E.C. Blake's Blog, page 6
July 3, 2016
Paperback of Faces out July 5!
The mass-market paperback of Faces releases July 5, which means you can now get the whole Masks of Aygrima trilogy in paperback. Which you should totally do.
Here are the Amazon.com links for each book, for your convenience.
February 11, 2016
Two recent audio interviews
While I was Guest of Honour at Can-Con in Ottawa in late October, I had two great audio interviews, one with Kevin Johns of Write-Along Radio, and one with Derek Newman-Stille of the great Speculating Canada website. To be sure, both were in my persona as Edward Willett more than E.C. Blake, but (if you haven’t figured out yet) we’re actually the same person. 
Enjoy these two interviews!
Here’s the one from Write-Along Radio…
And there’s the one with Derek Newman-Stille, in which, in his words) we talk “about writing ideas of heroism, revolution, government power, resistance, individualism, and writing space operas.”
September 5, 2015
I’ll be Author Guest of Honour at Can-Con 2015 in Ottawa!
I’m pleased and honoured to announce that I will be Author Guest of Honour at Can-Con 2015: The Conference on Canadian Content in Speculative Arts and Literature, in Ottawa October 30 – November 1. Really looking forward to it!
The Editor Guest of Honour will be Trevor Quachri, editor of Analog Science Fiction and Fact, and Professor Cristina Perissinotto from the University of Ottawa will be the Renaissance Studies Guest of Honourfrom New York. As usual, there’ll be a strong science track, with university professors coming in to talk about cutting edge physics, astronomy and cognitive science.
Programming details will follow before long.
If you’re in the Ottawa area, hope to see you and greet you there!
July 23, 2015
Faces makes it official–I have committed trilogy
Although I’m still waiting for the bulk of my author’s copies of Faces (which is why the top three winners in my giveaway haven’t received their books yet), Faces has officially hit bookshelves and is available for order through your local bookstores (if they don’t have it in stock) or online at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Indigo, Barnes & Noble, and other fine retailers.
Not a lot of reviews yet, but there have been a couple! From RT Book Reviews, which gives it four stars:
In his final installment in the Masks of Aygrima trilogy, Faces, E.C. Blake builds on the suspense created in the previous installment. Readers will see the characters grow and change as they face troubles in both the war against the Autarch and in their personal lives. Blake creates a perfect balance between the action and emotion, forging a deep connection between the reader and the characters.
The first review at Amazon.ca is nice, too:
I thought Faces was the best book of the Masks trilogy. Unlike most series I’ve read that have gotten weaker with each book, Masks started off strong and got better and better with each passing release. The action moves at a fast pace in the book. There are plenty of plot twists and turns before coming to a surprising climax.
And a very well-written review on Goodreads also offers praise:
I can honestly say that while Mara Holdfast might be at her lowest point in this novel, she still has the uncanny ability to grow and expand exponentially while exploring the vast lands around her in very believable, yet often unpredictable ways….The character growth for Mara was astounding, as well as with the Lady of Pain and Fire…E.C. Blake has done a magnificent job with this trilogy, which seems to have gone unnoticed by a significant number of readers of fantasy. I truly hope that this is a success and that Blake returns to Aygrima in the near future with more epic feats amongst tyrants, villains, heroes, and heroines.
Have you got your copy yet?
June 15, 2015
Announcing the great FACES book giveaway! Win books just by commenting!
Faces, the concluding book in The Masks of Aygrima trilogy, comes out July 7 from DAW Books, so it’s time for a contest!
I’m offering several prizes, awarded at random to anyone who comments here, on Facebook on my E.C. Blake fan page, my Edward Willett fan page, or on my personal websites, here or at edwardwillett.com, or who retweets on Twitter.
First prize will be a complete, autographed set of all three books of the trilogy in hardcover.
Second prize will be a complete set of the trilogy, but with the first two books in paperback and only the third in hardcover.
Third prize will be a copy of Faces in hardcover.
Fourth prize will be copies of Masks and Shadows in paperback.
Fifth prize will be a copy of Masks in paperback.
Five great prizes! To enter, comment below. Contest runs until the book is released, July 7: it cuts off at midnight July 6.
Please share freely!
May 22, 2015
Read Chapter 1 of FACES online!
With the release of Faces, the final book in The Masks of Aygrima trilogy, coming up on July 7, it’s time to post a teaser. Here’s Chapter 1, which picks up right after the end of Book 2, Shadows. Enjoy…and then order the whole book! It’ll be available through bookstores everywhere, but here’s the Amazon link for your convenience.
April 26, 2015
Saskatchewan Book Awards jurors say nice things about Masks
The Saskatchewan Book Awards were handed out on Saturday night. Masks was shortlisted in two categories. Alas, I didn’t win, but at least I picked up a couple of great review quotes.
Jurors for the Drs. Morris & Jacqui Shumiatcher Regina Book Award wrote:
“An exciting, compelling narrative that sweeps the reader up into a thoroughly believable, artfully constructed alternate world, Masks is a rip-roaring story featuring a complex, nuanced heroine and a fine cast of supporting characters. The writing is spare and efficient, the narrative absorbing, the conflicts engrossing.”
And the jurors for the SaskEnergy Young Adult Literature Award wrote:
“When rejected by her mask, Mara is thrown on an adventure that forces her to journey far and deep. In the process, she discovers her true strengths. A riveting read that is both fast-paced and unpredictable– Masks is a page-turner!”
Not bad, eh?
The jurors in question, by the way, were Melanie Dugan, Nate Hendly, and Chris Rutkowski for the Regina Book Award, and Caroline Pignat, Robert Priest, and Valerie Sherrard for the Young Adult Literature Award.
April 11, 2015
Read the first chapter of Lake in the Clouds online
Lake in the Clouds, Book 3 in my other YA fantasy series, The Shards of Excalibur, written as Edward Willett, comes out in May from Coteau Books–which means it’s time for a little teaser.
Here you go: Chapter 1 for your reading pleasure, just to whet your appetite.
Sharp-eyed observers may also note that the title has changed slightly, from The Lake in the Clouds to just Lake in the Clouds. This is so it matches up better with the first two books, Song of the Sword and Twist of the Blade, neither of which begins with a definite article. The fourth book has likewise shifted title from The Cave Beneath the Sea to Cave Beneath the Sea.
Book launches are planned for May 16 at ComicReaders here in Regina, and May 26 at McNally Robinson in Saskatoon.
I’m very excited about this upcoming release…I hope you are, too!
Available in May from Coteau Books
April 7, 2015
Cover art and description of Faces hits online bookstores!
Getting closer all the time to the July 7 release of Faces, Book 3 of my Masks of Aygrima trilogy (written as E.C. Blake) from DAW books, edited by three-time Hugo nominee Sheila Gilbert. The cover art has finally appeared in online bookstores, along with the description below.
Warning: this could contain spoilers if you’re still on Book 1!
***
The spellbinding third novel of The Masks of Aygrima is set in a land where people are forced to wear spell-imbued Masks that reveal any traitorous thoughts they have about their ruler, the Autarch.
Mara Holdfast is a young woman gifted with the ability to see and use all the colors of magic. Two other people share this talent: the Autarch, who draws upon the very life-force of his subjects to fuel his existence and retain his control over the kingdom; and the legendary Lady of Pain and Fire, the only person who has ever truly challenged the Autarch’s despotic reign.
After a devastating battle that takes a dreadful toll on both the rebel unMasked Army and the forces of Prince Chell, their ally from across the sea, Mara and her fellow survivors have no one to turn to for help but the Lady of Pain and Fire.
As the Lady leads them to her haven beyond the mountain borders of the kingdom, Mara feels that she has found the one person who truly understands her, a mentor who can teach her to control and use her power for the greater good. Together, they may be able to at last free Agryma from the Autarch’s rule.
Living within the Lady’s castle, cut off from her friends in the village far below, Mara immerses herself in her training. Still, she can’t entirely escape from hearing dark hints about the Lady, rumors that the Lady may, in her own way, be as ruthless as the Autarch himself.
Yet it is not until they begin their campaign against the Autarch that Mara discovers where the real danger lies. Driven by the Lady’s thirst for revenge, will Mara and all her friends fall victim in a duel to the death between two masters of magic?
February 14, 2015
Buy the audiobooks of Masks and Shadows!
Both Masks and Shadows have been turned into audiobooks by Recorded Books. Both books are narrated by Elizabeth Morton.
Click on the cover images below to go to Audible.com to purchase the audiobooks. You can also listen to samples of each!
