Unofficial Craft Sequence Timeline (UPDATED 2023)
Updated with new information from DEAD COUNTRY.
When I first read the Craft Sequence I, like many others, got a bit confused by the timeline and chronology. We’ve discussed the chronology and reading order before, but that didn’t shed light on exactly what span of time is covered by the books.
But now I’ve taken advantage of my many hundreds of thousands of words of notes to figure out not only a timeframe but as many character ages across said timeframe as possible.
There is a big world timeline floating around in the ether / German editions of the books (which I translated shortly after writing this article). Gladstone said in a Kaffeeklatsch that he would share the English version of said timeline - and, who knows, it might include the books’ timeframe and supersede this article.
I pulled together this from references in the text, but this is not Word of Gladstone, so take with a pinch of salt and feel free to comment any inaccuracies.
For reference, I’m referring to Last First Snow as year 0, in a sort of Star Wars naming of pre and post eras. This does not match with the actual years referenced in aforementioned world timeline, as listed in my translation from German here.
This timeline also doesn’t include the games in much detail, but they take place in the 40-50 years between the end of the God Wars and the start of the books.
As always please note that while this isn’t spoilerific, this is definitely not a spoiler-free article. Proceed with caution if you haven’t read all the books.
Craft Sequence Timeframe
We can work out the span of the series through references scattered throughout the books. I’ve included page numbers so you can look them up, but inconveniently my Kindle edition of Ruin of Angels doesn’t have page numbers, just ‘locations’; instead I’ve used chapters references for that instead.
So, where do we start and finish the series (so far)?
“Caleb thought back seventeen years to the Skittersill Rising.”
We know, therefore, that Last First Snow took place 17 years before Two Serpents Rise.
“...the last six years, serpents over DL and an outbreak in AC, bond crises…”
Two Serpents Rise therefore takes place 6 years before Ruin of Angels.
“...the memory crystal she had brought home from Alikand two years before.”
And this shows us that Dead Country takes place two years after Ruin of Angels, giving us a 25 year span for the currently published novels.
We can figure out where the other books fit in the middle through a few time references:
Full Fathom Five (page 59) tells us that the “Kos situation” – the events of Three Parts Dead – happened two years ago, and that the Twin Serpents Group was founded four years ago (page 126), an event that happened at the end of Two Serpents Rise. Two Serpents Rise and Full Fathom Five take place over quite a few months, but let’s pretend they don’t so we can be clearer in timeline.
Four Roads Cross takes place a year after Three Parts Dead, which we know thanks to a helpfully time-specific quote:
“And in this manner she passed a nervous year, until Gabby Jones spoiled everything.”
Finally, Izza says in Ruin of Angels that two years had passed since they last mourned a God (chapter 33), telling us it’s been two years since the start of Full Fathom Five. Kai says that it’s been a year since she was out of hospital (possibly the end of Full Fathom Five?), but we’re going to ignore that the same way we ignore that Fathom and Serpents take place over many months each. This is an approximate timeline after all.
THUS
Last First Snow SEVENTEEN YEARS before Two Serpents Rise.
Two Serpents Rise FOUR YEARS before Full Fathom Five
Three Parts Dead TWO YEARS before Full Fathom Five
Four Roads Cross ONE YEAR after Three Parts Dead
Ruin of Angels SIX YEARS after Two Serpents Rise
Dead Country TWO YEARS after Ruin of Angels
And I made a graphic for ease (remember the Star Wars numbering of years! Year 0 is the Skittersill Rising / Last First Snow):
But what does this mean for characters and how old they are?
I’m glad you asked this crucial question, because it’s time for section 2:
Craft Sequence Character Ages
We have specific ages for many but not all main characters (though I’m keeping an eye out on reread for those). A few key dates and ages that we are given in the text include:
Three Parts Dead – Elayne is 79 (and 3 months), Tara is 24
Last First Snow – Caleb is 10
Last First Snow – we are told that at the Liberation of Dresediel Lex (approx 40 years earlier), Elayne was 17, Temoc was 20, and Kopil was 40
Full Fathom Five – Izza is 15
Ruin of Angels – Izza is 17
We don’t get any ages for Kai, but we know she went to university (which in the Craftworld / Domain seems to follow the American four year system) and she took her holy orders ten years before Full Fathom Five (page 75) after a novitiate / traineeship. If we go with leaving uni around age 22, a year novitiate, then a decade of being a priest that makes her approximately 33 in Full Fathom Five.
We know Ley is a couple of years younger than Kai, and that Ley, Zeddig and Raymet knew each other at uni (Ruin of Angels, chapter 18). Whether they were in the same year or different is unclear, but none of their POVs imply there is a significant age difference. They are listed as ‘the delvers’ in the breakdowns below.
I assume that Abelard, Cat, and Teo are roughly of an age with Tara and Caleb, as there is no reference to any being notably older or younger. Teo and Caleb were friends at uni, and seem approximately the same age in the brief reference to Teo in Last First Snow (page 372) so I’m going with that. Mal is about two years older (Last First Snow, page 333).
Last First Snow (year 0):
Elayne Kevarian is 60
The King in Red / Kopil is around 100
Temoc Almotil is 63
Caleb Altemoc is 10 (Teo is 10/11 and Mal is 12)
Based on later knowledge, we also know that Tara is about 5 here, Kai is probably about 12, the delvers about 9, and Izza isn’t born yet
Two Serpents Rise (year 17)
Caleb Altemoc is 27
Temoc Almotil is 80
The King in Red / Kopil is 117
Teo Batan is 27 / 28 and Mal Kekapania is 29
Off-page, Elayne is 77, Tara is 22 (at the Hidden Schools), Kai is approximately 29, the delvers are likely about 26, and Izza is 11 (probably in Agdel Lex)
Three Parts Dead (Year 19)
Tara Abernathy is 24 (Cat and Abelard are probably a similar age but it’s never mentioned)
Elayne Kevarian is 79 (and 3 months)
Off-page, Caleb and Teo are around 29, Kai is about 31, Temoc is 82, Kopil is 119, the delvers are around 28, and Izza is 13 (on her way to Kavekana)
Four Roads Cross (Year 20)
Tara Abernathy is 25 (and Cat/Abelard are likely similar)
Caleb Altemoc and Teo Batan are about 30
Off-page, Elayne Kevarian is 80, Temoc is 83, Kopil is 120, Kai is about 32, the delvers are about 29, and Izza is 14 (definitely in Kavekana)
Full Fathom Five (Year 21)
Izza is 15
Based on the guesses above for Kai, she’s about 33 here
Caleb and Teo are 31
Elayne is 81
Off-page, Tara is 26, Temoc is 84, Kopil is 121, and the delvers are around 30
Ruin of Angels (Year 23)
Izza is 17
Tara is 28
Kai is 35ish
Zeddig, Ley, and Raymet are about 32
Off-page, Elayne is 83, Temoc is 86, Kopil is 123, Caleb and Teo are 33
Dead Country (Year 25)
Tara is 30 - virtually the only on-page character
Izza is 19
The delvers are about 34
Caleb and Teo are 35
Kai is 37ish
Elayne is 85, Temoc is 88 and Kopil is 125
And if you prefer a graphic, here’s my attempt to make this make sense in one image:
What about the games?
As said in the intro, the games are both pre-series. Choice of the Deathless is set shortly after the God Wars, which end somewhere between the Liberation of Dresediel Lex (approx 43 years before Last First Snow) and the Seril case in Alt Coulumb (approx 40 years before Three Parts Dead, which makes it approx 21 years before Last First Snow).
This makes the end of the God Wars somewhere between Year -43 and -21 if we make Last First Snow Year 0 as above. Lets’s say 43 BSR (Before Skittersill Rising) and 21 BSR). City’s Thirst is harder to date but Kopil is still in human form; he says that he went full skeleton at age 60, which is Year 23 BSR based on all the ages and dates we’ve previously discussed.
I therefore place Choice of the Deathless at around 30 years BSR and City’s Thirst at about 25 years BSR.
Edit: thanks @NeoTiamat on Twitter for their correction to my guess about Choice of the Deathless with actual evidence, unlike mine above…
What do you think? Did I miss any crucial references? And how many thaums do you want to bet that Gladstone releases the timeline in the next few days and I’m totally off with my calculations??
Let me know in the comments, on Twitter, and r/CraftSequence!
