LOD 3: The Bleakness

[Hendrik]

Hi there,

my SEARCH did not yield much as regards this book: Land of the Damned part III, The Bleakness, in which I am VERY interested.

I know that Bill Coffin is now longer working with Palladium.

On the plus side, LOD 3: The Bleakness is on pre-order.

But ... does anybody know when (and *gasp* *wimper* if) it will actually appear?

Don't get me wrong, I am very happy (!) with the sheer tidal wave of books being published. Makes me most happy but also makes me want ... more. Books I have missed, among these, as said by others and - lately - me many times, like the 2 Old Kingdom books, a "Land of the South Winds", a book on the "Orphid's Grasslands" and, but that I hope shall soon be remedied, the PFRPG Books on Magic.

Yet, LOD 3: The Bleakness, is a book I am dearly sorry that it has not appeared yet as it will (according to the contents text in the shop) contain information on the minotaur race .

Kindest regards
Hendrik

[drewkitty ~..~]

I expect the LofD3 to be shelf partners with LAMURA.
So don't hold your breath.


The thing is, old Billy C's vision of the LotD was not that of what Kevin S's vision of it is. So it was shelved till KS could get back to it & rewrite it.

[J. Lionheart]

Sadly, it's been available for pre-order for many years, and is no closer to completion, so far as we're aware, than it was when it first was listed.

I, too, would love to see this book come out. I can't wait to see an "official" version of the Citadel. I have a... theory I'll call it, regarding it's origin. I'd love to see it vindicated (or quashed, either way).

[The Dark Elf]

I wouldn't count on seeing it any time in the foreseeable future. Like drewkitty said, Kevin didn't like Bill Coffin's version, specifically of the Citadel if I recall correctly. That means it won't see the light of day until Kevin rewrites it himself or a freelancer builds in Kevin enough trust to do it right and pesters him enough to get the gig but not so much as to be a pest.

Option 1 does not seem likely, as Kevin is a busy man and if he had time to write it himself, he would also have time to write one of at least half-a-dozen other books that he wants to do. Add to that the fact(?) that he never really wanted the Land of the Damned to see official publication in the first place, it seems that LotD 3 would be lower on his list of books than, say, Wolfen Wars.

Option 2 also seems unlikely, at least from my so-far-out-of-the-loop-I-can't-even-see-the-loop point of view. The mash up with Coffin's version having happened roughly at the same time as his being fired, Kevin may feel like he was burned on this project. I say "may," because that is complete conjecture on my part. But you figure that he [maybe] didn't want to do LotD in the first place, but gave into Bill's requests (this is how I understand it). Bill, at the time, had pretty much entrenched himself as the preeminent writer for PFRPG, if not PB in general. He then turns in a book that, so far as Kevin is concerned, is not up to snuff. Then he gets fired. Even if this book didn't factor into his firing at all, it's not unreasonable to think that Kevin might feel burned. If that's the case, I could see it being a long time before he trusts another writer to take a stab at it.

Of course, I could be wrong.

I feel like a noob but I didnt know Bill no longer wrote for PB. Is your account accurate? Was he fired!?

I would like to see LOTD3 to. Ive always assumed that it would be an ancient lizard mage that was in charge of the citadel and want to see if Im right (Kev, a PM on this would ease my pain if you like )

I have to agree with Mr S for not wanting to release it. It should be one of the last books to be written as its the least explored and hardest to reach lands.

It is named the bleakness - maybe theres nothing there and Bills version was only a dozen pages long.

[Vidynn]

personally, I think the book fell victim to the dispute between BC and KS and will never see the light of day, no matter how many years more its on "pre-order" (as are many books I consider to be "dead").

just some thoughts...

a) KS wont find the time,
b) the longer it is shelved, the less unlikely it is that KS will have the energy and motivation to do a major re-write,
c) Im just guessing KS doesnt want a new book out with BC's name on the cover,
d) if some fans dont like the rewrite done by KS, they will scream "we want the original version" and thats something PB couldnt possibly want (though it happened in other game-lines). KS could then still blame BC for "a bad book" but as Nightbane Book 4 showed, thats not much of an argument either - KS put it out and has to take responsibilty for that.

apart from that, I really WANT this book. its a shame that the trilogy is incomplete!!!

[drewkitty ~..~]

for the time being, I would like to see PB Finish the minion war books, finish the RT 2nd ed books (new gen & the starships books) to get them done and off the plate, get the 1st M.of Magic book out and keeping up the the rifter schedules.

After dealing with these should give Ks some time to rewrite LotD3 to his vision of it.

Dark Elf, Bill Coffin was writing the whole book and turned in a finished manuscript. Much more then just a 12 page article. That is why it was so annoying to us who were waiting for it, because they had announced when he finished it & turned it in. LotD3 was his last manuscript before he left the company to do other stuff. No, he was not fired, just moving on to something else.

From all I have heard, BC and KS are still on talking terms, and there was no hint of any animosity between them.
That said, the best person to answer a question about their relations would be KS or BC.

[ScottBernard]

Drewkitty is right about the manuscript but wrong about everything else;

http://forum.rpg.net/archive/index.php/t-310445.html

and

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=298652&page=15

[The Dark Elf]

Thanks for keeping me updated, MA!

[Vidynn]

and there was no hint of any animosity between them.

well, reading various posts by BC I get a totally different view...lots of bad blood. but maybe this got settled by now?

[OldGeek]

I seem to remember reading a post from Bill (over there) that said it was settled. Used different words but the effect was about the same. I'm too lazy to go and search for it though.

[The Beast]

Maybe we should all PM KS and let him know we want the book...

[DarkwingDuk]

Bill Coffin's apology is located here

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?t=311895&highlight=coffin


Personally I hope that the water is under the bridge at this point, but I refuse to speculate. I really enjoyed his work. I hope someone picks up his torch and finishes fleshing out the Palladium world. Having a few more Hero books can't hurt as well!! But to second you all, I would pay for LOD 3 in a heart beat. I loved the idea of an epic land where even heroes rarely survived!

[Carl Gleba]

So far, only a public apology by Bill Coffin has been made for outing all of that information publicly. Sadly, I don't think we'll ever see this book. "Pride goeth before the fall."

It will have nothing to do with pride Rifts Unlimited. Listen to Kevin in the latest pod cast. It's all a matter of time and doing what's best to keep the company going. It would take a lot of time and effort for Kevin to make the necessary changes he feels are needed. I think the best bet is for one of the existing free lancers to work with Kevin and retool the existing manuscript. I think that's the best option. Let's remember. I asked if I could work on Mechanoids Space and Kevin loved the idea. So I don't think he would be opposed to working with a free lancer on LOD3.

Carl

[Library Ogre]

I've asked; maybe when we see how MoM does, I'll ask again.

[LunarYoma]

i have been waiting for this book for YEARS..i have given up on it

[UR Leader Hobbes]

Land of the Damned: The Bleakness is what these message boards should be renamed.

Think about it. Tortured denizens always milling about trying to figure out things that seemly end up only in creating more troubles. Always waiting for that ray of shining light when something will happen (IE New books) to free us from our pain and suffering. (Yep that's what waiting for a new PFRPG Book is while watching and endless line of Rifts books fly out the door.)

Every now and again there are those who have brought life and for a time hope to this land that we were not forgotten or forsaken. (Bill and apparently the author of this Mystery of Magic book. Not giving ya credit yet until it's in my hands as anything could happen. Seriously if PB released a statement that said the warehouse burned down with all known copies of the book I wouldn't be surprised.)

But ultimately that has lead to greater tortures as those shining beacons of hope were snuffed out and we were forced back into the darkness..

So thus here we sit. The forgotten...

(Well until a new book comes out anyway.)