NEWS | The Name of the Wind to TV and Abercrombie's new trilogy

According to The Bookseller Job Abercombie has just sold a new loose trilogy to Harper Voyager in the UK with the first book slated for 2014 to be titled Half a King. The new books will not be related to the First Law world, but a more traditional yet alternative ancient Europe in the time of the Dark Ages. The books will also be aimed at both a younger demographic as well as Joe's traditional adult audience. For Abercrombie this probably just means cutting down on the cuss words and graphic sex. Abercrombie said:

“In some ways this is a very different sort of book from what I’ve written so far. It’s aimed partly at younger readers (maybe the 12-16 range). It’s much shorter – 80,000 words compared to 175,000 for my shortest, Red Country, and 230,000 for my longest, Last Argument of Kings (though still over twice the length of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, believe it or not). It’s set in a very different world with what you might call a viking or anglo-saxon feel. It’s much more focused, with a single point of view. It’s not so overtly ‘gritty’ although it’s a long way from smooth. It is punchy. It has drive. I aimed to deliver a slap in the face with every page.”

No word on the US rights, but those should come quickly. Abercombie has mentioned a July 2014 publication date as likely on both sides of the pond for Half a King with the sequels spread 6 month apart thereafter. The rub is the next First Law trilogy is still in the works, but we probably won't be seeing that until at least 2017, but there will be a short story collection of the First Law  in 2015 or 2016. It will be interesting to see how Abercrombie transitions his style to a younger set and if it can truly hold a candle for those of us who are use to Lord Grimdark.

The other big piece of news is according to Deadline.com  New Regency and Fox have have optioned  The Name of the Wind for a TV show.  Now don't hold your breathe too much on this as option often lapse, but Fox is in a period of growth splitting FX into two channels with the new FXX starting in the not too distant future though the credits of some involved don't impress me much. Still I'll be there in a heartbeat once it starts airing.

I'm honestly not sure which piece of news excites me more. More Joe Abercrombie fiction is always a good thing, but being able to see the characters that Rothfuss has brought so well to life on to the page being fully realized could be an amazing thing.

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Meet Tor.com's Newest Contributor: ME!

This is something I've been keeping under my hat for over a month. I'll be running The Way of Kings Reread for Tor.com! It is a gargantuan task that I hope I'm up to. This is one of the secret projects I've mentioned before. The intro post is up and my first chapter post should be going up on the 28th with a new one to follow every Thursday. So join me in the discussion as we try to make sense of Roshar and by extension the mind of Brandon Sanderson. It should be a hoot and a half.

Also, Tor is running a special on the eBook of The Way of Kings for $2.99 as well as a contest for print copies.

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NEWS | Jim Butcher's Cold Days Coming in November and What is Coming Next

Jim Butcher's 14th novel of the Dresden Files, Cold Days, has been officially given a publication date of November 27th. Below is the spoiler heavy description, so beware unless you're up-to-date on the series.

After being murdered by a mystery assailant, navigating his way through the realm between life and death, and being brought back to the mortal world, Harry realizes that maybe death wasn’t all that bad. Because he is no longer Harry Dresden, Chicago’s only professional wizard.

He is now Harry Dresden, Winter Knight to Mab, the Queen of Air and Darkness. After Harry had no choice but to swear his fealty, Mab wasn’t about to let something as petty as death steal away the prize she had sought for so long. And now, her word is his command, no matter what she wants him to do, no matter where she wants him to go, and no matter who she wants him to kill.

Guess which Mab wants first?

Of course, it won’t be an ordinary, everyday assassination. Mab wants her newest minion to pull off the impossible: kill an immortal. No problem there, right? And to make matters worse, there exists a growing threat to an unfathomable source of magic that could land Harry in the sort of trouble that will make death look like a holiday.

Beset by enemies new and old, Harry must gather his friends and allies, prevent the annihilation of countless innocents, and find a way out of his eternal subservience before his newfound powers claim the only thing he has left to call his own…

His soul.

Butcher is currently at work on his Steampunk series, which is being called The Cinder Spires. The first book is tentatively titled The Aeronaut's Windlass. He is hoping to have it done by the end of the year so a publication next year seems very likely. After that it is on to book 15 in the Dresden Files.

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NEWS | Neil Gaiman Signs 5 Book Deal + New Sandman!

The biggest news from Comic Con so far is that Neil Gaiman will be penning what a Sandman Zero volume for Vertigo to coincide with the 25th anniversary of Sandman. I personally refuse to call it Before Sandman. Check out the below video for more details.

Publisher's Weekly is reporting that Neil Gaiman has just signed a new contract with his long-time publisher HarperCollins for 3 novels and 2 picture books. Here's a bit form PW:

Both picture books will feature a new character created by Gaiman, a little panda named Chu, that is known for having an outsized sneeze. The first book, Chu's Day, will be illustrated by Adam Rex; it is set for January 8, 2013.

The other three titles in the deal will include a middle-grade novel called Fortunately, the Milk, which will feature art by Skottie Young and which HC calls "an ode to the pleasure and wonders of storytelling itself." Gaiman will also write a sequel to the 2009 book Odd and the Frost Giants (also published by HC), which features characters from Norse mythology. The third novel in the deal will be a middle grade book, and is currently untitled.

Also, Gaiman recently discussed the novel he just finished:

On the plane to the UK I finished writing the new novel. I'm not sure right now if it's going to be called Lettie Hempstock's Ocean or not. I think it's a good book - or at least, I think it's a real book, and I'm proud of it, and whether it's good or not will be up to other people to judge. Despite the protagonist being about 7 years old for most of the novel, it's a book for adults. Or at least, I think it is.

Whether this is the aforementioned Fortunately, the Milk under a new title or not isn't entirely clear since he above says the book is meant for adults, but given Gaiman's popularity with the younger generations it could go either way depend on how his publisher seek to position it. Lettie could also be the yet untitled book as has mention the title isn't necessary final yet. No release dates have been given for the new novels, but I'd bet on Fall 2013 or possibly Summer.


I'm certainly up for more adventures of Odd, which was originally going to come out a year or two ago. The best news would have been on the sequel to American Gods, which Gaiman admitted he was originally trying to write before Lettie Hempstock took things over. Some day we'll get more shadow.

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NEWS | John Scalzi Returning to the Old Man's War Universe

Art by John Harris

Just a few weeks back I included a tidbit about a new book coming from John Scalzi I found using my Google-fu. Not one for wanting to use my Google-fu for evil I updated the post soon after he commented that the info wasn't exactly right. But as it turns out some of that info was close to correct and Scalzi was kind enough to talk to me on the phone about his next project for Tor, which has just been officially announced.

Scalzi's most popular works to date have undoubtedly been his Military Sci-Fi series that began with Old Man's War. For the last few years when people have asked him if he'll return to that universe he has always replied something along the lines of "if the right idea comes up." Which is really as it should be.

Well, that idea has come up in the form of The Human Division, but this isn't an ordinary novel or simply a short story collection placed in the Old Man's War Universe. It is a series of short stories focused on the memorable Harry Wilson and a certain Mr. Schmidt acting like a season of a television show where each short story will stand on its own as an episode would, but together form a continuous whole of a larger arc ala a season of television. Scalzi's recent work for Stargate: Universe seems to be an influence of sorts given the episodic nature along with the short story "After the Coup" he wrote previously about these characters.

There is also a big twist in how these stories will be released in an effort to experiment with the way a story can be released. Each story will be released a week apart by Tor to the major eBook channels starting in December and ending in February.  The complete run of 13 stories will be published in print and a complete eBook as The Human Division in May 2013 for those who want it all in one shot. The final book may also have some extras not found in the single story releases.

For those wondering the movie of Old Man's War is still in development, but seems to have forward momentum as of this moment.. So all around today is a great day for fans of the series.


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FREE FICTION | Carlos Ruiz Zafon's origin story of The Cemetery of Forgotten Books

"Rose of Fire" is a short story by Carlos Ruiz Zafon translated by Lucia Graves set in the world of the much beloved The Shadow of the Wind. It tells the origins of Cemetery of Forgotten Books in the fifteenth century. I have just made your day as I know it made mine.

The story is being released for promotion of Zafon's The Prisoner of Heaven, which is just a few short weeks away. You can find the story for free at nearly every major e-book vendor including Nook, Amazon, Kobo, etc.

Go forth and enjoy!

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Cover Unveiled for Earth Thirst by Mark Teppo

Mark Teppo--long-time friend of the blog--should be familiar to readers as we've covered his first two novels Lightbreaker and Heartland, interviewed him, and he's even stopped by to share some knowledge. So I couldn't pass up the chance to showoff the awesome cover for his next novel Earth Thirst--his take on Post-Apocalyptic Vampires. The art is by Cody Tilson who did my favorite cover of 2011, Seed. Knowing Teppo's work as I do I'm expecting an original take and I had a chance to get the lowdown on the project and the cover from him directly:

I've had the idea for Earth Thirst rattling around my head for a year or so now, but my schedule really hasn't been open enough to write it. After World Fantasy Convention last year, I realized that I probably wouldn't have a clear opening for another year or two and the idea behind the book did have some timeliness. If I waited and then tried to sell it--and then waited another year before it came out--I might miss the best opportunity.

So I sent Jeremy Lassen the pitch and a couple of chapters, explaining that I wasn't sure when I would have time to write it, but that I was very excited about their new books and their marketing efforts. I thought that they would know how to sell Earth Thirst and would get it in front of the right readers.

Jeremy emailed me back later that afternoon and said, "Yes, please, and how soon can I have it?"

I said, "Well, like I said, I'm super busy and . . . "

He replied, "Bla bla bla, writer's excuses, whining, not really listening. How about you get it to me as soon as you can and we'll put it in the schedule?"

(This is somewhat paraphrased, of course, but he and I had recently come to an understanding that the best way to get something on my schedule was to cram it on there and make me figure out how to solve the resultant time management problem.)

I meekly agree. Oh, who am kidding? I was thrilled.

A couple months later, I get a call that they're very excited about the premise of the book, they have a plan for marketing (which is exactly the sort of three word pitch I had been hoping to hear), and they're going to get Cody Tilson to do the cover.

"The guy who did the cover for Seed?" I ask after doing a quick Google search. "The guy who just won a Spectrum Award for Art Direction?"

"That's the one. You good with that?"

"Yeah, yeah, that'll be fine." All calm on the outside, jumping up and down on the inside.

Last week, they send me the cover. I'm still jumping up and down. Now I'm thrilled people will get a hint of what I'm talking about when I say I'm writing an eco-thriller with vampires.

Earth Thirst will be out January 8th from Night Shade Books. Here's the official blurb:

The Earth is dying. Humanity--over-breeding, over-consuming—is destroying the very planet they call home. Multinational corporations despoil the environment, market genetically modified crops to control the food supply, and use their wealth and influence and private armies to crush anything, and anyone, that gets in the way of their profits. Nothing human can stop them.

Once they did not fear the sun. Once they could breathe the air and sleep where they chose. But now they can rest only within the uncontaminated soil of Mother Earth—and the time has come for them to fight back against the ruthless corporations that threaten their immortal existence.

They are the last guardians of paradise, more than human but less than angels. They call themselves the Arcadians.

We know them as vampires. . . .

A Vampire Eco-Thriller? Count me in!

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Cover Unveiled for Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells Edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling

Art by Allen Williams

The all-original anthology Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells by the super editing duo of Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling is coming early next year. The theme is Gaslamp Fantasy, which falls along the lines of Steampunk only with more of a focus on magic instead of tech. The line-up looks quite impressive as does the cover. Love the white-glow-y hair.

“The Fairy Enterprise” by Jeffrey Ford

“From the Catalogue of the Pavilion of the Uncanny and Marvelous, Scheduled for Premiere at the Great Exhibition (Before the Fire)” by Genevieve Valentine

“The Memory Book” by Maureen McHugh

“Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells” by Delia Sherman

“La Reine D’Enfer” by Kathe Koja

“Briar Rose” by Elizabeth Wein

“The Governess” by Elizabeth Bear

“Smithfield” by James P. Blaylock

“The Unwanted Women of Surrey” by Kaaron Warren

“Charged” by Leanna Renee Hieber

“Mr. Splitfoot” by Dale Bailey

“Phosphorus” by Veronica Schanoes

“We Without Us Were Shadows” by Catherynne M. Valente

“The Vital Importance of the Superficial” by Ellen Kushner and Caroline Stevermer

“The Jewel in the Toad Queen’s Crown” by Jane Yolen

“A Few Twigs He Left Behind” by Gregory Maguire

“Their Monstrous Minds” by Tanith Lee

“Estella Saves the Village” by Theodora Goss

Queen Victoria’s Book of Spells will be released in March from Tor simultaneously in both hardcover and trade paperback. Another noteworthy anthology coming this October from Datlow and Windling is After comprised of all-original dystopian/apocalyptic stories.

Also here is the art unadulterated.

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NEWS | New Sanderson YA Novel

Information on these projects is still sparse, but it is certainly good to know they're on the way. First Brandon Sanderson has signed with Gollancz in the UK and Delecorte in the US for his first official YA novel called Steelheart. This is a project Sanderson has mentioned in passing a few times generally called his Superhero apocalypse and originally written in 2010, but put on the& back-burner due to other projects. Here is the description taken from Gollancz's announcement:

The first novel of Sanderson’s new series, STEELHEART, follows David – a teenager in the city that was once called Chicago – as he searches for the extraordinarily powerful Epic named Steelheart, who killed his father. Steelheart possesses the strength of ten men and can control the elements. It is said no bullet can harm him, no sword can split his skin, no explosion can burn him. Nobody fights back… nobody but the Reckoners.

A shadowy group of ordinary humans, the Reckoners spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then taking them out. For the death of his father, David wants to be there for the kill. For years, like the Reckoners, David has been studying, and planning, and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience. He’s seen Steelheart bleed.

STEELHEART takes an action-heavy plot, layers in complexity, and delivers twists and a breathtaking conclusion, as David and the Reckoners try to undo the dystopia the Epics have created. According to Sanderson’s agent Eddie Schneider, STEELHEART has entered preliminary negotiations for a major Hollywood deal.

Steelheart should be out in the Fall in both the US and UK. I have to reiterate that Brandon Sanderson is still a juggernaut of an author and is showing no signs of slowing. We've already talked about the shorter works he has brewing this year and next year we'll have the last Wheel of Time, Steelheart, and quite possibly the long awaited The Rithmatist, which is his chalk magic book. And I have a feeling he'll have at least one more surprise in store for us.

The next big tidbit is that I found a listing for John Scalzi's next book from Tor titled The Human Division. No other information is available, but it looks like it will be out in April. I can't judge by the title whether it is related to his other books. If anyone has insights feel free to chime in. I'm still hoping for a sequel to my favorite Scalzi, The Android's Dream. It is also worth noting this will be out less than a year after Redshirts. So Scalzi is no slouch either.

UPDATE: See John Scalzi's comments as the listing on Amazon is a snafu of some sort. This is hardly the first time I've run afoul with news from Amazon and it probably won't be the last.

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More Laird Barron is Always a Good Thing

While not a Horror aficionado I have been known to dip my toe in the area every now and again. One Horror author's work who I've found myself dipping into at regular intervals is Laird Barron. The man has won or been nominated for nearly every award he's been eligible, most notable winning the Shirley Jackson Award twice. His debut The Croning (released just last month) novel pretty much blew me away. It is a masterwork nailing the sense of dread combing folklore and Lovecraftian Cosmic Horror.

Around the same time The Croning was released I found out Barron was publishing a very limited (and expensive) edition of his long novella The Light is the Darkness and at over $200 it was out of my range. It is quite a beautiful edition that I found my mouse hovering over more than once. There's a couple photos of the lettered edition here. I held off knowing he'd probably include it in a future collection. I've just learned that there will be a trade paper release the middle of June for under $20 from Arcane Wisdom Press available through Miskatonic Books and other places like Barnes & Noble.

The blurb is below, but it is Barron. Just go and order it already and if you haven't gotten his collections Occultation or The Imago Sequence or novel The Croning get thee to a bookstore.

Conrad Navarro is a champion of the Pageant, a gruesome modern day gladiatorial exhibition held in secret arenas across the globe. Indentured by a cabal of ultra-rich patrons, his world is one of blood and mayhem, an existence where savagery reigns supreme while mercy leads to annihilation.

Conrad’s sister has vanished while traveling in Mexico. Imogene, a decorated special agent for the FBI, was hot on the trail of a legendary scientist whose vile eugenics experiments landed him on an international most-wanted list. Imogene left behind a sequence of bizarre clues that indicate she uncovered evidence of a Byzantine occult conspiracy against civilization itself — a threat so vast and terrible, its ultimate fruition would herald an event more inimical to all terrestrial life than mere extinction.

Now, Conrad is on the hunt, searching for his missing sister while malign forces seek to manipulate and destroy him by turns. It is an odyssey that will send this man of war from the lush jungles of South America, to the debauched court of an Aegean Prince, to the blasted moonscape of the American desert as he becomes inexorably enmeshed within a web of primordial evil that stretches back unto prehistory. All the while struggling to maintain a vestige of humanity; for Conrad has gazed into an abyss where the light is the darkness, and he has begun the metamorphosis into something more than human.

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Brandon Sanderson is Still the Hardest Working Man in Fantasy

Brandon Sanderson has been regarded for a long time as one of the most consistent writers in Fantasy. Since his debut novel Elantris, came out in 2005 a year has not gone by without at least one novel being released. In some years as many as 3 have been published if you count his books for younger readers, which we really should. The man has been the work horse of Fantasy even taking on the Wheel of Time and writing them quicker than Jordan ever did. And Sanderson is not slowing down a bit.  True there is no full length novel coming out this year, but the last Wheel of Time will be out at the beginning of 2013. And get this: Sanderson is publishing two novellas before the end of the year.

Art by Jon Foster

First we have Legion which looks to be his longest Sci-Fi related work to date with the exception of The Alloy of Law. This is from a post by Sanderson on Fantasy Faction, which sums up the book pretty well:

Called Legion, it is the story of a man with a very interesting brain. He is a genius, and can master any topic of study in a very short time--however, the knowledge he gains manifests as a person only he can see, who acts as an adviser on that topic. Someone invents a camera that can take pictures of the past, and our hero--along with his band of genius delusions--must recover it after it is stolen.

Legion is coming out from Subterranean Press in late summer, but Sanderson is also self-publishing the eBook version. But wait there's more!

Coming from Tachyon Press in November is another novella titled The Emperor's Soul, which is definitely part of the Hoidverse and placed on the same world as Elantris. Here's the official blurb:

Shai is a Forger, a foreigner who can flawlessly copy and re-create any item by rewriting its history with skillful magic. Though condemned to death after trying to steal the emperor’s scepter, she is given one opportunity to save herself. Despite the fact that her skill as a Forger is considered an abomination by her captors, Shai will attempt to create a new soul for the emperor, who is almost dead from the attack of assassins.

Delving deeply into his life, she discovers Emperor Ashravan’s truest nature—and the opportunity to exploit it. Her only possible ally is one who is truly loyal to the emperor, but councilor Gaotona must overcome his prejudices to understand that her forgery is as much artistry as it is deception.

Skillfully deducing the machinations of her captors, Shai needs a perfect plan to escape. The fate of the kingdom lies in one impossible task. Is it possible to create a forgery of a soul so convincing that it is better than the soul itself?

Sanderson will also be self-publishing the eBook version.  Between his huge novels and recent attempts at short stories Sanderson is embracing the new age of publishing mixing with big publishers, small presses, and self publishing. Brandon Sanderson I salute you!

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Cover Unveiled for The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Behold the cover for Zafon's The Prisoner of Heaven. As with many of Zafon's covers we can't escape an  ornate street light. Somehow that has become the symbol of Gothic Barcelona. But what is with the duck head at the top?

The Prisoner of Heaven is the third book in Carlos Ruiz Zafon's mosaic series that started with The Shadow of the Wind, followed by The Angel's Game. Shadow is one of my favorite books and while The Angel's Game doesn't hit nearly as a high mark it isn't too shabby either.  With The Prisoner of Heaven we're going back to spend more time with Sempere and Sons and what looks to be an extended visit to The Cemetery of Forgotten Books compared to the first two novels. Both these reasons have stuck a grin on my face every time I think about this book. Here's the blurb:

The Prisoner of Heaven returns to the world of The Cemetery of Forgotten Books and the Sempere & Sons bookshop, where Daniel, and his old friend Fermín Romero de Torres, are tending shop. Daniel is now married with a son, and Fermín is soon to follow. Both men lead relatively happy and quiet lives. Enter an enigmatic visitor--a grim old man with a piercing gaze--who inquires about Fermín’s whereabouts. When told he is not in, the old man proceeds to buy the most expensive item in the store, a first edition of The Count of Monte Cristo, adds a dedication and leaves it as a present for Fermín. When Daniel reveals the details of this unsettling encounter to his friend, Fermín reads the dedication, turns pale, and at Daniel’s insistence, decides to open up about a past that has come back to haunt him…a story that will leave Daniel questioning his very existence.

The Prisoner of Heaven will be released June 19th (just in time for my birthday) from Harper.

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Update on Cold Days by Jim Butcher

One of the most searched terms that lands people here are Dresden Files queries and the Cold Days search is getting ever more popular. My Dresden Files Has Jumped the Shark post has gotten so crazy I shut down the comments as I was just tired of being the place where people went to argue about it. I stand by that post and still feel very much the same way. I've discussed the story with a lot of other people in person and I'm not the only one who feels the same. Don't get me wrong some of my friends loved it too. But I digress...

Anyway, this was supposed to be an update on Cold Days. Well, there is no firm update. Butcher started writing the book in earnest around the beginning of the year after finishing a trio of Bigfoot/Dresden short stories. So it is coming, but being a 2012 release is pretty out the door. I tweeted back and forth with Jim's US editor briefly and she said it has not been decided/announced yet. There is a 2013 listing for Cold Days on Amazon UK with a January 2013 release, but I wouldn't set that in stone until Jim says so. January is probably the hope, but we'll see.

Jim has said that he is also working on a pitch for a Steampunk novel, which seems likely to be his next project after Cold Days. Those hoping he would do a run of a couple Dresden books in a row will have to be disappointed. Butcher mentioned many times he needs to take a breather from that world every other book. Before the Alera books did this. I was mostly hoping for his Sci-Fi cop series United System Marshalls to be the next, but I certainly wouldn't turn a Steampunk read down.

And for all those fans that can't wait for the next Dresden files I point you towards Kevin Hearne's Hounded, Benedict Jacka's Fated, and Seanan McGuire's Rosemary and Rue. Those series should definitely tide you over.

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Cover Unveiled for Walter Moers' The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books

One author I'm always surprised to see not many people talking about regularly is comic fantasist extraordinaire Walter Moers. His continent of Zamonia is one of the most wondrous places we could ever visit. In his homeland of Germany Moers is one of the biggest authors. Very much the German Terry Pratchett although most would agree Moers is much crazier then Pratchett.

When I heard about a new Zamonia book called The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books coming out last year in Germany I've been waiting on news of an English translation, which we finally have. This book seems to be a sequel of sorts to the third and probably my favorite Zamonia novel, The City of Dreaming Books. In fact the cover above is just the same art from City so I expect some sort of change for the final. Here is the blurb:

It has been more than two hundred years since Bookholm was destroyed by a devastating fire, as told in Moers's The City of Dreaming Books. Hildegunst von Mythenmetz, hailed as Zamonia's greatest writer, is on vacation in Lindworm Castle when a disturbing message reaches him, and he must return to Bookholm to investigate a mystery. The magnificently rebuilt city has once again become a metropolis of storytelling and the book trade. Mythenmetz encounters old friends and new denizens of the city—and the shadowy “Invisible Theater.” Astonishingly inventive, amusing, and engrossing, this is a captivating story from the wild imagination of Walter Moers.

The Labyrinth of Dreaming Books will be released in November from Overlook in the US and Harvill Secker in the UK.


To start your journey into the world of Zamonia I'd recommend reading the first in the series, The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Blue Bear to enmesh yourself properly and from there you can go to any of the other novels, even The City of Dreaming Books. If you like the idea of Minipirates, Nocturnomath's with multiple brains, sentient books, a meek dinosaur society of book lovers, literary anagrams galore, and just plain craziness you're missing out sorely if you don't give Moers a chance.


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NEWS | More on Joe Abercrombie's A Red Country [UPDATED]

Joe Abercrombie recently gave an update about the status of A Red Country, his latest book placed in the world of the First Law trilogy, albeit placed years later but with some familiar characters cropping up. Abercrombie starts his post out:

Finished the first draft of A Red Country today. Well, kind of finished. Any of you who’ve been through this process with me before will remember that there is a lot of work to do between writing the final words and seeing the book on the shelves. Some of the most important work. But also some of the most satisfying. This is the part I really enjoy, cutting, refining, seeing the poor parts chopped away and the good parts refined and the whole hopefully coming into shape. This week I’ll look over and tidy up this last part before sending it off to my editor, and then it’s a quick read through to see what I’ve got, some additions and heavy rewriting of one of the two central characters.

He also helpfully includes word stats on the current work and previous novels, which makes A Red Country his shortest novel to date, but that could change slightly with revisions. It appears everything is on track with publication for this Fall with the UK getting A Red Country a little sooner:

Oh, US publication looks like November 20th this year, UK publication will be a little before that, precise date to be announced, but probably somewhere in September/October.

Given that Abercrombie is one of Gollancz's biggest authors at the moment what with hitting the British best-seller lists pretty high up they'll probably want to get it out as soon as possible. Us in the US have to wait until around Thanksgiving.  And here is the brief blurb, which does mention the reappearance of a fan favorite:

Shy South comes home to her farm to find a blackened shell, her brother and sister stolen, and knows she'll have to go back to bad old ways if she's ever to see them again. She sets off in pursuit with only her cowardly old step-father Lamb for company. But it turns out he's hiding a bloody past of his own. None bloodier.

Their journey will take them across the lawless plains, to a frontier town gripped by gold fever, through feuds, duels, and massacres, high into unmapped mountains to a reckoning with ancient enemies, and force them into alliance with Nicomo Cosca, infamous soldier of fortune, a man no one should ever have to trust . . .

UPDATE: The big news and huge spoiler was uncovered by the ever fluffy Yetistomper found on Gollancz's catalog announcement for A Red Country:

His name is Logen Ninefingers. And he’s back for one more adventure...

Spoilers much?

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NEWS | Chine Miéville Finally Coming to Comics

Only a couple years ago China  Miéville was slated to do a run on Swamp Thing, but with DC's Vertigo imprint folding many of the older characters back into the DC Universe for the New 52 launch including Swamp Thing stopped those plans. I also heard rumors of him doing a Scrap Iron Man story, but nothing ever came of it although China recently released a bit of info on this aborted project. So  Miéville getting a shot at a long-run in comics has been long in coming.  DC finally announced an official series with him called Dial H based off the the old Dial H for Hero comic series from the 60s.

Miéville has been a fan of Dial H for Hero since he was little and without tattoos. He'll work with artist Brian Bolland on the series cover who has worked previously on Judge Dredd, Batman, Doom Patrol, and a whole bunch of other series with Mateus Santoluoco doing the interiors. Santolucco is new to me, but just looking at his portfolio gives you a feel for what is to come. From China's interview with USA Today:

"I cannot believe that I get to just make up superheroes. It's what you did as a kid," Miéville says. "The whole point of Dial is that the roster of capes is changing every single month, often two or three times." He also promises a darker series with horror, sci-fi and lots of psychological ramifications for its dialing protagonist. "In the original run, he's turning into a giant spring coil to foil bank robbers, and I'm like, OK, what if you are a 25-year-old guy and you turn into a superpowered spring coil? That's going to mess with your head."

I certainly think Miéville can pull off an adult version of Ben 10. It will definitely be interesting to see him work in another medium. Miéville's first issue of Dial H should be out in May. So between that and his steampunk Moby Dick YA novel Railsea coming out this year we'll have plenty of Miéville to go around.

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NEWS | Info on the Ray Bradbury Tribute Anthology

I mentioned news of a Ray Bradbury tribute anthology a couple months ago called Live Forever!, which has since been re-tilted to Shadow Show. The title is a reference to Cooger and Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show, which is the circus from Something Wicked Comes This Way. The cover seen above looks to be the final and judging by the style I'd bet money on it being done by Tom Gauld who also recently did the covers for the Gaiman and Sarrantonio anthology Stories as well as Matthew Hughes' The Damn Busters. Here is the blurb:

Ray Bradbury is a storyteller without peer, a poet of the possible, and, indisputably, one of America’s most beloved authors. In a much-celebrated literary career that has spanned seven decades, he has produced an astonishing body of work. In Shadow Show, editors Sam Weller and Mort Castle have collected short stories from 27 of the most celebrated authors today to honor Ray Bradbury and his contribution to the literary canon.

The revealed list of contributors includes: Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman, Joe Hill, Dave Eggers, Harlan Ellison, Alice Hoffman, Dean Koontz, Audrey Niffenegger, David Morrell, Lee Martin, Ramsey Campbell, Robert McCammon, Dan Chaon, Joe Meno, Kelly Link, Jay Bonansinga, Sam Weller, Thomas F. Monteleone, John McNally, Mort Castle, John Maclay, Gary Braunbeck, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Charles Yu, Julia Keller, Bayo Ojikutu, and Jacquelyn Mitchard. The big names that weren't on the previous list I had include Charles Yu and Kelly Link. So you could definitely say I want Shadow Show come its July 17th release date.

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NEWS | Third Magician book from Lev Grossman

In most interviews around the release of The Magician King, Grossman said he didn't know what he was going to write next and that he would be taking a little time off from writing.  But it appears inspiration has struck and we'll be treated to at least one more Magician's book featuring some past characters.  Here is what from Grossman said in his Brakebills Alumni Newsletter:

I also started writing the third Magicians novel. I’m not sure what to tell you about it.

Mostly I’m just outlining it now, and taking a lot of notes. Inspiration is coming from a lot of different places, some new, some old. The Magician’s Nephew is a big part of it, as is The Last Battle. (It’s not a coincidence that those books tell the story, respectively, of the beginning of Narnia and the end of Narnia.) I’m rereading The Tempest and The Phantom Tollbooth and P.G. Wodehouse and the great Bond novel Casino Royale. I’m also rereading The Lord of the Rings, which oddly enough I’ve never really thought of as an influence before.

The new book’s working title – which I’ve never told anybody before -- is The Magician’s Land.

It’s not like anything I’ve ever written before. But it’s not completely new either. There are a lot of old friends to visit, and a lot of loose ends to tie up. We may never come back here again.

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Cover Unveiled for new James Enge

I just had a chance to look over Pyr's Spring/Summer 2012 releases and quite a few caught my eye. I'm of course looking forward to Jon Sprunk's last book in the Shadow series, Shadow's Master to finish strongly, which will also get me to get to the second book, finally.  But it is James Enge's A Guile of Dragons that has captivated my attention.  Enge's character Morlock Ambrosius have already become fairly popular as a series of standalone books that are mostly strung together short stories, but with A Guile of Dragons we go back to Morlock's time as a young man when he was just learning about the kind of power he has. A Guile of Dragons is also the first in the A Tournament of Shadows series with a big overarching story. No official blurb as of yet, but here is what Enge said months ago when the deal was first announced:

This will actually be a trilogy, not three standalone books. Each book will have its own story (because I believe in plot resolution) but each book will depend on its predecessor(s) more than the three books of Morlock in exile did. It’s not a prequel trilogy, though. It’s an origin story.

In an interview Enge also added:

It’s very old school fantasy in some ways — dwarves, dragons, Merlin and Nimue. (No elves, though. Everyone has to draw the line somewhere.) And it also gives us a look at Morlock’s homeland, which is a sort of anarchy where community needs are addressed by voluntary associations. It’s a sort of utopia, really — with monsters. Most utopias don’t have monsters, of course, but that’s why they lack a certain plausibility.

I'm guess the art is by Steven Stone or possibly Gene Mollica. It definitely has a Malazan feel and I love all the detail in the outfit. Mark me down for reading this come August next year.

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NEWS | Charles Yu's How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe Optioned for Film

1492 pictures has smartly picked up the film rights for How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu, which was one of my favorite Sci-Fi novels last year. Here is a bit from Hollywood Reporter:

Columbus and 1492 principals Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe will produce and Brendan Bellomo is set to direct.

Bellomo is a New York University film school graduate who wrote, produced and directed a cast and crew of 200 students and professionals for the live action sci-fi short Bohemibot, which won a bronze medal in the narrative category at the 2009 Student Academy Awards. He is represented by WME and Prolific Management.

1492’s production credits include The Help, Night at the Museum, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and the first three Harry Potter films, among others. In addition to producing those films, Columbus' credits include directing Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Home Alone, and writing The Goonies and Gremlins.

It will definitely be interesting to see what choices the director and screen writer make for the film. Will they keep the humor? Pump up the action? Even more sexualize the AI in the story? Time will only tell, but the team behind the film has certainly got the chops to pull off the story well.

Yu's second book of short stories Sorry Please Thank You will be released in July and he is hard at work on his next novel Trilogy: A Novel, but that has no official release date yet.

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