ILONA ANDREWS

#1 New York Times Bestselling Author

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Chapter 4 Part 2

Innkeeper Chronicles, Sweep of the Heart POST A COMMENT by

I rushed through the streets.  The koo-ko had no trouble keeping up with me despite being about half my height. If needed, all of them, including the First Scholar and two of his helpers, one carrying his hat and the other dragging a long stick of polished blue wood with a bright red tassel attached to its tip, could outrun me and then some.

“Tell me the riddle,” the First Scholar asked.

“Say my name, and I will disappear. What am I?” I was pretty sure I knew the answer but “pretty sure” didn’t count when a life hung in the balance.

“You’re right.  The sphinx is very young.  No matter.  Youth isn’t an excuse for willful flaunting of the rules, although it is certainly the right time for it.”

We turned into the dark alleys. The shaggy sloth creature saw us and waved a little piece of bright red cloth like a flag as we passed.  The other vendors stared at us.  They had now watched Sean run into the Old Arena, then run out, come back with me, then I ran out, and now I was back leading a flock of koo-ko. It was more excitement than they probably had seen for the entire month.

We spilled into the Old Arena.  Everything was as I had left it: the sphinx, Sean, and the female werewolf, still locked in the glowing golden helix of the sphinx’s power.

“Why don’t you answer?” the sphinx purred.  “Go on.  Take a chance.  You cannot wait forever.  Soon you will soil yourself.  Then will come thirst, then hunger. You are a brave warrior. Is that how you want to die?  Alone, wasting away in your filth because you are too scared to answer a simple riddle?”

“Keep quiet,” Sean told her.

“She has answered you,” the First Scholar declared.

The sphinx turned its massive head and looked at us. 

The First Scholar’s assistant on his left deposited the headdress onto the elder’s head.  The assistant on his right thrust the stick into his clawed hand. The three dozen koo-ko arranged themselves into a crescent behind the First Scholar.

A violet sheen rolled over sphinx’s eyes.  “And who are you, small bird?”

The First Scholar raised his stick, sending the tassel flying.  “Do not change the subject. By the very act of remaining quiet, she has answered your riddle, for the answer to your question is silence.”

The sphinx frowned.

“The right answer has been given.  Release this creature as per your bargain,” the First Scholar demanded.

The sphinx pondered it, clearly stumped. 

“That is not a proper answer,” he finally said. 

“Then ask me another question, and I will answer for her,” The First Scholar declared. “She is but a humble warrior, while my mind holds decades of academic knowledge. She is a snack but I am a delicious feast.”

The sphinx smiled, and the nightmarish forest of fangs in his mouth glinted in the sun. The golden glow around the female werewolf died, and she tumbled to the ground.

The sphinx opened its metallic wings, the golden feathers reflecting the sunlight in a blinding glow. Golden light spiraled around the First Scholar. He was barely three and a half feet tall, counting the headdress, and the sphinx was forty feet at the shoulder.

The koo-ko scholars cooed in unison, the sound of collective anxiety.

The First Scholar raised his head.  “Ask your question.”

“The more there is, the less you see. What am I?

“Darkness.”

The Sphinx opened his mouth.  Nothing came out.

“That is an embarrassingly easy question. Ask another,” the First Scholar said.  “Go ahead.”

“Once offered one, you shall have two or none at all—”

“A choice. Let us try again.  Reach deeper.”

“I have one color but many sizes.  I touch you yet you never feel me.  Light gives me existence, darkness–”

“A shadow.” The First Scholar sighed.  “Let me save you the trouble. Wind, time, self, light, youth, fire. Shall I continue?”

The sphinx stared at him, mute.

A few seconds passed.

“How?” the sphinx managed finally.

“You’re obviously going through Bartran’s Guide to the Questions of an Inquisitive Mind and the Nature of Existence.” The First Scholar turned to his students and waved the stick. “Note this moment.”

The koo-ko pulled scrolls from the toilet paper holders on their belts and produced styluses.

“Those of you who idly wonder why you should read the classics and when you would ever have the opportunity to use the fundamental knowledge contained within, take heed, for you never know when you may encounter a sphinx on the crossroads of life. This sphinx,” the Scholar pointed at the towering creature with his stick, “is but an allegory. He and his kind are forbidden here, so you would be forgiven for thinking your mind is safe, yet here he is, ready to devour the unprepared. Such is the existence of a scholar, forever seeking knowledge and defending one’s right to obtain and share it while perils await at every turn. It is a noble pursuit.”

The First Scholar’s voice quivered with emotion. The koo-ko students dutifully recorded every word.

“Always remember, knowledge is a product of labor. It is to be shared but never taken. For if you set out to rip knowledge away from others and hoard it like a jealous merchant hoards their wealth, you too will be shunned like this sphinx and banished from the circle of your peers.”

No doubt, this would become one of the koo-ko philosopher legends.

The First Scholar turned to the sphinx and waved his stick at him. “And you, you are not supposed to be here. More, you have come here unprepared. Bartran provides the first building block to one’s understanding of existence, but he, by design, shows you the mere tip of the iceberg, just enough to demonstrate that the enormous underwater mountain is there and to prompt you to dive into the frigid depths to seek your own understanding. You have decades of study ahead of you before venturing forth again. Answer the question of my dear human friend and then return humbly to your teacher, who is without a doubt deeply disappointed in your conduct.”

Sometimes when Olasard persisted in his feline entitlement, I gently booped him on the nose with my finger. The grey Maine Coon always looked stunned, as if I had committed an outrage so great, he simply couldn’t come to terms with it. The sphinx looked just like that.

The First Scholar banged the butt of his stick on the ground. The tassel danced. “Answer!”

“Where does the portal lead?” Sean asked.

“To Karron,” the sphinx said.

Wilmos was doomed.

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Comments

  8. I live for Friday because of these. 😁 Thank you HA for making the week worthwhile. Now I have to go look up that book.

  9. Add the First Scholar to the list of characters that I love. The showdown was just what I was hoping for.

    Thank you!!

    P.S. dare I ask how the Ruby Fever edit is going? Usually there are cut snippets posted during the editing process and since there haven’t been, I wondered. Sending you good vibes to get you across the finish line!

  15. I read and I smile. Every time. Through the good events and sad. Your writing is just a joy to read. For me, it’s pure pleasure.
    Thank you for sharing your talent.

  16. I shouldn’t admit this, but I actually did a couple of searches for Bartran’s Guide, just in case it turned out to be real. Alas, it’s not. So embarrassing.

    LOVE this chapter. ❤️ Thank you for my Friday fix.

    • Hm, maybe we should start a practical reading list – what books would you read to prep for trial by sphinx? Classics, philosophical works, a rule book to how riddles work? Close Encounters of the Sphinx Kind?

    • I wondered if “Bartran” was some kind of play on “Bertrand,” as in Bertrand Russell- in fact I read it as Bertrand and didn’t realize until later I’d misread. I then went and checked Bertrand Russell’s list of publication to see if there was something very similar in title. There is nothing that is clearly the inspiration for Guide to the Questions of an Inquisitive Mind and the Nature of Existence. Still, the whole thing feels so Bertrand Russell-y I can’t help but wonder.

      • Cooked dinner, did some chores, was still wondering and looked a little further.

        I posit that IA either have a copy of Bertrand Russell’s “The Problems of Philosophy” or a general philosophy text, virtually all of which contain the following quote:

        “Philosophy is to be studied, not for the sake of any definite answers to its questions, since no definite answer can, as a rule, be known to be true, but rather for the sake of themselves; because these questions enlarge our conception of what is possible, enrich our intellectual imagination, and diminish the dogmatic assurance which closes the mind against speculation; but above all because, through the greatness of the universe which philosophy contemplates, the mind also is rendered great, and becomes capable of that union with the universe which constitutes its highest good.”
        -Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy

  17. Today is shaping up to be a good day, our smaller dog came through surgery great and is ready to be picked up at noon and now a fun dress-down by the Koo-Ko First Scholar. Can’t wait for the next installment!

    • Congratulations and best wishes for your dog’s recovery. May your dog remain on this side of the Rainbow Bridge for many years.

  19. Those of you who idly wonder why you should read the classics and when you would ever have the opportunity to use the fundamental knowledge contained within, take heed, for you never know when you may encounter a sphinx on the crossroads of life.

    this is marvelous

    • A friend of mine who teaches English to high schoolers gets this question ALL OF THE TIME. From students, “Why do we have to learn this crap? These people died forever ago and the stuff in their books doesn’t pertain to my life at all!” From parents, “Why does my child have to read this? They don’t like it and shouldn’t have to do things they don’t like.” Or, also from parents, “What kind of relevance does reading Aristotle (or Plato or Socrates or Jane Austen or literally any “classical” author) have on today’s world? My children will face challenges these people never even dreamed of.” She gets so incredibly frustrated having to repeat herself that, yes, even if these people would never face the same exact challenges, the truths contained in their books, novels, philosophical essays, etc., are timeless and valuable. While we probably won’t see a sphinx and have to answer its questions so as not to be eaten, classical works do contain truths about humanity, the human condition, psychology, philosophy, human relationships, history…so many things.

        • Actually, I find that things I *had* to memorize and read have stuck pretty well with me/to me. Not sure what that says about *me* lol. But then again, I did have some excellent *teachers* (Ms. Hayes, I’m looking at YOU)

      • The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.

        —Socrates as reported by Plato

        • Sounds like Socrates looked into present society. 😁

          I also been asked what’s the point of learning history. I tell them if we don’t know our history how do we know we’re not repeating stupid mistakes? I got looked at really funny. The person didn’t know I have a history degree.

          • Did you know the thing about repeating history was not said by a historian, but by the philosopher George Santayana (who was also on the cover of Time Magazine in 1936).

            I say that as long as individual humans fail to learn from our individual mistakes, humanity has no chance of doing so.

            I believe that history is our cultural memory. We have no chance of knowing who we are and how we got here without understanding the past. (I also think knowing history just makes us more culturally literate and more able to get the jokes and Easter eggs hidden in so many aspects of pop-culture entertainment, particularly the stuff House Andrews writes!).

            My PhD is in medieval European history, so I’ve had to think a lot about why we should care about dead people, especially since my job is teaching surveys at a community college!

            • I agree. My focus was on early American history. I was fascinated by the cultural differences between the northern and southern states, and how those differences started the cracks that eventually led to having another war not long after gaining our independence from Great Britain.

          • So many things are universal. I remember a few years ago I stumbled across a rant about young people with their silly haircuts and their drunken antics and their lack of respect. It was aimed at a load of medieval apprentices.

            I guess that’s why you should study the classics!

            We develop new technology all the time, but new ideas and feelings are another matter.

            Or as someone said about 4000 years ago in the egyptian middle kingdom.

            “Would I had phrases that are not known, utterances that are strange, in new language that has not been used, free from repetition, not an utterance which has grown stale, which men of old have spoken.”

        • Siobhan,

          Your quote belongs to Kenneth John Freeman, from his Cambridge dissertation published in 1907. It is not Socrates or Plato 🙂

          Freeman did not claim that the passage under analysis was a direct quotation of anyone; instead, he was presenting his own summary of the complaints directed against young people in ancient times. The words he used were later slightly altered to yield the modern version.

          Perhaps generations should learn to be more tolerant of eachother, and embrace that our differences are what moves history- Mod R

          • Well put, Mod R! It always makes me laugh to think that the generations complaining about ‘kids these days’ used to BE the kids that prior generations complained about, just as the ‘kids these days’ will no doubt complain about the kids in the future! 😂 Circle of Life? It would be so much easier and productive if we would ALL embrace our differences, not only age but gender, sex, race, culture, education, etc etc etc as well. What a beautiful world it would be! 😁

          • Well said, Mod. R,

            As a parent, I was always of the opinion that one has the child they raised.

            This can be expanded to the wider society as well. Every generation has a hand in molding the generations that follow.

            Complaining is never productive.

          • I’ve always liked this lyric from the Sunscreen song by Baz Luhrmann:

            Accept certain inalienable truths: prices will rise, politicians will
            philander, you too will get old.
            And when you do, you’ll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

            Tehe!

          • Hmmm. Bartleby’s attributed it to a 1953 article, and called it unsubstantiated because the exact wording hadn’t been found. I figured I was ok with approximate words. But there was no mention of Mr. Freeman (I do look things up before I post).

            Interesting, because they’re usually reliable.

            https://www.bartleby.com/73/195.html

            • You can examine it yourself because luckily Mr Freeman’s thesis, Schools of Hellas, is available on Project Guttenberg 🙂 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/63644/63644-h/63644-h.htm

              “Children began to be the tyrants, not the slaves, of their households. They no longer rose from their seats when an elder entered the room; they contradicted their parents, chattered before company, gobbled up the dainties at table, and committed various offences against Hellenic tastes, such as crossing their legs. They tyrannised over the paidagogoi and schoolmasters. Alkibiades even smacked a literature-master. A similar change came over the position of children in England during the latter half of the nineteenth century. If Maria Edgeworth could have met a modern child, she would have uttered quite Aristophanic diatribes against the decay of good manners.”

              Or trust in Quote Investigator to do the work for you 🙂 https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/01/misbehave/

                • late Middle English: via Latin from Greek paidagōgos, denoting a slave who accompanied a child to school (from pais, paid- ‘boy’ + agōgos ‘guide’).

                  Seems likely.

              • Oh, I absolutely believe you! I’m just surprised because Bartlebly’s is usually accurate. However, they have irritated me extremely by removing a clause that was there when I copied and pasted the quote. An important one. I can’t remember exactly the wording, but it was something along the lines that the exact wording couldn’t be found by scholars, although the descriptive sentiments were common somewhere somewhere, therefore quote is spurious. Descriptive sentiments were good enough for me, as there would be no such thing as exact wording because all translations are approximate. But it’s not there today, which makes me wonder which of their people reads this blog. 😉

  20. Love the space chickens!

    I woke up this morning and the first thought was: it’s Friday and we get another Innkeeper chapter! <3

    Just the perfect thought to get me through the day.

    Thank you for brightening my cold and wintry Friday and I hope you have a great weekend! <3

  21. I feel like I should know where Karron is…but I either can’t remember or am imagining that I have heard of it before.

    I love the twist with the Sphinx – very good.

  22. Love this and love having something fun to look forward to on Friday’s. Thank you so very much.
    As a professional child tormentor, this has been one of the toughest years in two and a half decades of being in a science classroom. Even tougher than last years virtual instruction. It gives me something to help me get through my weeks.

    • “Professional child tormentor”! Excellent description! I swear, the only thing worse is a composition instructor, which I’m still doing at the college level. Torture, indeed. Keep on, colleague; we shall prevail.

      • Been there, done that, and retired still sane. I will defend the Oxford comma with my last breath!

        • Oh, thank God, there’s another one of us in the universe! Thank you, thank you. I’ll join you on the Oxford comma barricade.

          • Yes, fellow defenders of the Oxford comma! I and my colleagues have enthusiastic debates about grammar (we all write for a living-sadly, nothing so interesting or fabulous as the Innkeeper series). Our supervisor crushed our grammatical souls when he announced that we would not be allowed to use the Oxford comma since he found it outdated and unnecessary. Vey is mir…

          • Me too! I remember reading that the Oxford comma was dropped by the New York Times many many years ago in an effort to save what little space they had when typesetting the newspaper BY HAND. With all we can do regarding type now, “saving space” by doing without the comma seems silly.

            Solidarity with my Oxford comma brothers and sisters!

      • The most useful class I ever took was English Composition, in high school. It has served me well for many years.
        Blessings on you and your fellow professional child tormentors (love that description!) for all you do to impart knowledge.

    • Love the professional child tormentor description! I am a retired professional child tormentor, and now when people ask what did you retire from, I shall with much glee tell them!! 🙂

      • As a mother of children who actually did suffer from “professional child tormentors” and had to take it to the schools board, in one case, and draft a lawsuit in another, I don’t really find this all that funny. To the point that I have to really work on blank face when someone tells me that they are a teacher. Someday, I’ll be able to be more able to dissociate all teachers from the very bad ones I came across. Maybe when it stops affecting my kids.

        • I’m with you, MagicTrix. My thought, as the parent of an autistic child who was tormented by a teacher to the point of being suicidal, was, “well, at least they’re honest about it.”

          • MagicTrix and Kathryn, we understand that your experiences – and especially your children’s experiences were traumatic and terrible. You have our deepest sympathies.

            However, not every teacher who reads this blog is a monstrous human who lives to torment children. Teachers are paid little, expected to purchase their own supplies and make up for shortcomings of equipment and budgets, and often endure abuse from parents and students. Teachers are allowed to joke about their experiences, because that’s often the only way they can cope.

            Everyone reading this discussion: please remember that every person here brings their 50% of experience to the narrative. That experience colors the reading of the narrative. All experiences are valid. Please give each other room to occupy some space.

            This thread is now closed.

  23. Last, until someone else answers.

    The sphinx got pwned. By a space chicken. The sphinx will never live this down!

  26. Ok you have changed my mind , there is one type of chicken fit to live, and that is the Ko koo’s .
    Thank you for this very amusing smack down.
    Hope you stay warm and dry on this icky winter day.

  27. Love the First Scholar smackdown–age and knowledge! Thank you for the gift!

    Also, about that previous, one day post–what about Subterranean Press? I hear the agent has doubts, but they often do one-offs for authors exploring new genres or forms. And you never know–John Scalzi’s exploratory series “The Dispatcher” just got optioned for television….

  29. Hooray for the space chickens! (That is definitely the first time I have ever said that sentence… 🙂 )

  30. Small Human (SH): Mom, why are you smiling?
    Me: Am I smiling?
    SH: Yes, you’re smiling like a LOON all of a sudden!
    Me: Oh, I just realized it’s Friday.
    SH: Oh, and you’re super happy because it means it’s almost the weekend and you get to spend more time with ME?
    Me: …. well, that too.

  31. Wow, that was amazing. Thank you for the chapter and for the Ko Koos. My pet gives me that look when I tell him no he may not have my food off of my plate before I eat.

    • Agreed! I loved all of this, but the mental image of booping a Sphinx was just the best. Thank you HA!

  33. That was quite the nose boop! Koo ko are great. Here in Durham it is 27 degrees with snow and ice later today.
    I will be staying in with my Maine Coon Murphy and reading as much HA as I can (which is lots). Happy Friday everyone.

    • My Maine coon Sparky is in the garden, soaking up the heat. It’s 27 deg Celsius here in New Zealand, dry grass, cracked ground and no rain. I think he’d prefer the snow. 😊

    • Well; Our Maine Coon Mikah Is on ‘her’ chair after being out in 62ºf (17ºc) which is our high today in this part of AZ. No snow, it is just wet.

  36. Space chickens for the win! This was a fantastic chapter. I love the reference to Olasard, I have seen that same exact look when I used to have kitties. The ourtraged confusion that they could be gently booped is hilarious.

  37. The dunes of Karron are born of
    electrified sand and methane winds.
    Carbon life is not welcome there.
    We must find him
    before the planet swallows him whole.

  38. I have a framed picture of the 1st scholar proudly displayed inside our chicken coop.
    Maybe he asks the 10 hens riddles like: Why didn’t you lay today?

  43. What a great scene! So excited to have new adventures with Sean and Dina to read, I look forward to them every Friday. 🙂

  45. Hmm maybe I should try booping my cats on the nose when they get too uppity and entitled with me 🤔

    Thank you!

  47. Can I just say how much I love that picture of the First Scholar? It just makes me grin from ear to ear. Thanks for a wonderful installment!!!

  49. Ha! Know-it-all werewolf and know-it-all sphinx get smacked in their expectations by old person who has READ THE MANUAL. I am living with teenagers, and found this so, so satisfying.

  51. Ooooh, I remembered Karron! “The dunes of Karron are born of electrified sand and methane winds. We must find him before the planet swallows him whole.” (July 15, 2021 blog post from Ilona)

  52. It’s so rare to read something that makes me giggle, snort, and laugh with delight — THANK YOU! What an awesome half-chapter! I can see it clearly and am smiling broadly <3 Happy Friday!

  53. Awww, gotta love the space chicken field trip! Thank you guys again for the wonderful worlds you build.

  56. oooh so cool – I love the Koo Koo and the First Scholar -they always deliver! Just please keep going. The installments are GRRRRREAT!

  58. Well damn now I’ll have a week to think of all the things that Karin could be. Thank you so much for this. I absolutely love innkeeper

  60. Thank you for the chapter, just what I needed after a rough morning! I had to make an emergency trip to the vet for my cat Libby this morning. She’s going to be ok, but it was really worrisome for awhile.

    I love the space chickens, they are probably my favorite of the aliens.

  61. ^lOVELOveLove it!

    The Power of (spacechickens) Knowlege has saved the Day!

    Go home Kitty – if youre ways have changed now,
    they might teach you in the future.. who knows?

  62. I loved this installment. The riddles, the drama, the chickens. Thank you for sharing with us your wonderful talent.

  63. I did now know how much needed an infusion of Sweep of the Heart today. Thanks for taking the edge off a rough day! Love the Space Chickens!!

  67. Ohmygosh Ohmygosh Ohmygosh, this was sooo good!
    I am currently quarantined for Covid and this is the first thing to make me happy in DAYS!

  73. “A shadow.” The First Scholar sighed. “Let me save you the trouble. Wind, time, self, light, youth, fire. Shall I continue?”

    I laughed so hard I woke a cat. Of which I have three. I am so very accustomed to this look:

    “Sometimes when Olasard persisted in his feline entitlement, I gently booped him on the nose with my finger. The grey Maine Coon always looked stunned, as if I had committed an outrage so great, he simply couldn’t come to terms with it.”

    • I rather hope the riddles that belong to those answers make it into the published book as a footnote (I’m a Pratchett fan and I love footnotes.)

  74. Awesome! So looking forward to the book, but in the meantime every post brightens my week! Thank you!

  75. I adore this series. ADORE IT! Thank you so much for providing it in serialized form. You give me so much joy. Mahalo nui!

  76. Love it! I guessed the answer to the riddle (an easy one!) but I LOVED the Scholar’s attitude and responses.

    • I thought the sphinx was speaking as itself, asking a stupid question because it was so young; that the answer to “What am I?” was “sphinx”, and that it would have to leave the arena if it got that answer, so our heroes could enter the portal.

      No experience with riddles, and a tendency to take things literally … I’d be so dead if I ever met a sphinx!

  77. Read and enjoyed far TOO quickly. Thanks to House Andrews for a smile as I wait out a winter storm with bored teenagers.

  79. Thank you!
    The First Scholar is a character that endures. I am glad to see him here again so soon. I liked him before and this has added substantially to his “legend”.
    Telling the sphinx to go back to his teacher was beautiful…

  82. Oh hallelujah thank you for these beautiful nuggets! I have had a horrible couple of weeks and I will actually say you have been mind and life savers. As always the stories are gloriously glowing with the joy to be read.

  84. This is great insight into the First Scholar..
    We did not see this depth in the last book so this is terrific fun!

  86. “Note this moment.”

    Omg.

    If there was an award for Most Epic Non-violent Smackdown, the envelope would say ILONA ANDREWS, Sweep of the Blade. ✨

  89. Thanks for this wonderful Innkeeper story. I so love the world and people you have created. It’s fun, entertaining and I always learn something in the reading and re-reading.

    I know you are doing the Ruby Fever rewrites. I hope so very much that you can re-find your joy in the story that the BRH devours and loves each and every time in all your books. Peace to you.

  90. I loved that quote of knowledge

    “Always remember, knowledge is a product of labor. It is to be shared but never taken. For if you set out to rip knowledge away from others and hoard it like a jealous merchant hoards their wealth, you too will be shunned like this sphinx and banished from the circle of your peers.”

    What a good teacher for his students

  91. This is getting curiouser and curiouser, can’t wait to see where you are taking us😃

    Oh yes, Karrooooon!

    Thank you 😊

  93. Space chickens rule!!! First Scholar is such a fun character. Loved this, thanks so much for making my Friday at work bearable!

  94. First Scholar reminds me of Yoda in the Last Jedi when Yoda told Luke to pass on what he learned. He also told Luke that failure was the greatest teacher.

    I laughed when the students pulled out their stylus from the toilet paper holders. Made me think back to school when we all pulled out our notebooks and pens or pencils if we were in a math class. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

  97. I recently checked out the Innkeeper Chronicles from my local library. When I finished them, I found your blog and read what has been published so far. Today is the first time I’m reading a current installment. It was exciting but oh so short. I hate being caught up on a series.

    • Welcome to the Book Devouring Horde (aka BDH)!! Nice to have you! We love snippets, tea, cookies, mayhem, & smack downs!!

    • Yes, welcome to the rank and file of the BDH! I see you’ve been issued your library card, a sense of adventure, and an insatiable appetite for IA, aka House Andrews. Hold onto them! If you’re still between books, let me recommend ALL the other series by IA. Don’t let genre labels or sexy covers stop you, they’re *all* winners. (But The Edge series overlaps a bit with Innkeeper, if you want to start there, and if you can get your hands on them. Used bookstores, library consortiums, kindly librarians, and similarly-book-hungry, shield-banging, oath-roaring, book-lending horde members are your friends.)
      We’re a noisy lot, but we’re happy to see you. We bow (occasionally, but more often beg and plead and whine) before our Author-Lords, and salute Mod R for her redoubtable service. And we do indeed love snippets, non-literary nourishment, mayhem, and smack downs. And space chickens. Especially space chickens.
      May your book bags be heavy, your reading time be long, and may we all devour new books together! Hooray!

  98. These weekly chapters are like a thirst on a hot summer day. The last sip of ice cold water. I look forward to my next sip each Friday!!!!

  99. Ooooo! Riddles. What is more, Koo-Ko and riddles! Oh, so fantastic…all except the part about Wilmos. But…Dina and Sean will prevail. I am sure of it.

  100. It is just so fitting that space chickens are philosophical leaders and scholars. <3 And still very much space chickens. 😀

    An epic smack down. Thank you so much!!!

  101. All week I had Jamiroquai stuck in my head ‘This is the return of the space chicken (cowboy)’ and I was waiting for the Showdown between the juvenile Sphinx and the First Scholar.
    The whole scene was beautiful, from the tree to the hat, the teachable moment to the visual of a flock with scrolls advancing on the arena….
    And now the actual Showdown with the Sphinx being sent back to its teacher- absolutely hilarious and a lovely end to my workweek – thank you.

  103. Love this!!! Looking forward to each installment and to reading the whole book when it’s done. If it’s anything like the first several Innkeeper books, will read again and again!

  106. My first thought was that HA posted the second part of the chapter early and then realized it is Friday. I love the space chickens and the First Scholar is great. I’m very bad with riddles so my brain would have been eaten, but I remembered that picture of Dina in space as soon as Karron was mentioned.

  109. Thank you so much for lighting up my dreary winter days! I loved this episode. I bought the graphic audio of Clean Sweep for my husband who has almost no time to read, and we are both enjoying it so much.

  111. Another day brightened by an enjoyable and awesome chapter! I honestly found the Koo ko somewhat annoying in the last book, but they have redeemed themselves well today!

    Thank you, again, for sharing this world with us.

  112. Wonderful. Dare I call First scholar yummy? I like him even more this series. Plus we learned the use of the not-toilet paper rolls.

    FYI I suddenly had a Cesar question/thought. When can we expect a chance to ask silly not koo-ko musings?

    • Hey Other Barbara,

      I read all your comments and compile the questions, so you can ask book questions whenever you want 🙂

  114. Thank you for giving me something to look forward to! It’s been a hard two years working in healthcare and your writing really brightens my day! It’s so easy to get lost in your stories so I can clear my spirit and get ready for another day!

  116. Whatever else I was expecting, I was not expecting this. A true and profound life lesson. Knowledge is the product of labour.

  118. I am in awe. There aren’t many authors who would attack a sphinx with a chicken and make it believable. Thoroughly trounce that sphinx with that chicken. Give it a moral. And leave the reader feeling smacked between the eyes with a rolled up newspaper. Pity the sphinx.

  120. I am forever in love with Scholarly Space Chickens.

    Need a sphinx kicked off Baha-char? First Scholar has your back with his tassel of doom.

  121. A dressing down from a Koo-ko! I love it. I love Friday snippets, they always make my weekends better. Thank you.

  122. And, just like that, I’m no longer annoyed with the koo-kos for almost blowing up the Inn. Lovely.

    Now, what’s up with Karron????

  124. I love the koo-ko! While their physical appearance seems weak and silly to us, the power and beauty of their minds is fantastic. The First Scholar very ably shows his students the value of what they are devoting their lives to–the search for and sharing of knowledge. We should all have a clearer understanding of the value of such.

  126. Somehow I was also not expecting absolute fearlessness and a complete willingness for self-sacrifice from the koo ko.

    The koo ko delight me. They absolutely do.

  127. Hot diggety! I knew that post about Karron from back in July was about Wilmos soon as I read he was missing!

    And -oh yeah!- Space Chicken Nose Boops FTW!! (Rolls around howling with laughter!)
    Hey can y’all send one of them Koo-kos over to deal with MY cat next time she’s being attitudinal? No wait, NVM, they’d just have to move in. *Sniggers*

  128. Coming home from a morning of exams that confirmed I have now lost most of my hearing, this was a wonderful pick-me-up.
    Thank you (again)

    • I hope you realize that most things people say are not worth listening to anyway. My father-in-law has been removing his hearing aids for years because he can’t stand listening “to the utter nonsense most people utter.” Please try to look on the bright side. I’m grateful for audio books because I’m losing my eyesight.

  130. I just love this series, I can’t get enough of Innkeeper. thanks again for another awesome installment, go Space Chickens!

  131. I thought for a second that First Scholar would twist the Sphinx’ ear and march him back to the tree to get a proper schooling. The sphinx might then also acquire a different frame of reference and behave oddly (for a sphinx).

  132. This sets the bar for excellence. It is a great story combined with a moral. As a former teacher, I loved the message to not be lazy in gaining knowledge If you could repurpose this story as a children’s book (while building a little background knowledge about the sphinx) I think you’d find success in a completely new market.

  133. Olasard getting booped?

    Andrews family, even if I didn’t already know you had cats, I’d know now. Only the great Finger of Boop can stop a cat in mid-step, leaving him to ponder what happened, and how something so small, yet so mighty, could wield such power.

  136. I absolutely love it. While we enjoyed “space chickens” as the butt of many humorous scenes in an earlier book, this clearly shows WHY they are revered for their knowledge and they could clearly throw down in a battle of intergalactic Trivial Pursuit. With House Andrews, every character is given a moment to shine and have multiple facets to their character. No one is a stereotype or a cardboard cutout to be a vehicle for cheap jokes. I am always really impressed with HA.

    • Excellent comment. And I, too, have been guilty of sniggering at the Space Chickens, but I now have more respect for them.

  137. Love the First Scholar’s two assistants, with his headdress and his stick! I can just picture them running after him all the time. (As they have done before, in Sweep with Me…)

  138. What a Joy! The First Scholar just using this as a teaching moment and flipping the table on the Sphinx! What a delight! Not good for Wilmos to be on Karron, we already know that isn’t a good place for carbon lifeforms to be at…

    Hope Ruby Fever edits are going more kindly for you.

  139. Wow!!!! First Scholar absolutely kicks ass!

    I want to be him when I grow up. And I hope I never run into a sphinx, I would never have gotten it, I never read Bartrans and I’m not much for classics.

    Can’t wait for next Friday!

    • 😉 Psssst. No one has read Bartran’s. House A do make up stuff every once in a while hehe 😛

      • And here I was planning to check the public library catalog to see if they could get it for me. Interlibrary loans are terrific! In this case, I guess it would be inter-reality library loans….

  142. So good! I love the dichotomy of the space chickens – they look so ridiculous, but are so intelligent and deeply philosophical. Awesome how this got turned around on the sphinx and he got schooled!

  143. YOU GO, SPACE CHICKEN!!! WOO-HOO!!!!! Um, er…..sorry, got a little carried away for a moment there. ☺️ Thank you for a great chapter!

  145. Oh, I just adore the Koo-Kos! And the young sphinx, young enough to think he knows everything, ha ha.

    The bit about the toilet-paper holders made me laugh out loud, despite the seriousness of their task.

  150. I thought that the answer was “ignorance”, but “silence” does make more sense.
    Plus, “booped”, heh heh. 😀

  151. Thank you, I’m clinically depressed and it felt wonderful not to suffer for the few minutes it took to read the chanter. You’re very generous.

  152. Your story, coming at the end of a difficult week, was so very welcome. There is no therapy, no medicine, that works such healing magic as a good story… with space chickens. Thank you.

  153. Thank you so much!!! Also, never mess with space chickens, for they are smarter than you and don’t put up with your shit.

  155. If I was still teaching, I would save up some of the First Scholars insights to share with my not so enthusiastic students. Knowledge is power, more so today than ever. I love your books! #happyfriday

  156. Eeeeek love this! I am so excited you guys are writing another in this series. It’s one of my favs.

  157. Thank you.
    Thank you for putting this in the chapter. As a librarian who has had to fight for certain books to remain in a middle school library, I dare say we all need to remember this: “Such is the existence of a scholar, forever seeking knowledge and defending one’s right to obtain and share it while perils await at every turn.” Well said First Scholar!

    • Keep fighting for all of us, Shan. And for our kidlets (regardless of their age, they will remain forever our babies).

      (The BDH and wider Readers are behind you, holding you up in your fight)

  160. You might change a lot of things during editing, but I’m enjoying this one immensely. And I’ve just reread all Inkeeper books these last couple of weeks and this story is just the cherry on top.

  161. My husband kept talking while I was trying to read this. AITA for asking him to pause his diatribe until I finished?

  162. The dunes of Karron are born of electrified sand and methane winds. We must find him before the planet swallows him whole.
    Innkeeper Chronicles
    July 15, 2021 by Ilona

    I knew “Karron” rang a bell. Just had to find it.

  164. Dear House Andrews, this is my sincere thanks to you. I have been very ill this past week and unable to do anything other than be miserable and listen to Kate Daniels battle her way through 10 books. Again. It is not the first, or even the fifth time I have listened to this series. When I need a friend to get me through a hard time, I turn to Kate, Gertrude, or Nevada and her sisters to keep me company. Please know that all your hard work is very much appreciated.

    • Relatable. Rereads (replays?) of favorite series/authors when sick help me cope, too. Sending you good healing vibes and many “spoons” (energy markers for us chronically-ill types).

      Innkeeper is one of my favorites and definitely good company for sick days.

  165. Responding to today’s chapter, Dina’s own magic is strong (when she’s at Gertrude Hunt, anyway) but it always helps that she can call on powerful friends when needed.

    Responding to the previous, “thank you” post on this blog, it is we who thank you. Your books are always honest efforts. I have never read one of your books and put it down feeling that you didn’t really feel up to writing that book but a contract is a contract so you went through the motions. We see the results of talent plus honest, hard work. We salute you!

  167. Aw, I am now even more fond of the First Scholar. He reminds me of one of my better professors…though that prof did not, in fact, look like a floofy chicken person. Though the mental image of the floofy space chicken lecturing a sphinx was great.

  168. Today’s my birthday, and this the most awesome birthday present: space chickens recording the scolding of a sphinx on their rolls of toilet paper.

    *sigh* It’s all so lovely.

  170. Thank you for another great chapter! Best way to start the weekend… especially when sick and in pain in bed. Good books are like chicken soup or balm to the soul. Helps distract from everything else being terrible. So thanks again.

      • Thanks! Haha, that made me laugh. “Koo ko soup” for the soul! 😅

        I’m sure Orro would know 64 great recipes for it, but he’d never make it at Dina’s inn because it would “harm her soul…” or something like that.

        Wasn’t there an incident where she thought Orro had cooked [draziri? feathery assassins], so she stormed into the kitchen in a fury, but he’d made a [roast duck or cornish hen?] and was super mad at her for assuming he’d cooked sentient [albeit dead] aliens against her wishes?…

        LOL, I bet Caldenia would love koo ko soup.

        • Candenia has probably enjoyed it roasted, served with a delicious lemon sauce, delicately picking the bones clean as she casually planned the strategic assination of one (or several of) her less interesting guests.

  173. The First Scholar’s speech on knowledge is beautiful. It should be enshrined on all places of education.

  174. Oh my god! It just hit me on the reread. Olasard is just a cat! His previous owner would have been SN! Sebastian North! Or Olasard is like the Marvel Flerken, belonging to an alien Sebastian North. Right?

  175. Best Teachable Moment™ ever!
    I’m also keen to drop Ilona’s excellent Plato quote into my next mandatory course and see what kind of Learnable Moment™ ensues …

  176. Thank you for another great instalment! You never disappoint.
    I love space chickens!
    It’s Saturday morning here in Australia with blue sky and sunshine.

  178. Metaphorical nose-booping of a giant kitten by a lecturing space chicken! I love it. Innkeeper serials are a wonderful opposition to pandemic anxiety and gloom.

  179. Thank you House Andrews for another wonderful snippet! Your description of the Koo-ko is so lovely to read 😊

  180. Oooooooh!!!! Dina and the Elder and Sean save the day—and the wenchwolf who has the hots for Sean! Loved it! And the teaching moment is awesome! I fell on the ice from the umpteenth freezing rain on the end of a snowstorm this winter here in Maine, partially tore the rotator cuff, so it’s been a hard painful week—Ilona and Gordon, you made me laugh so much! Thank you for V the joy—needed it so much!💜🥰💕💖❄️

  181. I so wish that these chapter picture headings made it into the books– at least for Ebook. They’re so great!

    • I have to double check but I’m pretty sure today’s koo ko image made it into Sweep with Me 🙂

  182. Today the idea of crawling into bed, waving a white flag, and retreating from everything was so tempting. Who knew catatonia could be appealing? I am currently trying to deal with my own severe health issues, and also those of my father who lives locally, and my father-in-law who lives hundreds of miles away. Then, I saw you had posted the next offering in the form of Chapter 4, part 2!! I couldn’t retreat from the world without knowing the outcome of the riddle contest with the Sphynx!! I really enjoyed the space-travelling, philosopher/scholar chickens staying at Getrude Hunt in the previous Innkeeper book, and had to see what they were up to now! You didn’t disappoint. I think I might even have cracker a small smile as I read. The First Scholar was magnificent, headdress and all! I know that this is work for you, but it is a needed and much appreciated mental time off for me – pure delight. Letting everything go, while immersing myself in your entertaining work, helped to shift the load so that it somehow wasn’t as heavy when I had to take it back up again at the end of the chapter. Thank you both for using your power for good, not evil! HOUSE ANDREWS is MAGNIFICENT!!

    I hope you, and your kids, are all doing well, and stay healthy and happy. I wish the same for all of the BDH.

  183. I do so wonder what the female werewolf is thinking. This must be quite eye opening for her. I imagine Sean is also a bit stunned. I can see the sphinx slinking home to its teacher and trying to avoid telling what happened. Maybe this is something like the Merchants do for their unready youth. Show not tell. I shall never look at a roll of toilet paper in the same way again. I so needed this laugh. Showed the SO the picture and got a very strange look. He definitely does not read the same things that I do.

    • I also wanted to know Sean’s reaction to seeing the Koo-ko again.

      Who would have thought: werewolf rescued by space chickens.

      I love it.

  185. Ahahahaha, he was “space chickened” 😀 😀 😀
    Wonderful !

    “More *breaks glass*”
    – Thor

  187. Amazing start of the new book!
    Wishing you all the inspiration in the world (and then some more).

    Hope all troubles of the year happened in the first month.

    Warm greetings from Norway and Russia

  189. These absolutely make my Friday! Thank you so much!

    Mod R – question for the pile (unless they’ve already answered it, in which case would you mind pointing me to the right place?)

    I’m curious as to the process for choosing audio book narrators. Does HA get to choose who the narrator is for all of their books? Do they like being consistent with the narrator for a certain character (like Renée Raudman for KD and Dina)? Do they get to review/edit after the recordings are made?

    I love listening and re-listening to KD and Inkeeper on audio and I’ve always been curious.

  190. Wooooooooo! More riddles AND a Space Chicken philosophy lesson

    This is my favorite chapter, though I will happily change my mind if needed

    Yaayyyyy! Thank you for making the end of a long day in a long week eminently enjoyable

  192. Came here for the Space Chickens and got an amazing speech about knowledge. Thank you house Andrews!!

    I think this is my favorite chapter so far.

  193. Thank you for this. I did guess the riddles correctly so, hopefully, I haven’t lost my brain function (yet). You make Fridays fun and I appreciate it.

  194. I love the Scholar he underpins everything that us missing from today’s educational system, when I was growing up we had Teacher like him that Made up think made us seek the answers instead of being fed the pablem of the everyday masses.

  195. “You are nothing but an allegory” has just become the best riposte ever in our household… 🙂

  199. Love this post! Thank you!!
    Fridays go so well with Space Chickens 🐔. I wanted to like and +1 to so many comments. Well said to many of you.

  200. I have looked forward to this all week. My reward for getting all of my work done today, including cleaning my house, was to read this chapter. It was worth the wait and the work. I loved the twist. I knew it was silence but I wanted to see how the Wise One would be in this situation.

  201. I hope you don’t get tired of this, but Thank You So Very Much! I appreciate you sharing this with us and then I share it with family who are all now members of the BDH.

    I really wish I had a smidgeon of your talent to express how much I love your writing and how I so appreciate you sharing all your stories with us. Somehow, “Thank You” seems inadequate. I love Innkeeper Friday so much that my first thought today was “New Chapter!” And I thought that before coffee. I don’t even know my own name before coffee😊

  202. Posting a chapter a week is like a slow striptease: the anticipation leaves you hungry for more.

  203. Sometimes I forget that new Innkeeper is posted on Friday and each time I remember, it’s like getting a present. Thank you for your writing and bringing me joy . I especially loved First Scholar, the space chickens and how you ended this chapter leaving us wanting more.

  204. Yay! Thank you! And great way to answer the riddle! Also kind of a hilarious allusion to the chicken-egg question. Which comes first: the object or the reference?

  206. Go First Scholar! This is so cinematic. Can’t you picture them all running down the alley? Loving this SOTH so far.

  207. One word-awesome!!! Also I did not comment on the sword master story; I loved it. It is intriguing, unique, filled with sorrow and the opportunity for redemption. I don’t think your publishers understand your passionate readers thirst for more, just tastes like more.

  210. I cannot begin to express my glee at opening up the blog and seeing a space chicken. 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀

  211. I LOVE these Friday serials. I can’t wait to find out how Dina and Sean will manage to “undoom” Wilmos

  213. Love the First Scholar and the reactions of the Sphinx. I also love riddling contests. When I taught Oedipus Rex to my senior students, I used to introduce the unit by dividing the kids into teams and having a riddling contest. Lots of fun. Stephen King said in his Gunslinger series that riddles teach people to think around corners. I’m with him.

  217. They’re so fun! Metaphorical booping! I can’t wait to see the dumb wolf have to tell the Koo-Kob she owes them one.

  218. I LOVE the idea that this tiny bird is facing down a giant cat and triumphing- all through knowledge. Verily the scroll truly IS mightier than the claw.

  219. A riddle game with severe results if not answered correctly! It takes me back to a dark place in a mountain where a hobbit was playing for his life. What an enjoyable beginning to a tale. We will be anxiously awaiting the next installment.

  222. The illustrations for this series are superb. They truly enhance my enjoyment of the stories. Bravo, fine artist!

    And above all thank you to the authorlords for the fantastic stories and your generosity with sharing your self published works in series like this!!

  227. I’m going to be repeating “space chickens” under my breath all week. And I may embarrass myself with a reference to the First Scholar in Bible lectionary study tomorrow… would be a treat to see the seminary professor’s face…

  228. I would have for sure died because my ADHD mind read that riddle in a whole different way.

    “Say my name, and I will disappear.”

    To me this looked like an unanswerable question because no one knew what the name of the sphynx was and any attempt would yield a wrong answer. Until the smart person guessed that the answer wasn’t the name of the sphynx but “MY NAME”. I completely forgot that the goal wasn’t trying to get the sphynx to disappear but to answer where Wilmer went. Again, ADHD forgetting things.

    So, when the Koo Ko said that the answer had been given by being silent, I was totally lost.

    Take note, this is a prime example of how a person with ADHD or neurodivergent thinking will miss what should be an easy thing. LOL! – the supposedly easy answer but missed by a mile.

  234. ok, so.
    this. is. hilarious. :)))

    the epic battle of the cocky freshman sphinx versus the tenured faculty koo-ko. perfect :))))

    sometimes i refresh so much on fridays, i’m a bit afraid you might decide i’m a ddos atrack, and lock me out for good- but really, who can blame me?

    Whether it’s extremely hilarious space comedy or extremely very (very) dark non romantic fantasy, your stuff is the best stuff.

    thank you. so much.

  237. …..koo-ko scholars cooed …..

    I really loved reading this particular line for no good reason….and Spaaaaceeeee Chickennnns….!

    Any other book favorites around the next corner…….? (Hint: I’m thinking “chiiiiiiiiiiii”!)

    • Also…. is it just me when I think puzzles are more like mind gymnastics ….. …. and how well I would do depends on when you ask…..

  238. When a pandemic seems to have trapped you in a endless loop of dreary choices, and a north wind wild with ice and snow has trapped you in your home, who do you turn to?

    Ilona

    You truly do make the world a nicer place to visit.

  239. I both love and hate serial releases. It’s something to look forward to and the Innkeeper series is one of my all time favorites. But, now I’m on tenterhooks for the next episode. So, taking some koo-ko advice, I’ll accept the tip of the story iceberg and humbly await the details of Wilmos’s doom from the Storymasters.

    P.S. When I read the last sentence [DOOMED!] I couldn’t help hearing the old hollywood falling tones “dun-dun-DUN” — hear my personal at favorite “90Speed Dun Dun Dun V5 From Sound Effect” at https://www.fesliyanstudios.com/royalty-free-sound-effects-download/dun-dun-dun-248.

  242. I keep rereading this post. I love First Scholar! “Let us try again. Reach deeper.” Brilliant!

  243. Hello,
    At the same time it is torture and satisfaction to read this part of Dina&Sean’s new story little by little. Let more come. I love that Koo-ko are super smart and studious and at the same time look like chickens (on earth they say they are dumb animals). Just delicious…
    Tchau!

  244. Not only was the story superb but the illustration of the Koo ko is too. What a wonderful way to start the day. Thank you.

  245. Ha! I got it right! But then the First Scholar exceeded my knowledge. Huzzah for the koo-ko, who save the day!

  247. This was so great! Loved the koo-ko! I can’t answer riddles for anything! maybe I should find that book!

  248. Contented sigh…..
    You have no idea how much I’ve missed your weekly stories. I didn’t know you started them again until I happened across the post on FB for this chapter. This truly has made my day, month & new year.

    Just…..thank you!

  249. Just had a D&D session last weekend that involved riddles, so my brain was ready for round 2! 😂 Did better than I expected, actually! Thank you for the update!

  250. I love it when side characters, who you don’t think of as significant, gets their moment to shine and show how they’re also awesome, just in a different way.

  251. Thank you, Ilona Andrews for the post. My Mother could never understand why her children has to read “classics”. Dad on the other hand, fully supported so we read. Then came his questions. Naturally we all made A’s on school work. Nothing like having a professional mechanical engineer who wanted to be an astronaut….

    I read thru comments today since presently snowed in here in NC. I will have to tell my siblings who are school teachers that they are professional child torturers. Bwah ha ha ha.

    One reads Ilona Andrews books among many others and the other only reads westerns. Shrug. But they don’t read blogs. Sigh

  252. I would love to be able to audit one of the First Scholar’s classes. It would be way cool. (I am a child of the ’70’s, my slang terms are archaic….!🙃)

  253. Thank you!!

    Read this first thing yesterday morning, before coffee (although after feeding the animals, because they are in charge). It was a crazy, crazy day, but despite the insanity I would randomly grin and chuckle at the image of the First Scholar smacking down the Sphinx.

  254. Also wanted to thank you for the First Scholar’s “Do not change the subject” response.

    Why do I not say this to inappropriate people? I should say this to people. I am totally going to say this to people.

    This is going to be incredibly useful. Many of my conversations are about to go much differently.

    • Yes, as a certified member of BDH no permission needed.

      That, and happy dance Fridays…. no permission needed either.

  260. Dear Mod :
    I was looking for the snippets about the new place in RF. I particularly wanted to read the “Good Provider” one. It is gone. Is that because it’s in the book? I just finished listening to EB on my audible, and I wanted to read that snippet. I am pouty about this because it is colder than “a witch’s tit” to quote my dear grandmother, and my nose is constantly running, and it is not Covid, so no quarantining with whiskey and a good book, it’s just what happens every year when you live in the lovely Finger Lakes of NY.

  261. What a twist, who knew the kookoo’s answer about knowledge would be so noble. I’ll never think of them as silly birds again.

  262. I am beyond happy that you’re giving us weekly installments again. I love your writing style, so it’s wonderful to be able to read something every week. I look forward to it and if I’m reading it Friday night, my SO knows not to interrupt me. Thank you!

  265. So enjoying reading these installments! I’m working my way through the KD series after having finished all the available HL and Innkeeper books. I just can’t get enough of the fictional worlds of House Andrews. Thanks for sharing your creative labors with us! They are so wonderful. 🙂

  266. I am the mother of an 8 month old handful of chaos. I wait, sometimes days, for 10 minutes of uninterrupted quiet to read your newest post. Your writing brings so much light to my life. Thank you for what you do!

  268. Loving this so much. Although she missed a trick not asking why Wilmos had been dragged away there or even why was he guarding the entrance.
    Go the First Scholar.

    Thought I’d add, based on me telling my Husband about you playing Satisfactory he got the game long enough after the fact that he forgot about the goat tentacle thing. He encountered the goat tentacle thing when it snuck up behind him while he was looking at a giant, magic, glowing slug monster. The goat tentacle thing also ignited some hornets and their nest. All of whom flew around in a miffed cloud of individual fireballs, before deciding to bombard him to share the pain. All of course while they were still a blazing mass of toasty anger. All in all rather unexpected. As were the fact poison gas termites.

  269. This is the first time I have read the Innkeeper series this way and I have to say that I love it and I hate it. I love it because I love Dina and Sean and their stories AND I hate it because I read fast and I want it all NOW! haha. Thank you for being one (well, 2) of my favorite authors! I love your books and appreciate your sense of humor and storytelling.

  270. Yay, I guessed right! Yay for the awesome, scholarly smack-down! Now I want a koo-ko tassel for a pendant, or something. Because even in COVID-era, a bejeweled headdress would be a bit much.

  272. So cute! I loved the First Scholar the first time the BDH met him and he grows more adorable with each reading. I would read a book just about him. Thank you for the joy you bring

  274. Super late to the party, but my two under-fives both have covid right now, as do I after three days of taking care of their adorable, miserable, disease-spewing selves, (apparently a booster is no match for a 7 month old sneezing directly into your eyeballs!) and I just wanted to say thank you for the only thing that has made me smile during this whole horrible moment. Your work brings so much joy and I am so grateful that you share it with us.

  275. I love the Koo Koo First Scholar! He is simply amazing. How he told the sphinx off, banging his stick on the ground to get the sphinx to finally answer Sean, and telling the sphinx that his teacher would undoubtedly be deeply disappointed in him, Priceless!!!! I wonder why Dina’s first thought was Wilmos was doomed? And I cannot wait to see the female werewolf eat crow and apologize to Dina. More than likely she will storm off and think of another monumentally stupid way to “prove herself” to Sean. Thank you House Andrews!

    • Karron is the sand/methane? world. Inhospitable is putting it mildly. I think Wilmos may be dead already, based on the description given previously. One of the BDH dug up the reference.

      The dunes of Karron are born of
      electrified sand and methane winds.
      Carbon life is not welcome there.
      We must find him
      before the planet swallows him whole.

  276. You have the best author blog! No others even come close. The Innkeeper series is just the icing on the cake and is so entertaining. After the last few chapters here, I decided I needed to go back and reread the books. They are definitely holding up to multiple rereads. Your books and shorter piece on the blog are the ultimate in escapist enjoyment ( I hope that makes sense).Thank you! You’ve written about how draining the last year+ has been and I can only hope you find health and energy, along with renewed pleasure in life and work this year.

  277. Hahahaha the Koo-ko are so funny 😂😂😂 and the sphinx is so shocked 😂😂😂
    It made laugh, thank you
    Loved the speach on knowledge too (even if it also made me laugh because… koo-ko 😂)

  282. Thanks for another Innkeeper book and posting it for everyone to see. We can all use a little more magic in our day.

  283. Seeing the space chicken picture makes me smile. The sparkle in his beady eye brings a glow to my pandemic shriveled heart.

    Love the segment and glorious authors also, of course.

  284. I’ve been slacking reading the blog lately. This is my favorite series so what a fabulous surprise to find 4 new chapters to read!!!

    • Hey Kathleen,

      I will assume you are referring to the preorder for Ruby Fever, since Sweep of the Heart is not on pre-order anywhere yet 🙂

      As far as we know, a Nook preorder *should* exist, House Andrews are aware that it does not appear and are chasing with the responsible parties

  286. Mod R,

    Can you tell me if any of the artwork is available as prints? I’m particularly interested in a “Lees” and one of the Gertrude Hunt (mansard roofs!) if it exists??

    • Welcome Pat!
      If you like the blog, you’ll love the books;
      every series they’ve written is binge-worthy!

  289. Sphinx gotta start somewhere – what happens to the ones who prefer shop class and band over Philosophy and Classics?

  290. I just love your writing. I am always left with a bubble of laughter in my tummy and a deep sense of satisfaction after reading something you wrote. The space chickens. Space. Chickens. Ahhh! All is well with the world.

  292. The First Scholar’s monologue Hit. The. Spot. As a scientist in daily pursuit of knowledge, I was cheering and laughing.

  293. I’ve always lived in books. Yours are wonderful, absorbing worlds. I think this, written by Julia Donaldson expresses it for me.
    “I opened a book and in I strode.
    Now nobody can find me.
    I’ve left my chair, my house, my road.
    My town and my world behind me.
    I’m wearing the cloak, I’ve slipped on the ring,
    I’ve swallowed the magic potion.
    I’ve fought with a dragon, dined with a king
    And dived in a bottomless ocean.
    I opened a book and made some friends.
    I shared their tears and laughter.
    And followed their road with its bumps and bends.
    To the happily ever after.
    I finished my book and out I came.
    The cloak can no longer hide me.
    My chair and my house are just the same,
    But I have a book inside me.’

    And thank you for all of those worlds.

  295. Remember the previous post—

    “We Must Find Him…

    Innkeeper Chronicles
    July 15, 2021 by Ilona

    Giant planet in space with words The dunes of Karron are born of electrified sand and methane winds. We must find him before the planet swallows him whole.”

    The plot will thicken…

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