There is news.
Right now, the e-books of Heroes Die and Blade of Tyshalle have a tentative (repeat for emphasis: tentative) release date of November 4th.
This may be shifted pending resolution of a minor contractual issue, and/or the pitched firefight in the streets between fraudulently-registered Democratic ineligible and/or imaginary voters (i.e., Mickey Mouse) and crypto-fascist Republican vote-suppressors (i.e., Alberto Gonzales).
For you handicappers out there, here are words to live by:
Never bet against the Mouse.
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- There is news.Right now, the e-books of Heroes Die...
- I'd just like to touch on the question of Caine's ...
- Back to Ayn Rand for a moment, it's worth noting t...
- For the record:Feel free to post extravagant prais...
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46 comments:
The long comment that I put under Wednesday's post would have fit much better here, but I'll keep it shorter this time: Any chance of a print-on-demand-version for the people who prefer pyhsical books?
All the best,
Andreas
Yes. There's a chance. Once the books are set up electronically, POD becomes a simpler proposition. A POD option was originally in the works for BLADE, while HEROES DIE, of course, is still in print.
That's great to hear, thanks! I'll keep hoping for a POD version of BoT then, while I'm waiting for my regular copy of HD which should be on its way to me by now...
Andreas
Glad to here it. It'll probably be two weeks or so after the 4th that I can actually get them, because Del Rey seems to take its own sweet time getting them into my preferred format. But I'll keep checking daily for CBK (and now HD/BOT), even as I enjoy the copy I'm borrowing from the library. :)
If I would quit giving my copies to people then I wouldn't have to buy them every couple of weeks.
So great to hear a POD version will be available for Blade...as I don't think I'll ever quit giving them to people.
You don't let someone borrow a book and all.
I'm wondering about piracy-protection...
One of my co-workers showed me his shiny new e-book reader and told me that "now I don't have to pay for books."
Hmm...
I do understand the appeal of e-books (they won't yellow or rip or get wet) but i think in 20 years i'll be considered a "fuddy duddy." I just find comfort in a real book.
I remind myself of my grandfather, who refuses to get on the internet, or even look at the screen, defending his daily newspaper deliveries and complaining that his eyes can't stand up to the flicker of a screen (nevermind that LCDs don't flicker.)
I have a feeling i'll be like that when i'm older, about books.
I'm wondering about piracy-protection...
As far as I know, three of the five ebook formats have been cracked—and of the other two, one I think has but I don't know for sure, and the other is too niche for people to bother with.
But even if they hadn't been, there was still a garden trade in scanning and uploading books years before ebooks hit the market.
I've also noticed that DRM-free ebooks aren't generally available on the pirate market, unlike their unprotected counterparts. I'll leave speculating on why to others. ;)
Awesome :) I can't wait to get a new copy of Blade!
I'm not sure about the eBook thing - I've been waiting for an e-reader that I like and can afford. It'll probably just mean that I'll double up on books I like, buying the paper and electronic (since I can see the convenience of having a hundred books in one little gadget).
Ye gods it would be nice to have a copy of BoT. I know I've bought at least three copies. All of which were lent and then never returned.
Is saying that on an author's blog the equivalent of saying, "I contributed $9 (or three times whatever your cut of a book is) to your rent money but then helped a half-dozen people avoid adding about $18 to said fund"?
On the other hand at least three of those six bought CBK the day it came out 'cause they refused to wait for someone to loan them the book, so maybe I'm not such a thundering asshole...
Worry not, my friend. My asshole thunders enough for the both of us.
I'm guessing there are enough fans that CBK sold well out of the gate -- I'm very curious to see how well it can sustain whatever momentum it has, to see how it sells over the next few months.
I'm also VERY curious to see a review from someone who hasn't read the first two yet.
The way I see it, we're free press for Stover... i always get people wondering "what are you reading?" To which i respond... "This book will kick your ass. It will make you think. Are you ready for that?" Most of the time, it gets their attention. The select few that aren't would never appreciate the books anyway.
We ARE Matt's marketing. Mediocre books require paying for advertizements.
Have you seen what BoT goes for at used bookstores?? its insane! i can't find it for anything less the 30 bucks. i wanted to get another one cause my copy is pretty beat up from reading it at least twice a year for the last 7 years!!! Im gonna have to scour the bookstores in some backwater town to find it at a reasonable price
Also, i'm curious on how publishing works? for instance why would the still print the older HD but not the more recent BoT? Not that I am complaining about that, but why do they pick one over the other??
Possibly it sells more copies.
HD is the entry book to the series. Given that BoT is a sequel, fewer readers will start with it than HD. Unfortunately, some percentage of HD readers will not purchase BoT, thus implying that HD's sales would be higher than BoT's or, at best, equal.
Replacement buyers are probably not a factor in determining the size of a given print run.
Totally unrelated:
I was re-reading the series today and was shocked at how tightly integrated the books were, even across the years it's taken to get the three published.
Going back to Caine's party before the launch of For Love of Pallas Rill, we have references to Khaylock and his specific injuries, Caine's two companions who survived the Boedecken (Marade and...don't remember the other, sorry), and a few other nice tie-ins with CBK.
It makes re-reading all the more pleasurable.
There are some references that seem to have been dropped (or have they....:) ), such as repeated references to an ogrillo warlord hellbent on conquest who was chasing Caine during Retreat from the Boedecken.
Also, a re-read of BoT reminds me that Caine finished only second in his class in combat, and I don't see him throwing that fight. Will we meet the guy who finished first?
Well, we've met several better fighters than Caine. Talann, for one.
And judging by the description of Retreat in Heroes Die -- as I recall Ma'elkoth goes on about it for a couple paragraphs when talking about Caine's accomplishments, and it's mentioned a couple other places as well -- there's plenty left of that particular Adventure.
Not to mention Last Stand at Caraeno.
Don't forget about the Race for the Crown of Dal'kannith. I'd love to see the fight where Berne manages to kill Marade and Tizarre because in CBK Marade seems damned unstoppable....
Hey, Matt - how are sales so far?
Race For the Crown would definitely be cool, especially since we'd see Hannto the Scythe. But Berne didn't actually kill Marade and Tizarre in a *fight.* That would have been too merciful.
Joe is correct.
Should DEAD MAN'S HEART ever become reality, it will prominently feature scenes from Race for the Crown of Dal'kannith.
From what I've heard, sales are okay -- that is to say, they are considerably above the original releases of HD and BoT; the book is certainly more popular with Internet review sits, too.
I thought DMH was the next novel?
What do you mean *if* it ever becomes reality?
His Father's Fist is book #4 (per Caine Black Knife). Dead Man's Heart would presumably be the fifth.
Mr Timson hit it on the head. DMH is a very specific story -- something not unlike CBK, in that it is to focus on the relationship between one of the younger Caine's most famous Adventures with his current reality.
Or reasonable facsimile thereof.
Has DMH and HFF always been different books? For a while there I thought the two titles were for the same book and you just hadn't chosen one.
Oh dear... I think I can finally accept why my wife has never gotten past the first chapter of heroes die and refuses to read further..
I ran across this review from a woman and just rolled my eyes. Oh, and "Kollburg is not an interesting character." Try reading the sequel!
http://www.queen-of-swords.net/Reviews/HeroesDie.htm
"Laronnar"
Wow. Every other character she names (more or less) correctly except poor Lamorak. Where's the love for Professional Shanks? (This sounds like an awesome name for a business being run in the prison showers.)
On a side note, is it on purpose that both "amoral" and "Karl" are contained within the name Lamorak, Matt?
Wow, you would think that if one were intending to write an intelligent and scathing review of a book they would at least have the courtesy/sense to spell things correctly.
Huh. Did you read her stories?
Huh. But if you're going to have a copy of BoT, it would at least be great to have that fantastic Dave McKean cover!
Btw, just wanted to chime in that I bought CBK around 9 p.m. and finished it around 3 a.m. Talk about non-stop. Woo!
(Not sure if the question was directed at me but here goes)
If by "read her stories" you mean read books that she's enjoyed, yes. Also more insight. She's finished the Wheel of Time series and Sword of Truth.
While I can respect the massive world and complexity (convolusion?) of the Wheel of Time books, I just couldn't get past SoT's first novel, Wizard's First Rule.
The language was simple, condescendingly so. And if I read ONE MORE book where "a peasent farmer discovers he's been adopted and really part of a royal family then meets a dragon," I'll organize a book-burning. (I'm looking at YOU eragon! Though that was never really meant for critical adult viewing lol)
If by "read her stories" you mean read her sample passages from Heroes Die, that probably killed it right there too. Squeamish much, dear? The spiders didn't HATCH inside of his belly yet!
http://www.queen-of-swords.net/ShortStories/Index.htm
SHATTERPOINT love from author Jim Hines (GoblinQuest, etc.): http://jimhines.livejournal.com/406409.html
Her summary of the ending shows she didn't really read it too much. Ma'elKoth saying he thinks he might LIKE it on Earth? I must have a few typos in my edition, then, because I seem to recall phrases such as "choking horror" and a general sense of Ma'elKoth wanting to curl up into a ball and cry himself to sleep.
http://www.queen-of-swords.net/ShortStories/Index.htm
i literally lol'd.
can't believe anyone who would write THAT would actually consider themselves qualified to judge others' work, but what...ever.
2 things, first, your right about marade, i 'mispoke' but i would still be very interested in knowing how he captured her without a bunch of black knifes(or would it be black knives????) to help. second, just read part of that lady's review of heroes die and wow. what a hater. i couldnt get past her tactless "and the plot thins" subtitle. She just is a wanker i guess. gotta use a british curse word there. If we wanted to get petty we could. her webpage sucks. it has a cascading style sheet linked to it, but there is nothing pleasant about the presentation of her site. she should at least make it look pretty if she is gonna bash someone.
on a positive note at the end of this long beast, cant wait for His Father's Fist and DMH. any chance you could ever slip a PDF of 'the real flash gordon'?
ok ok one last thing matt. im coming back to chicago on thursday after being away overseas for 4 years. so which would you pick? lou's or ginos?
Malnati's for the win. No question. Gino's crust sucks.
But really, for the Toppest of the Top-Notch, the original Uno and Due. NOT one of the chain restaurants. The real thing, down on Ohio Street, if memory serves.
And as for our latest Caine-hater, mockery on the basis of her writing skills (or lack thereof) is not pertinent. After all, you don't have to be a hen to point out a rotten egg.
Hey, I'm sorry she didn't like the book. Really. But only if she bought it. From a real book store.
And after all, compared to a couple of the reviews I've gotten on Amazon -- the phrase "Stover makes Dan Brown look like Tolstoy" springs to mind -- she's not even a flea bite.
"But that's all right. I'm not going to eat him" ... How could you not love that? Caine gives me chills with his awesomeness.
Ah well, can't please everyone.
Meanwhile, I've got new recruits hanging out for a version of BoT they'll be able to get for less than US$30. Though one of them read HD and has jumped straight to CBK - curious to see how that works out for him.
how can you skip BoT i love that it shows Hari's training at the conservatory. Maybe some monastic training in the next one eh? that'd be swell!
and you know, i dont think ive ever been to the original uno. ill have to put that on my list of places to go right away. and i cant hate on white castle. i love that place. i wonder if white castle survived long enough for hari to ever eat there??
The Random House site says Heroes Die is coming out in ebook form on December 9...
Here's hoping they mean it.
No Heroes Die yet, but Blade of Tyshalle is now available from Fictionwise.
And Heroes Die is out too. Go forth and buy. ;)
Was really happy to see that Heroes Die and Blade are now available as e-books.
Just purchased both for my Kindle 5 minutes ago.
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