On the String (The Magic Crystals #6)
On the String
‘On the String’ is the sixth and penultimate instalment in the Magic Crystals series. It picks up immediately after the conclusion of ‘The Cloak of Steel’, at a time when many believe the war is over, although John and some of his friends have misgivings. They are quickly justified when a former ally steals all the usable magic in the world and takes almost everyone prisoner, with only John and a few lucky friends managing to escape his net. It is up to them to be the entire resistance now, all the while knowing that they are on a magical string which could be yanked at any time.
Work began on MC6 in late 2012 and concluded in early 2016. Stephen Hayes had to overcome a number of writer's blocks throughout due to personal circumstances, as well as the additional stress of finally being a published author and having to spend a lot more time on activities he didn't particularly enjoy, such as marketing. It was edited in early 2017 and was expected to be published in 2019, however for financial reasons, this was pushed back to 2020.
As with the previous two volumes, MC6 was considered to be too ‘full-on’ to be consumed by the adolescent audience to which the books were originally targetted. Hayes decided to published two separate editions of the book: A clean edit edition, mass produced; and the original explicit edition, only available through StephenHayesOnline.com. The differences between the editions can be read about here, and they can both be purchased here. By the end of the year, the paperback edition had also been published and can be purchased here.
Work on the audio book edition of MC6, read by Nick Flint, began immediately after the MC5 audio book was finished. It took about six months and was completed in November 2020. It was published not long after the MC6 Ebook and print versions and can be purchased here.