Author and Site Information

About Siliar

At its heart, The World of Siliar is about people.

The stories follow them as, over time, they struggle against evil around them, as they come of age and learn about love and life. They join together to fight darkness; they bring light to the world through their choices, actions, victories, and even through their failures.

"…realistic fantasy, oxymoronic as that may seem…"

Piers Anthony, author of the Xanth series, commenting on a Siliar story.

The ensemble of characters includes both young and old, male and female, rich and poor. They share the hope that, together, they can stave off the will of evil that would conquer the world they know and love. But the powers of darkness have a head start and no desire to see their works undone.

The good people of the world will have to work fast, be creative, and combine their efforts if they want to set things right. And along the way, some of them will grow up. Some of them will learn to see the world differently. Some of them will learn to see themselves differently.

But for all their efforts and changes, for all their work to face the challenges before them… will it be enough?

Well, this is going to be different…

Greetings…

I am Bill Snodgrass, the author. I began working on the stories taking place in the world of Siliar in 1987. My life-long friend, Cameron Walker, and I developed the world of Siliar between 1983 and 1986. Since then, I have been writing into this world extensively.

In 2016, I began an exhaustive rewrite of the entire opus to clean up the writing and tighten up the telling of the stories. The result was a set of book-length manuscripts amounting to well over 1.2 million words, and in excess of 6000 pages. In the years that followed, additional stories were created along with various sets of episodes set within the timeframe of that collection—The Thrice Born Era.

The World of Siliar is depicted in great detail and from a variety of points of view!

Beyond the core works of The Thrice Born Collection but within the same era are other collections of stories. Some of them are episodic in that each piece of the story has something of a plot resolution. Naturally, the episodes combine such that longer, more detailed plot arcs are developed and worked out.

So, here you go… Don't worry… You won't have to read it all at once.

Here on www.siliar.com, you will be able to work your way through various aspects of the story as it is unfolded in small action sections. All of the action sections are arranged and linked from the timelines in the order that I believe best tells the tale.

HOWEVER, there are other options…

Links to the sections will ALSO be provided in strict chronological order. While this seems obvious, there are sections of the story that take place in different places among different sets of characters at the same time… but that's getting way ahead…

Links to sections will, further, give readers information about location. At a glance, readers can identify where and when things happen…

One more twist… As readers indicate questions or ask for more information, the answers and augmentations will be provided. This is not to say that the story will be changed, but that the telling of the story will adapt. Sections will have "last updated" indicators, and links to adjunct information will be included.

So, what this means… Well, I know of no other reading experience that will compare to this… It is an experiment, an attempt to include the reader in the world at a deeper level than ever before possible.

I hope you enjoy the experience!

~Bill Snodgrass

What Can You Expect?

The World of Siliar has a rich history going back almost 5000 years, as recorded by the elves. Coming to Siliar after the dragons invaded and destroyed their home world, the elves believed Siliar to be unpopulated, to have no sentient life, so the made it their home. Only years later did they find the humans already there. By then it was too late.

The stories set in this world are varied and rich, grounded in a formidable history. Characters are the heart of the stories, but the epic events they experience carry the reader from scene to scene. In the body of works beginning with Valley of Regret, the Thrice Born collection begins, and readers are treated to the adventures of a group who come together, discover a vast plot to conquer and dominate the lands, and decide to take a stand.

Wizards and warriors, legendary and unknown, young and old, men, women, girls, and boys—the ensemble of characters combine their commitment and their talents to take a stand.

The epic adventures and mundane daily events are unfolded to readers in small (and sometimes not so small) action scenes that can be read on mobile devices or computer screens. The action is organized into sensible sections and linked from timelines.

But readers can decide how they want to read them. Will the author's order be followed or will the events of one group be tracked first, then another? The readers can decide!

Suitable For Most Readers

The stories in the World of Siliar often include themes of good versus evil. The evil acts are written in such a way as to make clear what is going on. However, caution is used with themes some would consider unsuitable for teen readers. While Siliar was not written specifically for young readers, it is certainly not inappropriate for most of them.

For more, see the Content Advisory Notice.

An Interesting Twist…

2019-01-19

When I was doing the overhaul of the Siliar opus in 2016-17, I was very intentional about making sure to drive the story forward in such a way as to stay within "industry standards" for novel length. That meant cutting out some things I thought added meaning and depth, but I did it, and I think I kept enough to get done what I wanted the stories to do.

Now, as I innovate this web-based delivery mechanism, I am realizing that, freed from the constraints of the paper and ink paradigm, I can do SO MUCH MORE. The linear front to back path is not binding. Retrospective comments years in the future can be linked to the sections being referenced, so readers can jump back and relive the moment as it first appeared in the story. Side stories can be fleshed out. Characters can have more moments in the spotlight.

In the years to come, as the World of Siliar grows, I envision many more "Along The Way" type stories, and scenes added in at readers' requests. Freed from the dust jacket, the World of Siliar has room to grow, to expand, to take on even more life.

~Bill Snodgrass, Author

Beyond the Thrice Born Era

2021-11-24

During the seasons of 2016 and 17, the original World of Siliar 2005 version (which was started in 1987) began a transformation that concluded at the end of 2021. For the sake of convenience, the canon of the Thrice Born Era was, for the most part, complete in what can be called the 2021 version.

However, that was is not all that could be drawn from Siliar!

Even as the Thrice Born Era was being wrapped up, plans for a new era were in the works. The end of 2021 can be viewed as a pre-launch into the Age of Elementals.

In planning for the sequel to the Thrice Born Era, the plan is to, in the Age of Elementals, fully embrace the idea of agile content delivery. Story sections will be released with the caveat that they might need to be amended and altered as future content comes into being. Notes will help call attention to changes.

The Age of Elementals will, by design, be more episodic in nature, though intended from the start to tell a unified story. But from various perspectives. Some events will be rendered from different, parallel points of view (much like Sixteen, Going on Forever); that approach proved interesting and satisfying to create, so the plan is to do more of that!

As 2021 comes to an end, I am looking forward to commencing work on The Age of Elementals. Siliar's richness and vastness will be tapped to produce an epic adventure with both familiar and new characters. I am sure readers will enjoy their journeys as they try to find harmony within a world threatened by powers beyond their imagination.

~Bill Snodgrass, Author