OK – we admit it. The UK and Australian readers have been getting a raw deal, having to wait for Nicole Peeler‘s sweet, sassy and sexy urban fantasy series to float their way, whilst the US readers have been bathing in its glory for a few months. But now the wait is over, and Tempest Rising (UK | US | ANZ) and Tracking the Tempest (UK | US | ANZ) have finally washed up on our shores all at once. Featuring the naughty scrumpet Jane True as our half-selkie heroine – think of it as Sookie Stackhouse meets Splash!
Nicole was over in the UK recently and, in what’s becoming a bit of an Orbit UK habit, we took her aside to cross-examine her about her series and the Urban Fantasy genre. She is an assistant professor of literature, so she should know her stuff after all! Take a look at the video below (and excuse my sniggering at points in the background – this lady cracks me up!)
Read on for a great piece from the talented Sally-Ann Spencer on her experience of translating The Dwarves(UK/ US/ ANZ) and The War of the Dwarves(UK/ US / ANZ) from the original German:
Turning German ‘Zwerge’ into English-speaking dwarves isn’t as straightforward as it might seem. For one thing, the English word ‘dwarf’ has two possible plurals: ‘dwarfs’ and ‘dwarves’. Which should be used for the translation? The dwarves of Girdlegard bear a certain resemblance to their counterparts in Middle Earth, so I went with the version popularized by Tolkien. But hang on a minute, Read the rest of this entry »
I have been too busy designing covers lately, but recently Jeff Somers has been making awesome videos and you should all check them out on his blog. There’s some hilarious peeks into the writing process and general frustrations of being an author.
But here is the most recent and the giant floating covers crack me up. Enjoy!
The Company started with an old friend of mine. He’s nothing like General Kunessin, but he used to have an old Air Force greatcoat with the rank and unit insignia cut off (he was a pacifist; military greatcoats are amazingly warm; we lived in a cold place)
The image of a tall man in just such a coat coming home stayed with me for thirty years. During that time, I figured he must be coming home from the war; which in turn begged the question, what war? My spasmodic studies of history during that time led me to the unavoidable truth that there’s only ever one war, and it’s never over.
All of the veterans I’ve met over the years brought the war home with them. They came back dressed in it, like a coat. Some of them put the coat neatly away in a cupboard. Some of them hid it in the attic, lagging the hot water tank. Some of them, usually the ones who didn’t do so well in peacetime, carried on wearing it because they had nothing else to wear, and they lived in a cold place.
It’s sad that war never seems to go out of style. The veterans I’ve talked to all said the same thing; it was the comradeship, the friends, that made it bearable, even joyful. Do you still see your old army buddies, I ask? None of them do. I conclude that my original mental image was deceptive; nobody comes home from the war, because everybody who fights in the war stays there, for ever and ever, and somebody else comes home, wearing their coat.
The Company [UK|US] is K.J. Parker’s first stand alone novel and is available in paperback this month from all good booksellers.
When you’ve been away from a series as long as I’ve been away from the Landover books, there is a certain amount of trepidation involved when you consider returning. Readers have asked for a newMagic Kingdom book ever since the last one in 1995, but I just didn’t have a good enough idea to justify the writing of one. And, besides, other projects kept interfering. So I dragged my feet on the project and kept hoping something would happen to inspire me.
Eventually, of course, it did. But it came from an unexpected source. The Landover books always have something to do with what happens to me in real life, but things have been going along pretty smoothly for some time and so nothing much occurred to me when thinking of Ben and Willow. Then I remembered that their daughter, Mistaya, would be in her teen years. Some sort of trauma is always happening where teens are involved. Sure enough, I remembered an incident of some years back when one of my kids – one who shall remain nameless – got tossed out of boarding school. Now there’s some trauma. But what to do with it? This resourceful child managed to talk their way back in, but that wouldn’t do for Mistaya.
So I decided to deal with what happens when going back isn’t an option the child cares to consider and growing up is very much at issue. Mistaya, sent away to a world she doesn’t like, suddenly finds herself forced to discover what it is she really wants to do. A journey ensues, and along the way she has to come to terms with what it means when you have set yourself against virtually everyone and don’t have a real plan for how to make things come out right.
When young, we all go through a period of leaving childhood and entering adulthood and finding the effort a big fat pain in the butt. But what if you are a Princess, privileged and beautiful and heir to a magic that surpasses anything anyone else commands? What if who you are and what you are is at the source of the problem, and your flailing about puts the people you love the most at risk? Throw in some nasty opponents, some clueless G’Home Gnomes, a mystery in a haunted library, add your favorite talking dragon, and you’ve got something to work with.
I wouldn’t say that by the end of the book Mistaya’s troubles are over – far from it – but I would say she’s done some growing up. Even more important, she’s come to an understanding with her parents that will help smooth out the road ahead and let her continue her journey to adulthood.
A Princess of Landover [UK| AUZ] is available this month from all good booksellers.
The Gypsy Morph is the third book in the new Genesis of Shannara series and pretty much wraps up the time period covered by the first trilogy. Lots is happening. The old world, which is ours some eighty years in the future, is ending. The survivors of multiple catastrophes are facing a firestorm which threatens to wipe out everyone who’s left. A small band of Men, Elves, and other species is making its way to a safehold somewhere in the Pacific NW. Leading them is a boy called Hawk, who was the Gypsy Morph of the Word & Void series. His little band of street kids, called Ghosts, are linked with two Knights of the Word who have allied themselves with the survivors seeking the safehold refuge. But dangers lie in wait along the way, and an army of once-men led by demons are in pursuit. Read the rest of this entry »
The first two Codex Alera novels were faced with with a considerable disadvantage–the main protagonist was a child.
Now granted, this is hardly anything new when it comes to fantasy protagonists, but it
does present a writer with a number of challenges which adult characters do not. Children have, generally speaking, much less ability to affect the environment about them, and are forced to go about the pursuit of their goals in very different ways.
Cursor’s Fury marks a turning point in the Codex Alera for two reasons. First, because the main protagonist, Tavi, has become a functioning adult–a young one, true, but he has earned a considerable amount of trust and responsibility through his actions in the first two books. Second, because all of the intrigue and covert planning that happen throughout the first two books begin to boil over into open conflict, not just for Tavi, but for all the realm of Alera.
Tavi finds himself forced to become an adult very rapidly, and must take upon himself far more serious (and dangerous) tasks than he or his instructors had ever imagined. This time, Tavi’s wits alone might not be enough to carry the day, and the young Cursor will find himself tested to his limits and beyond.
I *loved* writing this book. It was a tremendous amount of fun. I sincerely hope that you get half as much enjoyment out of reading this story as I did out of writing it.
Karen say’s
The Rogue Agent series is my chance to combine two of my favourite genres — fantasy and mystery. I suppose it started with the question — what happens when the most ordinary and unassuming person discovers they have more power than anyone should ever possess? How does that change them? How do they stay sane, stay the same, when so many of the rules no longer apply to them? That was the driving question that got the series started, and it’s the answering and exploring of that question that gives the series its momentum.
But it’s not all deep and philosophically serious. The Rogue Agent series also allows me to have some out-and-out fun, introducing humorous elements to the story while still keeping it grounded in drama. Just as important, for me its characters are a family, and I love exploring the dynamics of family. I love throwing my characters in the deep end, too, and watching what happens as they try to swim before they sink.
In fact, I think it’s fair to say that the main reason I’m enjoying the series so much is because of these characters. Sometimes it feels like I’m a fly on the wall taking dictation. Someone starts talking, someone else chimes in, and the next thing I know it’s a dingdong free-for-all with Reg being sarcastic and Melissande taking her to task and Bibbie squabbling with her brother Monk and poor old Gerald stuck in the middle like the ringmaster of the craziest circus ever, trying to keep everyone and everything on track. And then prowling around the outside, the mysterious Sir Alec — who knows more than he’s telling about a great many things, and who has a few secrets of his own to protect.
At the end of the day, I love writing these books and it’s my hope that readers will love them a lot too.
Cursor’s Fury:the Codex Alera Book Three [UK] and Witches Incorporated:the Rogue Agent Book Two [UK|US] are both out this month, available from all good bookshops.
I’ve always had a soft spot for outcasts and rebels. It’s no surprise then that I created a world populated by dark races, who have been literally forced to live in the shadows, hidden from the human race. And in this world, lives an outcast among outcasts. Her name in Sabina Kane, and her story is about what happens when the red-headed stepchild grows up and realizes she’s been betrayed by those who should have protected her.
All of that sounds very deep and dark, but Red-Headed Stepchild is also about how Sabina finds her own tribe of misfits in unlikely places. A mischief demon with a predilection for infomercial shopping. An idealistic nymph who used to work in faery porn. A roguish mage who introduces Sabina to the world of magic. Each helps Sabina navigate a world filled with blood-thirsty wine makers, charismatic cult leaders and hookah-smoking vampires. So really, when you think about it, there’s something in Red-Headed Stepchild for the whole family to enjoy.
Red-Headed Stephchild is out this month! [US|UK|AZ]
I guess this time the title really does say it all. Like chips and salsa or squeezy cheese on Ritz crackers, this story should fire up a hunger in you that keeps you plowing through the pages like a fourth-day dieter at an all-you-can-eat buffet. The ghosts. The witches. The repeated assassination attempts. The fact that Jaz’s dad has brought his cigars and his room-clearing farts to the show. It all kinda makes you go, “Oh, no! I can’t! I shouldn’t! GIMME!”
And you thought Scotland was all just cute dudes in kilts and wee bonnie lasses. Ha!
One More Bite [UK | US] is out this month and you can find it at all good booksellers.
A boy goes on a journey. This theme, or variations on it, has long dominated epic fantasy offerings. However, the Broken Man Trilogy, of which Dark Heart is the second volume, features as its main character a man who never leaves the building. Like a spider, he sits and waits for his prey to come to him.
Chief among his prey is a character I’ve had more email about than any other: Lenares the cosmographer. Readers love her quirkiness and the way she thinks and behaves, so different to standard fantasy characters. I was excited the day I thought of her, and I remain excited by what she’s becoming. Her gradual realisation of the web of danger ahead of her, and the ways she chooses to deal with it, earn this book its title. Dark Heart is, well, the darkest novel I’ve written.
Before the story is over each character has to answer the question: how many wrongs am I prepared to entertain in order to do what’s right? The various answers drive the book along at an ever-increasing pace; and as for the ending … ‘cruel’ is a fair description.
‘Middle’ novels of fantasy trilogies are supposed to be difficult to write. This one fair flew on to the screen. I’m delighted by Dark Heart and I’m sure you will be too.
Dark Heart by Russell Kirkpatrick is, as Russell says, the second part of the Broken Man Trilogy and is out now from Orbit in the UK and US. The first part of the trilogy is entitled Path of Revenge [UK | USA] and the conclusion, Beyond the Wall of Time is due for publication next year.
Find out more about Russell Kirkpatrick and his published work to date, over at www.russellkirkpatrick.com.
- - August 13th, 2010
OK – we admit it. The UK and Australian readers have been getting a raw deal, having to wait for Nicole Peeler‘s sweet, sassy and sexy urban fantasy series to float their way, whilst the US readers have been bathing in its glory for a few months. But now the wait is over, and Tempest Rising (UK | US | ANZ) and Tracking the Tempest (UK | US | ANZ) have finally washed up on our shores all at once. Featuring the naughty scrumpet Jane True as our half-selkie heroine – think of it as Sookie Stackhouse meets Splash!
Read on for a great piece from the talented Sally-Ann Spencer on her experience of translating The Dwarves (
Terry says:
Karen say’s
I guess this time the title really does say it all. Like chips and salsa or squeezy cheese on Ritz crackers, this story should fire up a hunger in you that keeps you plowing through the pages like a fourth-day dieter at an all-you-can-eat buffet. The ghosts. The witches. The repeated assassination attempts. The fact that Jaz’s dad has brought his cigars and his room-clearing farts to the show. It all kinda makes you go, “Oh, no! I can’t! I shouldn’t! GIMME!”
