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Color Quiz: En Francais

Due to the Gallic genius of Bragelonne (and the generous cooperation of my English-language publisher, Orbit — thank you Alex!), the color quiz that I originally wrote to describe a little bit about the world of The Seven Satrapies and the magic users who inhabit it is now live in French.

Bragelonne has translated and coded anew the quiz here. If you enjoy it, please “like” the Facebook page for both The Black Prism and Bragelonne, and be on the lookout for Le Prisme noir, coming in October!

Schwarzes Prisma/Black Prism Release in Germany!

Dear German fans,

This week will see the release of Schwarzes Prisma. You can order on amazon.de. And here’s the blurb:

Sein Leben ist eine Lüge, seine Macht nur geraubt …

Gavin Guile ist der hoch geehrte Lord Prisma. Allein seine magischen Fähigkeiten, seine Intelligenz und seine Überzeugungskraft bewahren den unsicheren Frieden im Reich. Doch Gavin bleiben nur noch fünf Jahre zu leben. Fünf Jahre, um fünf unmögliche Ziele zu erreichen. Da erfährt er, dass er einen Sohn hat, und von der Gefahr für dessen Leben. Doch um den unschuldigen Jungen zu retten, muss Gavin sein dunkelstes Geheimnis offenbaren – und damit das Reich zerreißen. Denn sein Leben fußt auf einer Lüge, und seine Macht ist lediglich geraubt. Kann er diesen Preis bezahlen, um sein einziges Kind zu retten?

Or at least I think that’s the blurb. Since I don’t speak German I can’t be sure…

I hope you love it!

FOUR IVAN DRAGOS AND ROCKY IV / THE DAVID GEMMELL LEGEND AWARD

Baby Snaga. Baaaaaabyyyyyyy Snaga. I got you in my sights. I see you. Over there. Looking sharp. And beautiful. And shiny. And…. Miniature.

Baby Snaga is the award for the also-rans. It’s a reward for the writers who are good enough to get into the finalist circle, but not brawny enough to take Papa Snaga from the hands of an unwitting world audience. This is what happens when a man destined for a Baby Snaga tries to touch Papa Snaga:

Do you see the crazed gleam in his eye? That’s the look of a man who knows that Snaga will never be his. He can pet Papa Snaga’s curves, but if he ever tries to wield the big man himself, he’ll probably chop off a toe in a tragic woodcutting accident.

Warning to readers: that crazed, sad, pathetic little man above, there, THAT could be me. This is why I need your help. Desperately. Desperately. Need. Your. Help.

The David Gemmell Legend Award is given to the best heroic fantasy of the year as voted on by people like you. That’s right, every award has its foibles, and the David Gemmell Legend Award’s foible is this: THEY’RE TRUSTING YOU.

This year, the finals of the DGLA include a very talented pool: first, the Frenchman, Pierre Pevel, author of The Cardinal’s Blades. Pierre may or may not have been involved in ruthlessly mocking my pronunciation of “Cardinal Richeliu.” Oh, you think you can do better? Just try: Cardinal RI. SHEH. LYOOO. Doubtless Pierre will have the Francophile vote locked down. Anglophiles, consider this a direct challenge to your manhood. Or. Womanhood…

Besides, what have the French ever given us except extremely good clothes…  and great wine… and great cheese… and great architecture…  and charming waiters… and Lilu Dallas clothed in a bandage?

Secondly comes Peter V. Brett. Who, to my eternal envy, has upon at least one occasion, hugged the aforementioned Milla Jovovich (although it is believed at this time that she was not wearing the bandage at the time of said hug).  Peter Brett is the talented author of The Painted Man and The Desert Spear. He is also a noted hugger.

Thirdly, Markus Heitz has burst upon my consciousness like dawn after a night of too much fun. Markus, despite having infiltrated my own exquisite publisher in the US and UK, is carrying the honor (and zillions of votes) of yet another great Old World country: Germany. Dah Dah Dah. And besides, what have the Germans given us? Except music. Philosophy. Poetry. Clocks that run on time. Cars that actually look good.  18-hour Opera. And kick-ass fantasy stories. Oh wait, forget that last part. Don’t vote for him! Look over here! Me! Over Here! The American. Ah, crap.

My fourth and fourth-and-a-halfth opponent is the ubiquitous (and also American) Brandon Sanderson. Brandon is the author of approximately 417 novels. Who is also known as the man who has lost the David Gemmell Legend award more times than anyone else has even been nominated.  However:  DO NOT PITY THIS MAN.  He is also the only man in the world known to proficiently dual-wield Baby Snagas (having had more practice than anyone alive). And of course, the other halfth of his team is the utterly inimitable Robert Jordan who is, indeed, a legend. And if you vote for Robert Jordan (a personal hero of mine), I might someday– after a long and bitter time of personal sorrow–forgive you.

Ok, fine. So the field’s crowded. And the other guys… They’re not half bad. Not even those guys who are splitting a Snaga in half. So, here’s the reason you should vote for me…

Ok, well gosh darn it, I’m just pretty psyched that I get a Baby Snaga! So thanks all you guys for getting me this far in the David Gemmell Legend Award. And, if you’re a glutton for punishment, you can throw in a vote on the losing side. It’s only a couple clicks of your mouse, and maybe you’ll help me sacrifice some dignity by coming in a distant fourth rather than a distant fifth-and-a-half (I hate it when the write-in votes for Mickey Mouse beat me)! Go here to vote.

Thank you so much for the honor, and I hope I entertained you with this brief fight preview! (raw-KEY, raw-KEY, raw-KEY, ROCKY!) C’mon, even the Russians voted for the underdog, and that was during the Cold War!

 

Czarny Pryzmat

It’s here! Or rather, it’s there!

I’ve gotten a number of emails from fans in Poland asking when it was coming, and I’m happy to announce  that The Black Prism is now available in Polish!

Take a look at Czarny Pryzmat on the publisher’s website here.  It’s available to purchase here, here and here.

Speaking of Oz…

So I hear I’ve made a small splash in Australia. (Thanks, Joshua.) As a matter of fact, this past week, SFFNews.com noted that The Way of Shadows was Number Two on the Dymocks Bestselling Science Fiction and Fantasy List–more than two years after publication. (Thanks for the incredulous interrobang, dude.)

For all you non-philologists, that’s this dealie: “?!” as in “Brent Weeks is at Number Two? What the Hell?!”

Due to my relentless good fortune, I’ve had quite a number of Australian fans ask me to come to Australia. This week I broke down and virtually said yes. That isn’t that I almost said yes, it’s that I said yes… to a Skype interview. I’ll be speaking in March to Dragons in the Metcalfe, a gathering of bibliovorous librarians. Because really, who can say no to 140 librarians?

As I learned by watching Inception this week, the LAX to Sydney flight is one of the longest non-stop flights in the world.

I looked into flights–cuz hey, librarians!–but something makes me nervous about that Oceanic Flight 815.

*Yeah, I know 815 was the Sydney TO LA leg, so technically, it would be like flight 816. Work with me, people.

*EDIT/CORRECTION* I’m not actually coming to Australia this time, though I hope to within the next couple of years! And so far as I know, the Skype interview will only be visible to those who are attending that convention. So… not terribly helpful if you were hoping I’d visit YOU, but hey, baby steps.

Black Light, Schwarzes Licht

The Black Prism is coming to Germany! With a brand-new name (Schwarzes Licht) and a brand-new cover (more in line with The Night Angel Trilogy), you can get it online or in bookstores in October 2011!

Take a sneak peek at the cover and pre-order here. For another look at Schwarzes Licht, complete with picture of smiling Brent, in Blanvalet’s online catalogue, click here (I’d recommend using the find function using “Brent” rather than scrolling to page 159!) Kind of nice to be described as “der Shootingstar der Fantasy!”

And in other Teutonic news, the third book of the Night Angel Trilogy, Beyond the Shadows (Jenseits der Schatten in Germany!) spent a week on the extended bestseller list at #47! Thanks to all the fans and Blanvalet Verlag who made it, and the rest of the Trilogy, such a success!

And without further ado:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHw6KXbvazs

(You didn’t think I’d be able to help myself, did you?)

Far, Far Away — or in Your Backyard?

To everyone who’s ever dreamed of owning The Night Angel Trilogy in Yiddish…

Your wait is not over!

BUT if you’re looking for a handy guide to the available international editions of The Night Angel Trilogy and The Lightbringer Series –  then you’ve come to the right place. We now have an International Editions page, and we’ll be posting updates as books are both bought and released by publishers around the world. The page has links to the publishers’ actual websites, as well as places to go to buy the books online (unless we haven’t had luck finding them online, or if they aren’t published yet!)

And if you just wanted a quick overview of some of the cool covers… scroll away!

Moin–or Hola–Europa!

Besides being of at least 1/16th German extraction, I’ve got another reason to love the country – they have lots of fantasy fans! And now I’ve got a killer interview with sci-fi/fantasy German webzine Zauberspiegel. So if you speak German, or even feel vaguely Teutonic during Oktoberfest, come on over here! For those of you non-German speakers, my interviewer, Horst Hermann von Allworden, has graciously provided an English translation here as well!

Oh wait, that’s me talking in English–it just sounds like English run through Google translate and back again. Which reminds me of a classic (possibly apocryphal) example of a phrase run unsuccessfully through the translation grinder:

The vodka is strong, but the meat is rotten!

(The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.)

And on to Spain, land of Cervantes, whom I have it on good authority Random House Mondadori actually rejected. (Okay, I made that up.) Mondadori has just released the 2nd book in the Night Angel Trilogy! (W00t!) To get a copy of Al Filo de Las Sombras in Spain, click here. To just check out my Spanish-as-in-Spain webpage, go here.

Russia Reads the Trilogy

Maybe not ALL of Russia – but the final book of the Night Angel Trilogy is now available for all you Russian readers – or readers with Russian friends !

And they’ve got Kylar Stern surrounded. Hot chick on his right, army on his left, and bad-assed beastie behind him… well, even Kylar Stern could use a little help. Looks like no one’s safe!

Of course, this is Brent Weeks! So we already knew that.

In Hungarian: Az Arnyak Utjan

Ok, ok, so the above doesn’t have all the cool accents etc. that the REAL Hungarian title does.

For those who can actually read Hungarian – or just like seeing the Trilogy in all its polylingual glory – here’s the Hungarian cover of The Way of Shadows: