Hi there, friends in Canada!
Indigo Books & Music is running a “Most Anticipated” promotion this week, with 40% off the upcoming titles they’re most excited about… and THE BURNING WHITE is one of their picks.
The sale runs July 15-21 (that’s today until Sunday) only, so grab your copy ASAP!
Just in case you missed it, Orbit is hosting a Lightbringer reread in advance of the release of THE BURNING WHITE! Daniel Greene kicked off the festivities with his (re)review of The Black Prism:
Fantasy Inn has taken up the mantle, and are working on The Blinding Knife in July. Stay tuned for more updates!
Amazon is offering THE WAY OF SHADOWS as a Kindle Daily Deal for $2.99. A steal at twice the price! (This is also Brent’s affiliate link.)
This smokin’ hot deal won’t last long–open up that Amazon app and buy a copy! Your brain will thank you.
Reasons to buy a(nother) copy of Night Angel #1 for Kindle:
You’re welcome!
So we’ve been talking about the history of the color blue, and one shade in particular: murex purple. Turns out that [anthropologists and archaeologists believe] blue was the last color category to enter the human lexicon, and was likely the last color to be distinguished/perceived by human eyes.
PLUS, there’s one particular shade of blue (or indigo, depending) that is derived by extracting the blood from thousands of little ocean snails, oxidizing it, and dyeing fabric with it to create a mystical hue known as tekhelet, Tyrian purple, or (as mentioned above) murex purple, which was once more valuable than gold–partially because it became brighter when exposed to sunlight and weathering.
In the beautiful mosaic of 20th-century art and science, it was discovered how and why the blood of many earth critters can manifest so many beautiful hues.
Hemoglobin is what we humans (and most mammals) have as a means to carry oxygen to the cells in our bodies. It uses iron molecules to get the job done.
Hemocyanin, on the other hand, uses copper to do this same job in many sea creatures, including crabs, lobsters, and of course, sea snails.
Wait, copper? Like, the stuff pennies were made of?
Yep.
So how do we get blue dye from copper? I bet you’re asking.
Oxygen, and sunlight. Really! When copper oxidizes*, it turns a greenish-bluish shade.
What do you mean, you don’t believe me? You’ve seen the Statue of Liberty, right?
That French beaut is made of 3/32 in copper, protected by a lovely patina. Totally rockin’ that look, Lady Liberty!
But here’s the part that was news to me: some animals have green blood! Others have purple blood! This Vox article explains this phenomenon well.
There’s no mention of animals being able to draft, though. I thought for sure there would be some mention that dissection revealed these creatures were packing luxin… Huh, I just realized sub-red drafters give whole new meaning to “packing heat”!
Okay, I’m gonna stop there.
Amazon is offering THE BLACK PRISM as a Kindle Daily Deal for $2.99. A steal at twice the price! (This is also Brent’s affiliate link.)
This smokin’ hot deal won’t last long–open up that Amazon app and buy a copy! Your brain will thank you.
Reasons to buy a(nother) copy of Lightbringer #1 for Kindle:
You’re welcome!
Check out this month’s Question & Response (Q&R) video, from Brent’s official Facebook page:
Also, in case you haven’t already heard, Orbit is hosting a Lightbringer Series reread in anticipation of the October 22 (October 24 UK) release of THE BURNING WHITE. They’ve kicked things off with YouTube vlogger Daniel Greene, who is taking on Book 1, THE BLACK PRISM.
Holy crow! Fan Even Ennis commissioned this ASTONISHING Lightbringer v. Night Angel tattoo, featuring Kip and Kylar:
Evan says it took an entire YEAR to complete (uh, not in one sitting, but you get the idea). Major props to Evan and his tattoo artist for having the patience, pain tolerance, and perseverance to make this beauty!
If you’re in Maryland, USA, you can tell Rob Zeinog at Evolved Body Arts that he does spectacular work.
In our last installment of RLF, we talked about the history of the color blue, which hopefully was enjoyed by my fellow art history enthusiasts out there.
If you were not one of those fine folks… You may not find this one intriguing either. It’s more about the color blue, along with how artists have procured and created it.
The first link is from Fast Company, specifically focusing on Prussian Blue (HERE). It is considered the first synthetic color, in that it wasn’t extracted from minerals or plants (or animals, as we’ll discuss in a bit). Prussian Blue was discovered in 1704 by German chemist Heinrich Diesbach; it’s cochineal + iron sulfate + cyanide = C18Fe7N18. (The Wiki page on Prussian Blue is a fun little rabbit hole for chemists out there.) As the article points out, this new shade of cerulean meant that the ultra-expensive ultramarine was no longer necessary for painting with blue. Which basically means without Diesbach, Picasso would probably have been some schlub painting everything Rose.
“Wait,” you may be thinking, “What does this have to do with chromaturgy, or the Seven Satrapies?”
The second link is from the LA Times, about Murex Purple (HERE).
“Wait!” you say. “I recognize that phrase… Isn’t it the color
Show SpoilersLiv wears to signify herself as a superviolet drafter once she joins the Color Prince? *shakes fist at our favorite misunderstood traitor* And then becomes her signature color once she becomes Ferrilux?”
Yes. Yes it is.
Murex purple, or tekhelet in Hebrew, is created–long story short–by extracting the blood from thousands of Murex trunculus snails, then exposing it to full-spectrum sunlight. Without the sunlight, the purplish “ink” turns fabric yellow. We know that this is because the blood contains hemocyanin, a respiratory protein that delivers oxygen to organs in many species of mollusk, including Murex trunculus.
Astute readers will notice the similarity of the word “hemocyanin” to “hemoglobin”… and will recognize that “cyan” in the middle is also the name of a shade of blue.
“WAIT!” you shout to your screen. “What is hemocyanin again?”
Ah ha! Patience, grasshopper. We are building the foundation for that.
Next time.
Hi friends,
As you may already know, I’m scheduled to be this year’s keynote speaker at the 2019 Realm Makers Writing Conference in St Louis, Missouri. The conference will be held July 18-20 at the Sheraton Westport Chalet, with Terry Brooks as the Guest of Honor.
TODAY is the last day for Early Bird prices, so if you’re planning to go and haven’t yet bought your ticket, now is the time to bite the bullet!
Lloyd Bussio, artist and Lightbringer fan hailing from South Africa, shared the video below a while back. It shows his process in creating Andross Guile’s Nine Kings card, The Master:
We also featured the finished product here in 2016, when we only knew Lloyd as AceManOntheScene.
You can see more of his work on Instagram, or on YouTube.
Keep up the great work Lloyd!