Sunday 27 January 2008

Solaris announces new deals


Solaris, the mainstream imprint of Games Workshop's Black Library publishing arm, have announced some new deals.

Most recently, they have confirmed they will be releasing a new novel by British author Mark Chadbourn, called The Lord of Silence.

Here's the blurb: "The Lord of Silence is a thrilling new epic fantasy. When the great hero of the city of Idriss is murdered, Vidar, the Lord of Silence, must take his place as chief defender against the mysterious terrors lurking in the dense forest beyond the city's walls.

"But Vidar is a man tormented—by a lost memory and a vampiric jewel that demands the life energy of others. Now, with a killer loose within Idriss, and the threat from without mounting, Vidar must solve a three thousand year-old religious mystery to unlock the terrifying secrets of his own past."

Mmmm, sounds interesting. What is perhaps a little unusual about this is that apparently epic fantasy is not in demand by editors at the moment. Urban Fantasy is all the rage, we're told. Either that is a crock of shit, or Solaris are willing to take a punt. Chadbourn however seems a safe bet, given his previous success, and I have to say this new novel sounds intriguing.

Not only that, but Solaris have also announced new deals for James Maxey and Gail Z. Martin. Maxey is the author of Bitterwood, while Martin's The Summoner was Solaris's bestselling title in 2007. Clearly the work of both authors has performed well enough to warrant these new deals.

I have to say I'm a little surprised at the deal for Maxey, as I really didn't enjoy Bitterwood. In fact, I didn't even finish it. But I'll make a separate post about that later. Martin's series however looks interesting, and the cover art of her books is especially attractive.

One other Solaris author catches the eye: Paul Kearney, whose novel The Ten Thousand focuses on the struggles of an abandoned army...sounds interesting.

All in all, 2008 is already shaping up to be a decent year for Solaris.

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