Reading / Listening Order

 I've thought about this long and hard, trying to come up with the answer to what order you should read these books. Honestly, while many of these books work well as standalones minus their epilogues, I don't have a single answer to give you. Instead, I'm going to offer you three "paths". You are the maker of your own destiny, so here are your options.

• The "Straight and Narrow": Dawning of DarknessAfterworldThe Ripper.
This path is simple. Start at book 0 and move through to book 2 and beyond.
Strengths: Epilogues line up nicely. It gives you a good overview of what the story will be about and showcases heroes from history that you may enjoy reading.
Weaknessess: You lose a sense of mystery when reading book 1. A character that may seem insignificant dies in book 0 that you may otherwise have a small, but meaningful connection to after reading book 2.

• The "Mysterious Journey": Afterworld > The Ripper > Dawning of Darkness.
This path is the original publishing order.
Strengths: Afterworld will be a complete mystery to you and you will experience it for the first time alongside its new inhabitant Leon D. Michaels. Characters motivations and allegiances will be more of a blur for both you and the character. It's less predictable, with a lot more of a sense of dread at every turn of the page.
Weaknesses: Reading Book 0 first helps to give you a better understanding of the characters surrounding our protagonist, and you may want that to better understand the depths of the dangers he's in. You also have to loop back to discover those motivations and the circumstances of the characters rather than having that background knowledge.

You'll notice I didn't mention Merlin's Crucible anywhere. That's because it doesn't give too much away since its set in the time of Arthur's Rule in Camelot, and is more focused on giving a bit of backstory to our favorite mage and his upbringing. It's does have a purpose though, and is used to set up an overarching plot that is critical, so it is important that you do read it at some point soon (probably at least prior to Cursed Favors).

And that third path? Well, that's for you to decide. You can go in any order you like as a lot of these books reveal something about the other no matter what order you read them in. It's a big world I'm writing, hopefully you don't get lost in the void and instead find some meaning and enjoyment throughout!

- James G. Robertson

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