This week, Ginjer Buchanan at Ace Books sent me two of the latest releases in the Age of Conan line I edit with her. (I do my part for Conan Properties, while Ginjer manages the line for Ace.) Courtesy of Gjiner, UPS brought me at book and a flat.
The book is Venom of Luxur, the third and final book in J. Steven York‘s Anok, Heretic of Stygia trilogy. It brings Anok’s tale to a rousing and triumphant close. If you’re interested in the books, you can download the first chapter of each of them and read them for free. The first two books are already out, and Venom hits stores on November 29.
As for the other thing, a “flat” is a promotional copy of the cover of an upcoming book. The publishers print these up in advance of the real thing to show distributors and booksellers what they can expect to see. Ace has done them for all of their Age of Conan titles, and I’ve gotten them for each of my Blood Bowl novels from the Black Library too. I had some for Secret of the Spiritkeeper too, and Nina Hess–my editor at Wizards–just sent me some promotional bookmarks for the Knights of the Silver Dragon line too.
This flat is for Winds of the Wild Sea, the second in the Marauders trilogy. These are young adult (YA) novels set in the Age of Conan and written by Jeff Mariotte, and old friend of mine from IDW and WildStorm fame. Gearing gritty fantasy novels for younger readers isn’t easy, but Jeff does a fine job of it, making the books good for kids from 10 to 100. The first in the series, Ghost in the Wall, is due in stores at the end of January, while Winds of the Wild Sea should be out in March.
