Looks like it’s time for another author’s note.

I have two more chapters and one last interlude planned for Book One, so that should be wrapped up by mid-April. After that there will be a Passover bonus chapter, then onward to Book Two. I can’t promise that “then everything will finally start coming together”, because I actually have more exposition and plotlines to introduce, but by the middle of Book Two there should be a notable change in speed as some larger-scale designs start to make themselves known.

Matthew Arnold (relevant coincidence) is doing an Unsong audiobook podcast (!) – currently up to Chapter 5.

Commenter “Pirindiel” has written a functional version of Llull. Well, sort of functional. You still need to add the Vital Name. Which you might want to hold off on doing until you read the rest of the book and learn a little more about how that works out.

Joseph Hertzlinger points out that Congress is considering a resolution to “recognize magic as rare and valuable”. First step to an American Board of Ritual Magicians?

Operia2 from the Unsong subreddit has drawn a sufficiently creepy depiction of Thamiel. Also on the subreddit: chapter titles, klipot, flag.

Comments worth highlighting – correspondence between divine Names and articles in various languages, Jesus’ name derived from the Tetragrammaton in French, and this comment by Sniffnoy which I declare to be Official Foreshadowing.

Wiki articles and websites related to concepts in the story: Agloe NY, AGLA, mono- and di-grammaton, derivation of Adam’s name from notarikon, when will the Messiah come?, Ha’Ari and the shattering of vessels, the Star Prophecy, Thamiel, serpent/Messiah correspondence, I TEGO ARCANA DEI.

I will be in the Bay Area for most of April. I have a couple of meetups planned for interested readers. One of them will be 7 PM on Friday April 15 at 3806 Williams Rd, San Jose [MAY HAVE TO CHANGE, WILL GET BACK TO YOU]. Another will probably be somewhere in Berkeley on the afternoon of Sunday April 17th but I still need to confirm the location. There may be others (past tradition has been to hold one at the Gogmagogplex in Mountain View). Although these will be probably be dominated by readers of my other blog, if there’s enough interest and a few volunteers I can also arrange a sneak preview/dramatic reading of Interlude Zayin. There will be more concrete meetup announcements posted soon on my other blog, so watch that space.

I recently learned that Astro Teller, the real-life grandson of Edward Teller, is the head of Google X Labs. And has a degree from Stanford in “symbolic computation”. And has written a fiction book about a man who creates a self-aware AI. I knew none of this when I wrote the first few chapters of this book. Needless to say, nothing is ever a coincidence.

If anyone with artistic skills would like to help make a beginning image for Book 2 similar to the beginning image for Book 1, please let me know. The relevant skill would be drawing a scene with a ship. I can tell you more if you contact me. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just better than what I could do myself. Email me at scott[at]shireroth[dot]org if you’re interested. (already got some people, thanks)