After a successful debut in Canada and the UK, Adrian Tchaikovsky and his series, Shadows of the Apt are set to finally release in 2010. Published by Pyr Books, the series will sport some new cover art.
The cover for the third novel, Blood of the Mantis, hasn’t been released yet, but I’m sure it’ll appear sooner rather than later. The artwork is by the very talented Jon Sullivan.
Straight from Martin’s fingers to my blog:
Finished a Jon Snow chapter, and have just passed the 1100 page (manuscript pages, the page count in the final printed book will be different) mark on A DANCE WITH DRAGONS. That’s counting only finished chapters in something close to final form. I have considerably more in partials, fragments, and roughs.
Even with just the finished portions, DANCE is now longer than A FEAST FOR CROWS and A GAME OF THRONES, and I’m closing in on A CLASH OF KINGS. I do hope I can wrap things up before I approach the 1521 page length of A STORM OF SWORDS.
Making a new run at the Meereenese knot, but maybe not tomorrow. I think I’ll hang around at the Wall a bit longer, and maybe visit Winterfell.
I’m sure some naysayers will try to spin this into a negative (‘By golly! It’s still not done?! The sloth!’), but I’m happy to hear that progress is being made and the endline is coming into sight. Its encouraging to know that, even with a (large?) handful of chapters still unfinished, we’ve got a hefty novel ahead of us, when it does release. It’s also nice to know that he’s stepping away from his so-called Meereenese Knot and letting it brew, while working on easier portions of the story. As always, my anticipation heightens.
In preparation for the paperback release of The Temporal Void, later this month, Tor UK put together an video interview featuring Peter F. Hamilton and his very snazzy vest. Most interesting, is that the interview is composed of questions from bloggers and readers alike, rather than the lame stock questions that are usually asked in publisher fueled interviews.
I’ve been saving Hamilton’s Night’s Dawn Trilogy for a time when I can dedicate myself to the (scary large) books. This interview should be a treat for Hamilton fans, though.
Thanks to Suvudu for the head’s up!
On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester’s Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener’s hand is severed as “the dome” comes down on it, people running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when — or if — it will go away.
Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed with a few intrepid citizens — town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician’s assistant at the hospital, a select-woman, and three brave kids. Against them stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing — even murder — to hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn’t just short. It’s running out.
A full wrap-around version of the cover is also available. Click the image to see a bigger version of it, if you so please:
In a recent email I recieved, Under the Dome was pegged as King’s longest novel since The Stand and has apparently existed in some form or another since the ’80’s. Beyond the Dark Tower series, I’ve not really had much experience with King, but I’m still curious to see how Under the Dome turns out.
I read, and enjoyed, Nights of Villjamur (REVIEW), the first novel in Mark Charan Newton’s Legends of the Red Sun series, a few months ago, just before its UK and Canadian release. Buzz online was good, which (along with positive sales, one would asume) led to Del Rey picking up the US rights to the novel (along with the sequel, City of Ruin).
Political intrigue and dark violence converge in a superb new action series of enthralling fantasy. An ice age strikes a chain of islands, and thousands come to seek sanctuary at the gates of Villjamur: a city of ancient spires and bridges, a place where banshees wail the deceased, cultists use forgotten technology for their own gain and where, further out, the dead have been seen walking across the tundra.
When the Emperor commits suicide, his elder daughter, Rika, is brought home to lead the Jamur Empire, but the sinister Chancellor plans to get rid of her and claim the throne for himself. Meanwhile a senior investigator in the city inquisition must solve the high-profile and savage murder of a city politician, whilst battling evils within his own life, and a handsome and serial womanizer manipulates his way into the imperial residence with a hidden agenda. When reports are received that tens of thousands of citizens are dying in a bizarre genocide on the northern islands of the Empire, members of the elite Night Guard are sent to investigate. It seems that, in this land under a red sun, the long winter is bringing more than just snow.
According to Newton’s website, US readers will be able to get their hands on Nights of Villjamur on June 1st, 2010. Astute followers of Newton will notice that this coincides with the June, 2010 UK/Canadian release of City of Ruin.
