So that you don’t read on, I’ll put the links here. If you’ve read the first two books of the series and stopped there, I hope you’ll consider getting a copy of THE SHADOW THRONE. This will test the young king in ways even he never anticipated.
THE KING’S ENGLISH (Autographed Copies)
In this post, I’ll share a few insiders about THE SHADOW THRONE. But, if you have not yet read the book, stop here.
SPOILER ALERT *** SPOILER ALERT *** SPOILER ALERT
Seriously, don’t read past this point until AFTER you have completed THE SHADOW THRONE!
I’m taking to you. Go read THE SHADOW THRONE. Then come back here.
Okay, you were warned….
1. My SiL loves Mott. He is by far her favorite character. As I was writing this book, we had this conversation.
SiL: Whatever you do, please don’t kill Mott.
Me: You want me to kill Mott?
SiL; No, I want you to not kill Mott.
Me: I’m starting to think that maybe I should kill Mott.
SiL: Everything you’re saying is the opposite of what I want.
Me: Okay, but I just want you to know, if I ever do kill Mott, you will be the one who gave me the idea.
Now, in truth, Mott originally was going to die in that final battle. However, because of what happens with Imogen earlier in the story, I felt that we’d already seen Jaron mourning enough. Nothing more was to be gained if Mott died, so in a very twisted way, Imogen ended up saving Mott.
2. The original title for Book 2 was THE PIRATE KING. However, since that created some obvious spoilers, we started brainstorming for alternate titles. One that I suggested was THE SHADOW THRONE. My editor loved the title, but suggested we save the title for this third book.
So, you ask, what does THE SHADOW THRONE have to do with the plot of the third book? Nothing!
3. When designing the book cover, obviously the object that should be there is a throne, However, with a crown and a sword on the first two books, putting a throne on the third book would make it look like a toy in scale. So the suggestion was made to use a key.
So you ask, what does a key have to do with the plot of the third book?
Nothing!
4. The original version of book three was written in Jaron’s perspective but also in Roden’s and Tobias’s. However, once it was finished, I realized that the story was strongest when told by Jaron, so I rewrote all of the other chapters in a few weeks and resubmitted it to my editor.
37 Comments
Sage is the best. I am very glad that you kept the perspective to him, as just about every comment he makes causes me to bust out laughing. Love these books!
That convo reminded me of my convos with my best friend haha. That’s exactly what we sound like when writing 😂
Would you mid sharing the chapters from Rodens and Tobias’s perspective in your blog. I mean it would be a great christmas present!!
Those are some really cool facts! I’m SO glad that you never killed Mott, if you did, then who would keep Jaron in order? LOL
Even though there wasn’t really an intended connection between the book plot and the title, I always felt it suited the tone of the book. With Jaron truly filling his throne which was previously still shadowed by the deaths of his family and the ever perilous political scene. I guess imagination really does come in handy! On that note, I noticed that across the cover art for the books, there seems to be a common theme of something being broken, shattered, or ripped. But I just noticed that there is an increasing amount of red flames across the books covers, with nothing in the False Prince, a tiny bit in The Runaway King, more in each of the subsequent books, and the final book having the shield/crest engulfed. Was this intentional?
I love that theory about Jaron being shadowed by the deaths of his family, I’d never thought of that before but it fits the theme of the book perfectly!
I’d never noticed the red flames across the covers of the books before, that’s so cool and interesting how they grow with each book!!
Thank you for not killing Mott haha (!!!) Also, if you had written it from the other boys’ perspectives, does that mean that the Tobias and Amarinda short story at the waterfall was originally in the book?
I’m so glad you didn’t kill Mott! He is such an amazing character!
Don’t kill Mott, he was one of my favorite characters.
My favorite book out of the first ascendance trilogy. <3 Well, maybe it will change once I have read the succeeding books.
That conversation with your sister in law was funny, I‘m glad you didn’t kill Mott or Imogen though ;-; I somehow read a spoiler on another site before I read the shadow throne, so I didn’t expect Mott to die but I really thought Imogen did. I loved the shadow throne though <3
Both #3 and #4! Meeting Sage-Imogen’s POV and meeting Sage Roden’s POV!!Both would be so good. I can’t choose just one!
So glad that you didn’t kill Mott! What would Jaron do without him!
Please feel free to share the chapters written from Tobias’s and Roden’s point of view! They sound really cool!
So happy you didn’t kill Mott😅
I love finding out all the thought processes of authors when they were working on their novels and how one thing leads to another and all the revisions done.
It definitely would have been interesting reading it from Roden’s and Tobias’s perspectives.
That’s So Cool!!
I think this is so fascinating! I always wonder how stories change from first draft to the final draft that we see. I love seeing how this happened in this book series.
I always thought “Shadow Throne” referred to how Jaron isn’t really the King in it to the people around him even though the commoners think it. Its kind of like everyone else is running the show, in the shadows. I also thought maybe the key was like, unlocking the evil plots against him or unlocking the hidden secrets or the key to his cell when he was captured or something like that. I was probably over-thinking it. Thank you for not killing Mott
I know you say that the title has nothing to do with the story, but it could in a way. With the war going on and Jaron going places the Carthian throne was really in shadows, no one was there. Jaron was off fighting and everyone else trying to keep him from dying.
Just a thought.
Oooh, it’s fun to get insider details on the book! I like to think of “Shadow Throne” being like there’s a shadow cast over the throne since Sage was supposed gone. If you think of it that way, it does have to do with the plot! I’m not sure what to say about the key part though… 😂
Wow, those are neat insiders!!!! And I’m with your SiL: pretty pretty please don’t ever kill Mott!!! He is my #1 favorite character!!!!!!!! I love him so much!!! 😀
Woah that’s soo cool. I had no idea. That’s the amazing thing about behind the scenes. It could always go a bad way. I’m so glad you didn’t kill Mott though while reading I was so scared the whole time! As for what short story I would like to read about honestly I don’t mind any of them. I want to read all there is about the the Ascendance world and all the characters stories!!! 🙂
These facts are so cool. Thank you for not killing Mott, he’s one of favorites. Every time I read the part where he’s dying, I cry.
The Shadow throne is awesome, even though the title doesn’t make any sense.
i got you Mrs. Neilsen! the title is supposed to mean like, “will Jaron be able to keep the throne?” because this is his biggest threat to his kingdom right now and King Vargan is really close to taking over Carthya, so it’s like a King Vargan’s evil shadow shadowing over Carthya’s throne. and the key is supposed to be the key that Jaron hands imogen when he finally can’t bare it any longer and kisses her! love you and your books! really hope that this amazing series turns into a tv series or movie! (it TOTALLY deserves to be!)
Wow, this is all so interesting! And even though it worked better to have the third book just in Jaron’s POV I hope we can see some Roden and Tobias’s POV sometime in the future!
Oh man, I am SO with everyone else. You must never EVER kill Mott!! He’s my favorite character. So many thanks to your SiL for not letting you kill him. Seriously, I have cried so many times while reading your books, but if you’d killed him, I would’ve sobbed. And not in a good way. 😉 Really, thanks for not killing him.
So excited for the rest of your posts this month, and congrats to those that win!!!
That convo reminded me of your mug, I am pretty sure you have one that says it has the tears of your readers. So funny!
I think that the key is like Jaron getting rid of the chains that held him in the past and freeing his country and himself
Just a thought though
WOW! I love these facts! You truly are a great author Ms. Nielsen!
Hi! I love your books. I’m just here to randomly point out a plot-hole-sorta-thing that I found in the first book. I’m not sure if you were aware of this or not, but if you are, sorry for wasting your time.
How would Jaron be able to provide evidence that Avenian pirates attacked the ship if he snuck out before the ship left?
Thanks!
This is a very good point. However, he snuck out and remained at the shore to watch the ship sail. He would’ve seen the pirate ship launch in the direction of his own ship and he certainly heard the Avenians speaking about what had happened over the next several days.
Tobias can get a tad annoying, so I’m glad we stuck to Jaron’s pov lol
Wow, these insiders are just SO COOL!!!!
You… you were going to kill Mott. *mouth drops open* But he’s one of my absolute favorites. I am super glad Imogen saved Mott for us. The fandom owes her a lot. 😂 And I second what everyone else and your SiL says: Please, please, please with a cherry on top don’t ever kill Mott. 🥺
And even if The Shadow Throne’s title has nothing to do with the plot, I still LOVE that book title!!!
Hi Mrs. Nielsen,
So sorry if I’m being annoying, but I have a question that I’ve been trying to get answered for a while now. I don’t know if maybe I’m not doing something right or what, but it never seems to come up after I post.
Due to the fact that Roden is taken from the Harlowe home at such a young age and the nanny dies, I assume the orphanage picks the name Roden for him. In which case, leads to my question. What is Roden’s given name by his parents, does Harlowe ever tell him of it, and if so, does Roden take it on as a middle name or something?
Thanks so much and sorry if this question is driving you crazy.
I know you’ve waited a long time to get this answer – sorry for the delay in responding! Roden’s name at birth was Kelton Harlowe. Roden eventually finds out but chooses to keep the name he knows.
Thank you SO much!!! Now excuse me while I go cry happy tears…