Round-up: JA Rowling, Bath-time for Pullman and Le Guin not finished yet
A round-up of fantasy news around the world.
A rare JK Rowling uncorrected proof sells for £1,600
An uncorrected proof edition of JK Rowling’s very first Harry Potter book has been sold for £1600 at auction.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, attributed to JA Rowling was bought by a collector at Edinburgh’s Lyon & Turnbull auction house. The copy was sent to critics and booksellers around the UK by Bloomsbury shortly after taking Rowling on.
The book, which also contains spelling mistakes and grammatical errors, was famously written on an old manual typewriter in coffee shops around Edinburgh.
Twilight seeps top spots in USA TODAYS’s best-selling books of 2009
For the second year in a row, Stephenie Meyer has swept the top four spots in USA TODAY’s lists of the best-selling books of 2009. Not even JK Rowling achieved this.
Books for children and teenagers accounted for 29% of sales recorded in 2009. Altogether, last year the Meyer books added up to £29.3m in sales – 10% of the total children’s book sales, according to Nielson BookScan, which compiles the best-seller lists for several national newspapers.
Philip Pullman’s Bath-time
Poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, thriller writer Robert Goddard and celebrated cult writer Philip Pullman are just three of the internationally acclaimed writers who will be visiting Bath over the coming weeks.
Philip Pullman comes to Bath on April 1. The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ is his spellbinding retelling of the life of Jesus. Philip comes to Bath to discuss his new work, which is part novel, part history and part fairytale. He will discuss the tensions inherent in the dual nature of Jesus Christ and explore some of the myths and mysteries of the gospels that have helped shape human history in the last two millennia. The event is at the Guildhall at 8pm. Tickets £9 with £9 off the book. Tickets £7 when booked in person at the bookshop.
Random House to raise funds for new new television, toys, video games, and film projects
Random House Children’s Screen Entertainment will be looking to raise $100 million in order to create new television, toys, video games and film projects. The group was created when Random House Children’s Books struck a partnership with the UK production company, Komixx Entertainment.
A number of authors and illustrators could see more properties developed with Philip Pullman and Terry Pratchett having already been mentioned. Komixx intends to go out into the market for RHCSE in March. It may yet approach an existing film and television financier such as Aramid Capital to help it raise the money. The $100 million will be used to develop cartoons and live-action films and television series based on RHCB properties, as well as video games and toys.
Ursula Le Guin plans next move after resigning over Google Book Settlement
Ursula Le Guin says she wants to do more than simply resign in protest. On the Book View Cafe Blog, she says she’s heard from many writers who agree with her and wants to start marshalling that collective sentiment.
“How, where, can I ask writers who are unhappy with the Settlement to speak up – to stand up and be counted? We don’t have to agree on every detail, but I think there are a lot of us who see it as urgently important to let it be known that writers support the principle of copyright, and want the Copyright Office, the judges, the publishers, and the libraries to know that we intend to keep control of our work, in print or out, printed or electronic, believing that the people who do the work, rather than any corporation, should have the major voice in how it’s used and who profits from it.”
Oscar nominated Keisha Castle-Hughes to appear in Legend Of The Seeker
Keisha Castle-Hughes, the youngest woman ever nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award will be a guest star on an episode of Legend of the Seeker.
Castle-Hughes, who originally rose to prominence in 2002 for her role in the New Zealand film Whale Rider. The actress recently starred in projects such as Hey, Hey, It’s Esther Blueburger and Piece of My Heart. She also portrayed the Virgin Mary in The Nativity Story and had a small role in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
In Legend of the Seeker, Castle-Hughes will play a mysterious young woman who claims to be the Creator, the incarnation of God.
Posted: January 16th, 2010
Author: Lee
Categories: JK Rowling, Philip Pullman, Stephenie Meyer, Terry Goodkind, Terry Pratchett, Ursula Le Guin
Second season of Legend of the Seeker to premiere in November
The action-adventure series “Legend of the Seeker” will premiere its second season the weekend of November 7th, it was announced at the 2009 Comic-Con International Convention.
Shot with the exotic and rugged New Zealand landscape as its backdrop, the weekly series has resumed production on 22 all-new action-packed episodes. Combining elements of fantasy, adventure, magic, mystery and romance with state of the art visual effects and a high level of action, “Legend of the Seeker” is an adaptation of internationally best-selling author Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth book series.
The executive producers also announced that actress Tabrett Bethell will join the cast as a series regular. Bethell reprises her role as Cara, a Mord’Sith that will create tension between Richard and Kahlan. Additionally, actress Charisma Carpenter, best known for her starring role as Cordelia on the long-running hit series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel,” will guest star in the season premiere as a wicked Mord’Sith named Triana.
In the upcoming second season, Richard, Kahlan and Zedd will encounter an array of rich and compelling new characters, both good and evil, and they will be tested in ways that they never could have imagined. The trio will discover that in defeating the bloodthirsty tyrant Darken Rahl, their victory is short-lived as they inadvertently unleashed an even greater evil on the world.
The series is produced by ABC Studios and distributed by Disney-ABC Domestic Television. Ken Biller, Sam Raimi, Rob Tapert, Ned Nalle and Josh Donen serve as executive producers. The series airs Saturdays and Sundays in national syndication.
Source: TV by the Numbers
Terry Goodkind was born in 1948 and raised in Nebraska in the United States. Goodkind, slightly unusually for an author, suffers from dyslexia. He worked as a carpenter and a rare artefact restorer and painted some beautiful marine and wildlife paintings. His main reason for writing fantasy novels is to inspire.
Fantasy Book Review of Wizard’s First Rule
Richard Cypher holds the fate of three nations in his hands, he must learn the Wizard’s First Rule to achieve his goals. The heart hounds are stalking the humans, blood sucking flies are abound and nowhere is safe. Magic makes love stronger and despair harder.
Posted: July 31st, 2009
Author: Lee
Categories: Terry Goodkind
Sci-Fi acquires Legend of the Seeker
NBC Universal-owned cable network Sci-Fi has acquired the UK pay-TV rights to fantasy drama Legend of the Seeker (two seasons of 22×60′) from Disney-ABC-ESPN Television.
The story centres on woodsman Richard Cypher, played by Australian actor Craig Horner, who unwittingly possesses magical powers. He becomes duty-bound to use his skills against an evil tyrant named Darken Rahl, who commands an increasingly threatening army. The fantasy drama is based on The Sword of Truth novels by Terry Goodkind.
Legend of the Seeker premiered in the US on the ABC network in 2008 and was confirmed for a second season earlier this year.
Sci-Fi has picked up several US drama acquisitions in recent years that have gone on to become cult hits, ranging from Heroes – debuting in the UK on Sci-Fi before its move to the BBC – to Dollhouse, from Buffy creator Joss Whedon.
Charlotte Ashton, vice president of programming and marketing, NBC Universal Global Networks UK, said: “Legend of the Seeker is an exciting addition to the channel’s summer primetime schedule. In keeping with our other first run offerings Knight Rider and Dollhouse, its pedigree has ensured one of the most anticipated fantasy series launches of 2009. The sword-n-sorcery sub-genre has a worthy new hero in Legend of The Seeker, which we expect the UK audience to fully embrace.”
Terry Goodkind was born in 1948 and raised in Nebraska in the United States. Goodkind, slightly unusually for an author, suffers from dyslexia. He worked as a carpenter and a rare artifact restorer and painted some beautiful marine and wildlife paintings. His main reason for writing fantasy novels is to inspire.
Posted: July 2nd, 2009
Author: Lee
Categories: Terry Goodkind
Legend of the Seeker will be back for a second season
Tribune has renewed Disney’s and Sam Raimi’s ‘Legend of the Seeker,’ for a second season in syndication.
Disney’s experiment in reviving the firstrun syndie drama biz with the Sam Raimi-produced “Legend of the Seeker” has paid off with a second-season renewal on the Tribune Broadcasting stations.
Filmed in New Zealand and based on Terry Goodkind’s “Sword of Truth” book series, “Seeker” has delivered a credible 2.0 household rating or so in its run to date. It scored a 1.6 household rating for the week ended Jan. 11.
Its two-hour premiere in November posted a 2.9, indicating an appetite among viewers for the kitschy fantasy-action genre that peaked in the late 1990s with “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys” and “Xena: Warrior Princess.”
Tribune’s stations account for 35% of “Seeker’s” national clearances and cover most of its key top markets.
Source: Variety
Posted: February 4th, 2009
Author: Lee
Categories: Terry Goodkind
Legend of the Seeker available to download at the US iTunes store
If you miss an episode of ABC-Disney’s Legend of the Seeker you can now download full episodes on iTunes for $1.99 or $2.99 for hi-def. The downloads will be available the Monday after each new episode airs.
Unfortunately, an ABC media rep told me that the downloads will only be available in the US.
The one-hour action-adventure fantasy series, “Legend of the Seeker” is an adaptation of author Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth book series.
Whilst building his own home in the middle of a forest on Mount Desert Island, Maine, Terry Goodkind began writing his first novel. The novel later became Wizard’s First Rule and was published in 1994. So began a series of books that formed the Sword of Truth series. The following year, in 1995, Stone of Tears was published and Blood of the Fold followed this in 1996. Of all of the Sword of Truth books only Wizard’s Rule and Stone of Tears have failed to reach the New York Times Bestseller List.
Wizard’s First Rule book review
Posted: November 8th, 2008
Author: Lee
Categories: Terry Goodkind
Lucy Lawless to host Legend of the Seeker preview
Actress Lucy Lawless will tomorrow host a special preview in the United States of the latest syndicated television series filmed in New Zealand, Legend of the Seeker.
The series of hour-long shows goes to air in the US on November 1, but the preview which Aucklander Lawless hosts tomorrow, The Making of the Legend, includes the first 10 minutes of the series, the IGN entertainment news website reported. The preview takes viewers to the filming sites in New Zealand to meet the stars of the fantasy, and interviews its executive producers, Sam Raimi and Lawless’ husband, Rob Tapert. The two producers were behind the swords and sandals series Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, also filmed in New Zealand.
Legend of the Seeker is based on the Sword of Truth books of author Terry Goodkind, and follows the story of woodsman Richard Cypher (played by Craig Horner) and a beautiful and mysterious woman named Kahlan Amnell (Bridget Regan). When Richard discovers that he has powers from within, he is transformed into a magical leader to stop a sinister tyrant, Darken Rahl (Craig Parker). Zedd (Bruce Spence), a wise and powerful old wizard, accompanies Richard and Kahlan on their journey, and New Zealand actor Jay Laga’aia also features. The 22-episode series by Disney-ABC will appear in 95 percent of the US market. A lot of it was filmed at the $7 million Studio 5 opened a year ago by Henderson Valley Studios, partly in converted fruit coolstores.
Posted: October 17th, 2008
Author: Lee
Categories: Terry Goodkind
Legend of the Seeker update
Fans of Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series got an early look at the television series based on his first novel, Wizard’s First Rule.
The new episode stills for the television show Legend of the Seeker were released onto the forum section of Goodkind’s website. http://www.terrygoodkind.com/
The stills include one of Bruce Spence as Zedd, and a second one with Chase Brandstone (Jay Laga’aia), Kahlan (Bridget Regan) and Richard Cypher (Craig Horner) on horseback.
The titles for the first four episodes have also been announced. They are:
Episode 101 – Prophecy (premiering November the 1st)
Episode 102 – Destiny (also premiering November the 1st)
Episode 103 – Elixir (premiering November the 8th)
Episode 104 – Bount (premiering November the 15th)
Source: Firefox.org
Posted: September 9th, 2008
Author: Lee
Categories: Terry Goodkind
Wizard’s First Rule now available on Kindle
Terry Goodkind’s first fantasy book, Wizard’s First Rule, was released this week as a RosettaBooks e-book. The e-book is available to buy on Amazon Kindle only. This will be the first time that any of Goodkind’s titles have appeared in the e-book format.
Arthur Klebanoff, CEO of RosettaBooks believes that Kindle, Sony Reader and other devices are convincing publishers and their bestselling authors to release e-books.
Wizard’s First Rule, the first novel by Terry Goodkind, was a phenomenon from the moment it was published by Tor Books in 1994, selling over a million copies in North America alone. It still sells more than 100,000 copies a year there and has gone on to bestsellerdom in the United Kingdom and in more than twenty foreign translations as well as Audiobook form.
RosettaBooks is a leading independent electronic publisher dedicated to the expansion of quality e-reading in the consumer and library/education markets.
Amazon Kindle is an e-book reader, an embedded system for reading electronic books launched in the United States by prominent online bookseller Amazon.com in November 2007. It uses an electronic paper display, reads the proprietary Kindle format, and downloads content over Amazon Whispernet. The Kindle can be used without a computer. Whispernet is accessible through Kindle without any fee. Amazon does not sell the Kindle outside the United States as Whispernet only works in the US.
Posted: August 23rd, 2008
Author: Lee
Categories: Terry Goodkind
Legend of the Seeker (Wizard’s First Rule) video interview
The eagerly awaited epic fantasy series known as Wizard’s First Rule will be officially launched as Legend of the Seeker; it was announced at the 2008 Comic Con International Convention executive producers Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert.
Legend of the Seeker will feature elements of fantasy, adventure, magic, mystery and romance, shot with the enchanting and exotic New Zealand landscape as its backdrop.
It was also recently announced that the main actors will be Craig Horner as Richard Cypher, Bridget Regan as Kahlan and Bruce Spence as Zedd. Jay Laga’aia will star as Chase and Craig Parker will play Darken Rahl.
The production team behind Legend of the Seeker previously worked on Hercules and Xena: Warrior Princess and the studio that produces primetime network hits including Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, and the Ghost Whisperer.
The series will begin with an exciting two-hour premiere on the 1st of November 2008.
The video below was posted by IGN and is a video interview conducted with Terry Goodkind, Sam Raimi, Robb Tappert and Ned Nalle.
Legend of the Seeker has been cleared by Disney-ABC Domestic Television in 95% of the United States. Production on the 22-episodes is presently underway in New Zealand. Legend of the Seeker is produced by ABC Studios, marking their first venture into broadcast syndication.
Posted: August 5th, 2008
Author: Lee
Categories: Terry Goodkind
ABC renames Terry Goodkind’s fantasy series
Sam Raimi’s new fantasy-adventure series for Disney-ABC, Wizard’s First Rule, has had its name changed ahead of its premiere on November the 1st 2008.
The series will now be known as Legend of the Seeker rather than Wizard’s First Rule, the name on the cover of the first novel in Terry Goodkind’s epic fantasy series The Sword of Truth.
Posted: July 28th, 2008
Author: Lee
Categories: Terry Goodkind
Book of the Month
Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill
Some doors are better left closed . . . In Barrington House, an upmarket block in London, there is an empty apartment. No one goes in, no one comes out. And its been that way for fifty years. Until the night watchman hears a disturbance after midnight and investigates. What he experiences is enough to change his life forever.
Latest interviews
Interviews plus question and answer sessions with authors, narrators and publishers.
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The following reviews are of books that begin the very best fantasy series available.
Competition: Win a signed copy of Graham Hancock's Entangled
Graham Hancock is the author of The Sign and the Seal, Fingerprints of the Gods, Keeper of Genesis, Heaven's Mirror, Supernatural and other bestselling investigations of historical mysteries. His books have been translated into twenty-seven languages and have sold over five million copies worldwide. Written with the same page-turning appeal that has made his non-fiction so popular, Entangled is his first work of fiction. We have five signed copies of Entangled to give away as prizes. Email us the answer to the following question and the lucky winner, chosen at random, will receive a copy of the book, signed by the author.
Special Feature: Fantasy Book Review talks to the Book View Cafe
Book View Cafe is a cooperative site created by a group of writers - including internationally renowned authors Katharine Kerr, Ursula Le Guin and Vonda N. McIntyre - who want to take advantage of the internet's possibilities for reaching a wider audience and to distribute their work directly to their readers. The Book View Cafe is a place where you can find free, original fiction plus the authors' best and out-of-print work for a fee. Fantasy Book Review spoke to Book View Cafe member, science fiction author and memoirist Chris Dolley in February 2010.
Special Feature: Understanding the author of Alice in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll, the elusive author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, has been the subject of enduring fascination for the past hundred years. The destruction of many major documents about his personal life by his descendants has only magnified the mystery. Jenny Woolf's biography, published to coincide with the release of the new Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland film, lays waste to the myths and suspicions that have obscured Carroll's reputation by placing him firmly in the context of his own time.
