Duskbound- Afterword
Added 2025-09-18 11:49:33 +0000 UTCHere we are, the end of the story. The last book ended up being pretty chonky compared to the first two (about 30% longer), and I think that might have messed with the pacing a bit, but it is what it is. Originally, this whole story was supposed to be about 100k words as a simple writathon project, but then it turned into my most popular story ever and all a sudden, I was scrambling to weave a greater plot than the simple one I'd originally imagined.
I'm probably biased, but I like to think I did a solid job. If you're reading this today, I'm going to assume you agree, else why would you be subscribed? Thanks for that, by the way. I've mentioned in other places that the last few months of my life have been hella stressful (just pushed past 50k given to various contractors in the last six weeks!), so I am extra appreciative of your financial support right now.
So what's next? Well, I don't have any plans to return to the Duskbound universe at the moment, but I think it's an interesting enough system that I might invent some new corner of the world for someone else to play it the next time I want to do a litRPG. No promises.
As far as Duskbound being published goes, book 2 goes live on Amazon on September 22. I believe the audiobook is releasing the same day, but I haven't seen it show up for pre-order on Audible yet, so I'm asking my publisher for clarification. Book 3 isn't set in stone yet, but we're planning for roughly early December on the ebook, and the audiobook will probably be six to eight weeks behind that.
I'll start posting chapters of my next story tomorrow. I hope you guys like it as much as you did Duskbound. Our new protagonist is a bit more socially adroit, but don't let that fool you into thinking there won't be any fights against other tower climbers!
Since Duskbound is finished, I am now willing to answer any and all questions to the best of my abilities. If you want to know about some background lore, or whatever happened to a side character that didn't get screen time in the epilogue, or how long it takes me to write a chapter, or why DB's chapters were 20% shorter than my other stories (it was a writathon thing), here's the place to ask. I'll keep checking back through the comments for the next few days and answering questions as I'm able.
Comments
I really liked your story. I know a lot of people complained, but I actually like when main character just unapologetically stick to their goals without bending the knee to anybody lol. Looking forward to trying out your next one!
WhyAmIHere IDontKnow
2025-10-10 23:43:34 +0000 UTCI enjoyed your tale and truly liked the MC although, at times he did overdo the idiot teenager a bit. I'll be trying your next story.
6 o 6
2025-10-09 15:16:55 +0000 UTCThe system didn't allocate out his free points for him, but even once he spent them, it was still less than he had once he lost his divine beast boosts.
EmergencyComplaints
2025-10-08 02:13:19 +0000 UTCLoved the story. I hope your house is okay now, and that you can recoup some of the costs seeing the sellers. My only question is why was Veliks stats so low as a level 50 Crimson Knight? I'd have expected him to at least get his previous level 50 stats back. Or at Least his stats from before using the class orb and becoming a divine beast.
TwistedVanity
2025-10-08 01:38:21 +0000 UTCI just want to say that I enjoyed the story and worldbuilding, really good work. In my opinion the strongest part were the fighting scenes . On the other scenes a lot oft he dialogues and personal interactions were a bit on the weaker side. Some interactions just felt forced onto a predetermined outcome. On Veliks side it is quite believable since he is a barbarian out oft he woods but some conversations between other characters feel forced/wooden. Also the pacing in the later half of book three feels rushed to me, there is just next big baddy after big baddy without much brething room inbetween. Since the fighting scenes are a highlight of your writing that is not a huge problem.
Morgwath
2025-09-18 20:14:15 +0000 UTCSome of this was not stuff I bothered to consider. Given the original scope of the story, the gods weren't super relevant. That having been said... I looked at Reisha as a kind of spiritual ruler of monster-kind, and with Legra being the Goddess of Monsters who considers all monsters her children, he was just kind of the top guy in the swarm and the non-godly executor of her will since the Compact prohibited direct action. There were other deities opposite the Pantheon, but they didn't have a role in the story. Their domains were mostly related to unrestrained destruction (storms, wild fire, cataclysm and extinction, maybe a few patron deities to specific monster species). Divine beasts were originally just powerful monsters born early in the world's history who grew too big to fail, essentially. There wasn't really anything 'divine' about them in the sense of them having divinity the way the gods do. It was just what people called them because their powers felt godlike to weaker creatures. They broke through the immortality barrier and just kept going, which caused problems in a few cases. Eventually, the gods were like "yo, no more. We're taking active measures to prevent anyone else from pushing past this threshold." The highest level human ever inside the system was probably around level 70-75. The knowledge spirit and essence parasite divine beasts behaviors were what caused the Compact to form, where Legra willingly sacrificed them to be bound into what became the system in exchange for the gods limiting it to one small corner of the world and not touching the other six. This is also why the system needs a divine beast as an anchor. It was built partially as a prison for a divine beast. The new system is simply building atop that legacy (plus it helps that they're immortal, so you don't need to go replacing them every few decades). I honestly didn't give the origin of the gods any consideration, so your guess is as good as mine where they came from and how they got here. Dragons would have been monsters pushing up past level 100 before I came up with the idea that the system didn't encompass the whole world. If I were moving forward and writing sequel books, they wouldn't exist at all inside system-controlled lands, having fled to avoid the essence leech effect that drives all monsters crazy.
EmergencyComplaints
2025-09-18 14:31:36 +0000 UTC1) Was Legara the only deity on the side of the monsters? If so, how'd she ever contend with all the human gods? 2) In what way was Reisha her son? 3) Why were the divine beasts created in the first place? Why weren't more created? 4) What was the highest level a human reached outside of Velik? 5) Did the gods ever send anyone after the Divine Beasts when they previously violated the Compact? 6) How come the system needs a divine beast as substrate? 7) Were the gods born divine, or did they ascend? 8) Were the gods native to Duskbound's planet? 9) What level were the ancient dragons mentioned in the story? What were the highest level being outside of the Divine Beasts?
Mr R
2025-09-18 12:16:20 +0000 UTCThink book 1 without Sildra and the body snatchers arc. That would have been the whole story.
EmergencyComplaints
2025-09-18 12:07:52 +0000 UTCWhat was the original idea for the story, before you expanded on it?
Uroš
2025-09-18 12:03:32 +0000 UTC
