The other day I was talking to a mate about timelines, trying to explain my stories set in the past, present and future across two universes.
Although I had it all in my head, I wasn’t able to translate it to a lunchtime conversation very well. So, I sat down and put it into a table, and it was harder than I thought it would be.
I guess it’s probably not going to make a lot of sense like this, but I’ll try.
The upcoming novel I have with Satalyte Publishing (Transcendence of Power: Genesis) is set about 1500 years into our own future, but in a different universe. It’s the culmination of about 200,000 years of scheming by the gods of that universe. In that sense, everything else is a prequel.
Of the ‘prequels’, there are a bunch of stories set in our universe at our present time – urban fantasy’s, if you like.
Later this year, I hope self-publish the direct prequel to the upcoming book, set 3000 years beforehand (in the other universe)
It’s all in the table (clear as mud, right?):
| Timeline: Caroline’s universe | Events: Caroline’s universe | Events: Our universe |
| 0 (current) | Noramgaell saga begins – Transcendence of Power: Genesis, etc (formerly Prophecy of Power). | Approximately 1500 years in our future. |
| 80 years ago | Standalone novel – Lost in Darkness (unwritten). | |
| 3000 years ago | Short novel: Leviathan’s Reach (this is the direct prequel to the Normamgaell saga, and should be out later this year). | |
| 3,700 years ago | Event: Crystal wars – between shivras and simoraths – shatters the world (I’m not planning on turning this into a story as yet). | |
| 20,000 years ago | Sellendria (from Through the Veil) is born. She also appears in Transcendence of Power: Genesis. | Our present (unpublished novels): Epicentre, Through the Veil, Dark Genesis. Short story: Wyvern’s blood (published). |
| 24,000 years ago | Ellie (from Wyvern’s Blood) was born. Covenant with Wyverns is created. | |
| 180,000 years ago | Event: Unicorn is killed. This event marks the first volley in the war between the Gods. | |
| 200,000 years ago | War between the Gods begins. |
Have you established a timeline for your stories, whether a single book or a series?