Okay, I know I’m biased and am a total sap, but for as many times as I’ve read this book and the others of the series, I never seem to get tired of it. Granted, I originally wrote these stories for my own entertainment and – in the case of the second trilogy – a bit of therapy, but it still gives me a bit of a thrill every time, even knowing everything that’s going to happen in the pages to come.

One thing you probably didn’t know is that the order of the series isn’t the order in which they were written, except for the third trilogy that begins with From Chaos Born. Empire, Confederation, and Final Battle were all originally one huge book, which I wrote in the early 1990s, with a completely different cover (below) when it was first published in 2008. But some folks suggested I break it up into a trilogy, and so I did.

First Contact was actually the fourth book I wrote in the series. Fair warning: you’ll note some stylistic differences between this trilogy (First Contact, Legend of the Sword, and Dead Soul) and the second that starts with Empire, as they were written roughly 15 years apart!

So, those are a few background tidbits. How about some commentary from you?

• Did you have a favorite character for these chapters?
  • He hasn’t played much of a part yet, but one of mine is Yao Ming (and no, not the basketball player – that was totally accidental, lol)
• Any favorite scene(s)?
  • I think mine is probably when the attacking warriors are crossing the gap between the two ships.
• Any other particular likes – or dislikes?