Hello everyone,
I hope you’re all looking forward to rolling into this last day of the week and this great summer weekend. The temperature here in Las Vegas is just hot enough that I plan to spend the entire weekend cooped up inside. I have to catch up on all my reading now while The Shattered Blades is off being edited. I also have about a million models to build for my Warhammer 40k army before the new edition of Age of Sigmar comes out and I get distracted. For my fellow Imperium players, who’s excited about these new Knights?!?!
As for reading, I’ll be opening up Sam Syke’s The Mortal Tally tomorrow. I finished The City Stained Red about two years ago and immediately picked up The Mortal Tally at Phoenix ComicCon at a signing. Like many of us, it sat in the dreaded TBR pile for far too long…
Now, to the crux of this e-mail: All my books are back up! The new edition of Road of the Lost is available for free on iBooks, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, and Kobo. The lowest I could price it on Amazon is 99¢. I reported the lower price at B&N, so hopefully, Amazon’s algorithm will pick up on the lower price and make it free. It’s been a few days, so maybe not, but if a few of you report the free price as well, hopefully, it will catch and wind up priced at free. These are brand new product pages, so if you have a moment to head over and fill them with reviews to let new readers know what you thought.
As far as The Shattered Blades, pre-order is currently available on iBooks, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords. It is priced at 99¢ during the pre-order period and will go up to $4.99 after release. The release date is listed as July 31st, but as soon as I get the edits back, fix up the manuscript, and get it formatted, this puppy is going live!
Until it’s available in its entirety for your reading pleasure, enjoy this preview of the first scene! Have yourself a glimpse at what Heiradra and Silen’s older brother, Gwynnud, has really been up to:
***
“The boarding team has made contact with the ship, Your Highness,” Sergeant Fossgen said.
Prince Gwynnud acknowledged his finger-sized, Fairy soldier’s report with a nod. Fossgen continued to flutter before Gwynnud’s face. The fluttering of the sergeant’s insectile wings and the creaking of their own sloop were the only noises to punctuate the still, inky blackness of the night. On occasion, the wind would shift, the sails would flutter, and the crew would silently correct their course. They sailed north across the Bedrian Sea in the midst of the enemy fleet they had infiltrated at nightfall. They could not tolerate to be blown astray.
Gwynnud realized Fossgen had not seen the gesture of hid nod. “Thnak you. Let me know when they are aboard and set to work.
“Yes, Your Highness.” Sergeant Fossgen zipped away, into the night and back out over the waters.
Prince Gwynnud, First Heir of Galeberth, son of King Velat and elder brother to Princess Silen and Princess Heiradra, was a long, long way from home. Even worse, he was a long, long way from where he had told his family he had gone, which was incredibly dangerous. It wasn’t living as a spy in Farou or sailing through an Esivion fleet on a mission of sabotage that threatened his life the most. No, it was the tempers of his sisters. If they discovered he was not actually on a quest in the Red Mountains, on a hunt for lost treasures of the Fairy people, they would execute him far more cruelly than any enemy of their kingdom would contrive to.
“We owe Autor a great offering the next time we can make it to a temple,” spoke Major Maras, Gwynnud’s executive officer. Her comment caused a wry smile to form on Gwynnud’s face. Maras often spoke the words of a pious and devoted servant of Is’ni’s gods. Gwynnud, however, had heard the screams coming from her interrogation chambers and the curses their prisoners had levied against her. He also knew that, because of her sins, many of her Nolterites, Rovichians Elves Dwarves, Avichians, and herfellow Galeberthians would live. Besides, occasionally she showed a prisoner mercy. Sometimes, she would let one live, and they always proves the most useful.
“We owe Commodore Gusspur an offering of many pints when we return the dry land,” Gwynnud replied.
“Pints? You better make it rum, Your Highness.” The commodore eased into the ship’s wheel ever so slightly to keep his distance from the Esivion ships.
“Rum. Of course. What else would I expect an old salt dog such as yourself to drink?” The Nolterite commodore could have asked for a writ of nobility within Galeberth for his actions that night. Gwynnud was more than happy to settle for a bottle of decent rum.
The Nolterite sailor and his crew had used the starless night to their advantage and sailed their cutter right into the heart of the Esivo fleet. They hoisted Esivo’s banner and streamers to hide their true loyalties, but the flags would only pass the most cursory of inspections should any of the Southerners manage to spot them through the night’s blackness. Should that occur, they were all quite prepared to have their souls whisked away to The Mountain’s peak while their bodies sank to rest on the floor of the Bedrian Sea. Not the most fitting of ends, but fitting ends were about to be in short supply across all of Nod. And there would be no word sent to the royal family to explain how Prince Gwynnud, First Heir of Galeberth, met his fate on a lightless night in the middle of the sea. They would have to assume him lost while foolishly snooping about the Red Mountains during the winter.
Even King Velat, his own father, was not permitted knowledge of the Extraordinary Weapons Detachment. If Silen were ever to find out he had spent most of the last ten years on the southern continent preparing for Argaroth to finally make his move, he would beg for Maras’ tortures over his sister’s scolding.
“They are aboard, Sire,” Sergeant Fossgen reported on his return.
“Hold distance, Commodore,” the prince ordered.
“Aye.”
“Maras, record the time and that Major Anfor has control of the mission until they return.”
“Gwynnud?” Maras replied.
“Yes, Major?”
“We are under lights-out conditions and I can’t see an inch in front of my face. How, by The Mountain, am I supposed to record that?” Maras asked, putting little effort into concealing the rhetorical sarcasm of the question.
“And that, Major, is why the Detachmentdecided I needed a suitably intelligent and sensible Executive Officer such as yourself,” the prince replied.
“Your Majesty,” Gusspur piped up, “if any of us had any intelligence or sense, we wouldn’t have volunteered for this insane assignment in the first place.”
“Just hold the distance, Commodore.”
***
I hope you enjoyed that snippet from this upcoming release. It’ll have new maps, new adventures, and new trouble for our heroes to find themselves caught up in.
If you have any questions or problems accessing the new books, don’t hesitate let me know! Now, I’m off to attack this TBR pile!
Cheers,
-Aidan
Aidan Russell 