Week-end update

This week, I was still reading The Unremembered but I'm only at page 150. So gar, I think the similarity (or should I say influences?) with Jordan's WoT as flagrant but it's only the beginning. Anyway, his world-building is well done and it will probably grow in uniqueness as the story evolves.

I should finish listening to The Broken Kingdoms this week so the review may be up before the end of the week.

Here's what picked my interest this week :

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Artwork

Joe Abercrombie posted one of the beautiful artworks included in the limited edition by Subterranean Press of Before They are Hanged. The official cover was revealed not so long ago and many were thinking that the illustration evoked something too futuristic, myself included. This one is more within the universe we expected. The work is by Alex Preuss.

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Interviews

Perter Orullian latest interview was with Night Angel trilogy and The Black Prism author Brent Weeks. Head on to Tor.com for the complete lengthy but really interesting interview/chat session. For the complete list of interviews done by Peter, go to his website.

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Authors update


Anthony Huso next novel is called Black Bottle. I asked Tor about the release date and so far the tentative date is Spring 2012. Moreover, they will be reissuing The Last Page in trade paperback in Winter 2012.

Michael J. Sullivan, author of the Riyria Revelations, will be published by Orbit books. Orbit announced the acquisition this week :

Orbit will be publishing the complete series in three volumes in consecutive months in Fall/Winter 2011-2012. The first volume, Theft of Swords, will be published in November 2011; the second volume, Rise of Empire, in December 2011, and the final volume, Heir of Novron, in January 2012.

So the six self published books by Michael will be printed in three volumes. Congrats!!!

Stephen Deas has need of you! He is writing the follow-up to The Order of the Flames, last book of this dragon trilogy, that will be named The Black Mausoleum. Among the cast, four dragon-hunters are in need of a name. Head on to his website to submit your ideas!

Mark Charan Newton posted the first extract for his upcoming novel, book 3 of the Legend of the Red Sun series, The Book of Transformation. The book will be released in June 2011.

Full extract here. For a glimpse :

This was no time to be a hero. Under the multicoloured banners of the sanctuary city of Villjamur, under the reign of a new emperor, and amidst a bitter northerly wind reaching far through the knotted streets, something was about to start.
Seven human teenagers sauntered back and forth in front of a gate that permitted access to one of the highest levels of the city.

Sleet was whipping by in the channels between these old stone walls – buildings three or four storeys high, with fat timber frames and decorated with hanging baskets inhabited by little more than limp tundra flowers.

From his horse, Investigator Fulcrom could glean only so much about the movement of the youths: their first walk-by was purely to check out the guard situation, maybe gauge the soldiers’ temperament. A little tease. Those kids had done well to get this far, given the current political climate. In their baggy breeches and hooded wax coats, they moved with long, easy strides right past the military installation. They possessed every intention of creating a scene. At least, that was what the guards were meant to think.

But Investigator Fulcrom, a brown-skinned rumel in his younger years, knew better. He’d seen this kind of thing before, from his casual dealings with the underworld – an advantage that these simple guardsmen did not possess. No, these youths were decoys – they didn’t have the guts to challenge the guards outright. Sure, they laughed and whistled and threw around tentative insults and crude hand-slang gestures; but this wasn’t the real deal, not by a long shot.

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Maps

The blog Rambling On and On as started a project to map the travels of Rand, Mat and Perrin in the WoT world. So far the first six books have been done. Great work for the WoT fans.

Have a nice week!