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Eagerly anticipated fantasy books: October 2009

Steven Erikson’s Dust of Dreams and Robin Hobb’s Dragon Keeper were the books that we were most looking forward to this year. But luckily the anticipation does not stop there and there are still several titles due out in the next couple of months that are sure to be bestsellers.

Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett

October 1 2009 will see the release of Terry Pratchett’s Unseen Academicals:

Football has come to the ancient city of Ankh-Morpork – not the old fashioned, grubby pushing and shoving, but the new, fast football with pointy hats for goalposts and balls that go going when you drop them. And now, the wizards of Unseen University must win a football match, without using magic, so they’re in the mood for trying everything else. The prospect of the Big Match draws in a street urchin with a wonderful talent for kicking a tin can, a maker of jolly good pies, a dim but beautiful young woman, who might just turn out to be the greatest fashion model there has ever been, and the mysterious Mr Nutt (and no one knows anything much about Mr Nutt, not even Mr Nutt, which worries him, too. As the match approaches, four lives are entangled and changed for ever. Because the thing about football – the important thing about football – is that it is not just about football. Here we go! Here we go! Here we go!

Terry Pratchett is the acclaimed creator of the Discworld series, started in 1983 with The Colour of Magic, and which has now reached 37 novels with Unseen Academicals. Worldwide sales of his books are 60 million, and they have been translated into 37 languages. Terry Pratchett was knighted for services to literature in 2009.

Terry Pratchett biography
The Colour of Magic book review
Lords and Ladies book review
The Light Fantastic book review
Night Watch book review
Mort book review
The Wee Free Men book review
A Hatful Of Sky book review
Wintersmith book review
Nation book review

The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson

October 27, 2009 will see the release of the penultimate novel in Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series. The last two books will be completed by Brandon Sanderson due to Jordan’s death in 2007. Entitled The Gathering Storm, early reviews have been positive:

The most eagerly anticipated fantasy novel of the last two decades, THE GATHERING STORM has been completed by acclaimed fantasy author Brandon Sanderson from Robert Jordan’s extensive notes. It will begin the final chapter of the compelling saga that started almost twenty years ago with THE EYE OF THE WORLD.

Robert Jordan was born in 1948 in Charleston. He was a graduate of the Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, with a degree in physics, and served two tours in Vietnam. His hobbies included hunting, fishing, sailing, poker, chess, pool and pipe collecting. He died in September 2007.

A Dance with Dragons by George RR Martin

Possibly the most eagerly expected of all books released in October is the fifth volume in George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series:

George RR Martin biography
A Game of Thrones book review
A Clash of Kings book review
A Storm of Swords 1: Steel and Snow book review

The long-awaited fifth volume in the hugely popular and highly acclaimed epic fantasy A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE The last of the Targaryons, Daenerys Stormborn, the Unburnt, has brought the young dragons in her care to their terrifying maturity. Now the war-torn landscape of the Seven Kingdoms is threatened by destruction as vast as in the violent past. Tyrion Lannister, a dwarf with half a nose and a scar from eye to chin, has slain his father and escaped the Red Keep in King’s Landing to wage war from the Free Cities beyond the narrow sea. The last war fought with dragons was a cataclysm powerful enough to shatter the Valyrian peninsula into a smoking, demon-haunted ruin half drowned by the sea. A DANCE WITH DRAGONS brings to life dark magic, complex political intrigue and horrific bloodshed as events at the Wall and beyond the sea threaten the ancient land of Westeros.

So, all-in-all, it is going to be a bit of a bumper October for fantasy fans with all three books mentioned above likely to be extremely popular and above all, very good, books.

We’ll take a look at the releases for November soon as well as the books that will make great Christmas presents this year.

Posted: August 23rd, 2009
Author: Floresiensis
Categories: Brandon Sanderson, George RR Martin, Robert Jordan, Terry Pratchett

A big thumb up for The Gathering Storm

The Gathering Storm, the penultimate book in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, has begun to make its way to some select and privileged reviewers. Jason Denzel is one on the lucky few.

As many will already know, the responsibility for finishing the Wheel of Time series was handed over to Brandon Sanderson following Robert Jordan’s sad and untimely death.

Jason does not hide anything in his review as the disclaimer introduction to his review shows:

“Before you read my review, I need to give you full disclosure. It’s important to remember my point of view. I’m running a large fan site for a book series that is very near and dear to my heart. Over the years I came to know Robert Jordan, and am proud to have had him call me friend. So, with all that in mind, I tell you truthfully: My review below is for you, the reader who wants the truth, and not the hype.”

Jason goes on to say that “The Gathering Storm is, in my opinion, quite easily one of the most intense and exciting books in the entire Wheel of Time series. I would rank it up there in the top 4 in the series along with The Shadow Rising, The Fires of Heaven, and The Great Hunt. Pacing-wise, I would agree with Brandon Sanderson’s statement that it’s similar to books 4-6 in the series.”

So Robert Jordan fans rejoice! It appears that the series has been placed in very capable hands and that Brandon Sanderson has done full justice to the work that has gone before.

Source: Examiner.com

Robert Jordan was born on the 17th of October 1948 in Charleston, South Carolina. In 2006 he was diagnosed with the rare blood disease amyloidosis and died on September the 16th, 2007. Jordan will be best remembered for his best-selling fantasy series, The Wheel of Time, with 14 million copies having been sold in North America alone.

Brandon Sanderson was born in 1975 and must be, at 32, classed as young for a successfully published fantasy author. He was born in Nebraska and currently lives in Provo, Utah.

Posted: August 4th, 2009
Author: Lee
Categories: Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan

January 2009 issue of Locus Magazine now available

The January 2009 issue of Locus Magazine features:

• Interviews with Frederik Pohl and Daryl Gregory
• An obituary and appreciations of Forrest J Ackerman
• News coverage of the publishing industry’s Black Wednesday
• A new column by Cory Doctorow, “Writing in the Age of Distraction”
• Short fiction reviews by Gardner Dozois and Rich Horton, plus reviews by Gary K. Wolfe, Faren Miller, Russell Letson, Paul Witcover, Carolyn Cushman, and others, of two dozen books by Dan Simmons,Daniel Fox, Bruce Sterling, Neal Asher, Brian Evenson, Holly Phillips, and others.
• Bibliographic listings of the month’s New Books and Magazines published in the US and UK

Notes on milestones, awards, books sold, etc., with news this issue about Ellen Kushner, Sara Douglass, Patrick Ness, Stephen King, Walter Jon Williams, Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson, Robert J. Sawyer and many others

Forrest J Ackerman • Appreciations by Arthur Jean Cox, Greg Bear, Stephen Jones, & Alan White •James Cawthorn • Appreciation by Michael Moorcock • George C. Chesbro • Ivan Southall • Richard K. Lyon • Joseph McGee • Johanna Braun & Günter Braun • Adam Sun • Bettie Page

To see the full Table of Contents visit Locus Online.

Posted: January 9th, 2009
Author: Lee
Categories: Latest News, Michael Moorcock, Robert Jordan

Red Eagle Entertainment to make Wheel of Time video games

The film studio Red Eagle Entertainment is making a big bet today as it announces it is starting a video game publishing studio, Red Eagle Games, which will make games based on the epic fantasy “Wheel of Time” novels by Robert Jordan.

The  books have sold more than 44 million copies worldwide and Red Eagle Entertainment has the rights to making films, TV shows and games based on the property. At least one major motion picture, based on the first novel “The Eye of the World,” is in the works.

There are 11 novels in the series (with a 12th being written by Brandon Sanderson since Jordan, whose real name was James Oliver Rigney, passed away in 2007). The series is known for its detailed imaginary world, large cast of characters and an edgy “Lord of the Rings” meets “Road Warrior” blend of fantasy and sci-fi.

Between the films and the games, the companies are expecting to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on the entertainment property. While the movie financing is in place, Selvage said he is just beginning the process of raising money for the game studio. That could prove difficult, but he said he has already received an enthusiastic reaction, largely because the rights to the series are considered so valuable.

Robert Jordan was born on the 17th of October 1948 in Charleston, South Carolina. In 2006 he was diagnosed with the rare blood disease amyloidosis and died on September the 16th, 2007. Jordan will be best remembered for his best-selling fantasy series, The Wheel of Time, with 14 million copies having been sold in North America alone.

Brandon Sanderson was born in 1975 and must be classed as young for a successfully published fantasy author. He was born in Nebraska and currently lives in Provo, Utah. Whilst researching on the Internet he appeared on a website featuring famous Mormons, along with Runelords author David Farland so that, for a start, is a claim to fame.

Posted: November 12th, 2008
Author: Lee
Categories: Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan

Wheel of Time Goes Hollywood

Universal Pictures bought The Wheel of Time fantasy series by the late James O. Rigney, Variety reports. Rigney’s series has sold more than 44 million copies. Rigney, who wrote under the pen name Robert Jordan, died last year at the age of 58 while he was in the process of writing the 12th instalment. The last book will be completed by writer Brandon Sanderson from Rigney’s notes and tapes. It is expected to be released in 2009.

Source: Charleston City Paper – www.charlestoncitypaper.com

Posted: September 10th, 2008
Author: Lee
Categories: Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan

Universal option the film rights to The Wheel of Time fantasy series

Universal Pictures have obtained the film rights to the late Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time fantasy series. In a reported seven-figure deal, Red Eagle Entertainment (who has already adapted the novels into graphic novels) will produce the films, beginning with The Eye of the World.

Robert Jordan had intended that The Wheel of Time series would consist of 12 books but his sad death, at the age of 58, has meant that fellow author Brandon Sanderson has been commissioned to complete the series. A Memory of Light will be available late in 2009. The Wheel of Time series has currently sold more than 44 million copies worldwide.

This is not the first time that the series has been optioned, in 2000 NBC planned to make The Eye of the World into a mini-series. The series never saw the light of day.

The Wheel of Time: brief synopsis
When their village is attacked by trollocs, monsters thought to be only legends, three young men, Rand, Matt, and Perrin, flee in the company of the Lady Moiraine, a sinister visitor of unsuspected powers. Thus begins an epic adventure set in a world of wonders and horror, where what was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

Who is Brandon Sanderson?
Robert Jordan biography

Posted: August 14th, 2008
Author: Lee
Categories: Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan

Wheel of Time series to be turned into graphic novels

Dabel Brothers Publishing have announced news that they are to partner with Del Rey Books in the creations of a comics version of the acclaimed Wheel of Time series by fantasy author Robert Jordan. The series will ultimately consist of eleven volumes and Dabel Brothers will begin the adaptation of the series in December 2008. Del Rey will amass the series into book-format graphic novels, likely to be released in late 2009.

Robert Jordan died on the 16th of September, 2007 and this book deal was negotiated with Jordan’s agent, Nat Sobel, and Harriet McDougal, Jordan’s widow and editor.

The first book of Jordan’s Wheel of Time series, The Eye of the World, was published in 1990 and the series has sold more than 14 million books. In 2009 Tor Books will publish the 11th and final book of in the series, A Memory of Light, which will be completed completed by author Brandon Sanderson. 

Neil Schwartz, DBP marketing manager, said DBP established an effective working relationship with Jordan after creating a comics adaptation of his novel, A New Spring, in March 2005. At the time, Jordan provided DBP with notes, character descriptions and other material for use in future publications.

Robert Jordan biography

Posted: July 7th, 2008
Author: Lee
Categories: Robert Jordan