One thing about the Kethem series that I like is that it has classic fantasy elements, but there’s an explanation for them beyond, “well, D&D has elves” or “Lord of the Rings has elves.” You really could have called them anything you wanted, and if you did, someone might say “huh, tall, fair, blond, startlingly homogeneous humanoids, sounds like elves,” but in fact they really are just tall, fair, blond humanoids, not Sindarin elves. Calling them elves gives players some context, fills in a lot of background that you’d otherwise have to spell out, but the four races that inhabit the Kethem universe are their own unique selves.
Part of that was around the world building, where I did want the players to find out the secrets of Kethem as part of the campaign. What caused the explosion that ended the first empire? Why are the high orcs (Ohulhug) so psychotically evil? What happened to the great trolls? Who is the mysterious group or person who’s opposing the elves?
Not everything in the books is what I had originally envisioned. What works for a D&D campaign doesn’t necessary work for a fantasy series. But the core elements were all there to create the Kethem universe that has slowly unfolded in the last four books.
Book five is underway, and that will close out the Kethem series. There’s a lot of other things to explore which I didn’t have time to fit into the five-book narrative, and perhaps there will be other short stories or stand alone novels set in Kethem.
Only time will tell!