It was shortly after the beginning of the millennium when a biographical essay in the then-exhaustive “Supernatural Fiction Writers” provided guarded optimism for readers of the immensely popular Birmingham-writer Robert McCammon.

After a nearly decade-long withdrawal from writing — McCammon initially called the hiatus a retirement — the World Fantasy Award winner (“Boy’s Life,” 1991) announced that he had a new book coming out, something different from the fantasy-horror genres into which he felt he had been previously pigeonholed.

McCammon’s “self-imposed retreat concluded in 2002, when a small press (River City Publishing, Montgomery, Ala.) announced it would be publishing ‘Speaks the Nightbird,’ a historical novel written in the early 1990s,” the essay reported. And then added a caveat, “but it remains uncertain whether McCammon will ever resume writing.”

Twenty years later, the issue of McCammon’s literary output has been certainly decided. With more than two dozen novels and short story collections in his current oeuvre — 14 of those since 2002 — the Alabama native not only “resumed writing,” but continues to expand “Speaks the Nightbird” into a planned series of 10 books (the Matthew Corbett novels). The eighth of those novels, “The King of Shadows,” is set to publish in trade hardcover Dec. 6 — a continuation story that is much anticipated by his readers.

McCammon’s historical series centers on a 17th century magistrate’s clerk, Matthew Corbett, and the mysteries he unravels in Colonial America. The success of that series, beginning with “Speaks the Nightbird,” remains unabated today.

Testament to that popularity is two-fold: “The King of Shadows” itself, and the backlist catalogue of Corbett novels.

Although the December debut of the eighth novel marks the trade hardcover edition of the book, at $37.50 from Lividian Publications, a deluxe, limited edition of the novel was published from the same press on July 11. When that lavishly illustrated version of the novel was announced, pre-orders for the book, at $125, sold out in seven hours.

Similarly, Lividian is releasing this year the past five Matthew Corbett novels in trade paperback — the first such editions of these novels — through a monthly publication cycle. “Mister Slaughter,” the third book in the series, published in July and “The Providence Rider” published in August with “The River of Souls,” “Freedom of the Mask” and “Cardinal Black” following each month up to the December launch of “The King of Shadows.” The first two novels in the series, “Speaks the Nightbird” and “The Queen of Bedlam,” had previously been released as paperbacks in 2007 by another publishing house, Gallery Books.

For eager readers unable to get in on the initial limited-edition launch of “The King of Shadows” — or couldn’t wait for even that early publication date — the e-edition and audiobook (narrated by Edoardo Ballerina) dropped even earlier, on June 28, nearly six months before the trade hardcover.

But beyond the story, the lure of a McCammon title often lies in the physical versions of his books. Even today, that lure can prove daunting, because McCammon, like other authors, such as Dean Koontz, initially refused to allow the republication of his early novels, reportedly saying that those early books were not up to the standards of his later works and so decided to “retire” them.

Later, he would relax this attitude and those titles are available as ebooks and audiobooks. But even today, finding a hardcover copy of the award-winning “Boy’s Life” means shopping used titles at prices more than double what his new books typically sell for now.

Obtaining the current adventure of Matthew Corbett — the year is 1704 and on Corbett’s continuing mission to Italy he is joined by Hudson Greenhouse and a former enemy in searching for information about a sorcerer-crafted mirror that can summon demons; of course, this is a Matthew Corbett story so getting waylaid by a pod of whales and rerouted to a secluded and mysterious island isn’t out of the ordinary — won’t be quite as arduous. Pre-orders are available for the new novel at Lividian and other booksellers, and McCammon will sign books available Dec. 3 at Alabama Booksmith in Birmingham. More, and in a nod to his fans, the author is also willing to sign whatever backlist readers bring to that event — something that other authors with a large catalogue typically refuse to do.

But McCammon is not a typical author. Working to maintain the integrity of his stories and reader base is his day job, even as he out-performs other big hitters. Hitters such as George R.R. Martin, who, not coincidentally, is also mentioned in the 2002 “Supernatural Fiction Writers” as working on a series of books. With Corbett, though, the game is on and McCammon continues to surprise.

This is a condensed version of the column centered on Robert McCammon’s new novel, ‘The King of Shadows.’ The full version of the column will publish on this site to coincide with the publication of the trade hardcover edition of the book, Dec. 6.