The Fireseed Wars*
by John F. Carr

Originally titled Queen Rylla's Crown, The Fireseed Wars is the sequel to Lord Kalvan of Otherwhen written by John F. Carr.

About the book:

The Fireseed Wars is the fifth book in the Kalvan Saga and opens right after the Siege of Tarr-Hostigos, with Great King Kalvan in full retreat from the victorious armies of Styphon’s House. With the Kingdom of Hos-Hostigos in ruins and under Investigation, King Kalvan faces his greatest challenge since arriving in Hostigos. Kalvan has to find a way to outrun the Grand Host of Styphon’s House and save his subjects from the inquisition of Archpriest Roxthar and his thugs.

Using scorched earth tactics, Kalvan flees with a quarter of a million refugees, a ragtag army, completely dependent upon him for salvation. To the northwest, lies the Upper Middle Kingdoms where King Theovacar of Grefftscharr awaits with his Navy and Army. Theovacar, the ruler of the largest territory in the Middle Kingdoms, doesn’t want any competition from an outsider—especially one with as big an army as Kalvan’s. To the southwest, awaits the army of Nestros the Traitor, Great King of Hos-Rathon, who has allied himself with the godless priests of Styphon’s House.

Verkan Vall, Paratime Police Chief, faces his own battles on Home Time Line as his enemies engage in a relentless propaganda war against him and his administration. Shackled by work to First Level, Verkan deals with corruption inside and outside the Paratime Police Department. His enemies are legion and threaten the stability of Home Time Line as well as the Paratime Secret forcing him to make the most momentous decision of his career.

Styphon’s House on Earth has a new Styphon’s Voice, Supreme Priest Anaxthenes, and he means business. Having defeated Kalvan’s army at Ardros Field, the Gunpowder Theocracy is determined to turn the Five Great Kingdoms into their personal fiefdom. It’s no longer just a fight between Kalvan and Styphon’s House; it’s a war of total destruction. And Styphon’s House intends to win by any means! (from Hostigos. com)

* Part of the Friedsam Library Collection

Archival Holdings:

Queen Rylla’s Crown Manuscript, corrected [typescript]

258 leaves

Carr-12-01

Physical Description:

An incomplete edited copy of the manuscript of John Carr’s Queen Rylla’s Crown, the original title of the novel Fireseed Wars. The manuscript is annotated and dated by Carr. The annotation states that this corrected manuscript was received by Carr from his friend, Dennis Frank, in November 2007. Carr also states that the corrections in black ink are his own. The manuscript bears other corrections in pencil, presumably made by Frank. This manuscript is divided into two folders, labeled Carr-12-01-A and Carr-12-01-B respectively.

Queen Rylla’s Crown/Fireseed Wars first draft [typescript]

258 leaves

Carr-12-02

Physical Description:

An unedited copy of Carr’s novel, Queen Rylla’s Crown, later renamed The Fireseed Wars. Carr has signed and annotated the document. The annotation gives the document the date 2007, and it labels the document as the first draft of The Fireseed Wars. This draft has been divided into two folders, labeled Carr-12-02-A and Carr-12-02-B respectively.

Fireseed Wars, Master Draft #1 [typescript]

722 leaves

Carr-12-03

Physical Description:

A copy of the manuscript for Carr’s The Fireseed Wars, labeled “master draft #1, first  major edits” by Carr in red ink. The manuscript bears red editing marks, and some of the pages are marked with post-it flags.

Jim Landau’s critiques [typescript]

(misc. pagination)

Carr-12-04

Physical Description:

A collection of letters from Jim Landau to John Carr critiquing Carr’s Fireseed Wars. Carr provides a typed annotation of the letters in a cover letter. The letters range in date from 2006-2008, and deal with continuity issues as well as general comments about the story. The letters are organized chronologically by date (when available), also utilizing the chapters discussed in the letters.

Fireseed Wars, Frank edit [typescript]

753 leaves

Carr-12-05

Physical Description:

A copy of the manuscript of The Fireseed Wars. Carr signed the manuscript on 13 march 2009 with the annotation, “Dwight Duker corrected final draft. All corrections entered by 3/13/09.” However, upon examining the penciled-in corrections on the manuscript, Carr’s friend Dennis Frank recognized the corrections to be his own. The reason for this mixup is unclear.

Fireseed Wars, Dramatis Personae [typescript]

Approx. 25 leaves

Carr-12-06

Physical Description:

A copy of the Dramatis Personae for Carr’s Fireseed Wars, originally spiral bound. The document contains a complete list of characters and places in the novel, as well as working maps. Included with the document is a set of corrections in list form, attributed by Carr to his friend Wolf.

Fireseed Wars, editing copy [typescript]

Approx. 750 leaves

Carr-12-07

Physical Description:

A copy of Carr’s The Fireseed Wars, labeled “Editing Copy.” The document contains fifty-four chapters, and was originally spiral bound in sections of three to four chapters. For storage purposes, the spiral bindings have since been removed.

Fireseed Wars, major edit/rewrite [typescript]

Misc. pagination

Carr-13-01

Physical Description:

A copy of a major revision of the novel Fireseed Wars. Carr has annotated the cover page, which bears the novel’s original title, Queen Rylla’s Crown, as well as the final title. The annotation states that all black and red corrections are made by Carr. This revision is very hard to follow, for it seems to take pages from several drafts of the story, all of which have differing pagination and title headings. The final document is an estimated 400 pages in length.

Fireseed Wars excerpt [typescript]

Misc. pagination

Carr-13-02

Physical Description:

An excerpt of Carr’s Fireseed Wars, described by Carr in an annotation as being the “next to final” manuscript. The annotation states that the corrections made to the document in red ink were by Carr’s wife, Victoria Alexander-Carr. The excerpt contains chapters one through four as well as chapter six from a section of the book titled “Fall.”

“John’s Original Scanned” [typescript]

Misc. pagination

Carr-13-03

Physical Description:

A collection of excerpts of The Fireseed Wars, identified only as “John’s original scanned.” The document appears to include pieces from several different drafts, and it appears not to be the final copy. The sections of the piece also seem to be jumbled. The document is an estimated 200 pages in length. The document is divided into two separate folders, labeled Carr-13-03-A and Carr-13-03-B respectively.

Fireseed Wars, ch. 25 [typescript]

24 leaves

Carr-13-04

Physical Description:

An excerpt of Carr’s Fireseed Wars labeled “Twenty-five.” The document seems to contain all of the novel’s chapter 25, from page 385-409. However, no further identifying annotations or editing marks are visible.

The Fireseed Wars, Copy Edit “Dan” [Typescript]

Approx. 534 leaves

Carr- 13-08

Physical Description:

A copy edit of The Fireseed Wars, by Carr, Carr has signed the copy edit with the annotation, “ Dan’s copy.” The document includes chapters 1-54 of the story, with the editors marks.

The Fireseed Wars, Galley Manuscript [Typescript]

Approx. 534 leaves

Carr-13-09

Physical Description:

A corrected manuscript of The Fireseed Wars, by Carr, Carr has signed the copyedit with the annotation, “galley as sent to Desktop Miracle.” The document includes chapters 1-54 of the story.

The Fireseed Wars, Final Edit “Victoria” [Typescript]

Approx. 534 leaves

Carr-13-10

Physical Description:

The copyedit of The Fireseed Wars, by Carr, Carr has signed the copyedit with the annotation “Victoria’s Copyedited copy of MS.” The document includes chapters 1-54 of the story. The document bears some water damage on the title page and the copyright page, as well.

The Fireseed Wars, “Victoria’s Final Edit” [Typescript]

Approx. 756 leaves

Carr-14-01

Physical Description:

The final edit of The Fireseed Wars, by Carr, Carr has signed the final edit with “Victoria’s final edit.” The document includes chapters 1-54 of the story.

The Fireseed Wars, Landau’s Comments [Typescript]

Approx.VII-452.

Carr-14-02

Physical Description:

The Fireseed Wars, Reference Notes [Misc]

Carr-14-05

Physical Description:

The Fireseed Wars, R. Oakley’s Comments [Typescript]

Carr-14-10

Physical Description:

The contents of a file labeled “King Kalvan’s Exile.” A document titled “The Fireseed Wars,” signed and dated 8/9/09 by Carr, with the annotation “Richard Oakley’s comments.”

Fireseed Wars—Original [typescript]

Carr-19-33

Physical Description:

A typed partial manuscript of John F. Carr’s The Fireseed Wars, originally titled Queen Rylla’s Crown. Each chapter was originally separated with a paperclip, which have since been removed to preserve the document. The first page of each chapter has the word “scanned” written on it in Landau’s handwriting. According to Landau, John Carr suffered a computer hard drive crash while in the middle of writing The Fireseed Wars. In response, Landau scanned and photocopied each chapter of the manuscript that Carr had sent to him in order to send back to Carr. Thus, Carr was able to retype the manuscript and finish the novel.

Fireseed Wars: Early Prologue [typescript]

8 leaves

Carr-22-13

Physical Description:

Early version of the prologue for Fireseed Wars with all corrections made by John Carr.

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