My understanding is that Atlas is planning on publishing four real books. The divine book should be out next month and the Infernal book is next. I'm not sure if the faerie book will be the third or the fourth realm book but with the rest of the house books, the covenants book and the mystery book all on the docet as well I wouldn't expect to see it for a year and possibly not for two.

I'm just a fan and I don't have any inside information on this issue.

>  I cannot help thinking 2 years is too long to wait. Would the
> market take more than 4 books per year. Has David Chart got
> the resources to commission, write and process more than 4
> releases a year.

I think 4 per year is a pretty good schedule. First of all, the core game is pretty complete in itself; strictly speaking, no one needs the supplements. Having said that, supplements succeed by selling to as many of the game's fans as possible (so that the books make a profit, and allow us to continue to support the line in the future). So our objective is to publish books that:

(a) are appealing and useful to as many fans as possible (a sourcebook focused entirely on a narrow topic -- say, Sicily 100 years before the canonical date of 1220 -- is not so good; something on topics such as the Realms and the Houses, which will affect every saga, is much better)

(b) are spaced so that it's not unreasonable for most of the active fans of the games to keep up with the line without busting their entertainment budget (one $30 hardcover per quarter = about $10 a month to keep up and maintain a complete library of ArM5).

Unfortunately, by definition, if we want all of the books to be appealing and useful, some of the topics that someone would find really useful today won't be covered until some date in the future (such as the Realms of Power: Faerie book, which is probably going to be a 2008 release; I think it will make sense to do a Magic Realm book before, since there were two previous Faeries sourcebooks, one of which is available for sale as a PDF).

-John Nephew
President, Atlas Games

I've always appreciated that 'you guys' (John specifically- Atlas in general) reads our mail. I also love your pragmatic direct answers. This could be a platform where in Marvel Comics sort of way, the editors promise the world, just keep reading (read buying)! That your willing to tell us you are not only a game company, but a publishing company defined in part by publishing formats as well as the fan's ability to purchase product is constantly insightful. From reading your responses to our mails, I've been able to have productive discussions with Fan-Boys that question the reasoning for Hardbacks, particular page counts, or topics covered. I've always told them, if unsatisfied with my explanation, read the material here. So I guess I'm saying thanks for answering our questions honestly.

Oh yes, and given that we have Pax Dei, Malfic, Shaman, Fairy 1&2, and now Divine. I strongly request a book on the Magic Realm. It is almost absurd to me that the game (The Art of Magic) is this old, and we've never had a book on magic. Oh yes, and I want a book that details the rest of the Houses! Do this and I'll buy everything you publish, wait a second (Ars/OTE/Feng Shui/Cults Across/Once Upon a Time/Nyambe) I've nearly done that already! Well, publish these and I'll keep buying your stuff! ;)

Thanx for listening,

Chuck

> I've always appreciated that 'you guys' (John specifically-
> Atlas in general) reads our mail. I also love your pragmatic
> direct answers.
...
> So I guess I'm saying thanks for answering our questions
> honestly.

Ditto! Atlas' frankness has always struck me as an ideal that
most other businesses would do well to study and emulate.

> It is almost absurd to me that the game (The Art of Magic) is
> this old, and we've never had a book on magic.

Uhhh... Wizard's Grimoire, & WGRE. Hedge Magic. The Mysteries.
Also note that "Shamans" *was* a book on ArM Magic, tho you list
it as an "other" book. FWIW & all that rot... ;-)

But, I too would like a Realm Book (presumably along the lines of
the other Realm Books) on Magic. The one that boggles me is the
in-game question: WHY can Hermetic Magi name the three OTHER
Realm-lands (Heaven, Hell, Arcadia) but not Magic's? IMHO the
realm-book on magic either needs to present a canonical Realmland,
or a reason why none is known ("learned IC debate" on the issue is
a perfectly fine reason, IMHO likely the best option).

- Steve S.