Oh Hey, it’s Been Almost a Year…
by
Yeah. I’m a bad blogger. That’s been established. So let’s just get this out of the way:
THE FIVE DARK FATES COVER IS HERE!
And a description, too, why not?
After the battle with Katharine, the rebellion lies in tatters. Jules’s legion curse has been unbound, leaving her out of her mind and unfit to rule. Arsinoe must find a cure, even as the responsibility of stopping the ravaging mist rests heavy on her shoulders, and her shoulders alone. Mirabella has disappeared.
Queen Katharine’s rule over Fennbirn remains intact—for now. But her attack on the rebellion exacted a high price: her beloved Pietyr. Without him, who can she rely upon when Mirabella arrives, seemingly under a banner of truce? As oldest and youngest circle each other, and Katharine begins to yearn for the closeness that Mirabella and Arsinoe share, the dead queens hiss caution—Mirabella is not to be trusted.
In this conclusion to the Three Dark Crowns series, three dark sisters will rise to fight as the secrets of Fennbirn’s history are laid bare. Allegiances will shift. Bonds will be tested, and some broken forever.
The fate of the island lies in the hands of its queens.
I am beyond excited for you to read this final installment of the Three Dark Crowns series. I’m also sad. And frightened. And…not done working on it yet. But it will come out on September 3rd, and I really love it. I love the cover, and the queens, and the familiars, and the island, and I’m going to miss it so much. There will probably be tour dates, and I hope you will join me at them and listen to me bawl. I have no information yet about any preorder incentives, but I am grateful for all of you who have preordered already, and any of you who do (links can be found on the book’s page here on the website), or who request it at your local library. Those things really do help an author’s career, and still really helps a series, even at the final book stage.
THE FINAL BOOK! Pardon me while I weep. There are so many things I’m going to miss about this world, and about this world’s readers. Fennbirnians, if you will. The fan art. The bookstagrams. The merch that I may or may not own too much of. BUT…maybe I won’t have to say goodbye to the world exactly…or not a complete goodbye. That’s very cryptic and I can’t say more yet, or anything for sure. It’s not about the movie though, for which I have no updates. Believe me, if I had any news about the movie that I was allowed to share, I would be SHARING IT LOUDLY.
Ditto for the Anna Dressed in Blood stuff (television, I think is the focus now). Fingers crossed, both projects are still developing.
Anyway, I really love you readers, and it’s been an honor, and I’m so grateful that you’ve come on this journey with Mirabella, Arsinoe, Katharine and Jules. And I’m going to stop now before I get too emotional before the book is even out. Geez.
In non-book news, we are still thawing out from the Seattle Snowpocalypse and I haven’t left the house in a week. This weekend I will neeeed a good burger and a pint of Guinness. NEEEED. The herd of pets are all well: Armpit McGee just had a bath, and we ran a DNA test on Agent Scully and discovered she is a Pow Pow Rotterman (Pit bull, chow chow, doberman, rottweiler. With low percentages of Australian Cattle Dog and German Shepherd.) Yesterday I made a frittata. It’s like, wild and glamorous around here.
Anyway, I’ll try to post more consistent news! Or at least, more than once a year.
Tell your mother I said hello,
Kendare
So so so incredibly excited for the finale, i’m ready for it to destroy my heart
Thank you! I hope you love it.
Hey, are you gonna be at NYC bookcon?
Not this year 🙁
I literally got emotional thinking about it the the other day, that it might be coming to an end. It’s weird how attached we can become to people that only exist in our minds. But I like to believe that if the story lives in enough peoples hearts, that it is as good as real. Thank the goddess for sending us Kendare.
Spent the last day and a half neglecting my husband and kids just so I could read Five Dark Fates! ?It’s been so bitter sweet, part of me wanted to read slow and take my time so that I could enjoy it for as long as I could, but the other part of me (and clearly the side that won) wanted to know what happened! I was not disappointed, and was pleasantly surprised at how much if it I did not see coming! Maybe it’s the optimist in me but I feel like a “spinoff” of some sort could come and lets us know what happens… (I know, I know I’m just greedy and not ready to let go!) Thank you Kendare for a WONDERFUL series ?
Much love,
Hazel
Hi Hazel,
I’m so glad you enjoyed Five Dark Fates. Thank you for neglecting your family 😉 As for a continuation, my next series (after my 2021 standalone book) will feature a former Queen Crowned of Fennbirn (not as a main character though). There might be a bonus epilogue in the Five Dark Fates paperback, but that will be about it at least for the foreseeable future. But I don’t think you’re greedy AT ALL. It makes me really happy that you want to spend more time on the island, and I feel less alone knowing that readers like you will miss them the way I do. Thank you.
Does this mean there is one more book coming? I’ve just finished the Young Queens & The Oracle Queen which I read after finishing the series and this would be the best Christmas gift! I’d love to read more!
When this last book comes out (cri), do you reckon these books will be turned in to films? If so I have many questions. Would you let anybody audition or would you pick specific people? Where would you set it? The list is endless. Unfortunately no snow here in England and warming up to spring. I have three dogs, a Labrador, a shih Tzu, and a cockapoo (yours sound adorable btw!). I’m excited for the last book but also very sad as I have been following this journey with you from the beginning, good things books never run out.
Your pups sound like a merry bunch! They must be great friends.
Thank you for reading along all this time. I hope you enjoy this one last Fennbirn September. As for the movie, as noted above, Fox is still developing it with 21laps producing. I really hope they make it, but I won’t have anything to do with casting or any of that stuff.
I was SO excited to see this new cover, and I can’t wait to find out how everything ends. I will definitely be pre-ordering and I’ll also be wishing you all the best with the movie/TV deals—can’t wait till you have more news to share! (And I’m sure you can’t wait either. LOL!)
Thank you Nicole! And extra huge thank you for preordering. I really can’t wait for there to be news… I’ve got all fingers crossed that it continues to move forward.
TFW you haven’t even read the third book yet
But seriously I am hyped!
I don’t even think I am the target audience but still I love this series so much it’s a perfect mix of different genres And I love how all the plots and characters weave together
Smart Politics plus cool powers plus interesting characters =great books
Can’t wait to read this one I am sure the ending will be mind blowing !
Happy writing !
Haha, target audience, target schmaudiance. If you like it, read it, that’s what I always say. Thank you so much for the lovely compliments. I hope you love the rest of the series!
I just finished the third book and all I can say is WOW! Can’t wait until September . I am sure that your main audience is the young adult market but please be aware that 71 yr old grandmas read you too.
Hi Sue! Thank you! I’m so glad you’re enjoying it. And I never pay much attention to target audiences…I will love picture books until the day I die! And very early in my career, I was contacted by a lovely man, who was 82, and was reading my books with his wife, who was also 82. So when people ask what the age range is, I usually say from seven to eighty, depending on the reader 🙂
I’m a 23rd year old, married mom of a one year old! So you’re definitely reaching a varied audience. Lol
I am SO excited for this last book. It’s been a long time since I read a series that wasn’t finished and I am tingling with excitement! AND possible movie/TV deal??? I can’t handle it! Lol
Thank you for this series, and good luck finishing up! It’s been a fantastic ride with you in Fennbirn so far.
Thank you so much, Sarah! I hope you love the final installment 🙂
I discovered this series on our library shelves, and went through all three back-to-back in a week! Thank you for creating a fascinating world, filled with intrigue, shocking twists (I gasped aloud at one point), and complex characters I can’t give up on even when they are doing horrible things. It’s the kind of YA I love, and love to recommend to teens! I can’t wait for the final installment (and future screens too, I hope).
I am THRILLED that you’re enjoying the series. Thank you so much for getting the books into the hands of your teens (and for being a librarian in general. Librarians are awesome.)!
Kendare! I can’t even begin to describe my emotions for this last book. I feel as if I was born in Fennbrin and I am best friends with my favorite triplets! I am overjoyed with the announcement of the final book, although I am quite anxious about the ending, and even more excited about the possibility of a movie! Also, I do have a question for you! Which character do you feel was the most complex, and hardest to write? I love all of them and could never choose a favorite, but do you have one?
Hi Rea- It’s lovely to hear that you have such a good relationship with the triplets! Now if only they could have a similar one with each other, oy. 🙂 To answer your question, I don’t have a favorite of the three, and honestly, they each take turns being the most complex and difficult to write. Mira was definitely the roughest in Three Dark Crowns. She did NOT want to open up. And Katharine was a hard case in One Dark Throne. By Two Dark Reigns, I guess Arsinoe figured she was up. And now with Five Dark Fates…I think this time it’s all of them.
who´s your favorite character?, for my is Arsinoe and Katherine, i love a lot the ship of Bilars.
I love this books more than food.
Haha, it took me a minute to realize what “Bilars” was. I”m so glad you’re enjoying them! More than food is quite the compliment. But I can’t choose a favorite character. I love them all. And considering the position they’re in I refuse to take sides. I do however, love all of the animal characters. Camden, Hank, Harriet the chicken. Both Sweetheart snakes. And of course, Braddock the great brown bear 🙂
Just want to thank you for everything you’ve put into this amazing saga. It’s such a fresh story that always leaves me wanting more. As my birthday’s on September 2nd and these books come out around that date, I always know what gift to ask for!
Greetings from a Mexican fan of your work. So, yeah, not only can your readers be grandmothers and married mothers, but also a male teenager in hot Mexico.
I wish everything goes well and hopefully a future movie (or two, or three, or four…) does justice to our favorite dark Queens!
Yay for readers of all kinds! Thank you so much for writing to me all the way from hot Mexico. I am thrilled you’re enjoying the series. Also, yay for bookish birthday gifts! I hope you receive many books this year!
After J.R.R.Martin and Patrick Rothfuss I swore I’d never start reading an unfinished series and become an author’s hostage ever again. Unconsciously I did just that when my daughter brought back “Three Dark Thrones” from her trip to the U.S., and I gave her the other two books for Christmas…
Thank you so much for not letting us down! I’ll be on an exchange to the States in September myself , and I will return with “Five Dark Fates” and a big grin on my face!
Haha, well I’m glad she “tricked” you into it! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the series. And excellent timing on that US trip. I hope you have a fantastic time while you’re here. And that you’re still sharing the books with your daughter 🙂
Picked up ‘Queens of Fennbirn’ in the airport because I left my tablet at home. So glad I did. This series is nothing short of amazing. Thank you for sharing the lives of the queens, citizens of Fennbirn, and the mainlanders with us. I am looking forward to the next book and hoping to catch one of the book tour dates!
Thank you so much! I’m thrilled you’re enjoying time on the island. I’m really going to miss it after Five Dark Fates. Hope to see you in September!
Kendare! I went to preorder your book today at my local bookstore only to sadly find out I have to wait till the 23rd of September in Australia! But I’m still so excited it gives me some time for a reread! I would love you write about the triplets before Queen Shannon and hear their story. I am also intrigued if you revisit Fennbirn will we learn more about the first set of triplets? Love your books can’t wait! Do you have recommendations for some fantasy books
Hi Abbey! Thank you so much for pre-ordering! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed the books so far. I won’t be revisiting Fennbirn, or at least, I’m fairly sure I won’t be, so I’m afraid what we know at the end of Five Dark Fates may be all that we ever know. The island likes to keep her secrets. As for fantasy recs: Crown of Feathers, by Nicki Pau Preto, His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman, The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon…fantasy is having a real moment…if you browse your bookstore I don’t think you can go wrong! Happy reading 🙂
Hi Kendare Blake,
Can I just say I am ABSOLUTELY THRILLED for this last book!
I am 12yrs old and I am a MASSIVE FAN!
I LOVE this series and am DYING to find out what happens next!!!
I would feel HONOURED if you were to actually reply to my comment!
I honestly can’t choose between any of the characters but I guess I do
DESPISE the goddess, what is her problem?! (LOL!)
I LOVE how you bring the story alive and these are probably my all-time
FAVOURITE books.
There are very few books that really hook me and yours is DEFINITELY one
of them, so THANK YOU for feeding my brain!
(PARTICULARLY TASTY)
Can I ask are you going to visit London anytime soon or at all?
I would LOVE to meet you!!!
I’m just gonna sign off because I could carry on writing like FOREVER!
Good luck with all your next masterpieces!
xX Moi Xx
Hi! Thank you so much! I’m really glad you’re enjoying the series. And I’m glad that you can’t decide between any of the queens 🙂 I was just in London actually in June, so I probably won’t be back for at least another several years. But if you want a signed copy of Five Dark Fates they probably still have some at Forbidden Planet! Thank you for writing this kind message; I hope all is well!
OH, MY, GOSH. I just love your books. but right now, I was wondering if you could do something for me….I’m considering a career as an author. And I have some questions I hope you can answer:
How often do you have time to spend with family and how much do you write each day?
How does the process of writing and publishing a book look like?
How do you feel when you finish a book?
Did it ever happen that your parents call or email or send a letter saying that “hey, I really wish you didn’t publish that….it’s too graphic.”? I’m sure my parents would…
Where do you get your ideas?
Thank you SO MUCH…
I write, I think, less than most. But it depends on the book, and the deadline. Some books write faster than others. The one I”m working on now has a goal of 1k per writing day, and I don’t write every day. When I was on deadline with the Three Dark Crowns books, there were times I was writing seven days a week, hoping for 3k or more. But finishing a draft always feels great. The process of writing differs for everyone, and the process of publishing you can find better answers to by googling. My mom doesn’t read my books but my dad has read some and he seems to like them. Bear in mind that many writers have second jobs, or second careers, so you may have to wedge in time for writing where you can. It took many years for me to get ANYTHING published, and many years after that before I could write full time.
Hello, I recently read the book Anna dressed in blood because she loves a friend and I loved it, I am currently reading the girl from hell and I also love it, and I hope in a short time to read more of your books and a series to come out or movie about these 2 anna books, please, the truth is that these masterpieces deserve to reach the big screen. Sorry if you didn’t understand something I don’t know much English and use a translator, although I would like to read both anna’s books in English.