Concluding a series is never easy. We scribblers become attached to the worlds we've created and the characters who populate those worlds. If we're lucky, readers become invested in them, too. The temptation to keep exploring possibilities becomes nearly irresistible. (Ask Laurell K. Hamilton -- heh.)I'm going to miss Win and Pablo, Tole and Ridley, Zee and Sebastian, and the host of secondary characters that went into the making of Utopia-X. And I mean really miss them. I'm still curious about Andrew's fate. I'd like to follow Skeep, because I've grown very fond of him. I'm wondering what other creatures and metroplexes lay beyond the ones I've explored, and what challenges lay ahead for this flawed but brave new world.
But there are so many other stories I want to write . . .
So, with real sadness, I have to cut this world loose and let it spin off into space. But at least I can do so knowing that all my boys have found their Happily Ever After, a fact that's reflected in the title of Book 4.
Below is the blurb for Finding Utopia, coming January 5 from Loose Id.
When human-angel-demon hybrids fall in love, it makes them a little crazy. But that's not the worst of it for Regenerie's Coven of Three. Now that Win, Tole, and Zee are involved in passionate relationships, they can't generate enough sex-energy with each other to activate their indispensable oracle, the Celestine. The Dark Elves of Bildezir couldn't have picked a better time to attempt a takeover of the Utopian Metroplex. Regenerie's leaders have gone off to seek a solution to their quandary. Their employee Pablo, left behind, decides to party with his former coworkers -- a little too hard. There's ample evidence he's committed a serious indiscretion. Both the Coven's headquarters and Pablo's bond with Win end up in shambles. And here come the elvish warriors.
Kicked to the curb, Pablo has his hands full. He must prove he didn't betray Win during his night of drunken revelry with a group of male prostitutes. And he must figure out how to save both the Coven and the Metroplex from a power-hungry and sexually ruthless enemy with magic on its side.
What does Pablo have going for him, aside from his love and devotion? A twink named Skeep, a mongrel humanoid . . . and a shining seraph.
