Like most authors, I always want to hear from my readers. Thank you to those of you who have contacted me and provided feedback. I’m delighted that your response to Adamant in Dust is overwhelmingly positive. But you’ve had some questions about the book. So, because you asked, let me address a few of them.

Who Is That?

A number of you have commented on the proliferation of hard-to-pronounce names in the book, which are difficult to keep track of. To help you with this, I’ve included a Glossary of Characters at the end of the ebook and print books. Unfortunately, it is not on the audiobook. That could be rough for my listeners. So, I’ve decided to extract the Glossary into a separate publication and make it freely available to my subscribers. In preparing it, I was also able to correct some errors. Therefore, this Adamant in Dust Glossary of Characters is the most accurate version of the Glossary to date. Get it here. You can also find it on the Free page under the Books menu on the website. Enter your subscribing email address to download it.

Each new edition of this Glossary for the next book in the series will add the names from that book to those already there. With the last book, it will become the Far Stone Cycle Glossary of Characters. A friendly tip-off: that final publication will be sizable, and you will need to consult it.

What’s in Your Heart?

Minor spoiler alert! Skip this section if you haven’t read the book and don’t want to know anything in advance.

As in any fantasy story, metaphysical concepts abound in Adamant in Dust. One in particular has baffled a reader. What does it mean that a stonemage carries a Far Stone in the heart? Well, I don’t think a mechanical explanation is what you are looking for, and I certainly can’t furnish one. Ultimately, it’s a mystical process by which the Stone defies the rules of matter and fuses into a mage’s heart. It remains there as a physical entity, not just a sensation or force, and can be extracted whole given the right impetus. But the Stone doesn’t interfere with the functions of the body. Yep, it’s magic.

Inside the heart, the Stone enables the stonemage to use its power to work wonders. The Stones can be used even if they are not in the heart of the wielder, but their potency is greatest when they’re so integrated with the mage. So, obviously, one must have certain abilities to carry the Stone in the heart. But that’s enough with the spoilers. You can find out more in the book.

Characters Redux

Finally, several people appreciated the character sketches I did in the newsletters and were distressed not to find them in the book itself. I can’t include them there because they are AI generated images. But I can put them here so that you have a central place to view them all, instead of having to look through your emails. Here they are again. Enjoy!