Written by "Pirateaba," the saga tells the story of Erin Solstice, a young woman who is transported from Earth to a fantastical world which works according to rules almost out of a video game. Erin finds herself in charge of an inn, and growing more skilled in her role as she tries to figure out what is going on, and more about the world she finds herself in.
The saga began publication ten years ago and since then has expended to a mind-boggling 16.2 million words, which is equal to 3.7 Wheels of Time, 4.9 Malazan Books of the Fallen and 9.3 Songs of Ice and Fire. The story has been collected into eighteen unabridged "books" for ebook and audiobook purposes, but these books only cover the first half or so of the complete saga so far.
HarperCollins are publishing the first two books in physical format, though for space reasons both books have been split into two volumes apiece. These divide as follows:
- The Wandering Inn: Book One, Part One
- No Killing Goblins: Book One, Part Two
- Fae and Fare: Book Two, Part One
- Immortal Games: Book Two, Part Two
The first two volumes will be published on 24 September this year, the latter two on 5 November. Presumably the physical publication of further books will depend on how well these initial volumes do.
The remaining books are called Flowers of Esthelm, Winter Solstice, The Last Light, The General of Izril, The Rains of Liscor, Blood of Liscor, Tears of Liscor, The Wind Runner, The Titan of Baleros, Witch of Webs, The Empress of Beasts, Hell's Wardens, Garden of Sanctuary, King of Duels, Lady of Fire, Archmage's Ire and the forthcoming Couriers Outbound. As noted, however, the collected volumes only cover about 40% of the webnovel so far, itself incomplete with the project projected at somewhere between one-third and two-thirds complete (so maybe around half).
All things considered, if the physical versions are successful, HarperCollins may find themselves publishing over 100 physical books by a single author (and not short ones either) to see this through, which will be impressive.
The physical release will also be accompanied by the first canonical map for the series, depicting the continent of Izril, where the titular Wandering Inn is located (outside the city of Liscor in the centre of the continent).
It will be interesting to see if the physical release brings the series to a wider audience and if HarperCollins will be able to bring the entire series to publication.
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