The Cycle

Welcome to the official home page of The Cycle: the fifth and last series in Michael J. Sullivan's world of Elan. This is your "go to" place for all things about what will surely be Michael's Magnus Opus.

When Michael started writing the Crown Conspiracy (what would later become the first book in the Theft of Swords omnibus) he could have never dreamed how that seed would grow. What it turned into is a 20 book epic including:

• The Riyria Revelations (completed - 6 books)
• The Riyria Chronicles (5 books)
• Legends of the First Empire (completed - 6 books)
• The Rise and Fall (completed - 3 book)

For those unfamiliar with Michael's work, when he finished the Riyria Revelations, he vowed never to write a sequel. Why? The series ended on what he considered to be the absolute perfect note, and anything that would come after would pale in comparison. Not wanting to risk spoiling a great thing, he instead opted to go back in time, to expose lies, examine legends, and provide information about his overarching tale that only he knew about.

With that task completed — once Michael's entire tapestry had been unfurled — it opened the door to the possibility of something post-Riyria Revelations. A series that could only be truly enjoyed by those who had experienced all that had come before. It opened the door to . . . The Cycle.

To set appropriate expectations, there are a few things to note. First, this is not a work for someone who is new to Michael's writing, nor one for people who have only read one of his series. To truly appreciate (and understand) The Cycle, it will require knowledge of what came before. In it, you will be reunited with characters from ALL of Michael's stories, and he won't be bogging down the tale with rehashing backstory, he'll expect you to already know it.

Second, the publication of this series isn't guaranteed, but it's finally far enough along that it seems all but certain (baring Michael's death). But as with Revelations and Legends, the series cannot be published until all the books are written. The mere fact that Michael is allowing this webpage to be created is indicative of how positively he feels about the progress he has made.

If you would like to chat with others regarding the series, you can do so on this discord server.

Status

• 12/04/24 - The start of another hiatus. This one attending DragonSteel Nexus in Salt Lake City.  It should be much shorter than the last hiatus.  Work has been going well I wanted to get a good amount done between the work for Drumindor's release and this trade show and that has happened. I have 38 chapters outlined (although that may increase or decrease a bit as I finish things up.  I'd say I'm around 2/3rds done with book #2 at this point.

• 10/02/24 - After a 2-month hiatus writing has begun once more on The Cycle. Book #2 word count stands at 45,000.
  
  
• 09/23/24 - The Cycle is officially announced in the pre-release of the Drumindor ebook for the Drumindor Kickstarter.
  
  
• 08/05/24 - All work has been halted due to Worldcon 2024, a vacation to Isle of Skye in Scotland, the last pass reading edit, and proofing of Drumindor, and the review of the audio files. Work is scheduled to resume on 09/22/24.
  
  
• 06/02/24 - "The Storm" short story released for editing. This is the first short story for the series, and will be initially published in the Unavowed anthology edited by Shawn Speakman and released by Grim Oak Press.
  
  
• 05/01/24 - Book #1 first draft is completed.
  
  
• 02/23/22 - The "exploratory committee" is formed to investigate the "possibility" of a post Revelations series - it's a small committee - it has just one member.