Comments on: Cover Art & Synopsis | Tome of the Undergates by Sam Sykes

By: An Aside | Sam Sykes Interviews… Me! | A Dribble of Ink

An Aside | Sam Sykes Interviews… Me! | A Dribble of Ink — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:06:37 +0000

[...] Sykes, author of the soon-to-be-released Tome of the Undergates, has been rounding up some of his most hated favourite bloggers and pinning them down for a few [...]

By: Meredith

Meredith — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 07:10:09 +0000

I personally think that this could be an excellent first novel. It sounds a bit more original than a few I’ve read recently. If it’s anything like Peter V. Brett’s first novel in the Demon Trilogy (The Painted Man) then I know a lot of people will be reading it. We’re still waiting to get a hold of the second P. Rothfuss novel and a lot of people are getting impatient for it, as we’ve been waiting a full year, so this one could well be something for us to read in the meantime.

By: Ana

Ana — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:36:31 +0000

You should – LOADS of great stories in there by Peter Beagle, Naomi Novik, Tadd Williams, Tamora Pierce and others.

By: aidan

aidan — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:34:22 +0000

That’s great news, Ana! I’m a big fan of Gabaldon, and, having met her a few times, I know how much she can teach a young author like Sykes. I should get my hands on that anthology.

By: Ana

Ana — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:32:11 +0000

I am really looking forward to reading this one. But I have a little bit more than hype to move me: Sam Sykes’ story in The Dragon Book anthology (which he wrote with Diana Gabaldon) was one of my favourites (out of many great stories)in the collection. The characters were some of the weirdest/coolest I read in a while and if the ones in this novel are anywhere near as cool, I think we are all in for a great read.

By: Mark Chitty

Mark Chitty — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:40:58 +0000

I feel sorry for the guy on the cover. Have you ever stood knee deep in cold seawater just as a wave hits the back of your legs? There go the family jewels

But seriously, this sounds like a book that is very much my cup of tea and one I’ll be keeping an eye out for

By: Sam Sykes

Sam Sykes — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:27:00 +0000

Personally, given the fact that more than one person has accused said figure of not wearing pants, I feel that the exclusion of a cloak will cut down on suspicions of being a flasher by at least 60%.

By: Liviu

Liviu — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:50:01 +0000

I see what you meant in terms of sales potential, though I only agree about this one (Tome) and The Left Hand of God as having an outright potential for tons of sales a la Rothfuss.

Spellwright is quirky enough like Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, so I would say both have about the same entry chance as sales go and it will depend on all the intangibles from then on…

By: aidan

aidan — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:04:19 +0000

That’s too bad, Simon. If he hadn’t had it stolen he probably would have sold 30% more novels, right?

By: Simon Spanton

Simon Spanton — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:13:22 +0000

Nice cover. Can only assume he’s left his hooded cloak on the boat. Or perhaps the pirates stole it . . .

By: aidan

aidan — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 05:15:17 +0000

That's essentially the point I was making, with tongue firmly in cheek. Early buzz like that, especially when it's fueled by the publisher, is more or less worthless. Every publisher will tell you that they've got the debut author of next year. Most of the time they'll be wrong. I actually had Jemisin's novel there alongside The Left Hand of God and Spellwright, but took it out as it didn't serve my example as surely. In terms of quality, I expect it could potentially be considered one of the best debut novels of the year, I expect the others all have a better chance of becoming a huge sales success.

By: Liviu

Liviu — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 04:50:14 +0000

I am definitely interested in this one especially if the style is similar to Joe A or S. Lynch but let’s forget a bit about the hype; I was very unimpressed with Spellwright while Robert my co-editor at FBC liked it but not as debut of the year by any means, and while the Left Hand of God arc has not yet made its way to me from him, Robert was quite unimpressed by it.

On the other hand I loved and almost was was blown away in the last half of Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, Orbit’s debut of NK Jeimisin for 2010 and while Robert has not finished it yet he told me the same after reading about a half, so maybe that’s the novel to look for next year

By: Angelo

Angelo — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:57:14 +0000

Hey! It’s Geralt, the Witcher, in the cover!!

By: James (Speculative Horizons)

James (Speculative Horizons) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:10:20 +0000

I received this behemoth of an ARC the other day, and am intrigued to see how it reads. A very brief glance over the prose gave me a tentative impression of Lynch/Abercrombie, which is certainly no bad thing. Gollancz certainly seem very positive about it.

I seem to recall Sam talking about anuses at the Gollancz party…I hope there’s no mention of them in this book.

By: Sam Sykes

Sam Sykes — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:56:49 +0000

Oh, seriously?

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it, but the book basically heals the sick and the dying and I think it once caused the lame to walk. I left my camera behind, but it seriously happened once.

Seriously.