CHRONICLES OF EMPIRE is an epic cycle of literature, projected over six volumes.

However, there are a number of support novels planned, not least the "Emperor" trilogy, which will will deal pivotal issues that continue deep into CHRONICLES OF EMPIRE itself.

Volume 1; GATHERING, is complete, and comprises of five novels, with working titles of: "1, Enter the City", "2, Dangerous People", "3, Fire and Loathing", "4, Fear and Fury", "5, Execution of Duty".

However, for publishing purposes it is likely that all five novels will be destructively edited into one big fat novel.

The first novel of the "Emperor" trilogy - First Apocalypse - will be ready for the publishers by June.

Arthur C. Clake meets George Orwell.

So far, eight years of full hard work. Much of this was spent researching and building up the world and its reality, though much more time was spent developing my own individual style - and then having to rewrite the entire volume to accomodate it. The next volume should take a fraction of the time. Plus there are other background novels being developed for submission.

The only dragons in these books are the names of taverns, or heraldic and mythological elements.

One of the main characters is from the future, and brings knowledge and technology with him that is far beyond even our own time. This is incontrovertibly linked to my speculative fiction trilogy, "Emperor".

Of course, there will also be plenty of mediaeval period atmosphere, tavern drinking, sword fighting, and mass battles to boot.

Hopefully I'm not the only writer who sees no point in trying to copy old masters. I'd much prefer to strive to be completely original, yet populist.

Absolutely not. The series is written to be fully accessible to a modern audience. The variety of characters may have their own personal and cultural inflections, but I've tried to ensure that everything is comprehensible for the range of English speaking peoples.

CHRONICLES OF EMPIRE is very much a character-based work, and I've tried to ensure that most are well constructed and believable. Aside from the seven very different main characters, there are over one hundred colourful speaking characters. For more information take a look at the character introductions in the library. There are also quite in depth entries in the GATHERING Encyclopaedia for major characters. I've also joined a few into the Forum to have a little banter with one another.

Hopefully, very. I've taken every care to try and convey a complete sense of reality here, not simply in the everyday sense of living, but everything from the meteorology, geology, farming, economics, politics, religion, art, and general human experience. . .amongst other things. I've noticed especially that a lot of writers convey little sense of culture, something I'd rather delve into. So I've tried to very much make that colour a part of the writing. However, the details are always simply background embellishments, intended to make the main experience fuller and more enjoyable.

Basically, to flesh out the world of the Corianth Empire, I had to explore every conceivable aspect of it. This built up a lot of background research material. But rather than waste it I thought some of it may make interesting peripheral reading. The GATHERING Encyclopaedia incorporates a lot of this information, but I've omitted most references to the actual plot-lines and sub-plots so as not to ruin any of the plot twists and turns I've incorporated into it.

When you first open and start reading GATHERING, everything will generally look safe and familiar and the reader may be fooled into thinking they understand something of what is going on. About halfway through that volume, I suddenly pull the rug away. After that, you won't have a clue what's going to happen next.