About a year ago I wrote a blog post entitled: When I grow up, I want to be…Kathryn Mackel. This was in response to reading Kathryn’s book Outriders, first in a series known as The Birthright Project. This week I’m happy to talk about the second book in the series, Trackers. I understand that this was originally projected to be a trilogy but that the third book has been cancelled. I’m really sorry to hear that. Not as sorry as Kathryn Mackel, I’m sure.
Trackers is here, sitting on my desk. I’ve read about a third of it so far and I’m enjoying it immensely.
From the back cover:
Far from home in a ravaged world, the Birthrighters struggle for survival.
Raised in a new ark beneath polar ice, delivered by whales to a blighted surface, the young men and women of the Birthright Project have pledged their lives to a risky and redemptive mission–perserving God’s original creation from the ravages of the Endless Wars and human depravity.
They’ve roamed the earth tracking original species. They’ve succesfully battled sorcerers, warlords, and armies of mutants. But now a twisted new enemy is on the march. An explosive old secret lurks beneath the glitter of a decadent city. And the mysterious darkness that swallowed a mountain spreads toward an innocent mill town.
Before they can prevail, the Birthrighters must confront their most difficult challenge: overcoming their individual desires that threaten to betray the group.
Other bloggers talking about Trackers this week are:
Jim Black
Jackie Castle
Frank Creed
Gene Curtis
Chris Deanne
Janey DeMeo
April Erwin
Beth Goddard
Todd Michael Greene
Karen Hancock
Elliot Hanowski
Katie Hart
Sherrie Hibbs
Sharon Hinck
Joleen Howell
Jason Joyner
Karen and at Karen’s myspace
Oliver King
Tina Kulesa
Lost Genre Guild
Kevin Lucia and The Bookshelf Reviews 2.0 – The Compendium
Terri Main
Rachel Marks
Shannon McNear
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Caleb Newell
Eve Nielsen
John Otte
Cheryl Russel
Hanna Sandvig
Mirtika Schultz
James Somers
Stuart Stockton
Steve Trower
Speculative Faith
Chris Walley
Daniel I. Weaver
Mark Goodyear
Becky says
Who-hoo, you’re in for a treat, Valerie. I finished reading it on Saturday. I thought I’d just get about another 60 or so pages read, then finish on Sunday, but it flew by.
So you’ve heard for sure that the third book has been cancelled? I think we may need to start a letter writing campaign to see if we can’t get them to alter their thinking!
Becky
Anonymous says
Hi, Val!
Too funny! My comment on my blog after reading Outriders is that “This is the kind of writing I want to do when I grow up.” Outriders presented SO many things I love about speculative fiction and felt like one of the closest matches to the WAY I like to tell stories that I’ve found recently.
Anonymous says
Hi there! Back from Disney–I didn’t get a chance to read the book but I LOVE the premise.
What’s this that Becky said? How ridiculous…
Regards–Chris
Valerie Comer says
Well, the back of the book says: The adventure draws to a dramatic close in book two…so that’s where I got my info from. I imagine Book Three was going to be called Scouts!
Anonymous says
I’m guessing that the low sales for OUTRIDERS put pressure on the story to end with book two. Whether Kathryn M. had to bring stuff from the third book into the second, I dunno.
In fact, if any of you know the author ,that’s nto a bad question: How do you make a a two-book series when it was intended as three.
Mir