Author
As promised, for those who have already read The Emperor’s Wolves and wish to discuss it, this is the post on which you can do so.
It goes without saying that the discussions will involve spoilers, and if you hate spoilers, avoid this particular post.
I am behind in absolutely everything T_T. I will be absent in a vain and flailing attempt to catch up. 2020 has not been the year for great focus =/.
Wendy Sahyoun says: This book is absolutely amazing. I am reading it for the second time. I was always under the impression that Severn’s story would be a short story, I was surprised in a fantastic way. Thank you. After reading the book I have speculated about Severn’s exposure to barrani at an age younger than 8 – 9, and what happened to that barrani.
Susan Reese says: I’ve listened to it once(was on a long drive) and now reading it. So good, lots of background information, and lots of tears with Severn’s view of the children being killed, waiting anxiously for next book!!
Lauren W Isaacs says: I was enthralled with this book, so much more than I was imagining. So, you know that my imagination sorely needs work. I can’t wait to get the next installment in Severn’s story. Please also let us know when the next Cast in book will be available. Love all your work.
Stareyes says: Granted, now I want to re-read some of the later Cast books for Barrani stuff to get a better grasp on how the bit of politics we saw here connects, since I think I recognized some names.
(I also had to re-read the section where Severn got the picture of Kaylin in the dress from Random to see if her full face was visible, since that’s rather a different mark than the ones Severn knows about.)
Also pleased that we got not only Severn and a look at how the Wolves operate but things like more about the Tha’alani and the fact that we got some answers about Severn’s backstory (how he knew Ybelline and the Tha’alani, how/why he became a Wolf), but still have more to go (the whole West March thing) and new questions (what was he doing before age 10 where he could read/speak fluent Barrani and was tested for magic the Barrrani way).
And that the whole thing had other POV characters; I adore Kaylin, but it is nice to get details from many perspectives, and makes the series feel different to have Elluvian and occasional others taking the POV stick.
I liked it a lot. So much so that I’m rereading Cast from the beginning. The intersections don’t line up precisely in my recollections, so rereading. And what a pleasure that is. (Started Fury last night.)
I too am fascinated by the Barrani influence in his early life. And that he has magic.
I also think he has a thing with Ybellini. But I’ve always been amazed at sexless this series is. Intense feelings, but if they’re having sex it’s offscreen.🤷🏼♀️ So I speculate.…😊
Kate says: I loved the book! I feel like there could be some very interesting effects on future Cast in books. I would love to see Severn starting to use some of that magic.
Nicki Himmel says: I read this book in 1 day.
Therese says: In Cast in Flame (page 156 because yes I looked for it), Severn tells Kaylin that he couldn’t light a candle, then interrupts Teela after saying this by claiming he couldn’t make a simple light, either. The Emperor’s Wolves suddenly casts a different perspective on this conversation. I’d be really interested to read how Severn’s attempts to light a candle actually went!
C. Theresa Masin says: Please please say this gonna be a series.
Mook says: Michelle, have to comment here as a Severn critic in a previous post. Loved, loved it — I enjoyed getting to know Severn in a different way and the story took so many interesting turns that I didn’t expect and also I feel it added a new level of depth to the Cast series. Look out or you are going to get to the level of West layering and complexity!!! :)))
I love this world so much as I do all of your writing. Looking forward to the next Cast book and will try to spot all Severn Easter eggs :)
I would also like to add — your writing — tone and wordplay — is so beautiful. Did you grow up using words like Interstices and Extirpated in casual conversation? This is not a snarky question — I’m in awe of you finding the most beautiful words to paint your beautiful world.
Sandra says: I’m enjoying this look at Severn and the Wolves. I hope there will be another book about Severn. I’m a big fan of your books especially The Chronicles Of Elantra. I have re-read them several times and continue to read them until a new book is published.
Patrick Gates says: I absolutely loved this novel. There was a depth of the characters that was wonderful. Thanks for writing this!
@Wendy: I was under the impression that Severn’s story would be a “short” (for me) story, too. Or at least only a novella. So chapter seven (which is not chapter seven now) broke that permanently. But there’s a tonal ending that I wanted to reach. My intent — and given the fractured state of my thoughts at the moment, intent is a generous word — was the have Severn join the Wolves, and be sent out on a simple case with Elluvian or Mellianne. Mellianne was instantly too much work — it would be too complicated.
But the simple case was Ybelline’s, and… that wasn’t going to be a simple case. At that point I had to make a choice: continue with the now not-short story, or try to cut it off before the case.
@Lauren: I’m not sure when the next CAST novel will be published; some time in 2021, and it’s revised and returned to publisher. I think originally we were thinking of 6 months between books, which would leave the CAST books at a year a part, but that wasn’t working well for me, in the sense that I felt an immediate deadline CRUSH and so did editorial by the time I finished the novel. So I *think* we’re now looking at 8 months.
@Stareyes: When I first started writing the CAST books, they were single PoV books for two reasons. The first: they work for the broadest range of readers; the second — and most important — was that I could expect to write 150k words in a book with a single viewpoint. Multiple viewpoints — which are far more natural for me specifically as a writer — put 150k words in serious jeopardy, and sadly, that was the upper limit.
@Peter: this is relevant to your point as well :). Because it’s a “Cast” novel in some fashion, I intended to stick to a single viewpoint.
Severn, however, is nowhere near as frenetic as Kaylin, or as I said in frustration around my household “Severn isn’t talking to me”. He is the type of person that makes his choices and lives with them; the internal doubts and uncertainties that often characterize Kaylin aren’t really present, or at least, shared.
It’s hard to write a book when the main character is so reserved.
I think that the multiple PoV adds to a sense of depth here, because multiple PoVs are facets of the same thing, different windows into the story. AND the book was not 200k words — so clearly I’ve learned something over time.
@Therese: Severn had no interest in, and no intention of, pursuing magical studies.
And while this is a spoiler thread, I’m pretty sure people don’t really want the next book spoiled, so — there is a reason for his comments there :)
@Theresa: There will be at least one more book about Severn, also set in the past. Right now I’m struggling with timing in the past, because one sentence in one book puts time for an event IN THE WRONG PLACE, and having now written the first book, I’m trying to make a decision about whether or not to honor #pastme, who is a jerk, or to continue in what now makes far more organic sense.
…this is why I always promise myself I will never write books set in the past Ever Again T_T
@Mook: You realize I had to immediately go and look up ‘extirpate’ when I read your comment? It is a word I use from time to time in conversation, but… not deliberately in actual writing T_T. Interstices I use more frequently, as in ‘interstitial’, because it’s a genre word.
When I’m writing – and not bashing my head against the nearest wall or pulling my hair out – I reach for the words that work in that moment. Obviously on some level, those are word choices I’m making, but they’re not always conscious choices, if that makes sense.
I’ve read comments from some authors that they know all of the unwritten backstories and connections of their characters from the beginning. Did you know this story before you wrote it, or just the broad strokes?
Mary Allen says: Any chance you’ll wake another Dragon? The Emperor is now down to just three in his court. I really want to know more about the Barrani who was involved with Severn before he was ten?
Stefani Podoll says: I always thought the use of his weapon pulled from his magic pool. It seemed to me the reason he did not use magic the way others did is that it was a trade off for him to use the weapon. It IS a magical weapon, and all magic has a cost. The weapon chose him and I have felt it was because of his desire to protect. This has been a single motivating factor in his life. His whole life tied to a promise that even comes before his oath to the emperor. Prior books have hinted that the familiar knew of and made an agreement to be with Kaylin. Severn and many of the other characters that have attached to Kaylin could have been placed there through a story written by an Ancient to lead to the fullfillment of stories that need to be told to bring Ravillon back alive. Kaylin has been pulling to her many beings of power mortal and immortal. Severn has been there from the start, so it would not be a stretch to think he too had agreed to be her protector. There had been a study done in the late 1800’s on human souls. They found that every human upon death lost a minute weight. It was the same in every case. In the cast series the emperor values humans because they can do things he never can due to his immortality. They create things he could not. What if the humans there are all fragments of an immortal who wanted to see everything that they could do? That upon death they return to the immortal and can be sent out to experience other things. It would explain how Kaylin could have agreed to be with Hope before he hatched in the world. It would also explain how Severn wound up as her protector. HE literally could feel the need. It also would explain how the ancients knew what to write on Kaylin in the first book when they added to her words while she was in Nightshade’s castle. The idea of time has been touched on in the series. Some beings are not affected by time as the people in the books know it. There is a lot of things that can be used and played around with. Anyway it was a very good book. Thank you very much for putting in the time and effort to make it. I think it helps adds more to the characters we already have met in a way that gives new dimension to them, such as the emperor.
@Kat: I have broad strokes — except endings. For me — and once again, there is the usual disclaimer: every single writer has a process unique to them, even if there’s overlap — sitting down to write out the entire character sheet with appropriate stats takes all of the sense of the organic out of the writing; it shuts things down, rather than opening them up, and leaves me with the ghost of a book, not the seed.
Unless I feel free to ignore all the work when I finally start to put words on the page.
I truly envy people who can draft detailed know-everything descriptions — but when I tried that a long time ago, it killed the story. In some fashion, having been so detailed, I’d *already told it*. I had finished it. It was done. It’s like an outline, writ small. If the outline is detailed, the book is, on some subconscious level, “finished” for me — and it wouldn’t past muster as finished to anyone else.
Writer brains are weird — and they’re all weird in their own ways. I think the structure of the outline/character sheet is so constraining to my creative brain it trips me up constantly.
So: I have broad strokes and windows to look into or out of.
Asia says: I so loved this book — i am huge fan of Chronicles of Elantra but I was not sure how Severn story will sit with me. After just few pages I have started to ration reading just to not finish too soon :) and now i think that i need to start re-reading Chronicles from the begening just to check some events like first meeting of Severn and Yabellinn or Severn and Nightshade etc. I am tempted to look for all the dots again and to see how they connect. I am happy to hear that there is one more Severn book planned cant wait to read more :)
Thank you Michelle for creating Such amazing world, characters and stories!!! 😍 Is there any chance that some day we will be able to read story of Nightshade??
Tracy in Texas says: You’re amazing Michelle, we love you and all your worlds! :) :) :)
Melissa from Australia says: It took me a while to get into The Emperor’s Wolves, as the beginning seemed to ramble a little, but I enjoyed it once started. The style was more introspective than action which I liked as it gave more insight into the characters but I would still want to have a first-person narrative from Severn as he has always been more opaque than the other characters — a story from Teela’s perspective would be enlightening too!
The trouble with giving your readers characters who are rounded and have depth is that you create an insatiable desire to know more about them. It says a great deal about your talent as a writer that you can do this, a pity that you can’t write 24/7 to fill that need.
Thank you very much for giving us books that we can read and re-read with such pleasure.
Vicki LENOIR says: Having restarted the Cast series, I wonder if one of the Barani close to Severn fell victim to lethe. It would explain why there were no appearances of En, An-Tellerus or Verrannian without having to retcon too much…
Elissa Carroll says: Oh Michelle, this was such an amazing book. It instantly added so much additional depth to the cast in series. I listened to it while moving from SLC to FLorida and enjoyed it immensely. I cannot wait for either more Cast in books or more Severn stories. I feel like even if we just get of the Severn stories here or there that it will be wonderful.
I am starting to think more and more about Kaylin and romance. I want her to get to have physical intimacy in her life as it is such an important aspect of life to me. I would love to see her grow and heal in that way but man does she have a lot of other stuff going on too.
Thank you as always for a well-thought out and enjoyable adventure.
Taen says: For me, this book has reinvigorated my interest in the earlier Cast novels. I have read them all and have enjoyed them and the intriguing worldbuilding, but Kaylin herself has been more of a struggle for me over time, as the immaturity of youth seemed to dog her character and choices for long enough to become frustrating rather than endearing. Now with the different perspective provided by Severn, I will go back to them and no doubt see them in a different light. Severn rather reminded me of Adam. :)
Paivi says: After having read the emperor’s wolves, I needed to reread all the chronicles of Elantra books. It has been quite illuminating. Normally I detest the pairing discussions based on books. But because I feel that there is such a strong connection between Severn and Kaylin, and I am not at all sure where the author will go with that, that I have pondered the relations between other characters in the series. Apart from Marcus Pridlea, we rarely get any glimps into male-female relationships in these books. Teela once stated that she has sex, but it is not clear with whom. It is possible it is in her relationship with Tain, but it is equally possible that it is with someone we have not read about.
For those who have read the books several times I have a few questions. Is anybody else than me of the opinion that there is (or has been) something more than what we have seen between Nightshade and the Lady? In Cast in Honor Gilbert says that Nightshade spoke of his brother, HIS LADY and Kaylin with Gilbert during the over 40 years in the non-existant future. In one of Kaylin’s and Nightshades earliers encounters she is taken to a room in Nightshade’s castle, where the walls have images of a pale haired Barrani lady and Kaylin has not yet met the Lady at this stage. Could this relationship be related to the reason that he is outcaste? I also find it quite funny when Kaylin has had the emperor over for dinner and Helen says that he is not right for Bellusdeo. After that they go through almost the entire dragon court stating why none of them is suitable. In the end Helen says something like that she feels there is still someone, and Kaylin does not seem to realize that they have not mentioned Emmerian.
I have wondered about the fact that so many of the “romantic” pairings are so much in the air. However, we are reading form Kaylin’s point of view, and she has a very fraught relationship with anything related to romantic love and sexual relations. She has, however, been growing steadily, and I wonder if these wolves books will enable her and Severn’s relationship to grow too (as our, namely the readers’, view of Severn expands)? Also it seems that this kind of relationships are detested by at least the immortal races. However, even terribly powerful creatures, such as Gilbert can be lonely. Could not then the immortals also then long for the companionship that being with someone entails? Anyway thank you Michelle for giving me something else to ponder than the real life disasters that we see around us!
Jennifer says: I think there is something between Nightshade and the Lady. Whether it is romantic or two people who share similar ideals or rebel on some level on races few of how family should be seen or treated, I don’t know. I also don’t know how sexual relations for those who are promised/committed to someone else are considered. Is it expected you will have multiple partners because boredom along the long lived or is it taboo? Did we get information on that front I am forgetting?
Lindee says: After listening to Severn conversation with Nightshade, I still confused about why Jade and Stephie were going to be the next victims and why their deaths stopped the threat to Kaylin. (this may have been explained in the Cast books but I’ve forgotten). Was it that since Kaylin knew all the victims and as the victim’s connections to her became closer to her emotionally the rituals gained power…?
I just finished “The Emperor’s Wolves” and it was amazing! I was excited about this series but scared too. Pfft, I should have just trusted in your storytelling. It was spellbinding as always. I learned so many new things. I loved seeing this side of the story. It was a blast to find out Severn and Kaylin are both troublemakers, =0p .Thank you so much! I can’t wait to read the next one in the series! So want it now. Hugs. Stay safe.
I love Kaylin and Severn’s relationship. It’s complex but comforting to her. He is such a good caretaker. I have been thinking about re-reading the Cast books. There were so many new people in this book I had so much fun learning about everyone. Severn is special I knew it. He was able to become a Barrani lord that is not a small thing. Also, am thinking about getting the audiobooks. I did not know about them until now.
@Paivi Nightshade and the Lady were close friends. They shared similar ideas. That is what I recall. That is the vibe I got. I also think Nightshade has complicated thoughts about Kaylin. 0.o .
Alessandra says: Amazing book! I’ve read all your books and all the short stories I could get, this is one of my best beloved. I can’t wait for the next instalment!
Paula Lieberman says: @Lois – there IS a consensual sex scene in one of the books, it embarrassed Kaylin (when she went to the Thalani quarter, and the person she was there to talk to, was …preoccupied… in a water feature/fountain with another Thalani).
True. I was thinking of the main characters, Kaylin in particular. There might be other scenes like you suggest.
I bought the book weeks ago as a Christmas present for myself and I was (im)patiently waiting to give it to myself as my holiday read, then my work ended abruptly and my time off started that much sooner. I read to cheer myself up and this book did the trick. I fell in love with Severn’s character all over again. Getting the structure of the Wolves and how they are chosen and vetted was wonderful for bridging the relationships that happen in this story AND in the Cast series.
I am not sure I would have liked this book coming through any sooner in this series; I mean, I was always curious about the past, but didn’t think Severn’s backstory would be pivotal to Kaylin’s beyond what was already explored. Now, though, Kaylin is finally maturing enough that she could be the one for whom this story is necessary, so as readers we need this story now, too.
And also? Severn is awesome. I want one of my own.
MacKenzie Nyte says: I just completed my second listen to Emperor’s Wolves, and I can’t thank you enough for this book, and moreover, for having Khristine Hvam continue as the narrator. I truly loved the story and though some questions were answered, there are now, as mentioned by many people above, new burning questions; I am eagerly awaiting book 2 so those questions can also be addressed.
Also, 7 years was a very long time to hide in plain sight. It is a testament to both his skills and the Wolf Lord’s willingness to allow Severn to ‘hide’ from Kaylin for as long as he does. I can’t wait to read about Severn and his Barrani teacher and the Hunt in the West March.
May the muse be with you!
I must admit that, as a character, my feelings toward Severn have not always been charitable. I have on more than one occasion wished Michelle would just kill him already, he’s served his purpose and is now just annoying.
Having said that however, there have always been lingering questions about his and Kaylin’s past that keep churning in my brain. The Emperor’s Wolves shed some light on the importance of this character and reassures me answer’s are forthcoming.
I love the Cast books and am re-reading them in light of the new insights gained from this awesome addition to an already captivating series.
Alisa says: Just finished Wolves after having to pry it of my son and husband. I need to reread it again to get the full feel. Maybe take notes? I plan to reread all of Elantra before book 16 is out too.
I am still confused (is this deliberate?) as to the connection to the Barrini.
Will there be 2 – 3 more Severn books? How many Kaylin ones? Thanks.
greg banks says: Seems to that Elluvian severely underestimates Nightshade’s power and influence considering the esteem el holds AnTeela in. Shucks Nightshade has access to even the Imperial Palace the High Halls through his own means. You don’t get into castle Nightshade without consequence. Nightshade maybe outcaste but that does not mean he is friendless.
Lenara says: You probably don’t read old blog post comments. I’m hoping you do, shamelessly, because you’re the author that named Kaylin’s familiar. A big word that — hope. I’ll just hope you see this.
While waiting for the next Elantra book to drop on Nook on June 29th, I just finished reading Emperor’s Wolves. I’m so glad you wrote this book because I’ve had so many questions about Severn in the Elantra series. It’s as if he’s living a whole other life off those pages. I’ve felt it! Kaylin almost suggests it by qualifying it as Severn being a wall or a window when she queries him about things he deems as relevant only to his life with the Wolves. Also he’s able to wall his thoughts from her. Clearly. Evidently. How?
In the book about the Devourer, I found it fascinating that the old beast assumes an appearance as Severn in the Keepers Garden. Is that a reflection of Kaylins subconscious, or the strength and power of Severn’s? In the same book, when Kaylin invokes the Arkon’s ancient mirror. Severn sees things in the mirror that is separate from what Kaylin sees. What did he see?!!
Also, in the another book where Kaylin and her friends meet Gilbert the Shadow, in the epilogue, Severn states his desire for her, even as he says something about how it has been made clear to him that she must have a choice. Who made this clear to him?!!
I’m sad that Severn is not speaking to you and am wondering why he — self contained though he appears to be, and yet evidently filled with honor, duty, and emotions as I read him to be — is not finding you to be sympathetic teller. Really, he needs to get over his hesitance and trust you! I’m quite excited about the second book and am waiting in anticipation! And have hope that he — Severn- will unbend and confide, and maybe…maaaybe, there will be a third book.
Aquilegia says: Loved this. Just reread the entire Cast series after the latest book, and want to read Wolves again. But I do have a couple thoughts. How in eight years living in Nightshade did his education never come up? Admittedly, she is oblivious and never even knew his last name, but I would think that his ability to understand the various thugs and guards would be important. And he is called Darkchilde and it is said that he has an interesting shadow on him. Will we ever find out what those mean?
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Wonderful book. Have read it twice already. Thank you.