Posts Tagged: Del Rey

Michael J. Sullivan Portrait

Michael J. Sullivan is one of fantasy’s most prominent self-publishing success stories. His debut series, the Riyira Revelations, sold 90,000 units before Sullivan sold the publishing rights to Orbit Books in 2011. Since then, he’s been a poster boy for Hybrid Publishing, an approach that allows authors to leverage the strengths of both the traditional publishing model and self publishing to their advantage and the advantage of their readers.

Yesterday, Sullivan announced that he’s sold The First Empire, a new epic fantasy set in the same world as the Riyira Revelations to Del Rey. The deal includes the first four volumes of the series: Rhune, Dherg, Rhist and Phyre. I caught up with Sullivan to chat about the new series and his half-million dollar deal.

The First Empire series is based in the same world as the Riyria books, but it takes place several thousand years in the past,” Sullivan told me when I asked what the new series had to offer old fans. Read More »

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Most fans agreed that Robin Hobb’s return to Fitz and the Fool in last year’s Fool’s Assassin was a roaring success. Fool’s Quest is the second volume in the trilogy, and it tentatively scheduled for release in August 2015.

This cover is a fantasy book cover. It looks a lot like the last cover, also by Alejandro Colucci. Fitz has an axe, which is good, and he continues to look older and more grizzled (as Hobb points out in her blog post announcing the new cover!) I like that Del Rey has created a natural progression in the artwork that starts off looking somewhat like YA, before traipsing into full-blown moody Fitzdom. Seems suitable, if you’ve read the books.

Standing atop a pile of broken weapons, the detritus of war, is very similar to the covers that appear on Mark Lawrence’s Broken Empire Trilogy, so it’s interesting to consider the difference in posture and emotion of the two main characters. Cocky and victorious Jorg Ancartch, and brooding, sorrowful FitzChivaly Farseer. It’s an interesting contrast, though likely unintentional.

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And so ends the transformation of these miraculous weapons from a solid, to a liquid, and, finally, superheated gas. What comes next? No one knows.

Half a War is the concluding volume in Joe Abercrombie’s YA/sorta-YA fantasy the Shattered Sea trilogy, which began with 2014’s Half a King. The second volume in the trilogy, Half the World, will be published in February 2015, and Half a War is expected to be published in July 2015.

EDIT (Dec. 4th, 2014): I’ve been informed by Random House that this cover is not final. I’ll be sure to post the final cover art when it’s officially revealed.

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I’ve ragged on a lot of covers with sultry-looking dudes in LARPing gear, but there’s something about these character-centric Robin Hobb covers that works for me. While not quite the homerun that the new covers for Hobb’s Liveship Traders trilogy are, the aging of Fitz, from young adult to weathered, handsome dude is a great touch for past fans of the series. Plus Fitz has an axe, so… yay.

Incidentally, young Fitz is the perfect draw for a young adult audience, who will be attracted by the bright colours and familiar design conventions. I discovered and loved Hobb’s work as a teenager, and I can see these new covers opening a lot of doors for a new generation of readers.

I could have done without the floating animal head ghosts, though. (JK, Nighteyes, I still love you.)