Ian Irvine's Blog, page 5

I’ve Started Planning the Sequel to The View from the Mirror

Yesterday, March 14, 2013 was a big day.

As many people here will know, my most frequently asked question is, When are you going to write the sequel to The View from the Mirror – the series which finally tells what happened to Karan and Llian, and their children? I first promised to write this (one day) around the year 2000. And yesterday I started work.

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There’s a lot of work to do. I haven’t read the series since I finished working on The Way Between the Worlds in early 1999, 14 years ago. I’m very excited about reading it again and seeing how it stacks up.

I’ve also written 25 books since it was finished, and my writing style has changed a lot. Should I try to write in the style of the Mirror series, or not? And where to begin in the story? And when? Is the story of Karan and Llian and the children the main plot, or one of several plot elements? So many decisions to make, and so much research to do.

I won’t get a huge amount done in the next few months as I’ll be finishing the editing of Justice, Book 3 of The Tainted Realm. But once that’s out of my hands, in June, I’ll go full bore on the detailed planning of the new series. I should have the plan in good shape by late August. Then the writing begins.

And so many people loved the series, it’s an awesome responsibility trying to write a sequel.

But anyway, I’ve begun.

 

Filed under: Mirror Quartet Sequel, Three Worlds series

Rebellion out now in the US/Canada and UK

The long wait is over. Rebellion, Book 2 of The Tainted Realm, is now available in the US/Canada and also in the UK, in both trade paperback and in ebook. It’s also available in Australia and New Zealand, of course, as trade paperback and ebook.

Like to try before you buy? You can read the first few chapters here.

Prefer to read some reviews first? See here.

 

 

 

 

 

If you haven’t read Book 1, Vengeance, yet, it’s also available in US, UK and Australian editions and ebook editions. You can read the first chapters here, and there are promotional specials around at the moment.

In Australia and New Zealand, you can buy the ebook of Vengeance on the Apple iTunes bookstore for $4.99. The offer closes March 26.

In the US,  you can get the ebook of Vengeance this month for $2.99 here.

Happy reading.

Filed under: The Tainted Realm

Huge Goodreads Giveaway for US Readers

My US publisher, Orbit Books, is currently running a huge Vengeance giveaway on Goodreads.com. 100 copies of the trade paperback are being given away to coincide with the release of Book 2 of The Tainted Realm, Rebellion in the US. The closing date is March 10 and, with so many copies available, your chances of winning are excellent.

Enter from here.

Good luck!

If you’re not from the US, stay in touch. There are other promotions coming up in the UK and Australia shortly.

Filed under: Competitions, The Tainted Realm

Web of Deceit – Katherine Howell’s Latest Thriller

Bestselling Aussie author Katherine Howell’s latest Ella Marconi thriller is out, and it’s a ripper. Just ask NYT bestselling author Tess Gerritsen, who described Katherine’s third novel, Cold Justice, as ‘one of my favourite books of the year’.

When paramedics Jane and Alex encounter a man refusing to get out of his crashed car, with bystanders saying he deliberately drove into a pole, it looks like a desperate cry for help. His frantic claim that someone is out to get him adds to their thinking that he is delusional.

Later that day he is found dead under a train in what might be a suicide, but Jane is no longer so sure: she remembers the terror in his eyes.

Detective Ella Marconi shares Jane’s doubts, which are only compounded when the case becomes increasingly tangled. The victim’s boss tries to commit suicide when being questioned, a witness flees their attempt to interview her, and then to confuse matters further, a woman is beaten unconscious in front of Jane’s house and Alex’s daughter goes missing.

Ella is at a loss to know how all these clues add up, and feels the investigation is being held back by her budget-focused boss. Then, just when she thinks she’s closing in on the right person, a shocking turn of events puts more people in danger and might just see the killer slip through her hands.

You can read the first chapter here. And find out more about Katherine and her books here.

Happy Reading.

Filed under: Aussie authors

New Series coming from Traci Harding

My friend and long-time bestselling Aussie fantasy author Traci Harding has a new series coming real soon. 

Set in ancient China, DREAMING OF ZHOU GONG is a beautiful story of Hudan, one of the mysterious Wu who lives on the sacred mountain of Li Shan. The Wu have been living in isolation for decades while the Shang Emperor and his enchantress have ruled the land. It has been a terrible time for the common people and the noble Ji brothers are keen to bring the emperor′s arrogant bloodthirsty reign to an end. They believe an ancient prophecy has predicted the fall of the Shang emperor and they are keen to enact it, but first they must journey to the mountain and seek out the Wu.

When the Ji brothers join forces with the beautiful, enigmatic Hudan and her equally mysterious tiger sister, they begin a powerful journey of love and adventure.

But the Shang emperor is not their greatest threat. There is a dark curse that has plagued the rulers of the land for generations. And the mysterious Sons of the Sky who visit Hudan in her dreams have a plan to destroy it. Can Hudan trust them?

Book 1 is out February 1, See Traci’s site for details.

Filed under: Aussie authors

ABC Radio Interview with Mary-Lou Stephens

A couple of weeks ago I did a long radio interview with Mary-Lou Stephens of ABC Radio, Sunshine Coast. The interview was broadcast yesterday and you can listen to the podcast on ABC Digital here: http://blogs.abc.net.au/queensland/2012/12/ian-irvine-the-tainted-realm-rebellion.html?site=sunshine&program=sunshine_cooloola_coast_drive

Mary-Lou has done a huge number of author interviews. You can find links to all of them here: http://pinterest.com/missymarylou/books-interviews-and-reviews/ (click on the link below each image). Her personal site is here: http://maryloustephens.com.au/

Mary-Lou’s book on meditation will soon be published by Pan Macmillan.

Filed under: Eco-thrillers, Interviews and Articles, The Tainted Realm

The Next Big Thing

Zena Shapter, http://www.zenashapter.com/blog/?p=5403, has kindly tagged me for the Next Big Thing chain blog that’s going around at the moment. Thanks, Zena. Helen Lowe also asked me, and thanks to Helen too – http://helenlowe.info/blog/ Here are my answers.

What is the working title of your next book?

It’s Rebellion, Book 2 of The Tainted Realm trilogy.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

I don’t remember, precisely, but I’ve long wanted to write a series about a nation that was tainted by the way its founders seized power many years ago. A nation that suffers from collective guilt to this day. That was the germ that created Hightspall, the remote island brutally seized from the Cythians two thousand years ago.

Cythe’s history, art and culture were erased and its clever native people were reduced to despicable degradoes, on the verge of extinction when, without warning, they vanished.

For fifteen hundred years they have lived underground in Cython, served by their Pale slaves, the descendants of noble Hightspaller children once given as hostages to Cython but never ransomed. For all this time, the Cythonians’ lives have been shaped by the alchymical books called the Solaces, sorcerously bestowed upon them by an unknown benefactor.

Now Hightspall is struggling under the weight of one natural disaster after another; its people feel that the very land is rising up against them. Then the last of the Solaces appears in Cython, the iron book called The Consolation of Vengeance, and the Cythonians know that it is time to take back their land.

Only one person can prevent Hightspall from running with blood – a Pale slave called Tali who has just come of age. But Tali’s four female ancestors were killed in the same brutal way and she knows she’s next to die. To survive, and gain the justice she so desperately craves, she must escape Cython, though no slave ever has.

And now the creator of the Solaces is hunting her.

What genre does your book fall under?

It’s epic fantasy through and through.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

I have no idea, I’m afraid. I don’t watch many movies and I’m bad at remembering actor’s names.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

When an escaped slave (Tali) discovers that her people face genocide she must confront her darkest fear, a return to slavery, before she can hope to save them.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

It’s published worldwide by Orbit Books, the SF and fantasy imprint of Hachette.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

22 days for 166 K words. I like to write first drafts at high speed, working long hours each day. But I had planned it in exhaustive detail beforehand. And I then spend quite a few months in redrafting.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Comparisons are invidious, and I’ll leave it to other people to make them. Instead, I’ll list some authors I’ve enjoyed recently, though I try not to be influenced by anyone; and to eliminate outside influences when I notice them.

I’ve enjoyed the works of Tad Williams, particularly the Dragonbone Chair series. And Lois McMaster Bujold’s Chalion series. And recently, I’ve loved CJ Sansom’s first two books in his Shardlake series, about a hunchbacked lawyer detective in the time of Henry the Eighth.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

My biggest inspiration for writing is my fans, who start asking for the next book within a day of each new title being published.

What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

Tali’s counterpart is Rix, and this sums up his story: When a dishonoured nobleman realises that his country faces annihilation, he must find redemption before he can hope to lead the defence of his people.

And there are two antagonists, Lyf and Axil Grandys:

Lyf: In the bloodiest of wars, a resurrected sorcerer-king is forced to choose between victory for his betrayed people and the fate of his beloved land.

Grandys: A legendary hero obsessed by war and winning must learn to accept defeat before he can deliver his persecuted people to their Promised Realm.

 

Next week, December 19, authors I’m tagging include:

Mary-Lou Stephens, http://maryloustephens.com.au/

Clair Corbett: http://www.clairecorbett.com/news/

Happy reading.

Filed under: The Tainted Realm

Three Worlds Short Stories Coming in 2013

I’ve been thinking about writing some Three Worlds short stories for a while now, to show some old characters in a different light, introduce new ones, and resolve various mysteries that have been bugging me for some time. And, following great feedback from hundreds of people on my Facebook page, I’m going to do it.

I plan to start writing them in May 2013, once Justice is edited and at the same time as I’m doing the planning for the View from the Mirror sequel. Many of the stories will probably be set in Iagodor. Some, I suspect, in in the impossibly ancient and wicked city of Thurkad.

The land is in turmoil because of the alien creatures – lyrinx and others – that recently came through the Way between the Worlds and are intent on carving out lands of their own … though their numbers are still small, and not everyone takes the threat seriously … but certain traitors do …

So, the time is around 10 years after The View from the Mirror. That is, nearly 200 years before Geomancer. I don’t think writing short stories will significantly delay the sequel. In fact, they’ll help me to crystallise my ideas.

They’ll be longish short stories, probably novella length – 30 to 40 pages. And initially I’ll post them as free downloads on my site and Amazon, just to see how they go. I can’t wait.

My Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/ianirvine.author

First chapters of all my books and stories: http://www.ian-irvine.com/chapters.html


Filed under: Mirror Quartet Sequel, Short Stories, Three Worlds series

First Chapters of my Books

To try before you buy, the first chapters of every one of my books and stories can be found on my website. For instance, Rebellion:

THE TAINTED REALM TRILOGY

BOOK 2. REBELLION

 CHAPTER 1

‘Lord Rixium?’ The girl sounded desperate. ‘You gotta get up now. The enemy are coming. Coming fast.’

Rix’s right wrist throbbed abominably, and so did the back of his head. He groaned, rolled over and cracked his ear on a stone edge. His cheek and chest were numb, as if he’d been lying on ice.

‘What …?’ he mumbled. ‘Where –?’ His eyes were gummed shut and he didn’t want to open them. Didn’t want to see.

‘Chancellor’s stolen Tali and Rannilt away, to milk their healing blood.’

He recognised her voice now. A maidservant, Glynnie.

‘And Lord Tobry’s been chucked off the tower, head-first. Splat!’ said a boy’s voice from behind Rix.

‘Benn!’ Glynnie said sharply.

Rix winced. Did he have to be so matter-of-fact about it? ‘Tobe was my oldest friend.’

‘I’m sorry, Lord,’ said Glynnie.

‘How long was I out?’

‘Only five minutes, but you’re first on their death list, Lord. If we don’t go now, we’re gonna die.’

‘Don’t call me Lord, Glynnie.’

‘Lord?’

‘My parents were executed for high treason,’ he said softly. ‘House Ricinus has fallen, the palace lies in ruins and I betrayed my own mother. I am utterly dishonoured. Don’t – call – me – Lord!’

To read the next 20 pages or so, see First Chapters on my website:

http://www.ian-irvine.com/rebellion_ch1.html

Filed under: Uncategorized

Win Copies of Rebellion

I’m giving away another 2 copies of the Aussie trade paperback of Rebellion, plus a copy of the Rebellion audiobook on CD (19 CDs, 26.5 hours of mystery, magic, adventure, terror and tragedy), and anyone in the world can win.

To enter, just go to my Facebook Author Page, Like it if you haven’t already, then enter via the Promos tab (this doesn’t work too well from mobile phones, I’m afraid).

Here’s the link: http://www.facebook.com/ianirvine.author

The competition ends at 15 to midnight on December 17 (Sydney daylight saving time). You just have to answer a simple question to be in the running.

Good luck! And if you don’t win, stay tuned. More competitions coming up.

Filed under: Competitions, The Tainted Realm