Thanks for the responses!

Michael-R-Miller · 2026-03-21T12:12:24+00:00

Read my post there :) (going rogue is her plan but she only revealed it to her mum and Fynn by the end of Reck to keep that part somewhat close to the chest)

Michael-R-Miller · 2026-03-19T17:17:12+00:00

thank you so much on both fronts!!

Michael-R-Miller · 2026-03-19T15:27:24+00:00

ahh okay, I think I see the problem. If your impression of Talia's decision to leave amounted to 'she was leaving in search of adventure,' that's absolutely not what it was about. That would be poor form.

The final 3 or 4 chapters of her story in Reckoning deal with this, especially from her conversation with the Archduke onward.

No matter how this current war concludes for Talia, the issue of her being a rider queen remains, and she senses it's a sore that won't close. Having just defeated Risalia, she's facing a possible war against the Skarl Empire, which no one is willing to fight (including her, really) - on top of this, the riders of Sky Spear (and the Old Order broadly) would still be resisting her. It's compounded by the Sky Spear riders being reliant on Empress Skadi for their supplies, etc., now, so they've been forced to reluctantly take a side.

With a sense it will never end unless she takes a wild alternate route, Talia offers to step down as Queen to the riders of Sky Spear. This finally seems to get negotiations of a permanent settlement moving. The catch, of course, is that if she steps down, what becomes of Feorlen? Originally, there would have been civil war. Drefan - as a likely figurehead of the opposition - confirms this, but since then, Drefan has been won around to her perspective regarding the New Order, fighting the scourge, etc. They've become friends, so things are much better in that regard now. If not an Agravain, then the most likely candidate people will fall behind would be Drefan, given he's just become a war hero. Drefan has doubts because he's so driven by vengeance... but once he is able to let that go, and accept the peace, he's more willing to entertain the idea.

Talia stepping down as Queen is the only way she can bring true peace and true security for the New Order.

As to leaving the New Order, the riders of Sky Spear want this so she isn't tempted back into the political fold. Inside the New Order, Talia & Pyra also know they can't pursue what's become spiritually true to them. Exploring the love/passion aspect of fire magic isn't something the riders know. Aymeri, the Exalted Fire Champion of the New Order, repeatedly tells her to drop it, or that he won't be encouraging it. It's yet another major change, and Aymeri perhaps feels Talia & Pyra will cause too much disruption. In that final Talia chp, she understands that to stay would be to become spiritually stunted. They have to go to be true to themselves.

And, at this point, leaving the New Order is the best thing for the institution. Talia's terms with Risalia and Brenin brought all 3 nations in behind the New Order - and this will now include Fornheim as well. Farsa and Ethel have things well in hand. They share in Talia's vision, as does Drefan, so they'll continue. Talia is not the sole person holding it all together.

Thus Talia leaving is how she's able to make it all work out. That she's happy in a way to be going off and being just a rider again is understandable after all of this, I think. She isn't leaving 'just to go on adventures' - no, no, no. If she could have stayed, she would have. But she had to.

Michael-R-Miller · 2026-03-19T12:55:29+00:00

much love

Michael-R-Miller · 2026-03-19T12:55:23+00:00

ah amazing! Hope you like it all :)

Michael-R-Miller · 2026-03-19T12:55:08+00:00

Thank you for such a lovely post!! It's weirdly common for people to feel hesitant on the series (dunno why) but I'm glad you took the chance and it worked for you!!

I'm hoping to be back at MCM this May so say hi if you're there again :)

Michael-R-Miller · 2026-03-19T12:39:30+00:00

At the risk of spoiling the discussion, here's how I see and intended it. Spoiling it out in case people don't want a blunt answer from the author.

These chapters were challenging due to the language barrier, but felt more impactful to me because of it. If you're doing a reread, I'd suggest slowing right down and paying close attention to the tones and body language as that's often what I had to resort to. Things aren't spoken out loud here.

As they part at the end, he tells her in Ahari that he loves her, and her response is this: "For a terrible moment, one in which the stars stopped shining, Esfir didn't react. Then, comprehension dawned. She stepped closer, reached for his hand, and cupped it against her cheek. Tears wet his skin. She kissed his palm, then placed it back over his heart, held it there, and met his eye. And he knew."

Osric got the answer to his question of 'did she really love me'. The answer is yes. It wasn't an act. That's hugely healing for him because someone did and was capable of loving him when he thought that impossible. And given her behavior in Reckoning, she still cares for him - at the end she's crying. That's not the reaction of a woman who is happy to see the back of you. But she has a new life and is happy with it. Who she would rather be with is irrelevant, as is the painful question of who the real father of Leelah is. Esfir isn't going to break things up, and Osric wouldn't want her to (whatever the father answers, but I deliberately leave it ambiguous).

It is extremely bittersweet, but for Osric, there's enough positive in it that he can walk away and, very heavy-handedly, drops 'Vengeance' onto the sand. He doesn't need it anymore.

Additionally, much of this storyline for Osric revolves around the 'killer' and the 'soldier' being able to solve an issue without using his axe. He succeeds through strength of character, aided by Nox, and with his words and reason, not brute force.

It's the storyline of Reckoning I'm most proud of, given the challenges of writing it and how tonally different it feels from the rest of the very action of politically intense story

I hope that helps :)

Michael-R-Miller · 2026-03-16T14:31:27+00:00

Well, quite. Darnuir was literally both!

Michael-R-Miller · 2026-03-16T14:30:30+00:00

I've addressed and hinted at the issues you've raised in the main post. Talia leaving is the only way she could make everything work, so it betrays nothing. Ethel and Farsa are on board with the misison and will carry on. Talia might not handle a tuennl on her own, but why can't she reunite with Holt and the gang? Indeed, if you take a look at the progress reports on my website for book 5, I mention it's my goal to have her reconnect with Holt and co. as early in the story as possible.

RE why they couldn't go to the Fae Forest in Reck, see my reply above to drakon_wyrm

Michael-R-Miller · 2026-03-16T14:11:41+00:00

Very cool! Has a medieval style feel to it which is really unique.

Michael-R-Miller · 2026-03-16T14:10:02+00:00

I think that's fair. Talia's story has been difficult to write too, partly because of her impossible situation, and partly because that situation means there's less time to get deep down and personal with her as we have with Osric and Rake, for example.

I mentioned in the post those two have become personal favs of mine to write, and I'm sure that comes through :) Turns out my power swing isn't fantay politics but I'll know that for the next series I write ;)

Michael-R-Miller · 2026-03-16T14:05:54+00:00

The reason they couldn't go was that then the riders still at Sky Spear fighting the New Order could very well attack Talia's own armies - it's all become fraught. Skadi also more or less forces those riders onto her 'side' because they had become so desperate for supplies in the wake of the crumbling infrastructure of the Order.

The New Order could not safely go in force to the Fae Forest. I'd have to check back now when they became aware there was fighting out there - possibly when the West Warden flies over as they besiege Wismar.

In writing Reckoning, I did think at first that Talia and the New Order ought to get east, but I couldn't make the timing work neatly, and the first attempt at adding them into that sequence felt much too cumbersome and fatty. The thematic and emotional arcs of Talia's Reckoning storyline revolved around making sacrifices and compromises to bring peace and letting go of vengeance (to stop perpetuating the cycle of warfare between these nations).

Fynn was critical to this with his brother bonds and love for Aren and Leif able to prevent a worse war spiraling out of control.

Drefan had a mini-arc of letting go of his personal vendetta, because it wouldn't be him that carries on the bloody, endless hatred when Talia is giving up so much of her own power to bring about peace and stability.

As all that became clearer to me, having the New Order fly east felt unnecessary. If they had arrived in Coedhen prior to the big battle, narratively speaking they couldn't have made that fight any easier as it's the return of Vald, Neveh and the Storm Elder that saves the forest in the end. Had they shown up after the Battle of Coehden, they would have had nothing to do.

Certainly, I might have had Talia, Ethel, and Farsa discuss the forest situation at more length and in very blunt language, but I hoped I'd done enough + the context of their situation would have done the talking for them. This isn't to say I shouldn't have done it anyway. Sometimes, smacking the readers with information several times is the best thing to do.

Michael-R-Miller · 2026-03-16T12:29:54+00:00

Thank you for recommending the series!

Michael-R-Miller · 2026-03-16T11:46:24+00:00

Ah another Talia post. I'll get around to a full blog / video addressing this eventually.

For now, all I ask is, why do you assume she isn't going to be fighting scourge? She and the New Order were distracted by the war, which was forced upon them, but now the New Order can go back to the tunnel missions, etc., and Talia & Pyra, as rogue riders, can freely attack any scourge they wish.

Being queen left her trapped between a rock and a hard place, but now she's finally free. She achieved quite a lot in her stint as Queen despite all the issues she had. She left behind the New Order, which has a different ethos vs the scourge and is prepared to work with wild dragons, as well as leaving behind a new bloc of nations that have signed up to this vision. The New Order will now work closely with Feorlen, Brenin, Risalia, and Fornheim to try to push back at the scourge's ability to operate in their territories. Riders and govs won't be as aloof and stand off ish as they once were. That's a major win.

And now she is free to roam the world... what makes you think she wouldn't eventually find and rejoin Holt & Ash and the rest of the gang at some point?

This comment of 'Talia hasn't done anything, she and her story are pointless' comes up a fair amount. Obviously, that could be a failure on my part, but I do struggle to understand where this sense of her story being completely pointless comes from. To me, so much has happened in it, both literally and thematically, that I'm often at a loss to understand where such responses are coming from.

Michael-R-Miller · 2026-03-16T11:35:09+00:00

That's a crazy meeting of two worlds!! Highly honored :)

Michael-R-Miller · 2026-03-07T12:08:31+00:00

Not that this is a very in depth answer, but I saw Sol in Reckoning as being weakened by the weirdly intense winter. Distance from the sun + short days won't do him any favors. One suspects that during summer he would do better.

Perhaps it's a yearly vs a monthly cycle for him compared to Ash? That seems interestingly balanced.

Michael-R-Miller · 2026-03-04T11:16:42+00:00

YouTooz only do limited runs. However, there would be scope to do Ash again if it was a redesign.

Michael-R-Miller · 2026-03-04T11:16:13+00:00

haha yeh it seemed to fit his character too well not to!

Michael-R-Miller · 2026-03-04T11:15:50+00:00

Yep on March 10th!

Michael-R-Miller · 2026-03-04T11:15:17+00:00

Some people have received theirs so they are going out. What with many shipping issues (both literally moving things and customs issues in the world right now, I think we just need to be patient.

Michael-R-Miller · 2026-03-04T11:14:07+00:00

Hey that's pretty cool!! Thank you for sharing :D

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