Reader Question Day #68 – the knightly orders of DEMONSOULED

Note that this week’s Reader Question Day CONTAINS SPOILERS for the entire DEMONSOULED series. Read at your own risk!

MM asks:

Would an Arminiar knight beat a Dominiar or a Justiciar knight?

Probably. The Arminiar knights are battle-hardened, on account of constantly fighting the Malrags coming down from the Great Northern Waste and invading Northreach.In fact, the Arminiars have done their jobs so well that most of the realm thinks Malrags are only a story, or an ancient foe from the past that long ago died out. Of course, in SOUL OF SERPENTS, everyone in the Grim Marches learns otherwise.

The Justiciars and the Dominiars, by contrast, haven’t faced a foe on the level of the Malrags in the centuries since Randur Maendrag accidentally destroyed Old Dracaryl. The Justiciar Order was originally founded to guard the realm from dark magic and serpent worship, but in time became corrupt and more interested in the acquisition of lands, especially after the fall of Old Dracaryl. The Dominiar Order split off in protest of that corruption…and, in time, spent most of its time trying to seize new lands and fighting the Justiciars.

But Mazael destroyed the Dominiars in SOUL OF TYRANTS and the Justiciars in SOUL OF SWORDS. So the Arminiars are the only knightly order left in the realm. One of the ideas I’m contemplating for the next series set in the world of DEMONSOULED is centering the story around the Arminiars, but I haven’t decided anything so far.

EJT asks:

If you do not mind me asking, how many books are you planning for the GHOSTS series?

As long as I can keep ‘em from getting stale and people keep buying them, I’ll keep writing GHOSTS books.

More concretely, I’m planning to do between ten and fourteen, with any more beyond fourteen determined by whether or not they’re getting stale and if people are still buying them.

-JM