CC Finlay's Traitor To The Crown series

[Nelsmom]

Has anyone read C C Finlay's Alternate History series call Traitor To The Crown.  The three books that are out are

The Patriot Witch (Traitor to the Crown series)  

Traitor to the Crown  

Traitor to the Crown  What did you think of them are are they worth the read.  Also are the kind of true to what the history books say about the American Revolution or are they really off base?  Thanks for the help.

Toni

[paulgoatallen]

Geez, Toni, I've never even heard of these books before! How did you find out about them?

Paul 

[Nelsmom]

Paul,

I saw them when I was just browsing my local Barnes and Noble and read the back cover which really got me intriqued because History was one of my favorite subjects in school.  I checked out the publisher website too.  When I have the money I definitely want to get them.  I was just curious if anyone here has read them.  The people at the local BN say they have sold quite a few copies.  His first book that I ever heard about and have read is The Prodigal Troll published by PYR books.

Toni

[CCFinlay]

Hi, Toni,

I don't know if it's fair for an author to answer questions about his or her own book ("Yes, they are definitely worth the read! And yes, they stay true to the history!" ) but Publisher's Weekly gave the first one a starred review and did a profile article on them, and others have also given them enthusiatic reviews.  Here are some links:

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6640351.html (you'll have to scroll down the page or search for "Patriot Witch" )  

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6663117.html 

http://booktionary.blogspot.com/2009/05/review-patriot-witch-traitor-to-crown.html

http://sfscope.com/2009/07/the-british-are-cominga-review.html 

I'm happy to answer any questions you have about the books or about writing them. 

Charlie

--

C.C. Finlay

www.ccfinlay.com

Message Edited by CCFinlay on 08-06-2009 09:59 AM

[Melhay]

Hello CCFinlay!

Sure, it is fair and wonderful for the author to stop by and answer questions on their books.  It is just great when the authors show up around the board here.  A nice surprise to have you here.  We like it when we have the authors lurking around, seeing as you can help answer questions and all.  I have not yet read your books, but thanks to Toni she has brought them to our attention.  They do look very interesting. 

Great to have you around, and Welcome!

Melissa 

[Nelsmom]

Thanks Charlie,

I have the first book and have finished up my library books so I plan on starting to read it tonight.  Thank you for answering my question and welcome.  I agree with Melissa we do like authors visiting.

Toni

[CCFinlay]

Thanks for the welcome, Melissa, Toni.

I saw a thread on the forums where Daryl Gregory answered questions about his novel PANDEMONIUM, which is a book I loved.  Daryl's a friend of mine -- you'll see him in the acknowledgements for A SPELL FOR THE REVOLUTION since he critiqued a very rough first draft of it for me.  And I thought the way he got to answer readers' questions was great, so I wanted to be sure I did the same thing. 

Toni, I'm glad you mentioned the books, and I hope you enjoy them at least as much as THE PRODIGAL TROLL. 

Warm regards,

Charlie

--

C.C. Finlay

www.ccfinlay.com

[Nelsmom]

Have just about finished The Patriot Witch and have been really enjoying it.  Once I got started reading it I just couldn't put it down.  I am really looking forward to reading the rest of the series when I can afford them.  Charlie you have done a really good job on the history and places that were depicted and I have really gotten to like Proctor.  I just hope things get better finacially so I can get the books. One question are there only going to be three books in the series or do you have more planned?  What is your next project?

Toni

[paulgoatallen]

---

Nelsmom wrote:

Paul,

I saw them when I was just browsing my local Barnes and Noble and read the back cover which really got me intriqued because History was one of my favorite subjects in school.  I checked out the publisher website too.  When I have the money I definitely want to get them.  I was just curious if anyone here has read them.  The people at the local BN say they have sold quite a few copies.  His first book that I ever heard about and have read is The Prodigal Troll published by PYR books.

Toni

---

Toni:

I was just reading through this thread again and I realized that I never commented on

The Prodigal Troll. I read and reviewed this novel back in '05 for B&N.com and I loved it! The review is below in case anyone is interested...

Paul

The Barnes & Noble Review
In Charles Coleman Finlay's debut novel, The Prodigal Troll, an orphaned human baby raised by a band of trolls resolves to return to the "civilized" world to find his destiny. What he discovers instead is ignorance, treachery, brutality -- and love.

When an invading baron besieges Lord Gruethrist's castle, the lord's infant heir, Claye, is placed in the charge of a courageous knight and a trusted nursemaid and whisked away under cover of night to the relative safety of the surrounding woodlands. But the desperate escape is fraught with setbacks; physically and mentally exhausted, the child's guardians are eventually killed in the wilderness while battling a dagger-toothed lion. Claye is fatefully found by a female troll who, against the wishes of her band, raises the infant as her own. Nicknamed Maggot by his new foster family due to his small size and pasty white skin, the baby soon grows to be a giant. But there is something missing from his life, and he decides to return to the human world to find it. The obvious comparison to Edgar Rice Burroughs's Tarzan aside, Finlay's debut is an endearing and poignant coming-of-age tale that will evoke as many laughs as it does tears. The compelling and complex character of Maggot is enormously sympathetic, especially when he's faced with bloodthirsty and power-hungry humans who lack any sense of ethics. Chock-full of (not so complimentary) insights regarding human nature, The Prodigal Troll is an irresistible fantasy -- utterly readable. Paul Goat Allen

[Nelsmom]

Paul,

I agree with you about The Prodigal Troll and when my niece was out her visiting last month her oldest boy is really getting into Fantasy and I gave my copy of the book to him to read.  I know that I will have to get it from the library if I want to rerread it but I'm glad I was able to encourage him in continuing to read.  I finished The Patriot Witch and loved how actual history events were combined with the magic.  I am really wanting to read the other two books now.

Toni

[CCFinlay]

Paul!  I remember that review.  Thanks.  The Traitor to the Crown books take my interest and studies in history that inspired the background of The Prodigal Troll and push it into the foreground.  One of the reasons we went with the new byline--C. C. instead of Charles Coleman--was to indicate the new direction.  (Or possibly it was just to leave more room on the cover for a picture: with a series title, a book title, and a three-part name on the cover there wouldn't have been room for anything else.)

We posted galleys for The Patriot Witch, the first book, as a free download on my website, so people could test drive the series for free: http://www.ccfinlay.com  Um... if I'm not allowed to mention that on a website where you're trying to sell books, let me know and I'll come back and edit it out.

So far the reviews and sales for the new series have been great, but a lot of people still haven't heard of the books, which is why I wanted to come by here and answer Toni's questions.

Charlie

--

C. C. Finlay

www.ccfinlay.com 

[CCFinlay]

Toni, combining real history with magic, and staying true to what we know about historical events, was one of the funnest parts of writing these books.  The Revolutionary period is filled with so many bigger-than-life personalities and connections to the occult (especially during the events covered in book 3) that some parts of the story almost wrote themselves.  I wrote all three books over eighteen months, so I wanted them to read at a fast pace since they were written at such a fast pace.

I'm very interested in following the history of this group of witches down to the U.S. Civil War period, and pick up more on the issues of slavery and freedom.  But my publisher wants me to write at least one more book showing what happens to the main characters after the war.  (That was a hard sentence to write with no spoilers!)  So right now I'm working on a novel set in the middle of the Northwest Indian War in the Ohio territory after the Revolution, with historical characters like Little Turtle, who was a military genius, and the young Tecumseh and Mad Anthony Wayne.  There were accusations of witchcraft on both sides of that conflict, and one battle in which American soldiers reported bullets bouncing harmlessly off the chests of Indians.  So lots of raw material to work with.  Plus I can go back to some of the themes of the frontier and the effects of colonization that I visited in The Prodigal Troll.  I'm very excited to write it.

I hope you enjoy the other two books in Traitor to the Crown as much as the first one.

Charlie

--

C.C. Finlay

www.ccfinlay.com 

Message Edited by CCFinlay on 08-08-2009 10:50 AM

[celtica]

hi, i just finished the first book in the traitor to the crown series, and i must say i really liked it.

i will now go back to barnes and noble and purchase the other 2 books.  i had seen the books out there on a previous trip, but left them because i already had an armful, but when i saw them being discussed here, i thought i would at least try one, and i was not disappointed.  i bought the book partially because of the intro, but also because of what you said about falling in love with history when you studied in england.  my daughter is a junior in college who is majoring in political science and history and it is her dream to study abroad next year at kingston college in london.  i found the historical detail fascinating as i can trace my roots back to the revolutionary war and my great grandfather died as a result of an illness he contracted while he was a pow in libby prison, so keep on writing, and we will keep on reading.  thanks.

[CCFinlay]

Hi, celtica --

That's great!  Thanks for popping on here to say something. This probably won't come as a surprise to anyone, but most writers really like it when people really like what we've written.  

I think writers are just waking up to the fact that there is all this fantastic raw material in American history. For so long, fantasy writers have been looking to Europe and elsewhere for inspiration so that there are many untapped potential stories with roots in North America.  And then it creates extra connections for readers who have family history connected to those events.

I hope your daughter gets her study-abroad trip.  There's nothing like travel to another nation and culture to teach you more about that culture and, as a result, your own.

Regards,

Charlie

--

C.C. Finlay

www.ccfinlay.com