone off the rails a little bit. I never want the story to end, but when are these ques­tions going to be answered?

  27. Joyce Ronquillo says:
    October 28, 2016 at 8:54 pm

    I searched every­where I could think of and could not find an answer. How much time has passed in Elantra since the first book. I know how many years it’s been for me but trying to keep track it seems like maybe a year has passed for Kaylin. I try to pay atten­tion since it helps to realize that rela­tion­ships and events are more compressed than they seem out here in real­ity­land. Does anyone know? Could Ms Sagara comment?

  28. Kit says:
    February 14, 2018 at 10:00 am

    I just finished Cast In Decep­tion early this am. Dammit. I waited as long as I could stand before starting; Now I’m spin­ning in place, fret­ting about when the next will come out. I waited as long as I could stand before starting it; and tried to draw it out; but still finished in a couple evenings late read­ings. I was swearing under my subcon­cious for the last 5 minutes of the book at 6am this morning. I so didn’t want the end to come so quickly. I am fervently wishing you God speed on your writing <3 Thank you for creating such an amazing, encom­passing, detailed world. In my frus­tra­tion I’ve forced my boyfriend to start the series so I can live vicar­i­ously through all his excite­ment. He’s really enjoying it so far; still on Cast in Moon­light. Thanks for being you, and for giving me the chance to enjoy your world. Happy Valen­tine’s Day too, incidentally.

  29. Kit says:
    February 14, 2018 at 10:01 am

    -web address attached is not mine, I don’t know how to edit it away. Cheers.

  30. Angela says:
    July 2, 2018 at 3:16 am

    Will the Sun Sword saga ever be released in audio­book format? I loved that series (along with every­thing else in the universe) but since I have so much travel time, I tend to reread my favorites in audio format. I would be a blessing to have the whole Essalieyan universe at my trav­eling disposal.
    Thank you

  31. Debi says:
    March 18, 2019 at 6:29 pm

    WHEN WILL YOU RELEASE THE LAST BOOK IN THE HOUSE WAR SERIES?

  32. michelle says:
    March 18, 2019 at 6:39 pm

    June 2019, so three months or so.

  33. shirin says:
    July 26, 2019 at 7:22 am

    I love your writing. You have never disap­pointed me. I also think you are a produc­tive writer that cares about her readers. I appri­ciate that.
    That said I still want to ask if there is an end in sight for your elantra series.
    I have reread them several times between releases. The last three I dont want to start until I have the last book in my hand.
    You are truly one of my favorite authors. Up there with Robin Hobb and Brandon Sanderson(I have the same problem whith his storm­light archives.)
    Keep doing what you do so well
    Lots of love your way

  34. Lyn says:
    July 12, 2020 at 2:03 am

    I have listened to the first three Elantra books through Audible. Why are books 4 to 9 not avail­able to me here in Australia through Audible? I am vision impaired, and listening to a whole eBook using synthetic speech is not the same as hearing a real audio­book. Is there any way I can get around this problem?

  35. michelle says:
    July 15, 2020 at 1:14 pm

    I think it has some­thing to do with the rights =/. The first 3, we sold the rights before, and there was no reason not to make them avail­able in world English. When I say We, I mean me and my agent.

    HLQ kept the rights going forward and sold them them­selves — but I believe they sold NA rights, not world English =/. Later books they produced in house and kept the rights, so those books are all avail­able — but to make the in between ones avail­able, they have to wait until the terms expire =(. They could them pull them in-house and those would be avail­able at that point.

    I have just sent nagging email — but in this time of work-at-home during covid-19 with elemen­tary aged school kids, things are much slower in terms of response =/.

  36. Angela Musick says:
    October 13, 2020 at 2:05 am

    Hello.
    I read Michelle Sagara and Michelle West books (love both!!), and I think of you as one of my all-time favorite authors (whichever name you use). I started out with your books in print but later switched to ebook format to save space in my home.

    After I read truly good books, I like to listen to them on audio­book, and I have all the Elantra and House War books in audio format too.

    My ques­tion: What about the rest of the Sun Sword series and the Hunt Brother duology? Will they ever be offered in audio­book format? Please say yes! I really want to be able to listen to these as well.

    Thank you for your talent and your writing!
    TomeCollector

  37. Catherine rodrigues says:
    November 17, 2020 at 4:20 am

    Bonjour étant française désolé j’ai extrême­ment de mal avec l’anglais .
    Je voulais juste vous dire que j’adore les chroniques d’elantra et j’aimerais savoir si eyant acheté les 4 premiers tome en version papier et français la suite sera telle aussi traduite ? Que ce soit en ebook qu’ en version papier ?
    merci a vous cordialement 

    Hello being French sorry I have extremely diffi­culty with English.
    I just wanted to tell you that I love the chron­i­cles of elantra and I would like to know if eyant bought the first 4 volumes in paper and French version, the rest will also be trans­lated? Whether in ebook or paper version. thank you cordially

  38. Christa K. says:
    April 18, 2021 at 5:06 pm

    Hi
    I find it very unfor­tu­nate that book 4 – 9 in the chron­i­cles of Elantra are not avail­able in audio in Europe.… It is a very good story line, but I’m always looking for books where I can switch between book /audio.
    I hope it will avail­able to us on Amazon as I would really like to ‘read on’.

  39. Cissy says:
    July 12, 2021 at 10:04 am

    Just finished Conflict… Will we ever get any kind of histor­ical time­line for Elantra? When did Ravellon fall vs which of the Draco-Barrani wars? Who controlled the city at what time? Was Calar­nenne alive before Acad­emia disap­peared? How is it that everyone except the dragons forget it existed? How about more recent events of note, like when is Kaylin’s birthday, because it was written in Sorrow that she has survived 21 years, but every­where else says 20? How long is a year, because if it’s like our world at all, it should be coming on winter (based on how long it’s been since the hottest part of their year)?

  40. Tracy Alexander says:
    October 13, 2021 at 10:02 pm

    Hi! Love your Elantra books. Are you ever going to resolve the romance angle between Kaylin and Severn? It was addressed briefly in a couple of books, but hasn’t been brought up again for many books.

  41. Kelly says:
    November 11, 2022 at 2:02 pm

    I really love your Chron­i­cles of Elantra series. The world­building and friend­ships are so great. my one ques­tion is when will we start to see Kayla emotion­ally mature/deal with some of her trauma so that she can develop her rela­tion­ship with Severn. their back­story is so compelling but their personal rela­tion­ship seems to have stag­nated. we see so much of Kayla building her friend­ships and rela­tion­ships with the dragons and cohort but she has not dealt with her feel­ings for Severn (or Night­shade) as a young woman. Going to try some of your Michelle West series next — looking forward to it.

  42. Krystal says:
    January 13, 2023 at 12:50 pm

    *Spoiler* A ques­tion for Michelle please as she may be the only one who knows. Is any part of Severn Barrani, or did the Green ensure he’s be totally human? Will he develop his magic in upcoming books? Sorry, that was two ques­tions. I should learn to count them better LOL I love the Cast books and am loving the Severn books too. I hope there will be at least one more! Thanks for such great stories. You don’t know what a differ­ence they make to someone as isolated and lonely as me, but the DO!

  43. Althreya says:
    March 26, 2024 at 5:09 pm

    Dear Michelle, thank you for amazing story line. I love your style of writing and the world you created. I almost soaked in all the words of your first 3 books in 2 days. But cant find the rest till book 10 on Audible :( I have read its a issue .. I hope I can continue to this incred­ible journey soon <3 big support from the Nederland

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