Reading Order vs. Chaos
When I first started working on the Crane novels, my intention was for each to stand alone. Some side characters might return in other books, but you wouldn’t have to have read any of the previous books, and you could read them in whatever order you liked.
Clearly, I failed miserably.
In reality, the early books build on each other and it’s helpful to read them in order. But it’s not that simple. So what is the right order for the novels, and how do the various shorter pieces fit in?
Rope on Fire is the starting point, where the whole adventure begins. But then things get complicated. I wrote a shorter piece, Bird Dogs, in which Crane runs across his femme fatale, Swift, for the first time. Swift is traveling under an assumed identity and doesn’t interact with Crane, but that story begins to set up her situation. When she charges into Crane’s life in Wrecker, I had to make it clear that she was the same woman from Bird Dogs.
By the third book, Shot Clock, Crane and Swift are closely involved. That was always my intention, but I hadn’t really established that either. So I wrote a novella, Pledged Assets, which build's their relationship.
But how were readers to know all this? In the first digital boxed set, I put all the pieces in the right order. But I didn’t want to make readers who'd bought the novels buy them again in the boxed set just to get the two shorter stories. So I ended up releasing Bird Dogs and Pledged Assets together in the cleverly named John Crane: Double Tap. Whew.
So that’s the ideal reading order for that first arc: Rope on Fire, Bird Dogs, Wrecker, Pledged Assets, and Shot Clock.
Then there’s the fourth book, Aftershocks. It’s three episodes that together tell one complete story, but happen at different times. The first part, Pendulums, shows Josh and exiled Cameroonian technical genius Georges Benly Akema meeting for the first time and discovering a shared interest in John Crane. That happens early in the overall timeline. By Wrecker, Georges is firmly established as the “Q” to Crane’s Bond. The other two parts of Aftershocks are - finally - kind of independent. They go together, but otherwise could take place anywhere after Wrecker. I assume they happen after Shot Clock.
I’ve also written a handful of Crane short stories and I’m planning to put together an anthology once I have enough to make a book-length collection. It will be sort of a John Crane Omnibus. (And that sounds like a subtitle!)
I’m pleased to say that, so far at least, those short stories actually can stand alone without any knowledge demanded of the reader beyond the basics of who Crane is and what he does. Perhaps I’m finally starting to get the hang of making standalone stories.
Or maybe not. I can be pretty thick-headed at times.
til next time,
-- MP
Spy My Stuff
You can find me at MarkParragh.com and my books here at Amazon. The John Crane series is currently in Kindle Unlimited, and so exclusive to Amazon. Rumrunners can also be found at other fine ebook retailers.
Reading: With a Mind to Kill by Anthony Horowitz. New Bond novel! His Forever and a Day might be my favorite non-Fleming Bond of them all, so I’m excited about this.
Watching: Moon Dog, an adorable short about maybe not always going with your first instinct.
Listening To: Crystal. By 80s synth band New Order, believe it or not.