The Best Foreword Ever Is In Unfettered

Before asking you whether you read forewords or not, I'd like to say I do read them. I probably get that habit from reading technical books (mostly for work).

In my humble opinion they are important. A foreword is usually not my first impression of a book because that burden falls on the cover and the blurb. However it sets a certain tone, gives the background of the book that we're holding in our hands and, in a way, completes the book's own story.

Now... the main reason why I'm here is to tell you about the brilliant foreword that Patrick Rothfuss wrote for Unfettered edited by Shawn Speakman. I'm probably not allowed to copy it fully here but you can, as I did, go on Amazon and Look Inside.

While we're all here, I'd like to point out that the stories in Unfettered are all donated for a great cause.

Lacking health insurance and diagnosed with Hogdkin’s lymphoma in 2011, Shawn quickly accrued a massive medical debt that he did not have the ability to pay. That’s when New York Times best-selling author Terry Brooks offered to donate a short story Shawn could sell toward alleviating those bills—and suggested Shawn ask the same of his other friends.

Unfettered is the result, an anthology built to relieve that debt, featuring short stories by some of the best fantasy writers in the genre.

Any one of the contributing authors' names would easily justify the purchase of a bestseller but bringing them altogether in one book makes Unfettered inescapable. Just check the list below. I bet you're going to go and order your copy ;).

• The Shade of Allanon by Terry Brooks (a Shannara tale)
• Imaginary Friends by Terry Brooks (a precursor to the Word/Void trilogy)
• How Old Holly Came To Be by Patrick Rothfuss (a Four Corners tale)
• River of Souls by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson (a Wheel of Time tale)
• The Old Scale Game by Tad Williams
• Martyr of the Roses by Jacqueline Carey (a precursor to the Kushiel series)
• Dogs by Daniel Abraham
• Mudboy by Peter V. Brett (a Demon Cycle tale)
• Nocturne by Robert V. S. Redick
• The Sound of Broken Absolutes by Peter Orullian (a Vault of Heaven tale)
• Untitled by Geno & R.A. Salvatore
• Keeper of Memory by Todd Lockwood (a Summer Dragon tale)
• Game of Chance by Carrie Vaughn
• The Lasting Doubts of Joaquin Lopez by Blake Charlton
• The Chapel Perilous by Kevin Hearne (an Iron Druid tale)
• Select Mode by Mark Lawrence (a Broken Empire tale)
• All the Girls Love Michael Stein by David Anthony Durham
• Strange Rain by Jennifer Bosworth (a Struck epilogue tale)
• Unbowed by Eldon Thompson (a Legend of Asahiel tale)
• Untitled by Naomi Novik (a Temeraire tale)
• The Jester by Michael J. Sullivan (a Riyria Chronicles tale)
• The Duel by Lev Grossman (a Magicians tale)
• The Unfettered Knight by Shawn Speakman (an Annwn Cycle tale)

Catching Up

Work has been hectic this week and despite my best intentions, I couldn't find the opportunity to post these news at the right time so forgive me for bundling them together but this is the best I could do this week.

A new press released announced Tor UK's new acquisition. To hear King's and Koontz's names is enough for me to pay attention to Seth Patrick's Reviver series. But I'm afraid we're going to have to wait a little while before we can lay our eyes on the first book.

Tor UK captures Seth Patrick

Reviver by Seth Patrick has been acquired by Tor UK in a six-figure pre-empt from Luigi Bonomi.

It is the first of three books in the Reviver series, all of which have been acquired by Tor UK and Thomas Dunne Books in New York for World English Language rights. Comparable to Stephen King, Justin Cronin and Dean Koontz, this supernatural thriller has a fantastic lead character, Jonah Miller, who will feature in all three books.
Seth Patrick is in his late 30s and lives in West Sussex. A very successful computer games developer who works for Sega, Reviver is his first novel.

Reviver is set in the USA and introduces readers to Jonah Miller, one of the world’s most gifted revivers. Revivers are those who can make contact with the dead and bring them back for a short period of time to say goodbye to loved ones or, more importantly for the police, tell them who their killers were.

But while reviving the victim of a brutal murder, Jonah discovers that a sinister presence is watching from the other side. When he starts to investigate, what he uncovers threatens everything he knows . . .
Julie Crisp, Editorial Director of Tor UK says,

“This is a hugely exciting project and everyone who read this loved it! Seth Patrick is a wonderful writer and there's a real sense of action and pace combined with an imagination and storyline in the novel that readers of Justin Cronin will love. Jonah Miller is going to be a very popular character.”

Luigi Bonomi comments,

“Seth Patrick has written one of the most captivating and original stories I’ve read in ages. I first read the material sitting on a train and had to ring the author there and then as I knew it was going to be terrific. I couldn’t be more delighted that Macmillan and Thomas Dunne Books are going to be publishing it.”

Reviver is currently scheduled for publication in the UK in 2013.

Mark Lawrence's upcoming book, King of Thorns, second book of the Broken Empire series, has a cover now:

My first reaction to it was: "A hooded figure (again) but I like it (again)." I think, just like in the first book's cover, I really like the posture of Jorg (the King). The first book of the series, Prince of Thorns has been very well received (reviewed here) so I'm sure most of you are looking forward to its publication in August 2012.

I also caught my first glimpse of Anthony Huso's Black Bottle:

Huso has created a big fan base with his very successful previous book, The Last Page. Black Bottle is going to be published in 2012 but I haven't heard a more precise date yet.

Cover Art - Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

Blogosphere and on-line forums are full of discussions about the typical hooded figures on the cover of fantasy books. I know that some of the fantasy lovers can't stand covers displaying single hooded figures. I, personally, don't close the door on them categorically. It is art after all, and it depends on various facts such as the composition, colour scheme, movements etc.

Mark Lawrence's upcoming book (published on 4 Aug 2011 by Harper Voyager), Prince of Thorns, has such a cover. Even though the typical hooded figure is at the centre of the cover art, I really like it. At first glance, I thought the idea of being misty didn't go well with strong winds capable of lifting a cloak, but I must admit I quite like its black-and-white and lifeless background. In contrast, the main figure's colours and the movement of his cape create the main contrast. We are not sure if this young and delicate looking warrior is responsible of the carnage around him but the planted swords raise from the ground like the bloody thorns of a battlefield. The cover art is created by Jason Chan.

Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Harper Voyager (4 Aug 2011)
ISBN-10: 0007423292
ISBN-13: 978-0007423293

Before the thorns taught me their sharp lessons and bled the weakness from me I had but one brother, and I loved him well. But those days are gone and what is left of them lies in my mother’s tomb. Now I have many brothers, quick with knife and sword, and as evil as you please. We ride this broken empire and loot its corpse. They say these are violent times, the end of days when the dead roam and monsters haunt the night. All that’s true enough, but there’s something worse out there, in the dark. Much worse.

Once a privileged royal child, raised by a loving mother, Jorg Ancrath has become the Prince of Thorns, a charming, immoral boy leading a grim band of outlaws in a series of raids and atrocities. The world is in chaos: violence is rife, nightmares everywhere. Jorg’s bleak past has set him beyond fear of any man, living or dead, but there is still one thing that puts a chill in him. Returning to his father’s castle Jorg must confront horrors from his childhood and carve himself a future with all hands turned against him.

Prince of Thorns is the first volume in a powerful new epic fantasy trilogy, original, absorbing and challenging. Mark Lawrence’s debut novel tells a tale of blood and treacher, magic and brotherhood and paints a compelling and brutal, sometimes beautiful, picture of an exceptional boy on his journey toward manhood and the throne.

"This is a lean, cold knife-thrust of a novel, a revenge fantasy anchored on the compelling voice and savage purpose of its titular Prince. There is never a safe moment in Lawrence’s debut." — Robert Redick, author of The Red Wolf Conspiracy

Order at Amazon (UK)