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At the Edge of the Shadow–Russian Cover

… or in Russian, “At The Edge of the Shadow”. As well as I can tell, EKSMO has renamed the trilogy “Masters of Might and Magic”. Many thanks to the alert reader who let us know that the Russian cover for the second book is now available online.  Once again, the artist has pulled things from the book in a great way. Notice the divided background between day and night which puts Kylar right at–well, you know.

Lots more details from the series on this cover. Can’t wait to see what they do for the third book in the trilogy!

*EDIT* Apparently, the “Masters of Might and Magic” is an imprint under which EKSMO publishes foreign fantasy books. Thank you to Aleks for the heads up!

This Looks Perilously Close to Hawking my Wares

And I’m not a big ware-hawker… (Hmm, a were-hawk, there’s a story in that somewhere).

*ahem*

So, you’re looking for a signed book. Some authors are crazy enough that they grow big beards and say, Send All Your Books To My House (With Something Interesting) And I Will Sign It. Problem is, I’m not that guy. I have only a small goatee, and a penchant for losing even my own things.

Ergo, come to a book signing.

“Ah, Brent,” you say, “but I live in a foetid corner of Tasmania, and though I voted as per your instructions, you are not coming to an urban center near me. More’s the pity. Do you hate Australians?”

No, in fact, I like Australians so much, I don’t even attempt to do the accent–unlike many Americans, who are totally unable to restrain themselves from that whole “shrimp on the barbie” line. (I’m strong. I also don’t attempt the Sean Connery accent. Though that one’s a near thing.)

But, granted, there are a few thousand corners of the globe to which I have not trotted, or at least not while anyone knew that my scribble on a piece of paper might have some sentimental value to someone on the Australian version of Ebay. (Do you have Ebay Down Under? I heard in Russia it’s Mobile Money or something…)

To the matter at hand: You want a book with a Brent Weeks scrawl in it. I want you to be a happy fan. Here’s where The Signed Page steps in.

Basically, you buy the book through The Signed Page at a reasonable mark-up; I sign it (for free, I don’t make any money off this), and they will send it to you–and if I understand correctly, they send books anywhere in the world. And I will be happy to personalize your book for you. HERE is the direct link to Shawn’s Brent Weeks page.

I’m signing the first batch of books when I’m up in Seattle for my book tour on August 26th, so if you want your book without delay, please get your order in. Sorry for the short notice. (I live 3.5 hours away from Shawn, so I can’t promise the fastest signing all the time.)

Those of you not interested in were-hawks, carry on.

Russian Launch of The Way of Shadows

Sometimes these things come to me in the strangest ways. Apparently, The Way of Shadows was just released in Russia by EKSMO Publishing. Someone in the comments dropped me the link, and sure enough, this has got to be my book: blue glowy sword, crumpled guard, broken window. This is a good example of what’s known as a ‘narrative cover’. The art tells a story. It’s a concept of what a cover should do that you don’t see as often in America or the UK anymore. (Blame short attention spans or evolving market demand or a simple quest for novelty.) But it can be a lot of fun to pick out things from the book and see how the artist has worked those together. It’s also proof that the artist read the book–which is definitely not guaranteed. I’ve seen hugely successful books by great authors that got totally random covers overseas–just because maybe the editor had rights to some piece of art that he liked. So… it’s a big world, strange things happen. So my thanks to my Russian editors and the translator, who contacted me many times (something I love!) to get things just right.

The Russian language version isn’t a huge launch, but if you see it and speak Russian, please let me know what you think!

Bellissima!

Newton and Compton has recently acquired Italian language rights for the Night Angel trilogy. Newton and Compton are planning to publish The Way of Shadows in the spring of 2010, with Shadow’s Edge six months later, and Beyond the Shadows in early 2011.

I love Italy.

I’m Thinking Hungarian

Seriously, I love Eastern Europe. And apparently the feeling’s mutual. Konyvmolykepzo Publishers has purchased the rights to publish The Night Angel Trilogy in Hungarian. That brings the Night Angel trilogy to a total of nine languages now: Czech, Complex Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Polish, Russian. Whoa.

Coming in Complex Chinese

I am happy to report that Fullon Books has made, and I have accepted, an offer to publish the Night Angel trilogy in Complex Chinese. So far as my limited understanding goes, for publishing, China is split into two language “territories”: Simple Chinese and Complex Chinese. Complex Chinese includes Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao. Translating big epic fantasy books into Chinese is, I understand, a particular struggle because it simply takes so much more space–and thus more paper, and thus more printing expenses and fewer books per rack, and thus lower inventories, and thus lower profits unless you can sell a lot. So this is awesome, a great vote of confidence from Fullon Books and a cool opportunity. A big thank you to Gray Tan of the Grayhawk Agency and to Cameron McClure of DMLA.

Everything’s Big in … France?

Recently got my copies of The Way of Shadows as translated into Dutch and French. I think now I can say, “I’m big in France.” (If only literally.)

Here are shots of the books next to their American counterpart.

My Dutch Big Brother

French front cover


Back blurb en francais

(Click any to enlarge.)

How cool is that? It’s still amazing and very weird to think that someone with whom I couldn’t communicate if I met them in real life could read what I’ve poured so much of my life into. So thank you to my translators Peter Cuijpers and Olivier Debernard, and to editors Jürgen Snoeren and Stéphane Marsan of Mynx and Bragelonne respectively.

Not Quite David Hasselhoff…

Who is/was wildly popular in odd places, BUT I am taking eastern Europe by storm. Well, by squall anyhow. Okay, it’s light drizzle–but with fiercely overcast skies. Last week, we sold the Polish rights to the whole trilogy. Mag Jacek Rodek will be publishing The Way of Shadows within 24 months. Then, this week, we sold the rights to the whole trilogy to the Czech Republic. Not sure which publisher, but most likely will also be out within 24 months, as well. Woo hoo!

As always, huge thanks to agents Don and Cameron at DMLA, and this time a double thank-you to Milena at Prava i Prevodi!

The Night Angel Trilogy will now be available in the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, France, Germany, the UK, Ireland, Australia, Russia, Poland, and the Czech Republic. This weekend I will post the French cover of The Way of Shadows, its release date–and a new poll.

Russian Book Deal & What’s Next

I’m happy to announce I’ve signed a deal with Eksmo Publishing (Эксмо) to publish The Way of Shadows and Shadow’s Edge. And of course I hope we sell well enough that they’ll buy Beyond the Shadows as well. I’d hate for a reader to never get to read Beyond after SE’s ending. It’s just cruel. (But it’s not a cliff-hanger. Really. There’s a satisfying ending. It’s just that there’s a big twist in the epilogue. Don’t peek!)

I’ve also had lots of queries about what’s next. I’ve addressed this on the forum, but you don’t want to pick through posts on some forum, your mouse-clicking finger is tired, you just want the deets, man. Fair ’nuff.

I’ve signed a new three book deal with Orbit. I submitted an outline, and so much happened in the story, they were like, “Looks like three books to us, but do what you think is best. We just want your next three books.” Sweet. “And we want them fast. Your deadline is a book each November.” Gulp. So the trilogy is (extremely) tentatively titled Black Prism. I’m working as fast as I can, and I’m really excited about what’s forming. It’s set in a new world. Think more 1500 Mediterrean Sea, rudimentary fire arms and magic together. Woot. But don’t worry, it’s not a pirates-and-their-peg-legged-mateys book. Cross my heart. But there are awesome characters, lots of action, much cooler magic this time out, secrets, lies, betrayal, and butt-kicking. You know, the good stuff. After this trilogy (if it is indeed a trilogy), I will be returning to Midcyru with a new series. And yes, numerous of the important characters who actually survived the end of the Night Angel Trilogy will show up. 🙂

Next week, I hope to be able to announce another foreign deal, announce the pub dates of the foreign deals we’ve already got, and maybe post a cover or two…