Various authors updates

In the past weeks, several authors updated the status of their work.  Here's a wrap-up!

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Tom Lloyd signed for new books

Great news for Tom Lloyd, which makes me think that I ought to pick up more of his novels.  The last book (fifth) in his Twilight Reign series, The Dusk Watchman, will be out this summer (August) and the author finally signed a contract for two new books consisting first of mix of stories linked with his saga, called The God Tattoo, and Other Stories of the Land (coming up in April 2013) and a new novel set in a different setting, Moon's Artifice (should be out around summer 2013). Tom seems to be more than happy since the schedule fits his desires.  Here's the blurb:

In a quiet corner of the Imperial City, Investigator Narin discovers the result of his first potentially lethal mistake. Minutes later he makes a second. 

After an unremarkable career Narin finally has the chance of promotion to the hallowed ranks of the Lawbringers. Joining that honoured body would be the culmination of a lifelong dream, but it couldn’t possibly have come at a wrong time. A chance encounter drags Narin into a plot of gods and monsters, spies and assassins, accompanied by a grief-stricken young woman, an old man haunted by the ghosts of his past and an assassin with no past. 

On the cusp of an industrial age that threatens the warrior caste’s rule, the Empire of a Hundred Houses awaits civil war between noble factions. Centuries of conquest has made the empire a brittle and bloated monster; constrained by tradition and crying out for change. To save his own life and those of untold thousands Narin must understand the key to it all – Moon’s Artifice, the poison that could destroy an empire.

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Mark C Newton next book/series

Mark announced some time ago that he had started writing a new series set in a completely different setting. He recently posted an update on his progress (first manuscript is finished) with the first Drakenfeld book, tentatively titled A Death Divine.  The prospect emerging from the details sound more than promising.  Here's a extract of his post but you really should head over to his blog to read more about the process behind the writing of his new novel, a very interesting post.

What’s it about? Well, if I could summarise that in a paragraph, I probably wouldn’t have written a book; so I take it as a good sign that I can’t. Essentially it’s about a guy called Lucan Drakenfeld. He’s an officer for an organisation responsible for enforcing the law that binds a continent, and kings and queens, together in a royal union. It’s pretty much his story – he returns to his home city of Tryum when he receives news of his father’s death, and there’s lots for him to cope with on arrival such as burying his father’s ashes, and he spent most of his life living in his shadow. That’s the backstory. From there, Drakenfeld and his assistant are summoned in the middle of the night to investigate a very high-profile murder, which takes place in a locked room (or locked temple to be precise), where despite hundreds of potential witnesses, no one saw anything related to the killing. From there, all sorts of stuff happens. 

The aesthetics for the world, as you might have guessed from various blog posts over the past year or two, is very much borrowed from the ancient world. The more I examined classical cultures – Greece, Rome, Byzantium, Carthage – I was increasingly surprised. These were staggering cultures, massively more sophisticated than I’d ever realised, and even though they were very distant, they feel uncomfortably close to our own. Fantasy writers often borrow from history, usually the middle ages for the most part, whether it’s a conscious or unconscious act. Using classical culture as the starting point allowed me so much more freedom.

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Guy Gabriel Kay next book - River of Stars

The author announced officially his next novel this week.  The book is titled River of Stars and is the follow to Under Heaven.  The same Chinese influence is present as you can guess if you have read the book.  If you want to watch Mr. Kay himself talk about the novel, here's the link (sorry, I can't share it here).

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Peter V. Brett first draft of A Daylight War

(not the cover)

Peter V. Brett also finished the first draft of his new novel, A Daylight War, the third book in the Demon Cycle series.  I admit that I thought Brett's series was a trilogy. Maybe it was intended so at first but it's actually a 5 book undertaking.  The book should be slightly longer than The Desert Spear.  The book should be out on February 2013 and will be followed by The Skull Throne (tentative title).  Here's the link for Peter post.

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UK Cover for A Memory of Light