And now for something completely different. Introducing a brand, spanking new feature. It's:

Answering Reader Mail

Ta-da! Yay. Much excitement everywhere. Let's begin with this one:

"Any idea if or when Prophet Without Honour will be released in bookstores? Will there ever be a Book 2?"

I don't know if Prophet Without Honour will ever be released in bookstores, unfortunately. Why is that? Well, the publisher (i.e. Funcom) doesn't have a lot of experience with the distribution of books. Ergo, one of our sales representatives would have to start speaking with the individual chains and distribution networks, and seeing as they're already very busy distributing and selling Anarchy Online, they don't have time to worry about one little novel. Unfortunately. So you only have two options: purchase the novel online, or wait for the entire novel to be serialised in PDF. Sorry.

As for book two -- hey, sure, I'd love to see that happen. It's really up to Funcom's marketing department. I've started working on it, but I won't put a lot of effort into it unless I know it's a go. It's not as though I can get it published anywhere else -- Funcom owns the copyright -- and it's a lot of work writing an entire novel, especially when I have to do it at night and during weekends and holidays. But if there's sufficient demand, I'm sure I'll be asked to continue the series. The feedback from the first one has been overwhelmingly positive.

"Speaking of PWH.. Is there a reason why its retail price is so dear? Is it a hardback? Is it really thick?"

The retail price -- US$22 -- is pretty common for a hardcover book, unless it's been marked down (most new books are, if you go to a big chain or an online store). The book is 331 pages, which isn't that much, but page-count rarely affects the price.

"To get it ordered into Australia, it would cost in US dollars $22+42=$64. (Fed Ex charges a whopping $42 shipping!). $64 dollars in Australian currency is equivalent to about $128.. for a novel."

Yeah, Australians (and New Zealanders...not to mention anyone, anywhere in Asia, Africa, or South America) are fresh out of luck. Shipping-costs are primarily for North America and Europe, and even those rates are waaay too steep. It's a real shame, and hopefully this will change. At some point. In a distant future where Earth is ruled by cannibal robots and...monkeys.

"Speaking of novels however, have you considered writing a TLJ novel?"

Yes. Yes, I have. And I've definitely considered writing a TLJ short-story (or stories). But I don't plan on recapping the story told in the game; that would be very dull. I have a few ideas. I'll talk more about that some other time.

"The rate at which Prophet’s chapters are releasing on the web site is torturous.. I know I for one wouldn’t be able to stand the suspense of only being able to read a chapter every few weeks. I like to read continuously, and don’t like reading other novels before finishing the current one, which would leave a lot of boredom in waiting for newer chapters."

I agree. And my suggestion is to wait for the whole thing to be released in one PDF file, for easy printing, with full colour covers and all. That'll probably happen around, hmm, August? Of course, it'd be nice if more people ordered the print version, too. Unless they live in Australia. In which case they're excused for not doing so.

"[I] was wondering if there's a sequel to TLJ in the works?"

This is by far the most common question I get, and my only answer is, nope, not yet. Sorry. If and when it happens, you'll be the first to know. While I'd love to do another Journey, I'm also working on a bunch of other stuff, and priorities are often shifted around. Two years ago, I would have been very opposed to doing a sequel. Now, though, I'm much more excited about the idea. But then again I do get excited by a lot of different stuff. In summary: There are currently no plans for a sequel to The Longest Journey. However, we talk about it all the time, and I'd be very surprised if it didn't happen...some fine day.

"Check out the scottish band 'life without buildings'. they're kinda punk pop but way cool."

I did. They're groovy. Thanks for the tip!

That's it for this week's Answering Reader Mail. Keep 'em coming.  ¶ 16:17