Welcome to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms podcast.

This is not an episode, just a brief announcement.

First of all, happy holidays, everyone,

and thank you again for all your support in the relatively short existence of this podcast so far.

It's been great to read all your comments about how the show has helped you gain a better understanding and greater interest in the novel, which was the main reason I started this podcast.

Second, I just want to let you know that there will be no new episodes until after the new year.

I'm sorry, but I'm taking the holidays to relax, recover from my cold,

recharge, and get ahead in preparations for future episodes. So barring unforeseen circumstances,

I am expecting to release the next episode sometime in the first week of January. However, I did

not want to leave you with nothing before then,

especially at Christmas time. So, I have posted a map on the website that shows the major

players and the territories they control at our current spot in the story. So far we have covered a

little more than 18 chapters in the novel,

which has 120 chapters in all, so we're about 15% through the story, and let me tell you,

things are just about to get really, really good. In some ways, everything up to this point

has just been setting the stage.

So far, we have seen the Han Empire splinter into a hundred pieces,

with everyone who's anyone trying to stake a claim to their own little patch.

So at some point, this Shattered Empire has to begin consolidating into three kingdoms,

that's in the name of the novel, after all.

We have seen some consolidations here and there so far, mostly with minor characters getting picked off. But when we return after the new year, the big boys are going to start getting

at each other. I've been getting excited just

...