Writing a third novel in a trilogy is always problematic for the author. Will the new novel hit the heights of the previous two, will it dip and fizzle out in the opinion of the readers? Endings are after all more memorable than beginnings.

When we take a car journey, if we encounter traffic at the start of the journey, but the remainder, particularly the end of the journey goes smoothly, we consider it an effortless trip. If the reverse happens, we start smoothly, but get snarled up in traffic at the end, our opinion is shaped by the ending and so we regard it an arduous journey.

Novels and films are like this as well. No matter, how well they start, if the storytelling deteriorates as the reader immerses themselves in the world, it’s likely they will be left with a negative impression upon finishing the story. In fact, they may even hark back with some level of nostalgia to the opening of the novel, and wish the author maintained the same level of quality.

Fortunately, the writing process for a third novel in a trilogy is simpler at the level of the setting. We know where the story is taking place, the time period, the politics of the world, the social norms of it, who has power, who seeks it, and so on. In other words, the landscape upon which our tale is told, is known to the reader. The writer will introduce new locations but overall there is a degree of familiarity. It’s also simpler at the level of the characters, since we know who they are, what they desire, their characteristics and quirks, and most importantly their true character, who they really are on the inside, since we would have seen them placed under pressure. True character is only revealed when we place our characters under pressure. It’s the same in life as well, if everything is smooth sailing, you don’t really find out about a person. But when the chips are down, and it’s hard times, peoples true character surfaces.

However, what is more complex in a third novel is maintaining the integrity of the plot. In the first two novels, the writer would have created a number of plot lines, sub-plots, plots-within-plots. Yet in the third book, these need to be drawn together and resolved for the reader. This requires the writer to forensically go back across the previous two books, identify all of the loose ends, and conclude them in a manner that the reader is not left wondering what happened to such and such character, or the threat which didn’t materialize.

I am hoping in A Demon’s Touch I have suitably concluded the various plot strands and tied them together to the satisfaction of the reader. Across the three novels, A Tudor Turk, A King’s Armour, A Demon’s Touch, some of the themes which I have embedded within the plot, are to do with how we read history, how diverse individuals come together to solve common problems, and identifying narratives which unite cultures.

When it comes to how we read history, many in the West are surprised to learn that Tudor England was not even on the map of the great Mediterranean powers, such as the Ottomans. Equally West Africa, under the Songhai, where one of our protagonists, Awa, comes from, was a literate, cultural milieu of thinkers, artisans and traders. It produced scholars and scientists, who were far ahead of anything in the West at the time.

With regards using diversity as a strength to solve human problems, the fictional Rüzgar unit, within the Janissaries, provide an example of how individuals from diverse regions (England, Bosnia, Greece, Turkey, Mali) and faiths (Jewish, Christian, Muslim) can work together for the common good.

Finally, when it comes to common narratives across cultures, this relates to how the interconnectedness of ideas flows across communities, tribes and nations, and demonstrates that all ideas have origins, and often they come from people not from the part of the world in which we might reside. As a result, there is a certain gratitude we should show to the other and acknowledge this debt.

If you would like to explore further themes and ideas from the A Tudor Turk trilogy in a book club or school reading group, then you can download a guide from the following link: https://www.rehankhan.com/resources 

In the meantime, I hope you have the opportunity to engage with Will, Awa and the multicultural cast of characters from the sixteenth century, as they undertake their swashbuckling adventures from England to Azerbaijan and many other memorable places in between.

Rehan Khan

Dubai

February 2022