It’s time once again to sift through the flotsam of my TBW pile (To Be Written) and share why one of them has failed to climb its way out. This week’s is one that I’ve come close to choosing several times, but ultimately it slips farther down the list.

Arcanist’s Apprentice

About a young technomancer who invented a great device (arcane amplifier) right out of school, but whose employer wants him to improve his magical skills. They assign him a mentor to help: a real arcanist who doesn’t feel the need for modern technology to augment his magic.

Twinborn spin: dragons rule one world, humans act as their bodyguards in the other. The pact is in place to keep the humans from wiping out dragons in one world and dragons from annihilating humans in the other.

I know a lot of you have been asking for more Twinborn stories, but this one just doesn’t quite work. After Twinborn Chronicles: Awakening, I might have been able to pivot to some version of this concept. But once I’d added Twinborn Chronicles: War of Three Worlds, the cosmological changes got a little complicated. I’d need to retcon how the worlds worked, come up with entirely new pairings, and most importantly, tie them into the worlds of the existing Twinborn Universe, including some of the world-hopping characters.

I’m not saying that it can’t be done. I’m saying I don’t think it would be good.

OK, that sounded harsh. Mostly, I always seem to find something that I think would be better. There’s a difference.

There are definitely stories out there to be told in the Twinborn universe. I have other concepts floating in the back of my head. This one exited my head and landed with a wet flop.