The final book of the Second Edition released

The Third God

I am delighted to announce that The Third God, the seventh and final book of the Second Edition of The Stone Dance of the Chameleon, is now available on any Amazon store as an ebook, and as a paperback from a more limited number of stores. I published it on the 21st of December, the winter solstice—well, it sort of happened over two days because I had all kinds of technical problems with the ebook. (Basically, I upgraded to a new MacOS, and the software I use wouldn’t produce an ebook, so that I had to fire up an old laptop yada yada…)

I hope that you like the cover—it’s the first ‘proper’ picture I have attempted for decades. It’s not as ‘finished’ as some of the images on the earlier covers, but it seems to me to convey more ‘feeling’. Given the context of the story, I see it—by contrast with, for example, the cover of The Mirror Breaks—as a tearing away of the mask to reveal the reality beneath.

So, the thoroughly revised, leaner and cleaner text of The Third God, with its completely new initial chapter, brings the Second Edition to a close. It has been a massive undertaking, but one that I felt compelled to pursue. I hope you will feel that it has been worthwhile.

I commend to you The Third God.

Posted by Ricardo

writer and blogger

4 Replies to “The final book of the Second Edition released”

  1. Hello, I just wanted to share that I’m finally working my way through the updated Stone Dance – I was a big fan of the original trilogy when I was thirteen, and filled the back of my homework pages with doodles of Plainsmen hunting saurians and the like. The wholly unique setting and worldbuilding intrigued me, and… well, I know he’s Blue now, but I loved Fern’s name enough that when it came time for me to choose my own masculine name, I chose that soft plant-name belonging to a character in my favorite childhood fantasy series. I love these new covers of your own work, and I’ve been having fun comparing the new editions to my dog-eared and well-loved copies of the old series. Thank you for continuing to write!

    Reply

    1. I’d love to see some of the doodles! It’s quite unusual to have someone focus so heavily on the Plainsmen… and especially, dear old Fern. The Second Edition, doesn’t obliterate the First… and, particularly for someone like you, the First and Second form a single work, as much as they do for me. So Fern and Blue are like people in a different version of the same universe… both exist at the same time. One of the reasons I renamed Fern as ‘Blue’ was because one of the motivations for making the Second Edition was because I had come to realise that the colour blue, inherent in the books, was what broke the green, black, red cycle of the First Edition… So, Blue signifies this, blue being the colour of hope, especially for a different, better future…

      Reply

      1. Those are all lost to time, sadly – I still draw sometimes, but writing is my real hobby. I’m working on my first novella right now and realizing just how much The Stone Dance inspired my own creativity… maybe I will draw again. As for the Plainsmen, they were one my favorite elements! Osidian’s manipulation and eventual genocide of the Ochre is so brutal and awful, perfectly exemplifying the structures of oppression. Regarding Blue’s name, I think that’s beautiful. The hard-won and hopeful ending of the series, despite all the mass destruction and death and trauma, always meant so much to me… thank you for replying and sharing that with me!

        Reply

        1. I used to draw but moved into writing; I drew the covers of the Second Edition. I’m so pleased that my work has inspired yours

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