![\"FirstbornDefendingElysium\"](\"https:\/\/aidanmoher.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/FirstbornDefendingElysium.jpg\")
\nBrandon Sanderson’s a pretty cool guy. He’s generous with his time. Writes at a pace envied even by court transcribers. And writes some pretty cool books. On top of this, he’s a passionate Science Fiction and Fantasy fan, and he’s showing these roots with a new project that he’s put together for his fans. It’s a t\u00eate-b\u00eache collection of two novellas, Defending Elysium<\/em> and Firstborn<\/em>, doubled up in the style of the old Ace Doubles series: two novels, back-to-back. And, man, it’s sexy<\/em>.<\/p>\n It’s also interesting for fans of Sanderson, who is best known for his Epic Fantasy, to experience his take on Science Fiction. Firstborn<\/em> is available to read for free<\/a> on Tor.com. Sanderson explains<\/a> why he chose such a unique format for his novellas:<\/p>\n \nThe technical term for this kind of book layout is t\u00eate-b\u00eache meaning “head-to-toe,” which indicates that the book has two front covers and no back cover; flip the book upside down to get the other story. When you reach the end of one story, the next page is the last page of the other story, upside-down.<\/p>\n Anyway, I’ve been wanting to get these novelettes out in print form for a while, and due to their length putting them together seemed like the best idea. Plus I’ve always thought Ace Doubles were cool. (These were classic SF novels put out in t\u00eate-b\u00eache paperbacks by the publisher Ace.)<\/p>\n The “Firstborn” cover reprises Donato Giancola’s excellent illustration that he painted for the Tor.com version, and the “Defending Elysium” cover features an illustration by Dragos Jieanu (check out his website and his DeviantArt profile). (If you like his stuff, consider donating to the Chance for Life Foundation, a Romanian charity he supports.) The cover design is by Isaac Stewart, and the book design is by Peter Ahlstrom.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n It’s terrific to see Sanderson using the freedom afforded to him by his success and popularity to assemble such a great keepsake for his fans. He promises to make them available on his website, for $17.99, but only if there are copies left after his run through the convention circuit. Good odds on them not lasting so long. I’d love to get my hands on a copy, but, well, I doubt it’s in the cards. Really lovely idea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Brandon Sanderson’s a pretty cool guy. He’s generous with his time. Writes at a pace envied even by court transcribers. And writes some pretty cool books. On top of this, he’s a passionate Science Fiction and Fantasy fan, and he’s showing these roots with a new project that he’s put together for his fans. It’s… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[31,26],"tags":[587,83,585,586,59],"class_list":["post-12368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","category-cover-art","tag-ace-double","tag-brandon-sanderson","tag-defending-elysium","tag-firstborn","tag-science-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n