WotC cancel publication of Dragonlance: Dragons of an Hourglass Mage

[Big Mac]

Dragons of an Hourglass Mage, which is believed to be the last Dragonlance novel to be written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman was due out in a few months, but has now been cancelled.

Different accounts have been made by the authors and Wizards of the Coast. Tracy Hickman had this to say on the Dragonlance Forums:

Well, we wish truth were happier...

Margaret and I have talked about this and are both deeply hurt and concerned. We don’t want our fans or book buyers to be mislead. To be clear, the book has not been turned in as yet by us.

Further, we were just informed that Wizards of the Coast is not allowing us to turn in the manuscript -- in other words they don’t even want to read it. We have seen the book being pre-sold as coming out in July with our names on it, but the plot described is not ours. If we haven’t turned it in and they are refusing now to accept or even look at the manuscript from us ... we are at a complete loss as to what to think.

It certainly both puzzling and upsetting.

Tracy Hickman for both myself and Margaret Weis

Margaret Weis posted, to make sure that people knew she agreed with this:

I want to emphasize that Tracy speaks for both us.

Margaret

Needless to say there is a lot of speculation about this among Dragonlance fans. A representative of Wizards of the Coast responded on their own forums:

Hi All. I received the following information to pass along. I apologize for not posting it earlier, but I am still out of the office from D&D Experience:

Wizards of the Coast planned to release Dragons of the Hourglass Mage in July 2008, as published in our catalog and posted on Amazon and other sites for pre-order. Despite our efforts, a manuscript was not forthcoming. Plans for the book are on hold; we have not recommissioned it. Today, we communicated this news to our distributor, and we expect that within the coming week retailers taking pre-orders for this book will cancel those orders.

We are always disappointed when our business partners don’t honor their obligations to us, but we must move forward to ensure the continued success of our publishing business.
__________________
Mike Lescault
Online Communities Manager
Wizards of the Coast
Co-host of Gamer Radio Zer0
GRZ on Youtube
GRZ on Myspace

So Tracy Hickman (and Margaret Weis) seem to be saying that they have been prevented from turning in the manuscript, while Wizards of the Coast seem to be saying that it wasn't given to them.

Either way, anyone waiting for this book is going to be disapointed, and anyone who has ordered the book on Amazon isn't going to get it.

 

[Steel_Wind]

Clearly an indication that sales have been very poor from WotC's perspective.

 

[TwinBahamut]

Based on those two statements, the only thing which I can think of in which both sides are telling the truth is that the authors did not complete the manuscript in time for an important publication deadline, and at that point WotC decided it would be more economical to scrap the project rather than accept the manuscript late and publish behind schedule.

 

[Eosin the Red]

My rather speculative appraisal is creative differences. The book advertised by WOTC is obviously not the book being written by MW & TH in whatever stage it happens to be in at the moment. In my internal simulation the events unfold thusly.....


WOTC - We want a book featuring Y with characters 1, 2, & 3. It should end with a big #% and be sure to include lots of *&.

MW & TH - Here is the draft/outline for the finale book.

WOTC - It doesn't have Y and it sure doesn't have lots of #% and *&.

MW & TH - This is where we see things logically heading. Character 1 & 2 really aren't the #% type characters nor is the story.

WOTC - Fine. Your contract is canceled.

MW & TH - Hey, take a look at what we have done. It'll work.

WOTC - Nope. Keep your draft. We don't want to read it in case future authors explore the same issues.


Something in that vein seems more likely given the scant amount of information that is available here.

 

[Ranger REG]

Based on those two statements, the only thing which I can think of in which both sides are telling the truth is that the authors did not complete the manuscript in time for an important publication deadline, and at that point WotC decided it would be more economical to scrap the project rather than accept the manuscript late and publish behind schedule.

So, what does that mean? They don't want to deal with the Dragonlance novel line? Heaven and Hell forbid they're shelving it to devote company resources (money and man) toward the Eberron novel line. :\

 

[Banshee16]

Well, definitely not something I'm happy to hear. I was curious as to what the next book would be.....but overall, the decisions being made are....curious...I would have thought Weis and Hickman were the top-selling Dragonlance authors, but maybe I'm wrong. Or maybe they're killing the line.

They don't seem very hesitant lately to go "out with the old, in with the new".

Banshee

 

[Ranger REG]

They don't seem very hesitant lately to go "out with the old, in with the new".

If they want to kick us old-timers out of the RPG hobby, all they have to do is say so right on their product. "No One Over 35 Is Allowed To Use This Product."

 

[Mouseferatu]

They don't seem very hesitant lately to go "out with the old, in with the new".

Guys, I don't know anymore about what's going on than you do, but I do have a bit of experience with WotC's fiction department. I've never known them to do anything without pretty solid reasoning.

Not making accusations, not casting stones, not saying which side is at fault. I'm just saying that there's definitely more to this than them just suddenly deciding they don't feel like publishing the book anymore.

 

[Khuxan]

Based on those two statements, the only thing which I can think of in which both sides are telling the truth is that the authors did not complete the manuscript in time for an important publication deadline, and at that point WotC decided it would be more economical to scrap the project rather than accept the manuscript late and publish behind schedule.

Agreed. It sounds like two different (understandable) spins on the same story:

MW and TH fail to produce a manuscript in time. Wizards cancels the product. MW and TH offer to send it later, but by then it's too late.

I don't know that for a fact, but it fits both stories.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Agreed. It sounds like two different (understandable) spins on the same story:

MW and TH fail to produce a manuscript in time. Wizards cancels the product. MW and TH offer to send it later, but by then it's too late.

I don't know that for a fact, but it fits both stories.

I'd guess that's the most likely scenario as well.