Various authors updates

It's time for some updates from some of the interesting names in Fantasy. Maps? Free read? Upcoming book? Free e-book?  It's all here!

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Mazarkis Williams extract and free book

If you have read my review of The Emperor's Knife by Mazarkis Williams, you know I really enjoyed the author's debut.  We still don't know the genre of the author but back when I reviewed his/her book, I thought it was a man but then I followed his/her Twitter account and now I think it's a woman... Anyway, the important thing here is that Night Shade Books is still offering the e-book for free.  Moreover, Pac Macmillan posted an extract of the second book, Knife Sworn, that is, the prologue (here's the link).

Aldryth looked out over the sands of Cerana. There, hidden far beyond any well or waypost, waited the place where his god had died. 

He sat upon a rock and pulled from his sack a crust of hard bread and an apple. He worked the crust in his mouth, sipping from a water pouch to soften it. He had come through the high passes of Mythyck and across the jagged beaches that no empire wished to claim but which claimed for themselves innu­merable ships, leaving them battered and broken upon the shore. From there he had made his way through Parigol Pass, the last and loneliest place on the map to bear a name, bent against the howling wind, until at last he stood on the edge of the great desert. 

Now he looked out over the vast emptiness and took a last mouthful of water before sealing the skin tight. Already sand gritted against his teeth. He saw no animals, no plants, not even insects. Here the sounds of life grew quiet and careful listening was required. 

The next day he reached the sands. He sheltered from the heat in the lee of a dune, but even in the shade it seared his eyes and he wasted water by splashing them. Though his throat was raw he chanted the promises of his faith: sacrifice and love. 

That night he drew the pattern for water, calling for its essence, but none came.

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Alex Bledsoe's next Eddie

The Next Big Thing blog tour is an initiative (or some meme) were the authors have to answer a set of question and then ask five other authors to do so.  The one Alex Bledsoe posted contains some interesting tidbits about the next Eddie LaCrosse book:

What is your working title of your book? 

It’s currently called He Drank, and Saw the Spider. I’m batting .500 in my initial titles making it to print (for example, Wake of the Bloody Angel was originally called The Two Eddies), so we’ll see how this one does. This time, my title is both a line from the book, and also a shout-out to the source material. 

Where did the idea come from for the book? 

It was inspired by The Winter’s Tale, one of Shakespeare’s last and most complex plays. It’s a genre-bending story of betrayal and reconciliation, and a real head-scratcher the first time you read or watch it. It’s best known for one of its stage directions: “Exit, pursued by a bear.” 

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? 

As a young mercenary, Eddie LaCrosse saves an abandoned baby from a bear; sixteen years later, now a private sword jockey, he has to save her again, this time from a complex plot involving magic, murder and an insane king.

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David Hair - Mage's Blood map

I recently bought David Hair first adult Fantasy novel in e-book and discovered two nice maps that were put together in this pic from Jo Fletcher's Twitter account.  It was also added to the index.

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Col Buchanan's third book

That one may be old news for some, but still, I think it's worth sharing.  Col is not the most present author on the web so news is somewhat scarce on his work, the Heart of the World series.  Here's one interesting answer from an interview with Tor UK back in March. If you have read his first two books, that piece of info should get you exited for more!

And finally, what’s next for the series? 

The third book, which I’m frantically working on now :).  Book three is the climax to what the first two books of the series have been leading up to. Most of the characters find themselves in or around the besieged city of Bar-Khos, and the story follows the battle for the city and the fate of its people. The story also expands on the world we’ve seen so far. Ash, along with Serese and Aleas, travels through the Great Hush and eventually to the mythical Isles of Sky, in a race to save both Ash’s dead apprentice and the Free Ports. Unlike most quests however, the ending, I hope, should be a great surprise to the reader. Beyond that though, into book four, I should say no more . . .