A few days ago I blogged about Peter Orullian's The Unremembered (Canada, USA, Europe), first volume in The Vault of Heaven series. This debut is being pushed by Tor Books as the next big thing in the fantasy genre.
However, The Unremembered may have to share the spotlight with another major release, this one coming out in August. Indeed, Mark Lawrence's Prince of Thorns, first volume in The Broken Empire series, is being pushed as aggressively on the other side of the Atlantic by the folks at Voyager. For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.
Every single fantasy publisher in the UK bid for the rights to publish this debut, and Prince of Thorns has been acquired in the US for the highest advance for any debut in this field for the past 7 years. Oddly enough, the US rights were acquired by Ace. . . Ace???
Here's the blurb:
Before the thorns taught me their sharp lessons and bled weakness from me I had but one brother, and I loved him well. But those days are gone and what is left of them lies in my mother's tomb. Now I have many brothers, quick with knife and sword, and as evil as you please. We ride this broken empire and loot its corpse. They say these are violent times, the end of days when the dead roam and monsters haunt the night. All that's true enough, but there's something worse out there, in the dark. Much worse."
Once a privileged royal child, raised by a loving mother, Jorg Ancrath has become the Prince of Thorns, a charming, immoral boy leading a grim band of outlaws in a series of raids and atrocities. The world is in chaos: violence is rife, nightmares everywhere. Jorg's bleak past has set him beyond fear of any man, living or dead, but there is still one thing that puts a chill in him. Returning to his father's castle Jorg must confront horrors from his childhood and carve himself a future with all hands turned against him.
For more information about the author, the book, the characters, and a whole lot more, follow this link to visit the author's website.
For a taste of Prince of Thorns, you can read an extract here.
With many genre heavyweights releasing novels in 2011, it will be interesting to see if Orullian and Lawrence will manage to create waves with their debuts. But one thing's for sure: It sure looks like it's going to be a heck of year for SFF fans!
However, The Unremembered may have to share the spotlight with another major release, this one coming out in August. Indeed, Mark Lawrence's Prince of Thorns, first volume in The Broken Empire series, is being pushed as aggressively on the other side of the Atlantic by the folks at Voyager. For more info about this title: Canada, USA, Europe.
Every single fantasy publisher in the UK bid for the rights to publish this debut, and Prince of Thorns has been acquired in the US for the highest advance for any debut in this field for the past 7 years. Oddly enough, the US rights were acquired by Ace. . . Ace???
Here's the blurb:
Before the thorns taught me their sharp lessons and bled weakness from me I had but one brother, and I loved him well. But those days are gone and what is left of them lies in my mother's tomb. Now I have many brothers, quick with knife and sword, and as evil as you please. We ride this broken empire and loot its corpse. They say these are violent times, the end of days when the dead roam and monsters haunt the night. All that's true enough, but there's something worse out there, in the dark. Much worse."
Once a privileged royal child, raised by a loving mother, Jorg Ancrath has become the Prince of Thorns, a charming, immoral boy leading a grim band of outlaws in a series of raids and atrocities. The world is in chaos: violence is rife, nightmares everywhere. Jorg's bleak past has set him beyond fear of any man, living or dead, but there is still one thing that puts a chill in him. Returning to his father's castle Jorg must confront horrors from his childhood and carve himself a future with all hands turned against him.
For more information about the author, the book, the characters, and a whole lot more, follow this link to visit the author's website.
For a taste of Prince of Thorns, you can read an extract here.
With many genre heavyweights releasing novels in 2011, it will be interesting to see if Orullian and Lawrence will manage to create waves with their debuts. But one thing's for sure: It sure looks like it's going to be a heck of year for SFF fans!
