JV Jones Completes Endlords
Fantasy author JV Jones has completed *Endlords*, the fifth and penultimate book in the *Sword of Shadows* series. This marks a major milestone for fans who've been waiting years for the dark, epic saga to near its conclusion — only one more book remains to finish the series.
The gap between books four and five of the *Sword of Shadows* series spanned over a decade, with the previous installment, *Watcher of the Dead*, released in 2010. The first book, *A Cavern of Black Ice*, was published in 1999, followed by *A Fortress of Grey Ice* in 2002 and *A Sword from Red Ice* in 2007. Author J.V. Jones re-emerged on social media and Patreon in 2017, explaining that a series of personal crises, including bereavements and cross-country moves, had derailed her writing career. During the long hiatus, she worked various jobs, including dog sitting and selling clothing on eBay. To ease back into the writing process, Jones first wrote a standalone contemporary fantasy novel titled *Sorry Jones*. She described this shorter, self-published work as a way to get back into the swing of things before tackling the immense scope of *Endlords*. *Endlords* is a substantial volume in the series, clocking in at an estimated 260,000 words with 62 chapters, making it longer than its predecessor. Jones has stated she had to restart the novel from scratch after an initial 150,000-word draft felt like a "relic" she had moved on from as a writer. The sixth and final book in the series is titled *A Sword Named Loss*. Following the completion of *Endlords*, publisher Tor Books, who released the first four books, decided to pass on publishing the final two installments. Jones is now pursuing self-publishing for the remainder of the series.
