It’s been a while since I talked about how Auckland Allies is going, and last time I did, I speculated that AA4 might be out in the first half of 2021.

Clearly, it’s not. That’s because I decided in the end to hold onto it while I worked on Book 5, and then go back and pull both of them together into mutual coherence and probably release them close together, because these are the two books that complete the series.

I’m pressing on through AA5, which had the working title of Museum Heist, but as it turns out will need a different title, because the more I write it, the less heisty it becomes. At the moment I’m thinking Memorial Museum, because the museum is still an important setting; the characters just don’t pull a heist there. Or maybe War Memorial. The museum in question is the Auckland War Memorial Museum, and the fact that it’s a war memorial will be relevant to the wrap-up.

I’m trying to keep the two-word titles for continuity with the rest of the series: Auckland Allies, Ghost Bridge, and Unsafe Harbour. At the moment, AA4 is Wolf Park.

I don’t know how long it’s going to take me to finish. I have several elements that I’ve introduced but not developed, and I’m only at 39,000 words and already bearing down on the climax, so after I’ve “finished” the first draft I’ll still have a good bit of expansion to do. It’s urban fantasy, so it should move quickly, but the best urban fantasy is also about the characters dealing with stuff that’s personal to them, and while I have a good many scenes (where things happen), I don’t have as much in the way of sequels (where the characters reflect on what happened, how it relates to their goals, and what they plan to try next). Honestly, AA4 could probably do with some more of that too.

I’ve had some plot issues, too, and still have a couple of things that I’m puzzling over as to exactly how to bring them about in a natural way that flows with the rest of the story, and how much to reveal before the climax. I do have a reasonably clear idea of what happens at and after the climax, though. Worst case, I’ll go ahead and write that and then join the pieces together afterwards.

That 39,000 words doesn’t include what I think of as the Obligatory Pigeon Scene, which I have drafted but temporarily cut out because of a change in the plot. Pigeon is the craft name of the minor practitioner who acts as a fixer and a clearing-house for rumour and information in the small but intense magical community of Auckland; he’s a scuzzy little guy who hangs out in a run-down bar. In my daydreams, where Taika Waititi makes the books into a series of films, Pigeon is his character. Each of the books includes a scene in which the Allies go and intimidate the pusillanimous Pigeon into giving them some information that they need, and this one will be no exception, though he’ll be less helpful on this occasion. For some reason, the bad guys have stopped confiding in him, maybe because he’s totally unreliable and always tells everything he knows to the Allies as soon as they look at him funny.

I’ve introduced some new characters, too, who were minor and unnamed in AA4 but in AA5 are in training to become the next generation of the Allies in what may be a follow-up series. I have no definite plans, but I’m keeping the door open. And Kat, the owner of the New Age shop, who’s been a minor character in previous books, gets to become a little more in AA5. My dream movie casting includes giving this part to my actress friend Sarah James, who I think would be excellent for it.

For various reasons (not least continuity with the earlier books), these books are still set in 2016. I am bringing to them, though, a post-2016 reflection on people’s relationship with reality and truth. The New Age believers, who have figured in supporting roles before, come more to the fore in AA5, and I’m quite explicit in saying that their relationship with facts is a problem, but that they are, at the same time, wonderful people who you’d want by your side in difficult times.

Another aspect of post-2016 sensibility is that the Guardians, an organization whose mission is to protect the Secret of the existence of magic, are throwing their weight around, but the main characters are trying to convince them that that mission is outdated. Some people (such as the New Agers) believe in magic already and will continue to do so regardless of the evidence; others won’t believe in it no matter what you show them; and those in the middle won’t (as the Guardians have traditionally feared) start suddenly burning practitioners if they discover that they exist. That’s maybe a bit naïve, since there are always people who will lash out at anyone who is different, but they’re right that the great majority of people will be cool with it.

This book is unlike the others in that most of it is the Allies attempting to be proactive in preparing for the inevitable next confrontation with the evil Ennead, rather than reacting to the Ennead’s latest attempt to take over Auckland. They face plenty of obstacles along the way, but there aren’t any magical fights until later in the book. I’m mildly concerned about that in terms of pacing, but I think in the fifth book I can get away with it, as long as there’s plenty of other conflict. And that climax ought to be worth waiting for, both as a spectacular set-piece and also since I also want to use it to call back to the first book and show how much the Allies have grown and developed.

Overall, I’m cautiously optimistic, though I’m not going to make any foolish predictions about when it’s likely to be finished. I’m starting a major new project at work soon, which may well absorb a lot of my creative energy. Meanwhile, rest assured, progress is happening, and there should eventually be a conclusion to the Allies’ story.