Here are ten things about The White-Silver House that you may find interesting:
1. From six to five: When the series The Day Magic Died was first drafted, there were six books. But when I re-read the first drafts, I saw that the original fifth book looked good for about the first 20 percent of the book, then wandered like a confused faerie. When I cut the last 80 chapters, that first 20 percent fit perfectly with Book 6. That grafted draft was the foundation for Book 5, The White-Silver House.
2. From five to six? In the process of creating the final draft, I came to the point where the original fifth book ended. It was, I thought, working really well up to that point, and I knew there were some issues ahead. Also, I was about the half-way point in the book, which is the longest yet. (See the next point.) So I considered splitting it into books five and six again. I decided that would be stringing readers along, so I kept it as one book and kept hammering away at the draft.
3. More to love in Book Five: Book 1, The House in the Old Wood, is 90,000 words. Book 2, Karia’s Path, is almost the same length. Book 3, The Hall of the Prophetess, clocks in at 95,000 words. Then came Book 4, The Dwarf’s Legacy. That reached 115,000 words. But you have not seen anything yet. Book 5, The White-Silver House, is nearly 135,000 words. (That’s more than a half-million words for the series, by the way.)
4. In the end, I got to the ending: The ending of The White-Silver House, in many ways, differs greatly from the ending I wrote at first. I wrote the original ending when I was about 20,000 words into The House in the Old Wood, and knew I needed to know where I was going if I was ever going to get there. (That’s right. It “only” took me 20,000 words to figure that out.) But when I wrote it, I was anticipating writing one book. Just one. When I hit about 60,000 words, and I had barely started the story, I figured I had three books. When everything shifted on me in the third book, I thought I had five. As noted above, I ended up with six books initially. Needless to say, the ending changed as the story changed. On the other hand, the elements that are probably most important are still there from the first version of the ending. They guided me through a half-million words.
5. In the end, I decided against another ending: I wrote an alternative ending. On the basis of that alternative ending, I outlined a sequel. I bounced the alternative ending off two of my critical readers. (Someday, perhaps, I’ll let others see it. Perhaps.) Their response? No no no no no no. Yes, two people told me six times not to do it. I took their advice.
6. It’s back: Some astute readers have asked me about a particular object that seems very important in The House in the Old Wood, and comes up again a few times in Karia’s Path. But then it disappears. It’s not even mentioned in The Hall of the Prophetess or The Dwarf’s Legacy. (Well, not overtly. There actually is a reference to it in The Dwarf’s Legacy, but it’s veiled.) Now I can tell you, astute readers, it does indeed play a key role. You’ll just have to wait until near the end of The White-Silver House to find out if you’re thinking about what I’m talking about.
7. They’re back: Likewise, two characters who played major roles in the first two books, The House in the Old Wood and Karia’s Path, also disappeared, and for good reason. But in the final analysis, they redeem themselves in The White-Silver House.
8. The problems continued: The fourth book, The Dwarf’s Legacy, took far longer than I expected to complete because I had to replace a major character. That character was involved in almost every part of the book, and this necessitated a serious rewrite. The character played less of a role in the fifth book, The White-Silver House, but I still needed to do more work than I had anticipated in order to complete the changes begun in the fourth book.
9. Wait, how many races are there? The House in the Old Wood introduced readers to three races: Teneka, Dr’Zhak and Inamali. But one more came up in the fourth book, The Dwarf’s Legacy. And book five, The White-Silver House, introduces a fifth race. But they’re actually people you’ve met before – at least, one of them – in the third book, The Hall of the Prophetess. Oh, and by the way, that fourth race that you met in The Dwarf’s Legacy? You may have missed it, but there are references to them in The House in the Old Wood and Karia’s Path – references that you probably won’t be able to connect until you read The White-Silver House.
10. Three years in the making: I started writing my series, The Day Magic Died, in November 2011. So I think there’s some poetry in the fact that I completed the final draft of the final book in November 2014. So basically, in the time that Song of Ice and Fire fans have been waiting for one more book from George RR Martin, I’ve released five books. OK, so the fifth book in my series isn’t actually out yet. Anyone care to bet that The Winds of Winter will be out before The White-Silver House? I didn’t think so. Therefore, Game of Thrones and Song of Ice and Fire fans, I have given you something to read while you wait. And wait. And … well, OK, I won’t rub it in. That is, I won’t rub it in if you buy my books. All of you. Now.
by Ian Fallis 
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