Books FAQ

[Kathy Li]

This FAQ has been moved into the FAQ section. This old thread is retained for historical purposes only.

Q: What are the Door books?

A: The Door books (aka Song of Five, Cycle of Five, Middle Kingdoms books) are a non-YA fantasy series that DD's been writing since 1979. It will consist of four books:<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>The Door Into Fire (1979)<LI>The Door Into Shadow (1985)<LI>The Door Into Sunset (1992)<LI>The Door Into Starlight (still being written)[/list]The first two books in the series have been collected into a trade paperback, published by Meisha Merlin, and titled The Sword and the Dragon.

They were planning to publish the third and fourth (once the fourth one's written) in another "omnibus" volume, tentatively titled The Lion and the Crown), but DD and Meisha Merlin have since had a parting of the ways. If DD finishes Door Into Starlight it will probably be published by other means.

These are adult books, and include mature material. They're medieval-ish set, with swords and dragons, and kingdoms and lost heirs to thrones. They're also very good.

In addition to the novels, a few Middle Kingdoms-set short stories have been published:<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>"Parting Gifts," Flashing Swords! #5, ed. Lin Carter, Dell, 1981. (hc, bookclub hc, mass market pb).<LI>"Lior and the Sea", Moonsinger's Friends ed. Susan Shwartz, Bluejay Books, 1985. (hc & trade).<LI>"The Span," Dragon magazine, #256. Paizo Publishing. Dec 1998. (A prequel to "Parting Gifts").[/list]

[Kathy Li]

Q: What else has Diane Duane written?

A lot. A lot a lot a lot. She keeps a bibliography up on her website.

[Kathy Li]

Q: So, when's the next YW book coming out? And what's DD working on now?

The best place to check for this information is the Forthcoming page at dianeduane.com.

No word on when A Wizard of Mars is going to be released, but DD has mentioned in chat that it's been turned into the publisher. And some eagle-eyed readers have seen a March 15, 2009 date on Amazon.ca. But this is yet to be confirmed by Harcourt.

The Out of Ambit blog sometimes updates with what she's currently working on.

[Kathy Li]

Q: How many books are there going to be in the YW series?

DD has stated that she sees the Young Wizard series as open-ended, and that she's planning at least three more books after A Wizard of Mars. Also, that as long as she has YW stories to tell, she'll continue to write YW books.

[Kathy Li]

Q: What are the Cat/Feline Wizard books/The Big Meow?

There are two books written in the YW universe, but which center around the group of cat wizards that maintains the Worldgates at Grand Central Station. Nita and Kit appear in their books, and they appear in the YW series. There's an entire forum on the board for these books: "Feline Wizards".

The books are:<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>The Book of Night With Moon<LI>On Her Majesty's Wizardly Service (UK title) / To Visit the Queen (US title)[/list]The Big Meow
DD had a proposal/outline for a third book (The Big Meow) ready to go after OHM'sWS/TVtQ was published, but the disappointing sales on the first two pretty much nixed it. That is, until DD's taking a "Straw Poll" on her blog in December of 2005 prompted a fan to put up $1k towards its completion. This has led to DD self-publishing the first draft of the novel online.

You can subscribe to the novel by paying a one-time full subscription to read every chapter online a week or so earlier than non-subscribers, and receive a hardcopy of the full book when it's finished (and after it's been edited).

The Big Meow website has all the details of the project, as well as its own blog.

See also: "The Big Meow" thread (and the spoiler thread) on these forums.

[removed by-chapter subscriptions, since that's been dropped.]

[Kathy Li]

Q: What are the Rihannsu novels?

As well as writing the script for a ST:TNG episode, DD has written a number of Star Trek novels over the years, the most popular being a series with Rihannsu ("Romulan") protagonists and points of view. While these are no longer seen (thanks to newer television shows) as part of "official" ST universe continuity, DD merrily continues to weave additional stories for us. Her Star Trek novels are (with Rihannsu titles bolded):<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>The Wounded Sky (1983)<LI>My Enemy, My Ally (1984)<LI>The Romulan Way (1987) (with Peter Morwood)<LI>Spock's World (1988)<LI>Doctor's Orders (1990)<LI>Dark Mirror (1993) (ST:TNG) <LI>Intellivore (1993) (ST:TNG) <LI>Swordhunt (2000)<LI>Honor Blade (2000)<LI>Sand and Stars (2004) (with A.C. Crispin)<LI>The Empty Chair (December 2006)[/list]In addition, the first four Rihannsu novels have been published in one volume as Rihannsu: The Bloodwing Voyages.

Q: Is there a new Star Trek novel in the works?

In chat, DD has mentioned the title Grand Theft Starship.

Diane Duane: Basic idea: Since James T. Kirk is so good at stealing starships on spec...
Diane Duane: let's send him to steal one for a change.

[Edited to add Grand Theft Starship info

[Peter Murray]

Q: Is Lee Enfield (in Stealing the Elf-King's Roses) based on Lee Enfield-Burke?
and
Q: Is Lia Burke (in Wounded Sky and other Star Trek books, and at least one DC Star Trek comic) based on Lee Enfield-Burke?

Yes.
To quote Nathan (from this post):

When Stealing the Elf-King's Roses first came out, Rysade remarked on the fact that Lee Enfield-Burke's name was almost identical to that of the protagonist. Lee replied, mentioning that she was simply an acquaintance of DD's who happened to have a character named after her. (She also opined that she has often wished recently that she had hyphenated her name the other way, considering how much of a hard time DD gives her about it--Lee Enfield seems to also be the name of a famous British rifle.) Rysade then mentioned that DD might have also named Lia Burke (my memory of how her first name is spelled, which is supported by a multitude of USENET posts) after Lee Burke (as she was presumably known at the time), to which Lee replied that she didn't know about this and that she would have to kill DD (I believe she phrased it this strongly) if any other DD characters besides Lee Enfield had names that were some variant of Lee's own.

[Kathy Li]

Q. What are the Raetian Tales/A Wind From the South?

A. The Raetian Tales is another proposed fantasy series by DD. While the first volume, A Wind From the South, was purchased by Corgi, it was never actually published, and the rights were eventually returned to DD. She's now selling hardcopy versions of the book via Paypal, and has made e-book/PDF versions available as free downloads. This series is not for children, and DD herself rates it as "PG-15."

She's also sending out feelers on the website to see if there's interest in her writing the sequels to A Wind From the South. If you'd like to encourage her, you may want to contribute to the tip jar on the website, or purchase a copy of the book.

updated with free e-book version of the novel and tip jar information

[Kathy Li]

Q. Is there going to be movies/a tv series made about the YW books?

A. At the current time, DD is still in negotiations about adapting the YW books into another media, but it looks like someone wants to have her adapt SYWTBAW. Here's Her Own's FAQ on the subject.

Q. Can I be in it?

A. Errr...probably not. And if you don't have any acting experience, the chances are good someone who does and has a work permit (most countries have laws against minors working) might have a jump on you. Especially if they live in the country where it's going to be shot. [grin].

updated with link to LJ entry

[Kathy Li]

Q. Wouldn't it be cool if X hooked up with Y?

Ahhhh.. the shippyness question. Be aware that this is a question which, for differing values of X and Y, gets asked on almost a weekly basis around here. Before starting up a new topic, please search to see if your particular X and Y combination hasn't already been discussed. The chances are good that it has.

[Kathy Li]

Q. Who is the man in the bar in High Wizardry?

A. Exactly. You may want to refer to this board thread and this Errantry Concordance entry. Not to mention the BBC website for a certain tv show.

[Kathy Li]

Q. How do you pronounce ...?

Well, according to DD:

dai stih&oacute;: die stee-ho
Dairine: dare-REEN
Tualha: rhymes with "you walla"
Wellakh: rhymes with "shellac", but the emphasis is on the first syllable
Nelaid: nehLAID
Roshaun: RoSHAWN

[Kathy Li]

Q. What is Omnitopia?

Omnitopia is a new book series, mentioned in chat, that DD has agreed to do. She says it's "About a MMORPG. And the company that runs it, and the guy that runs the company... I'm going to have to start working with WoW a little to make sure I know what's going on with them." (26 May 2007 chat) Also: "Ideally they'll all be done this time next year." (30 Jun 2007 chat).