What Nicki Did

 Ah so, this was not actually a part of my summer plans. This was sort of an unexpected addition to everything I had going on, but I'm certainly not complaining.

No, I'm not complaining at all.

So I said I was working on two secret WIPs at the beginning of the summer and that was very true. One was A Tale of Gods and Glory and the other I have still yet to announce. However, a couple of months ago I picked up another WIP. And this other WIP is set in Ruskhazar as well.

There's no point in keeping this a secret from you guys. Ruskhazar has really grown from being just the world that Rage Like the Gods is set in. It ended up getting too big, too complex, with too many facets and I got carried away. I now have seventeen-twenty books (some are not 100% confirmed since they are newer ideas) planned to take place in this world.

And yes, gadzukes that's a big number. It certainly beats Amar's record of eight books planned in one world by quite a bit. But I just love Ruskhazar so much, it may not be the biggest fantasy world as far as landmass, that I have ever created, in fact it's the second smallest (Illesya from Winter Cursed is still the smallest), it's just a peninsula full of mountains inhabited by two clans of men and two clans of elves who all hate each other. Five gods look over the people of Ruskhazar, once there were seven but two killed each other. The demigods are dead. The old monsters are dead. It's a relatively safe place to live in if you don't mind occasionally being mauled by a werewolf or becoming a vampire's snack. That is, it was until recent years, now necromancy is on the rise and consequently it isn't the only thing rising. The dead are coming back and if left unchecked this necromancy will bring about the end of the world.

All of these Ruskhazar books take place in about a forty year timespan centered around this age of the restless dead. They are all directly affected by the state that the world is in. The six books in Rage Like the Gods are about the heroes who were destined to save the world. The other sixteen or so books are about everyone else.

So by now, you're probably asking, what are these other books? Well I'm glad that you asked.

You already know of Rage Like the Gods. That series is six books long counting the prequel novella Between Gods and Demigods which I already wrote and published and you can purchase here.

Then there is A Tale of Gods and Glory one of two standalones set in Ruskhazar, I'm not going to get into the details of the other standalone only that it's well, a standalone set in Ruskhazar, it sort of mirrors and parallels A Tale of Gods and Glory in a sense, but is capable of being read on its own with no real connection between the characters.

There is also the Blood of the Gods trilogy which I introduced late last year.

There will also be a duology which I'm not going to say much about at this moment only that it will be a tale of forbidden love and magical schools.

The purpose of this post is to introduce the fourth series that takes place in Ruskhazar. A four book long series called What the Gods Did (I'm sure you're probably noticing a common theme in these titles seeing as they are all gods something or the other, that's a purposeful thing done in order to connect these series so that you can easily look at my books and know which ones take place in Ruskhazar or not just by their titles).

Well what did the gods do?

The Gods Created Monsters

(yes that's book one's title)

(all images via Pinterest, I take no credit for them)

It's the story of four strangers thrust together to create a small elite group made specifically to hold the end of the world at bay. Ruskhazar is crumbling from the inside out, monsters long since thought extinct are rising with renewed hunger and so a team has been created to hunt down and kill these monsters and keep villages safe until the gods' chosen ones (aka the cast of Rage Like the Gods) finally step forward to save the world and restore everything to the way it was.

This team includes:

Alya a former noble woman whose family was recently brutally murdered by the king's son. Now she will do anything to get a crack at revenge even signing up to hunt monsters for a living.

Conan a guardsman with no real experience in the world who dreams of finding a purpose worth dedicating his life to. Especially since his former employer turned out to be a bit of a psychotic murderer and killed Alya's whole family.

Ikor an esteemed scholar at the Academy of Magickers who may or may not have killed a few people to earn his position, now being blackmailed to join this group or else lose everything he fought for.

Zarynn a silver tongued sorcerer who after being arrested decided that killing monsters was better than being put to death.

And Fluff, Alya's gray tabby cat.

And I'm not exaggerating in the slightest when I say that they are the worst monster hunters that Ruskhazar has ever seen.

This story definitely draws some inspiration from D&D and just how badly a well-meaning party can mess up. It's a tale of monsters, a found family, and a whole lot of chaotic messes.

Rage Like the Gods tells the story of those with the power to save the world, but don't want to do it.

What the Gods Did is about people with absolutely no power to save the world trying their darned best despite it. And failing. But hey, it's the thought that counts.

I made a rough list of the order my Ruskhazar books will be published in so that you can see sort of what it will look like (I am hoping to publish the next three after Between Gods and Demigods next year)

Between Gods and Demigods (Rage Like the Gods #0.5)

A Tale of Gods and Glory

Rage Like the Gods (Rage Like the Gods #1)

The Gods Created Monsters (What the Gods Did #1)

Folly of the Gods (Rage Like the Gods #2)

An Assassin's Guide to Cheating the Gods (Blood of the Gods #1)

Rage Like the Gods #3

What the Gods Did #2

Rage Like the Gods #4

What the Gods Did #3

An Immortal's Guide to Betraying the Gods (Blood of the Gods #2)

What the Gods Did #4

Rage Like the Gods #5

What the Gods Did novella (rumored)

Secret Project (rumored)

Ruskhazar Duology #1

Ruskhazar Standalone

Ruskhazar Duology #2

A Lady's Guide to Defying the Gods (Blood of the Gods #3)

Secret Project (rumored)

And maybe you're looking at this list and thinking, well at least I won't have to wait to long between Rage Like the Gods or What the Gods Did releases on this plan, but there sure are a lot of books between each Blood of the Gods book, what if there is a cliffhanger I will be having to sit on for five other books just to wait for the next Blood of the Gods story? Don't worry, each Blood of the Gods book is roughly a standalone, the characters' stories are complete in each book and indeed chronologically act as the bookends of Ruskhazar. I said that these books take place in a 40 year timeframe, well actually most of them take place around the same time give or take some years. However An Assassin's Guide to Cheating the Gods is set 20 years before the events of Rage Like the Gods. A Lady's Guide to Defying the Gods takes place around 20 years after the events of Rage Like the Gods, while An Immortal's Guide to Betraying the Gods takes place during the events of Rage Like the Gods. So for chronological order's sake they have to be spaced out.

Now I'm not sure if any of you are actually wondering this, but maybe you are and you're thinking wow that's a lot of books and a lot of commitment what if I'm only really interested in reading one series? Well you can do that with these series. There are connections and ties between books, but each series can in fact be read on its own. You wouldn't get the full scope of the depth of this world, but the individual stories themselves would not suffer because of it.

So there you have it, now hopefully you have a better idea on what my plan for Ruskhazar is. Also fun fact all but two of those books listed above actually have titles, however I'm waiting to share those for a later date mwahahaha....