Chad Corrie Talks Trial of the Wizard King

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Chad Corrie Talks Trial of the Wizard King

01/22/2021 12:15pm

Ahead of its launch on March 17, 2021, author Chad Corrie discusses his upcoming book Trial of the Wizard King, the second volume of his fantasy prose trilogy The Wizard King.

Trial of the Wizard King is the second volume of the Wizard King Trilogy. As such, was it easier writing it than the first book—Return of the Wizard King?

In some ways it was since the setting and characters were already introduced. But it’s also about setting up things for the last book [Triumph of the Wizard King] and making sure you have the right flow and pace to bring everything to a proper conclusion. So in that sense it was more of a tight rope walk. You don’t want to tell or do too much and risk taking away from book three but also you don’t want to have a thin second book when it comes to story, developments, and such.

You also had the advantage of being able to write the entire trilogy before publication. Did that help in the process?

Greatly. Having the flexibility to go into the story and tell it in full, deciding where the best breakpoints where and how to organize chapters, made it much easier for setting up matters between the books. It also allowed me plenty of grace to correct mistakes, fix, add, or change things around if I got to the end of book three and realized I needed a better through line or even had to write a through line for a plot point or character connection to something.

What were some of your favorite parts of the story?

I enjoyed having the time to spend with the smaller character groups in general. At the end of the first book the mercenaries have gone their own way and are trying to get back to their lives. This allowed for some more one-on-one time with them or in different group dynamics where I could explore and share more of who they are as well as utilize some unique threads in their story DNA to pull them back into the larger story overall. It was also enjoyable getting to showcase more of the world in general. As we progress it will get even larger too—cosmic in some ways—but it was nice taking that first step into the larger story universe and pulling back more of the curtain and revealing what’s been hidden up until now.

And it seems you have a pretty large world to showcase. On your website (chadcorrie.com) you have a couple podcasts exploring that world setting.

Yes. I have two of them: Tralodren: Legends and Lore and Tralodren: Behind the Scenes. Each are published monthly, along with a third podcast: Cauldron of Worlds, wherein I discuss world building in more general terms.

With Legends and Lore I get to dig into some of the things that aren’t covered in the books but are part of the same fabric from which the tales are cut. So far we’ve been looking at what led up to the pantheon but with the turn of the new year we’ll be looking at the gods themselves. And since they’re going to be playing a more visible role in both this and the next book, curious readers might enjoy learning a little more about just who they are.

With Behind the Scenes I get to share some special info and insight—sort of like DVD extras—about the books, world setting, upcoming projects, developments and the like. Just about anything Tralodren-based is game. And both podcasts allow for listeners to send in questions and comments, which I can then see about answering and/or addressing in a future episode. And the podcasts aren’t just on the website but available wherever podcasts can be found online, making them easy to locate and subscribe.

Was there anything that surprised you about writing the book, other than what you shared already?

In general, I was surprised with how the characters continued to develop. I had a rough idea I was working from when I started out, which was fleshed out the further the story went on, but it wasn’t until I had the chance to really take them away into more of those one-on-one situations that I found myself learning so much more about them. This really helped in the completion of book three in some ways.

And, I guess I was a little surprised with how it ended. I knew what would happen, of course, but it’s not always clear at times in the writing process if all the nuts and bolts will still fit exactly in the end as they were originally planned. Sometimes stories and events have a way of altering things as the tale moves along.

Any favorite characters so far? Actually, in this novel I found myself enjoying Cadrith more as his own story unfolded, though I wouldn’t say he was a favorite. I did enjoy Dugan and Rowan more this time around, however. They both had more time to grow and showcase more of their own selves, which I found interesting and appealing as I wrote. Though I’m quick to add I like all of the characters in the series. I’m sort of like a parent that way, I guess.

Is there anything you’re hoping readers to take away from Trail of the Wizard King?

I’m hoping they’ll find the story an entertaining one. That’s really the bottom line for me. If they can find some enjoyment in its pages then that’s the most important thing for me as an author and what I seek to do with everything I write. We can use more escapist entertainment these days (and really any time in general) and if I can be part of providing it so much the better.

Pre-order Trial of the Wizard King through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or your local comic shop. To get caught up on the trilogy, buy Return of the Wizard King now.

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Chad Corrie Talks Trial of the Wizard King

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