News Update

Publié par Patrick on Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Hi guys!

Since many of you appear eager to learn what's coming up, here is a few things I have on tap for your pleasure!:-)

Interviews

- The Melanie Rawn interview will likely come first. I should be sending her the questions by the end of the week.

- When I set up the Raymond E. Feist contest last month, I was granted a mini-interview with the author. Just five questions, but it's better than nothing, right!?! This one should see the light fairly soon. . .

- I have secured an interview with Greg Keyes, and will be teaming up with Rob Bedford for that Q&A. Rob should send me his questions in a couple of days. After perusing his, I'll add my own and send that to Del Rey's publicity department.

- I have secured an interview with China Miéville. It will be conducted next February, to coincide with the release of his new novel. Should be a good one!;-)

- I have also secured an interview with Peter F. Hamilton. It will coincide with the paperback release of Judas Unchained, hence in March.

- Although nothing is for certain yet, I'm gunning for interviews with Terry Brooks, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Hopefully they will see the light!

Contests

- I still have three copies of Melanie Rawn's Spellbinder up for grabs! Just scroll down for the details. . .

- I'm testing the waters with Transworld for a copy or two of Pratchett's Wintersmith. I have a very good relationship with the publicists at Transworld, so there's a good chance that you'll see this one soon!

- I've inquired about the possibility for a Hunters of Dune contest. No word as of yet. . .

- Tor Books have a good fall schedule, and I'll be working hard to try to get you guys the opportunity to win a few free novels! Titles of interest include Kate Elliot's Spirit Gate, George R. R. Martin's The Ice Dragon, David Farland's Sons of the Oak, and L. E. Modesitt, jr.'s Soarer's Choice.

- There are always other possibilities, but that's about it for now.

Book Reviews

- I'm currently reading Ian Cameron Esslemont's Night of Knives. Pretty good so far. . .:-)

- After that, I'll likely read Feist's Flight of the Nighthawks and Into a Dark Realm.

- Once I'm done with those, I may give this little known author a chance. He goes by the name of George R. R. Martin. I've heard good things about him. They say he's in the same league as Goodkind!;-) Can't possibly go wrong!

Your Comments

- As always, I welcome your feedback. So feel free to leave a comment or two!

12 commentaires:

Anonymous said...

[i]Once I'm done with those, I may give this little known author a chance. He goes by the name of George R. R. Martin. I've heard good things about him. They say he's in the same league as Goodkind!;-) Can't possibly go wrong![/i]

You haven't read Martin yet? Wow...
Fasten your seatbelt or be prepared to be blown away. Martin IS the best (fantasy) author out there currently and I am 100% you'll fall in love with his books.

3:59 AM
Anonymous said...

Of course that is something I cannot leave uncommented *g*

Let's just say Erikson and Martin together are the best living fantasy authors ;)
In my opinion Martin's writing is better (you really don't want to set the book aside until you reach the last page), though he relies a bit too much on killing off characters.
Erikson on the other hand is way better when it comes to world-building and the plot.

7:58 AM
Anonymous said...

Just out of curiousity, why has it taken you so long to read Martin especially with the raving reviews that are out there?

I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but when I see that you have authors like Feist on your "to read" list, I keep thinking how you're short-changing yourself when you keep delaying your foray in aSoIaf.

BTW, I love your blog. Keep up the great work!

8:32 AM
Anonymous said...

I should have known that maschine cannot leave this uncommented... :D

Tbh I only read 1 1/4 of Eriksons books and I have yet to discover that certain "Erikson"-feeling, that all of the fans seems to have come across sooner or later.

Anyway. Pat, do yourself a favor and skip Feist. Also I like his novels those are all "Fantasy light" stuff compared to Martin. If you really start reading his books, I am you cannot stop until you have read the last one. And you will wait impatiently for the next installment of the sage, as we all do... ;)

PS: Needless to say we all love your blog, your giveaways, newsbits, etc... :D Keep the good work up!

3:48 PM
Patrick said...

I've said this so many times... I guess everyone knew this by now!;-)

In the summer of 1996, the manager of my favorite bookstore gave me an advance reading copy of A GAME OF THRONES. At that time, GRRM was relatively unknown. But Bantam was backing this author up, their answer to the Robert Jordan hysteria.

For some reason, I didn't read it at the time. On the AOL sword and sorcery message board (back in the good old days), you could speak directly with authors such as GRRM, Feist, Salvatore, etc. So I did discuss this new series with him. Just before A CLASH OF KINGS came out, GRRM told me that he was envisioning 5 or 6 books, all of them released a year apart. Of course, we all know that this not exactly happen as planned.

The long and the short of it is that I didn't want to start another "ongoing" series. I have every volume of ASoIaF in hardcover, all of them first prints. But I was waiting to read them. . . Silly, I know. But there are so many ongoing series to keep track of, that I simply didn't want to go ahead and begin another one.

At the end of last year, my resolution was to read Erikson's Malazan novels and Martin's ASoIaF. Many GRRM fans doubted my resolve, yet I read every Malazan volume. And now, well I guess I have to give GRRM a shot before the year is through!;-)

Hell, AGoT has been sitting on that shelf for nearly 10 years now. . . I guess it deserves a little bit of my attention!:-)

And no, that ARC is not for sale!;-)

11:19 PM
Anonymous said...

I'm tempted to ask why you haven't read GRRM yet, but I'll save it for later.

It sounds like you'll be busy - and my gods that's a yummy list of authors. I hope everything works out easy, and that you have fun doing the interviews. :)

2:34 PM
Anonymous said...

I'm really looking forward to your interview with Melanie Rawn! Though I noticed you don't have her site listed on your links. :(

4:22 PM
Meljprincess said...

"I have secured an interview with China Miéville" AWESOME! Can't wait for this!
And bring on the contests. *g* You give away books I'm very interested in.

10:12 AM
J. Scott Nelson said...

Hey Pat,

Great site. You'll love Martin, but like others here given your reading list I'm shocked you haven't read him yet. I see your explanation and think that must have taken some amazing discipline thusfar given the reviews he had. Prepare to be immersed in sweat and blood!

11:50 AM
Patrick said...

Melanie Rawn's website doesn't figure among those links because, up until a few days ago, I didn't even know she had one! And I haven't had time to check things out.

Also, those websites that are linked are places were I'm a fairly regular member. . .:-)

6:06 PM
Sarah said...

I can't believe you haven't read GRRM either! I got hooked on them my first summer in New Orleans. Picked up the first one, just looking for a new series that had good reviews. Didn't have internet that summer, or a car. Didn't know it was this huge series. I read AGOT practically overnight and then panicked... WHY DIDN'T I BUY THE OTHER TWO?? I MUST GO BACK! I MUST GO BACK!

But then, I've got Malazan 2 & 3 here that I'm reluctant to get into for similar reasons. So what do I know?

1:47 AM
Patrick said...

Ah!

That's the reason why I haven't even read AGoT. Because I knew that I would never be able to hold back and would be forced to read the whole thing back to back. I'm aware that I'll be addicted, so I was reluctant to start the whole thing, knowing that this would be another note-taking endeavor. But now, with the Tower of the Hand website. . .:-)

9:57 AM

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