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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
 Posted - 04 Jan 2005 : 23:16:15
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quote:
Originally posted by Elfinblade
Greetings Mr. Lowder.
I have asked many people about the possible novelization about the return of bane. But nobody seems to have a decent answer about why WOTC doesnt want to make a novel covering this crucial event.
This is to me absolutely absurd, i mean, i have read all FR books published, and there have been many great novels, but the idea of making a novel about the return of the biggest meanest god in faerūnian history seems to be a most excellent idea. Do you have any idea why wotc doesnt want to do this novel? if they are afraid that this will be a low-sale project, they really should hire some new market researchers, dont you think?
happy new year by the way 
Where is it stated that WotC won't touch this one?
Personally, I don't think it will be explained for the same reason so many other changes weren't explained: they simply changed what they felt like, and didn't care enough about the long-time fans to even think of offering a decent explanation. Apparently, their thinking (at least for a while) was that it was more important to attract new fans than it was to keep happy the people that had been buying FR stuff for a decade or more.
Oh, and about market researchers... Before I was wrongfully banned from the WotC forums, I participated in a thread where we talked about web content on the main page. I tossed out the idea of them actually asking us what we wanted. A staffer dropped in and told me they'd not do that, they made their decisions based solely on page hits. If that was their attitude about the website, which is a cheaper means of providing material to the fans, then I can't see them doing anything different for printed material. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 04 Jan 2005 23:20:34 |
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JamesLowder
Forgotten Realms Author & Game Designer
USA
310 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jan 2005 : 00:14:46
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quote:
Originally posted by Dargoth
Got a question for you about the Cult of Frost
Do you have any furthur details for them?
I have some notes on the Cult pre- and post-Kaverin, but nothing that's in any shape to share, I'm afraid. Should I ever end up writing more about Artus, he's likely to cross paths with them again.
Cheers,
Jim Lowder |
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JamesLowder
Forgotten Realms Author & Game Designer
USA
310 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jan 2005 : 00:25:20
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quote:
Originally posted by Elfinblade
I have asked many people about the possible novelization about the return of bane. But nobody seems to have a decent answer about why WOTC doesnt want to make a novel covering this crucial event.
I don't interact much with WotC staff these days (apart from stomping Rich Baker in our roto baseball league), and I certainly can't speak for the company. At one time, there was a fair amount of interest in the Bane book--in fact, the Bane story was the follow-up I was going to write to Prince of Lies. But time passed, I moved on to other projects, and the company moved off in the direction it thought best.
The last time the topic of the Bane book came up, four or so years ago, the WotC editors said "maybe later." I think the most likely answer for why they haven't done it yet is, they have books right now they'd rather publish, ones they think make more sense creatively and/or financially.
Cheers,
Jim Lowder |
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Phantom_Lord
Seeker
Pakistan
92 Posts |
Posted - 29 Mar 2005 : 08:05:45
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quote:
I have some notes on the Cult pre- and post-Kaverin, but nothing that's in any shape to share, I'm afraid. Should I ever end up writing more about Artus, he's likely to cross paths with them again.
Do you have any plans to set up a Designer's/Author's Notes WEbsite? Sort of like a director's COmmentary on DVDs?
It'd be really cool.
Thanks. |
Ponka! Kaddu! |
Edited by - Phantom_Lord on 29 Mar 2005 08:11:38 |
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JamesLowder
Forgotten Realms Author & Game Designer
USA
310 Posts |
Posted - 29 Mar 2005 : 16:57:41
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quote:
Originally posted by Phantom_Lord
quote:
I have some notes on the Cult pre- and post-Kaverin, but nothing that's in any shape to share, I'm afraid. Should I ever end up writing more about Artus, he's likely to cross paths with them again.
Do you have any plans to set up a Designer's/Author's Notes WEbsite? Sort of like a director's COmmentary on DVDs?
It'd be really cool.
I've been kicking around the idea of a web site for a while.
The annotation/writer's notes idea is interesting, but I'm not certain how WotC would react to someone posting Realms material like that--my notes on the Cult, for example--outside their control. Because I wrote some books, it would seem like official world material, when it was anything but.
Cheers,
Jim Lowder
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Phantom_Lord
Seeker
Pakistan
92 Posts |
Posted - 30 Mar 2005 : 08:28:11
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I actually do not know what sort of politics would be involved, though I do know writers like Mr Sean K Reynolds havetheir own sites and they publish material that never make it in to their final books regularly. Though I'm sure if you ask WOTC may be they give you a thumbs up? It's always cool to read up stuff that never made it in to the original.
I think, if you have the time, you should set up a site :) |
Ponka! Kaddu! |
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JamesLowder
Forgotten Realms Author & Game Designer
USA
310 Posts |
Posted - 30 Mar 2005 : 15:02:10
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quote:
Originally posted by Phantom_Lord
I actually do not know what sort of politics would be involved, though I do know writers like Mr Sean K Reynolds havetheir own sites and they publish material that never make it in to their final books regularly. Though I'm sure if you ask WOTC may be they give you a thumbs up? It's always cool to read up stuff that never made it in to the original.
I'll take a look at Sean's site and see what he (and others) have posted. Thanks for the pointer.
Cheers,
Jim |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 30 Mar 2005 : 18:20:35
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| Also, Steven Schend has posted a lot of stuff here, and he always disclaimers it so that we know it's unofficial. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
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Iliphar1
Learned Scribe
Austria
133 Posts |
Posted - 13 May 2005 : 18:46:13
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I read some time ago in a forum, that you planned to write a third Ravenloft book about Sithicus, with Azrael beeing Domain Lord with Soth gone/sent back. Are you still on the project or have you dismissed it?
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'You see dead bones? ... I see an army!' Ezechiel 37 |
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JamesLowder
Forgotten Realms Author & Game Designer
USA
310 Posts |
Posted - 13 May 2005 : 19:52:33
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quote:
Originally posted by Iliphar1
I read some time ago in a forum, that you planned to write a third Ravenloft book about Sithicus, with Azrael beeing Domain Lord with Soth gone/sent back. Are you still on the project or have you dismissed it?
The idea for a third Sithicus novel, Wake of the Black Rose, still resides in my files, but I don't see Wizards of the Coast doing new Ravenloft titles any time soon. (And even if they decide to restart the line, there's no guarantee I'll be asked to write for it.) Still, it remains a possibility.
Cheers,
Jim |
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LordEverhate
Acolyte
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jun 2005 : 04:26:28
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| I know you mostly write fiction, James..but have you though about starting your own D20 company or does that not interest you? :) |
Shawn Muder
Realms of Evil
http://www.realmsofevil.net/
EN World Newshound
http://www.enworld.org/ |
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JamesLowder
Forgotten Realms Author & Game Designer
USA
310 Posts |
Posted - 15 Jun 2005 : 05:21:16
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quote:
Originally posted by LordEverhate
I know you mostly write fiction, James..but have you though about starting your own D20 company or does that not interest you? :)
Hi:
I've done some game design in my time--I wrote most of the old Jungles of Chult FR supplement, some of the entries in Hall of Heroes, a bunch of monsters for the first couple of 2nd edition Monstrous Compendiums. Bits here and there for various other game systems, too--Feng Shui, Call of Cthulhu, Deadlands.
I don't know if I'd start my own company if I wanted to do some d20 design work, though. Lining up printers and distribution is not my idea of fun. (I've done it for Green Knight's fiction titles.) If I was going to do a game design project, I'd likely pitch the idea to White Wolf for the Sword & Sorcery line or Green Ronin or Eden. There are a number of fine companies out there from whom I'm certain I'd get a fair deal.
Cheers,
Jim Lowder |
Edited by - JamesLowder on 15 Jun 2005 05:23:43 |
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JamesLowder
Forgotten Realms Author & Game Designer
USA
310 Posts |
Posted - 22 Sep 2005 : 16:53:57
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quote:
Originally posted by MuadDibThank you so much, and best of luck with the work. I hope I get to see some of it
A quick heads up. The latest issue of Dragon (#336) includes a short story of mine--"Bandits in the Paths of Fame." It's not a Realms tale, but it's got the same dark tone as, say, Prince of Lies.
Cheers,
Jim Lowder |
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TheSource
Acolyte
USA
2 Posts |
Posted - 07 Mar 2006 : 06:36:25
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Hello,
I was wondering if you had any plans to continue the Cyric line...I kinda get the impression by the way events are leading..that Cyric might get overthrown..what with Bane being back..The Everis Cale Trilogy hinted that Mask was making a move to rise in the Divine Pantheon and so forth....I like Cyric..I enjoyed the way you wrote in in Prince of Lie and Crucible..and I just wanted to get your thoughts on the subject. |
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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
Posted - 07 Mar 2006 : 07:18:28
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Source, 'Crucible' was Troy Denning's work...
But the return of Bane would be a great thing, since I really did enjoy what you did with the pantheon, the way you handled the 'concepts' of the various deities, James |
Mace's not so gentle gamer's journal My rants were harmless compared to this, beware! |
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JamesLowder
Forgotten Realms Author & Game Designer
USA
310 Posts |
Posted - 07 Mar 2006 : 17:27:11
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quote:
Originally posted by TheSource
I like Cyric..I enjoyed the way you wrote in in Prince of Lie and Crucible..and I just wanted to get your thoughts on the subject.
As Mace already noted, Troy Denning wrote Crucible; I didn't have anything to do with that book. But I'm glad you enjoyed Prince of Lies. Writing Cyric was a lot of fun.
Last I heard--and this was a while ago--WotC had no plans for continuing the Avatar series. Should they decide to continue the story of Cyric or of Bane's return, I'd be interested in discussing the project. I'm doing very little shared world work these days, but I'll always have a fondness for the Realms.
Cheers,
Jim Lowder |
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Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 07 Mar 2006 : 17:51:27
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| Hi Jim, could you drop me an email, please? |
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JamesLowder
Forgotten Realms Author & Game Designer
USA
310 Posts |
Posted - 07 Mar 2006 : 18:16:57
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quote:
Originally posted by Faraer
Hi Jim, could you drop me an email, please?
Done. :)
Cheers,
Jim |
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Alaundo
Head Moderator
United Kingdom
5695 Posts |
Posted - 07 Mar 2006 : 18:18:25
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quote:
Originally posted by JamesLowder
quote:
Originally posted by TheSource
I like Cyric..I enjoyed the way you wrote in in Prince of Lie and Crucible..and I just wanted to get your thoughts on the subject.
As Mace already noted, Troy Denning wrote Crucible; I didn't have anything to do with that book. But I'm glad you enjoyed Prince of Lies. Writing Cyric was a lot of fun.
Last I heard--and this was a while ago--WotC had no plans for continuing the Avatar series. Should they decide to continue the story of Cyric or of Bane's return, I'd be interested in discussing the project. I'm doing very little shared world work these days, but I'll always have a fondness for the Realms.
Cheers,
Jim Lowder
Well met
Indeed, Prince of Lies is an outstanding novel and I think FR fans will always have a wishlist containing "Return of Bane" for Book 6 of the Avatar Series  Alas, as we've heard before, WotC have little interest in expanding the Avatar series futher. Still, with Elaine writing book 6 of what was thought to be a closed series (Song and Swords)...who knows  |
Alaundo
Candlekeep Forums Head Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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An Introduction to Candlekeep - by Ed Greenwood
The Candlekeep Compendium - Tomes of Realmslore penned by Scribes of Candlekeep
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JamesLowder
Forgotten Realms Author & Game Designer
USA
310 Posts |
Posted - 07 Mar 2006 : 18:27:59
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quote:
Originally posted by Alaundo
Still, with Elaine writing book 6 of what was thought to be a closed series (Song and Swords)...who knows
I was really pleased to learn that Elaine was going to be writing another Song & Swords book. And, yes, I've learned not to rule anything out when it comes to writing projects. But I also know not to hold my breath waiting for publishers to make decisions. I've got plenty of other things to keep me busy in the meantime. :)
Cheers,
Jim |
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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
Posted - 09 Mar 2006 : 09:06:20
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Jim (and any Sage/author who might be reading this),
I posted a question regarding the Fugue Plane in 'Chamber of Sages', and it seems that I can't get to the bottom of the problem.
I also expand my original problem/question to this:
Are the Gods of the other races unconcerned about the Cyrinishad? (I hope I spelled that right, since I don't have the sources available at work) |
Mace's not so gentle gamer's journal My rants were harmless compared to this, beware! |
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JamesLowder
Forgotten Realms Author & Game Designer
USA
310 Posts |
Posted - 09 Mar 2006 : 18:54:45
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quote:
Originally posted by Mace Hammerhand
Are the Gods of the other races unconcerned about the Cyrinishad? (I hope I spelled that right, since I don't have the sources available at work)
Hi:
This is a tough question, since what I wrote or intended is not necessarily what's going on in the Realms at present. I had intended the Cyrinishad to be an item Cyric wanted to use to bring all of the Realms its knees, even if he started with the western areas. This generated some initial concern among the other pantheons, but they would not have acted unless Mystra and the rest had been unable to keep their own house in order. As with the gods and goddesses of the western pantheon, the pantheons themselves are constrained by rules of interaction and complex balances of power. So the Shou gods, for instance, would meddle in the affairs of the western pantheon only with great care.
Now, the current Realms products may have something quite different in mind for all this--and that's the official word. I can only point out what I had intended when I wrote Prince of Lies and created the Cyrinishad.
Cheers,
Jim Lowder |
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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
Posted - 09 Mar 2006 : 20:58:47
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Thanks for the quick reply to the part of the question I wrote here, Jim. My initial problem, however, was that in War of the Spider Queen the 'old' Demonweb Pits in the Abyss are bare of souls at one point and at another ther is a stream (to avoid the word river ;-) ) of souls of deceased drow going through the Astral Plane to Lolth's new and improved Demonweb Pits.
I merely refered to the post (Fugue Plane...) because I didn't want to fill this space with a copy of the discussion.
Maybe, if you have the time you can check it out.
Prost,
Mace (and I had that name tagged to my main char back when Baldur's Gate came out and Episode I was still a hopeful dream) |
Mace's not so gentle gamer's journal My rants were harmless compared to this, beware! |
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JamesLowder
Forgotten Realms Author & Game Designer
USA
310 Posts |
Posted - 09 Mar 2006 : 22:29:29
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quote:
Originally posted by Mace Hammerhand
Thanks for the quick reply to the part of the question I wrote here, Jim. My initial problem, however, was that in War of the Spider Queen the 'old' Demonweb Pits in the Abyss are bare of souls at one point and at another ther is a stream (to avoid the word river ;-) ) of souls of deceased drow going through the Astral Plane to Lolth's new and improved Demonweb Pits.
I'm afraid I've got no background to answer questions about WotSQ. Those were done well after my formal ties to the Realms ended. Sorry.
Cheers,
Jim Lowder
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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
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Verghityax
Learned Scribe
131 Posts |
Posted - 20 Jul 2006 : 14:38:32
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Dear Mr. Lowder,
Last month "The Ring of Winter" was published in Poland. I've been waiting for this book for quite a long time. After reading it, I must admit that I'm really impressed by it. The other thing is that before reading "The Ring of Winter" I never thought Chult to be that interesting place. Recently I bought "The Jungles of Chult" module you penned with Jean Rabe. Fantastic job you done there. And now there's something I would like to ask you: do you possibly have any additional info you could share on Port Castigliar, Mezro and other interesting locations in this region? Maybe some historical events? Or something about the Eshowe? I would be grateful for any amount of info. |
Edited by - Verghityax on 20 Jul 2006 14:43:43 |
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CalibarHaligon
Acolyte
USA
3 Posts |
Posted - 20 Jul 2006 : 15:12:17
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This is just a random comment on the Cyric/Bane debate...
I just don't understand how anyone can think that Bane is anywhere as diabolical, cunning, powerful, or frankly interesting as Cyric.
Cyric is not only one of the coolest gods in the Realms but one of the coolest characters period. I could care less if Bane is back...as long as it does not lead to getting rid of The Dark Sun.
I apologize for this random comment but it's been driving me mad for a long while and I thought this was an appropriate place to comment. |
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JamesLowder
Forgotten Realms Author & Game Designer
USA
310 Posts |
Posted - 20 Jul 2006 : 17:49:09
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quote:
Originally posted by Verghityax
And now there's something I would like to ask you: do you possibly have any additional info you could share on Port Castigliar, Mezro and other interesting locations in this region? Maybe some historical events? Or something about the Eshowe?
I used most, if not all of the organized background material on the area in Ring of Winter and Jungles of Chult. I have some ideas for where things were going in the area, but never wrote them down beyond basic proposals for the Wizards book division. I believe the Faiths and Pantheons sourcebook has some information on Ao and Chult, but I wasn't involved in that.
I'm really pleased to hear that Ring was released in Poland, though. Thanks so much for letting me know and for the positive comments about it. Were I to return to writing Realms material, Artus Cimber would be my first choice for protagonist.
I'm assuming ISA was the publisher of the Polish edition. Do you have the ISBN code for their edition of Ring? There's a Polish bookstore in the US from which I sometimes order copies of translations.
Cheers,
James Lowder |
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JamesLowder
Forgotten Realms Author & Game Designer
USA
310 Posts |
Posted - 20 Jul 2006 : 17:51:17
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quote:
Originally posted by CalibarHaligon
I just don't understand how anyone can think that Bane is anywhere as diabolical, cunning, powerful, or frankly interesting as Cyric.
Glad you like the character of Cyric so much. He was certainly a lot of fun to write.
Bane could be interesting, too. It all depends upon how the writers assigned to the books handle the character.
Cheers,
Jim Lowder |
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Verghityax
Learned Scribe
131 Posts |
Posted - 20 Jul 2006 : 19:17:47
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quote:
Originally posted by JamesLowder
I'm assuming ISA was the publisher of the Polish edition. Do you have the ISBN code for their edition of Ring? There's a Polish bookstore in the US from which I sometimes order copies of translations.
Indeed, it was published by ISA. And yes, I do have the ISBN code. In fact, even both of them for there is the ISBN with ten cyphers (83-7418-117-6) and the ISBN with thirteen cyphers (978-83-7418-117-4).
P.S. I hope that one day ISA will publish "Prince of Lies" and "The Empires Trilogy" as I would love to read those. |
Edited by - Verghityax on 20 Jul 2006 19:18:48 |
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Questions for James Lowder
