We have some exciting updates and new release news to share with you from the System Apocalypse Universe and beyond.
System Apocalypse
Craig Hamilton has finished his personal project, so now he's started on the fourth System Apocalypse: Relentless. Hopefully, we'll have it ready around the middle of next year. For actual releases, we have two coming up—the third and final book of David R. Packer's System Apocalypse: Kismet series and then the first book of System Apocalypse: Liberty by Jason J. Willis.
Right now, there are no further plans beyond two more books for Jason J. Willis, and potentially another three from Craig Hamilton. KT Hanna recently launched her highly successful Library Reset series and is currently dedicated to that project. It may be a few years before she revisits the System Apocalypse Universe, if at all. We're still hoping she'll come back.
A Thousand Li
Book 11 will be released in a few months. The book itself is finished; we are waiting for Travis Baldree to record it later this month, and we plan to release it in November of this year. Author Tao Wong finished writing and editing Book 12 today. It goes to the editor on Tuesday, and then, of course, there's a bunch of fixes to finish.
For those who follow along on Patreon, over 13,000 words have been added to the book since the first draft as Tao has fleshed out certain scenes and altered the pacing slightly. There might be more edits and changes after the editor returns with their changes and comments, but we believe the series has achieved what Tao has set out to do with it.
We are happy with the ending and hope you will be too.
A Thousand Li Sequel
There's a sequel series for A Thousand Li that will follow right after the main series. It shifts tone and scope slightly, becoming much less progression fantasy and much more epic fantasy. Tao has a 12-book series planned for this, which will bring an end to the A Thousand Li world and the writing in it—at least for a while. It should take up a significant chunk of Tao's time either way.
We will start posting chapters for that sometime in late August / early September, depending on the timing and how we do with the initial chapters. This month will be very busy, so we are unsure how much can be written. We will provide a more detailed explanation below.
Magic Kingdom at War
The 4x LitRPG novella series is progressing steadily. A new volume is currently being released, with the fourth volume scheduled for release on August 7, 2025. At present, seven volumes have been edited, and edits for Book 8 are expected to be completed by mid-August. Additionally, two more draft volumes have been completed, bringing the total to 10. The current plan is to produce approximately 12-14 volumes; the precise number is still being determined, as we aim to conclude the series appropriately.
We are unsure how much more Magic Kingdom at War will be written past the first arc. Due to the series' crunchy nature, there's significant backend work to ensure the numbers, units, and everything are correct, much more than ever expected from a "light" series.
Tao is enjoying it, though, so there might be multiple years of releases. Part of that, of course, is the financial side—if we get enough success, it does make sense to continue past the first arc.
Climbing the Ranks
As mentioned previously, we have three volumes comprising the first arc written. Most of it is edited; we're waiting for the last third to be edited, but Volume 3 won't be released until next year. We finished the Kickstarter for Volume 2 and are writing well ahead.
Depending on how things go with the release of Volume 2, we'll continue adding more chapters to the free side. If it doesn't do well, we'll probably wrap up in Volume 3 with over 650k words already written in the series. There are various ideas for the next few arcs, so we shall have to see how it goes with the Benevolent Durians.
Hidden Dishes
There has not been much progress on this series. Tao's time has been consumed by editing and working on Magic Kingdom at War, so despite being about halfway through the third installment in the Hidden Dishes universe, we have been unable to devote further time to it. Nonetheless, we are still ahead of schedule, and we should still be able to release it within the March/April timeline next year.