Chapter 81: Circumvent

Before the first week even ended, fans had bought out all the books in stock, blindsiding Feyre Publications as [The Spire of Fate] sold over 250,000+ physical copies.

Digital sales equally skyrocketed, rising to over 450,000+ sold copies, leading to a cumulative total of 700,000+ sales.

At the same time, sales of [The Token of Fate] had picked up again, the first booking netting them an additional 100,000+ copies, especially since several individuals were buying them in bundles.

All these, combined together to generate a startling revenue of $9M+... all in its first week!

Considering most book sales for major title releases generally peaked heavily during the launch window, and often captured a massive share of its total lifetime sales in the first few weeks or months, those returns were all the more staggering!

More so when it was from a lesser-known publication company that also happened to be a private venture.

As one would expect, the employees at Feyre Publications were in very high spirits, not that it stopped them from willingly clocking in overtime to pump out more copies of the book...

... especially when their CEO had promised to give them bonuses on top of the bonuses they were already set to get for the book sales exceeding its predictions by over fifty percent!

But even their joy and exuberance paled in comparison to the employees at Ink & Ivory, the merchandising venture the publication company had partnered with.

Much like the books were selling like hotcakes, the merchandises were selling just as fast.

As a result, by the week’s end, they had also generated a revenue of over $5M+.

Honestly, if not for the fact that Ink & Ivory had limited resources to mass produce as much as they wanted, they would’ve equally made as much as Feyre Publications had, if not double.

Yet, it still had to be remembered that this--all of this--was literally in the first week!

Surely, the coming months were bound to bring in even more returns for them, and equally for Feyre Publications and Niall as well.

But that was all on the commercial side of things.

If one was to subtract all of the financial deets from the equation, [The Spire of Fate] was just as much of a critical success.

Fans, absolutely loved it.

They loved the natural progression and follow-up to what was an already great first book.

They enjoyed how expansive the worldbuilding was becoming.

They adored all the newly introduced Gods with their quirky traits and breathing personalities.

They especially weren’t expecting the twist.

And most of all, they praised Tristan as a protagonist...

...not that it stopped most of them getting pissed at the special kind of literary torture Niall was putting them through by leaving yet the second book at the peak of its ride.

Naturally, they took to TweetTalk to vent their frustrations, one particular post about the unbearable wait for [The Tree of Fate] after the cliffhanger the second book had left them on gaining traction with its steadily climbing 1.9M views, 48K likes, 15K retweets and 5k+ comments and counting!

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Cliffhanger-Kun:(Grabs Popcorn).

TheFaultInOurStarsbucks: That last Chapter wasn’t fair! It wasn’t fair at all! Imagine all that build up, all that hype from the previous book finally coming to a crescendo, all to pull the carpet from under our legs at the very last minute with an even higher stake! I love your work @ Niall Parker, but fuck you!

SpiderVsShocker: @Niall Parker...! Get back here and drop the next book, or I will chase you to the ends of the earth!!

Criminally_online: You guys better be grateful you even got the second book this fast. Be even more grateful that it was just as good, if not better than the first book ’cause I cannot even begin to fathom how he managed to do it amidst all the other extra-curricular activities he seems to be juggling.

KeyboardArchaeologist: The fuck do you mean other extracurricular activities @Criminally_online? Writing is the extra-curricular activity for this man!

FinanciallyRuinedByBooks: My credit card may cry in pain when I inevitably buy yet another special edition of this book whenever it comes out, but the wait is even more painful! Fuck!!!

Professional Ragebaiter: What’s with all this incessant, annoying glazing. Bro isn’t even that good and the book was wack as fuck.

Hands On Shoulder: Those bills must be really up your neck, huh @Professional Ragebaiter?

JKRollingPin: Haha! I’m just here for ALL the spoofs, and seeing people lose their collective minds over having to wait another year for the next book.

GeorgeRRR_MartInLine: Tell me about it, @JKRollingPin.

Stephen_KingSized: Of all the people... @GeorgeRRR_MartInLine.

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Owing to all these, it didn’t take long before #The Spire of Fate became the most trending topic on TweetTalk... barely weeks after #Silver Comets had equally trended.

As that side of the internet was doing their thing though, the more ’civilized’ individuals had taken to their favorite community-driven book-reviewing platforms to drop a review.

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Bella Bells, The Bluntest Chic You’ll Ever Meet - ★★★★★

I came into [The Spire of Fate] expecting a sequel. You know, bigger threats, bigger fights, maybe a few more characters thrown in to make things feel ’epic’. I really love that stuff. It’s always so cool when done right.

Boy, did it NOT disappoint. This was a story that actually understood what made the first book special and then decided to expand on those very foundations to build something even bigger in the best possible way, with the Elder Gods, the Spirepoints, and the history behind Aelderon adding layers upon layers to a world I already thought was huge and a story I didn’t think I could love even more.

John Sanders, Instructor of Lazy Twerps - ★★★★★

Where [The Token of Fate] was an introduction to the wonders and mysteries of Aelderon, [The Spire of Fate] is an excavation into its deepest foundations. The scope of the narrative expands tremendously, moving beyond kingdoms and mortal conflicts into questions of creation, divinity, and the responsibility that comes with power.

What impressed me most was the restraint shown in handling the Elder Gods. They are not merely powerful beings placed before the protagonist as obstacles to overcome, but characters carrying their own histories, regrets, and philosophies of their own. I’m patiently looking forward to the final book and I can’t wait to see what Niall Parker has in store for us in [The Tree of Fate].

Gremlin, Dweller of Backyards – ★★★★★

The cursed tome has returned. The grimoire has evolved. The magical suction has intensified beyond all reasonable measurements. After escaping my dwelling once more and exposing myself to the dreadful daylight in pursuit of another literary artifact, I discovered that this second volume was not merely a continuation of my previous imprisonment.

Nay, it was an entirely new curse. The moment I opened [The Spire of Fate], my weekend was consumed, my responsibilities vanished into the abyss, and my chances of touching grass were reduced to ancient folklore. The Elder Gods, the mysterious spires, the cosmic nonsense happening above my humble backyard dwelling... all of it has trapped me yet again. Five stars. I shall now return to my cave and await the next unfortunate tome.

Harry Plotter. The Man Who Survived - ★★★★☆

This book takes everything from the first one and recontextualizes it in ways I genuinely didn’t expect. The Elder Gods are easily the highlight--for me at least. The only reason I gave this 4.5 stars, is that the sheer scale of the story occasionally threatens to overshadow the smaller emotional moments that made the first book so charming. Or maybe that’s just me, yet again.

Nevertheless, it is an ambitious and remarkably well-crafted continuation and I am strapped in tightly to see how final book ties this all up. Mission update, survive till 2019!

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No sooner had the reviews populated not just the GreatReads, but several review outlets everywhere, [The Spire of Fate] gained yet another wave of interest.

This time, the New York Times were the ones to reach out to Feyre Publications, asking for an opportunity to interview Niall... only for them to receive a polite rejection detailing how Niall Parker wasn’t interested in interviews.

Naturally, the editors and top execs at the renowned organization weren’t too happy with the outcome, but at the end of the day, what could they do?

This was a book that had gotten popular without their inputs or their acclaimed ’best-selling stamp of approval’ so they could only suck it up and accept the rejection.

At the same time, Hollywood turned all their attention to Niall Parker himself when the news finally leaked to the public, hence prompting the tabloids to be dotted with his name.

Afterall, rarely did TinselTown ever--if at all--experience such a groundshaking phenomenon of an artist who despite all the spotlights seeking and searching for him, refused to step into it.

At the same time, the Paparazzi had turned his public presence into a scavenger hunt of sorts.

Since Niall had a rather scanty social media presence, any picture of him they could get was bound to sell for a good buck--higher than the current average in fact.

Unfortunately for them, the young man had long anticipated all this and had already taken a simple measure to circumvent it.

Advance Chapters are available on Patreon!

/Caer07