The Wicked Day
The third and final book of the Tormay Trilogy
The Wicked Day, continues the story of Jute and his friends as they battle the forces of the Dark. It is, perhaps, the darkest of the three books, but I trust that I left enough hope shining throughout those pages.
For various reasons, I found this part of the trilogy the most difficult to write. Foremost among those, of course, was the problem of properly interweaving and joining all the different subplots I’d set going from the first book. To my relief, none of them proved insurmountable. Another difficulty was the psychology of the third book. I won’t go into too much detail, but I spent a great deal of time dying while writing the third book (health is always a tightrope, isn’t it?). This put me into an unusual frame of mind, and I had to be careful to make sure that didn’t influence my writing beyond what fit for the story.
Finishing the creation of the Tormay Trilogy left me with mixed emotions. Relief, due to completing such a long project. Sadness as well, however, as if I were saying good-bye to a dear friend. With a comparison like that, the only answer is another visit, no? Yes, of course; there are several stories available in my Tormay Tales series: The Seal Whistle and The Silver Girl.
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Truly impressive trilogy. I’ve read Eddings and Feist and they’re good. But you’re different and the first author I’ve read who has inspired me to think ‘I could do this’. Your books reminded me of how I felt when I read The Magic Far Away Tree as a kid. I think you should write an offshoot book with minor characters, but don’t take your eye off the bigger picture. You’ve got longevity in the wind, the earth, and the sea. The dark still hasn’t been banished forever and what happens when the sceadu stops reading, could the book change him in some way? Is the fire truly gone or is the fire needed? What you thought was a closed story still has unanswered questions perhaps?
Thank you for your note and your kind comments. I’m actually working on an offshoot book at the moment that takes place about twenty years after the trilogy’s end. It features a few minor characters from the trilogy, plus one major character (I think), but involves fairly significant consequences. As far as other books, yes, I’ve been considering a sort of continuation of one of the subplots of the trilogy. The sceadu would show up in that one because, as you point out, his story is far from over (I’m guessing that, unfortunately, the ghost overestimated). That project, I’m guessing, will probably be pretty lengthy. Either another trilogy, or a large standalone. Also, I feel pretty bad about what happened to the prince of Harth, so I might investigate what happens to him after he went into exile. As for the fire, he’s gone, but his power isn’t. If you think back through how he died, that might make sense.
I hope to see some more of this humour:
If all goes as planned (famous last words; see Battle of Waterloo, Tower of Babel, etc)
I’m essentially a selfish, introverted person (I’m sanding away on that; see effects of being married)
If you get a really large group of people together, you’re mostly in trouble (see US government, the planet Earth, etc)
They’re all actually genuinely funny and it’d be nice if you had one character who said stuff like that.
Am I right in remembering there were 3 sceadus? 1 was buried and 1 is left reading the book, but isn’t there a 3rd?
I also think Declan still needs some sort of redemption, for some reason I still don’t like him. No that’s not quite right, that’s a bit strong – I just haven’t warmed to him as much as I feel I should have. And the Prince of Harth, well to be honest – I didn’t know enough about him to care one way or the other. Sure he was noble, but what did I really know about him that made me care about him? I did want to get to know Liss more and know more about her though, I also think you could open up the character of Severan.
I need to re-read about the fire methinks.
What would happen if a God were on the verge of waking, would his dreams come to life?
The fire bit goes by really quickly. If you blinked, you would’ve missed it, but I was reluctant to make a big deal out of it when I was writing that chapter.
Yeah, there were three sceadus. Though, the one you’re thinking was buried is actually just the memory/past of the sceadu. The two others, who are only referenced in the trilogy, remained in the land that Staer Gemyndes, the first king, and all the people, etc., fled. They need a trilogy of their own.
You’re right – a lot of these characters could use further stories. The trilogy, for me, was a complete story in terms of plot and subplot, but I tried as much as I could to leave characters open-ended. I enjoy Tormay, so all the characters wandering off into the rest of their lives gives me plenty of excuses to revisit them in different ways.
Besides fantasy and sci-fi, humor’s my other favorite genre. Much more difficult to write, though. Have you ever read Wodehouse or Richard Powell? I admire them greatly. Fantastic humorists. Powell is less well-known, but arguably one of the better American humorists after Twain. I actually have written a collection of humor, The Mike Murphy Files, but it’s an acquired taste.
Richard Powell I’ve not heard of but will look to download something from Amazon to my iPhone, which is where I got your books from by the way. Have you ever seen Jeeves & Wooster with Hugh Laurie out of House? Are you American or British by the way, I know you live in America but there’s a lot makes me think you’re British.
If you try a Richard Powell book, I’d recommend either Pioneer Go Home or Don Quixote USA. I know humor is a really subjective thing, but I’m willing to take a stand on those two. If you do read one, I’d be curious to hear what you think. Yeah, I’ve seen a couple of the Hugh Laurie ones. Great stuff. I’m American. I used to work out of Glasgow for a television company, but I’m Californian (the crazy part of America).
STV or Grampian?
I worked for an independent company. We produced shows for STV, BBC and Channel 4. Also, if I remember correctly, the first drama I worked on with them was for ITV.
Gaaah! I just finished your trilogy, inhaled the Silver Girl and am DYING to get my hands on anything Tormay related. PLEASE write more on Tormay. I’m sure I’m not the only one who wants to know what happens when the sceadu stops reading. Heck, I’d be thrilled to read about stuff that happens before the Tormay trilogy, maybe about The previous Windlord? And hawk. And the Silentman, maybe about how he came to be the Silentman. Declan’s adventures in detail would be awesome too. Pretty much anything, really. You write it, I’ll read it, ha.
Anyway, your series is so awesome I gifted it to my Mom and little sister so I have someone to talk to about it, ha.
Thanks so much for writing such an incredible story. 🙂
Kara, my apologies that there isn’t more so far! I have lots of Tormay stories sketched out. Definitely more about Declan, Fen (I feel guilty about her, so she’ll need a story for when she’s older), the prince of Harth (more author guilt there as well), pre-Tormay (I have tons of notes on that), the Farrows. And the sceadu. I can’t just leave him in that tunnel. Anyway, it’s a time-management issue…
Thank you for your kind compliments and thank you for sharing the story with other!
Hi there! I’ve read the first two books which I got as a free download from your e-newsletter. I loved them and was trying to get my hands on The Wicked Day, but can’t see to find an epub version for my Kobo reader. The link above says that it’s no longer available in the Kobo store. How would I go about getting my hands on that?
Hi Amanda! I’m glad you enjoyed the first two books. I’ll make sure you get The Wicked Day. I’ll be in touch…