Chapter 487: My Final Thoughts

Hi everybody, Cube here. With this, The Reborn King is officially over, except for any side stories I may post afterwards. As I have mentioned numerous times in my author notes, I plan to write a sequel with a large time skip. The story would centre on the children and the internal struggle of the Lindonfall family as they fight for the throne to secure their place as heir, but that will be a story for another time.

Honestly, writing the RBK has been a delightful experience, as it is the first thing I have ever written in my life. The world, the story, the characters, everything was truly a journey, and I believe and hope I did justice to the world I created. I hope it felt real, each character, the history of Gaia, the religions, the Kingdoms and Empires, all of it.

I know my writing ability compared to other authors is subpar, and it is something that annoys me, being unable to put the thoughts in my head onto paper as I actually wanted to. It may be arrogant to say, but I am blessed with a great imagination. Every scene I write, I can vividly imagine, and when I read what I’ve written, I am always sad that it didn’t come out as I pictured it, except for a few scenes. However, I believe that for my first-ever novel, I did a good job, especially considering I actually finished the story.

Now enough of that, I’m going to answer some questions that you may or may not care about.

Firstly, my favourite character. During my writing, my favourite character has changed from arc to arc. Initially, it is controversial to say that it was Helga. Simply because it was fun to write someone completely degranged. I have only ever written for my own enjoyment, and what I could explore with her, from being an unreliable narrator to just a downright terrible person, was extremely fun. But as the story went on, it changed; it soon became Horace, and then it was Constance. However, as I mentioned, all these characters transitioned from one arc to another. Throughout the story, the one character whom I have always loved writing about was Isra. She was always an interesting character, a person who fueled all of Alfred’s worst tendencies, blinded by her love for him, but also being the one thing that kept him in check.

In my opinion, the portrayal of strong female characters has become distorted in modern literature, and I hope I did her justice, making her someone whose strength wasn’t a cold personality, although she had her moments, but as an emotionally rich person who was always there for Alfred when he needed someone to comfort and support him. She is truly such a lovely character, and I will never have anything slanderous to say about her.

Second question: What inspired the story? It should be pretty clear by now, but I am a history nerd. I love history. Learning about the past is one of my greatest passions, spanning Chinese, European and Islamic history. Now it is clear that my story is heavily inspired by European history, and the simple answer is that I’m British. It’s what I know best.

I believe it is clear that the Abrahamic religions have inspired my own. At first, my plan was to base the Church, the Followers, and the Sisters loosely around Christianity and Islam, but as I wrote the origin story, The Church of Sol tells, I realised I could do so much more. The story the church tells became one of the sins of man and the corruption of a jealous God. So, I thought about what to make for the Followers, and I realised it was quite simple. It was a battle against tyranny, a story of self-sacrifice and hope for a new age when Khors returns to lead and protect humanity. Then the sisters had to find a middle ground as the two bitter enemies loved them, and it was clear once again. Place no blame on any god, and make the issues of the world solely the fault of man.

Then, for the different empires and kingdoms, you can tell from the names of characters. Ammary= british, Silesian/Nogrovod= Russian, Livonik=Eastern Europe (mainly poland), Severia= Greek/Roman, Lisaponic= Persian, Slathan=Germanic, Gotic=Ostrogothic, Ammeria=Kurdish, The foriegn invaders=Nordic. It was just the naming that was ripped; anything actually related to the nations was thought up by me.

Bactria and Prodora were kept in the dark simply because it was too much already. Despite Prodora’s importance in the world, I felt that only having the Divine King be the known aspect of them worked better than delving into their long and glorious history.

(FYI, I already have the story of the Divine King in my mind. His life, how he rose to power, the creation of the Years of Darkness and eventual death.) Also, it was a bit on the nose, but Prodora was named after Pandora’s Box. I felt it fit well.

The final inspiration was drawn from fantasy stories, such as Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings, but I’ll leave that there.

Third question, the controversy with Helga, Alfred and the whole sexual assault. Writing the RBK, I always knew Alfred would only have three kids, with Edward being a cripple and the other two twins. Now I needed to justify this and make it so Alfred didn’t just pop out more kids when Edwards’ issues were made clear, because, as sad as it sounds, being a cripple wasn’t a good thing for the heir to a throne to be. I also, however, needed a clear conflict to exist in the future between the children and Isra and the twins, and them being bastards would work perfectly.

Of course, I could have Alfred go to a brothel or something, but that would just be so out of character for him that it couldn’t work. And Isra staying with him after he cheated on her would also be out of character. So I thought more about it.

My first thought was to make Alfred asexual, but that is a boring narrative to write, and societal pressure would eventually get to him. Secondly, it was to give him a second wife, but that would also betray Isra’s character and betray the Ammary culture of the world. I couldn’t justify such an act without a great leap in the world’s logic.

So I needed something to force Alfred not to wish to have more children, and the best thing I thought of was trauma. It was an interesting plot point to write, and I already had a character awful enough to make it a reality.

Now, was the way I went about making the ordeal happen done poorly? Yes. Alfred was written terribly in the second arc, and I don’t shy away from this. But it happened, and the way I get past my failing is by telling myself Alfred was arrogant in thinking he could negotiate a deal with Halfdan. I didn’t just do it for shock value, I promise you. It’s why Helga was such a terrible person, and the things I wrote were so heinous because you needed to believe that she was crazy enough and awful enough to actually do something like that.

But I will hold my hands up and say it was done poorly, and I wish I could change it, but what is done is done.

Fourth question. Was the story thoroughly planned? Short answer. Yes and No. Writing the story, I had the start and ending in mind, with the middle somewhat in a grey area. Some arcs I scrapped, and others I expanded on more than I should have. Whilst I had many things planned out, I would end an arc and then start the next, wondering which one I should write next. From the list I have, I would choose what works and what doesn’t. Then I would reflect on the key moments in the arc before writing each Chapter on the day I would upload it, unless I went away for any reason; in that case, I would write it in advance.

Character personalities and world history were largely planned, as they weren’t something I could think of as I went along, without creating a lot of plot holes and mistakes. I had leeway at the start, but after the second arc finished, everything was pretty much solidified. Some character traits were scrapped as I went because they were boring, but this mainly applied to side characters, not those who were the focus of the story.

Fifth question. My favourite arcs? I’ll just provide it in order with brief explanations.

1st: Volume 7- Guarded Secrets- I just loved writing this arc, even though it was away from the Empire. I can only say it was fun to write and a great way to have world-building without it being an exposé dump.

2nd: Volume 6- A Shadow over the Commonwealth- This was another really fun one to write. It was almost perfect in my mind, and I don’t think there is anything wrong with it. The only personal problem was that I couldn’t put the images of the scenes I wrote onto paper like I wanted.

3rd: Volume 3- Trouble in the Conquered Lands- This is high up for one reason. Mother. I like writing her as a character, that’s all. Plus, Raven’s death was the first big death in the entire book. I know it was hit or miss with some readers, however.

4th: Volume 2- The Safrid Collapse and the Creation of an Empire- First, it had Helga, whom I loved to write. Second, the whole Safrid plot was so great to write, especially Nasr. His story was a tragedy, and the final scene with Harun and Zahra is probably my favourite scene in the whole story.

5th: Volume 9- The Lindonfall Family- Just another enjoyable arc that I hoped would conclude the story well. Some may dislike the ending, others may not. I just found it a great way to end, the end of the old powers and Ammar becoming the new power of the continent. It was also used to set up the children for the next book for readers who may be interested in that. But the best part about it for me was the conversation between Alfred and Octavius. I loved writing that Chapter.

7th: Volume 4- The God Queen- It was fun to write for a while, but it overstayed its welcome. By the end, I was worn out and just wished it would end.

8th: Volume 5- The Holy Seat- I’m going to be honest. I don’t really remember this arc. I know I didn’t mind writing it, but that’s it.

9th: Volume 8- The Severian Plot- This is the most up and down I have been about an arc ever. At first, I liked writing it, then I hated it, wishing I had never created the plot. Then I loved it, getting to write about Constance and Julius, and then I disliked it again. I’m sure you can tell it was rushed because I simply couldn’t stand it after a while. Sometimes I would finish work and load Inkstone, sitting on the writing screen. Then I would close my Pc because I couldn’t be bothered to continue this arc. I think, other than the first arc, this was the closest I came to dropping the story.

10th: Volume 1- The Child King- I cringe at re-reading this arc. God, I wonder what I was thinking at the time. It is so cringe that I can’t stand it. Please never let me look at it again. I did like writing about Ahmed and the Safrid origin, however. But never return to it. You wish to re-read the book, SKIP THIS ARC.

I don’t think I have any more questions to ask myself. If anyone wishes to ask anything, just leave a comment, but with that, I am done. The RBK has been a great thing to create, and I am excited to expand on the world I have made in future novels, but when that time comes, I’m not sure. I have left the ending of this novel as its own thing for anyone who doesn’t wish to read the sequel, but for those who do, please wait. I have ideas for other stories, separate from the RBK that I want to try and create, and I’m unsure whether I will do it before, during, or after the sequel.

I don’t know what to say anymore, so thank you all SOOOO much for making it to the end. Writing has always been for me and me alone. I did what I found fun. But I have come to love having fans. Being told my work is good, being told what can be better, and others just seeing what I have created is amazing. I hope I didn’t disappoint you all.

Thank you, thank you, thank you and goodbye.

Ems_Cube