Sebastian Grieve - An Introduction

CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS FOR...Books One, Two, Three, and Four

I had a lot of fun coming up with the titles of the Sebastian Grieve novels, my series-within-a-series. The titles always preceded the details within, which is typically what happens with the parent series. I love titles. I have possibly hundreds of novels and screenplays that are nothing more than a title and sentence summary. I have managed to slip some into The Mythic Series, but some are destined to remain in musty notebooks, never seeing their potential fulfilled.

Here are all the SG (that’s how we Sebasti-fans reference the series) titles and when they are first mentioned:

The Mythic
Sebastian Grieve and the Hermit’s Cauldron
Sebastian Grieve and the Cerulean Caduceus
Sebastian Grieve and the Screaming Skull
Sebastian Grieve and the Gothic Griffins

The Mythic and the Horses of Doom
Sebastian Grieve and the Crystal Giant
Sebastian Grieve and the Bloodbone Crown
Sebastian Grieve and the Tournament of Hate

The Mythic and the Illustrious Lie
Sebastian Grieve and the Children of Hate
Sebastian Grieve and the Cult of Calamity

Readers have chosen a title in a poll—Sebastian Grieve and the Riddle of the Infinite Room.

There are no titles mentioned in The Mythic and the City of Sweet Sorrow, but there is reference to a gag title: Sebastian Grieve and the Flesh Eating Hat.

So what is the correct reading order? The clues...

Lucy does provide an order when she browses along Amber’s bookcase in The Mythic, but it’s not stated in which direction she’s reading, or whether she’s skipping titles as she goes.

However, we are told during the events of The Mythic that there are seven books in the SG series. The Tournament of Hate is released during the events of Horses of Doom, which picks up only a month after Lucy’s first adventure. So it’s safe to assume Tournament of Hate is the eighth installment. And in the Illustrious Lie, Children of Hate is mentioned as the latest release. Since eight other titles have been mentioned, logically it must be ninth.

So what is the correct order for the series? The answers are here.

Questions, questions, questions...

Did you notice that the last two books have similar titles and wonder why? And why is the Bloodbone Crown called the Crown of Blood in a subsequent novel? Author error? Or something else? The answers can be found either on my website or in-world in my novels.

Bonus Round

At the end of The Mythic, Amber suggests—based upon the Sebastian Grieve naming convention – that they call their first adventure Lucy Knight and the Casket of Woe. That’s a wee in-joke because The Mythic and the Casket of Woe nearly was the name of the first novel. I seriously considered it for quite a time, but ultimately preferred the shorter title as it was a truer representation of the story.