Saturate was also a return to form, and it felt good to write.
I knew what I wanted to do immediately going in. I wanted a single perspective again, and I wanted it to be the original protagonist. I also wanted to bring back all my favorite creatures from the series. I really wanted to sort of strip down the story and go back to basics, get back to the simple grittiness of pure survival.
I tried to kind of wrap up everyone's personal arcs. By the time Saturate had come around, there wasn't a whole lot left to say or do, honestly. Allan and Callie had made their peace, inasmuch as they could with their own personal demons, and had successfully walked away from it all. Drake dealt with the loss of Trent, Eric mostly settled his suicidal tendencies, Genevieve began to become more human again, Jennifer found her place in the universe. Greg and Eve didn't exactly end on a particularly happy note, each in their own regards, but that's life. Not everyone gets a happy ending.
Not that anyone got a real ending, considering it's just going to keep on going. That was kind of the point I tried to make at the very end there. There's always going to be more to do. Nothing ends until you die.
I tried to leave the series on a fairly positive note, because at some point I might come back. I have ideas for two sequel series. The first would pick up ten years later and feature a brand new protagonist. The series would largely be about him and be entirely from his perspective as he joined Anomalous Ops, and we'd kind of get to catch up with everyone, see how things are going ten years down the line, and face down some new horrors, and some old ones. The series after that would pick up another ten years later and introduce a fresh cast, new blood for the universe, and set up a large, more coherent conflict. It would be a sort of passing of the torch.
I'm busy with different things in my life these days, and The Shadow Wars honestly never saw much success. If I won the lottery tomorrow and money wasn't a factor any longer, I'd probably at least give it a shot, but the more time goes on, the more I wonder if I'll ever find the time.
So there you have it, the last book in The Shadow Wars.
I hoped you enjoyed reading it!