The Nod/Wells Timelines

I've talked quite a bit over the years about the ways that my books directly and indirectly relate to one another despite being self-contained stories specifically designed to be consumed in whatever order a reader might prefer but I've never really visualized that in a tangible way... until now.

Thus, I present the first publicly-available version of "The Nod/Wells Timelines," which not only illustrates the ways that my first five novel-length books correlate, but additionally offers some insights into how the next two releases I plan to announce in 2023 and 2024 will fit into that structure.

As my published works become more plentiful and widely read, I'm increasingly asked questions like "What order should I read these in?" and the fact is that there's no "correct" answer. In my mind, it would be just as valid to read everything in the order of its publication, or following the above timelines, or even reversing or randomizing them. Granted, that would undoubtedly provide a very different experience as readers would encounter characters, events, settings and other narrative elements in significantly-different ways that would almost-certainly alter their perceptions of them but I see those potential variations as part of the fun inherent in this project's unique construction.

Having said that, I will list the books below in their order of publication for anyone interested in contrasting that with the above timelines:

• "The Big Men" (2017)
• "309" (2018)
• "Shards" (2020) - includes "Academic Displacement" (originally published in 2019) 
• "The Nemesis Effect" (2021)
• "Big Man Down" (2022)
• TBA in 2023
• TBA in 2024 - will include "Mr. Perkins Goes to Hell" (originally published in 2021)

Hopefully, everyone finds this information helpful, or at least interesting, but in any case, the thing I really want to emphasize is that (as far as I'm concerned) there is no right or wrong way to read these books in terms of sequence and readers should always feel free to come to their own conclusions about that. Of course, this being the internet, at least some folks will undoubtedly feel compelled to share their own thoughts about the subject, and various other aspects of the things I've created, but again, I feel that's part of the fun.

Until next time, happy reading, everybody!

Michael Shotter's Amazon Author Page