Sign up for my email list to get the latest newsletter!

Posts Tagged‘Russia’

Home » Russia

FOUR IVAN DRAGOS AND ROCKY IV / THE DAVID GEMMELL LEGEND AWARD

Baby Snaga. Baaaaaabyyyyyyy Snaga. I got you in my sights. I see you. Over there. Looking sharp. And beautiful. And shiny. And…. Miniature.

Baby Snaga is the award for the also-rans. It’s a reward for the writers who are good enough to get into the finalist circle, but not brawny enough to take Papa Snaga from the hands of an unwitting world audience. This is what happens when a man destined for a Baby Snaga tries to touch Papa Snaga:

Do you see the crazed gleam in his eye? That’s the look of a man who knows that Snaga will never be his. He can pet Papa Snaga’s curves, but if he ever tries to wield the big man himself, he’ll probably chop off a toe in a tragic woodcutting accident.

Warning to readers: that crazed, sad, pathetic little man above, there, THAT could be me. This is why I need your help. Desperately. Desperately. Need. Your. Help.

The David Gemmell Legend Award is given to the best heroic fantasy of the year as voted on by people like you. That’s right, every award has its foibles, and the David Gemmell Legend Award’s foible is this: THEY’RE TRUSTING YOU.

This year, the finals of the DGLA include a very talented pool: first, the Frenchman, Pierre Pevel, author of The Cardinal’s Blades. Pierre may or may not have been involved in ruthlessly mocking my pronunciation of “Cardinal Richeliu.” Oh, you think you can do better? Just try: Cardinal RI. SHEH. LYOOO. Doubtless Pierre will have the Francophile vote locked down. Anglophiles, consider this a direct challenge to your manhood. Or. Womanhood…

Besides, what have the French ever given us except extremely good clothes…  and great wine… and great cheese… and great architecture…  and charming waiters… and Lilu Dallas clothed in a bandage?

Secondly comes Peter V. Brett. Who, to my eternal envy, has upon at least one occasion, hugged the aforementioned Milla Jovovich (although it is believed at this time that she was not wearing the bandage at the time of said hug).  Peter Brett is the talented author of The Painted Man and The Desert Spear. He is also a noted hugger.

Thirdly, Markus Heitz has burst upon my consciousness like dawn after a night of too much fun. Markus, despite having infiltrated my own exquisite publisher in the US and UK, is carrying the honor (and zillions of votes) of yet another great Old World country: Germany. Dah Dah Dah. And besides, what have the Germans given us? Except music. Philosophy. Poetry. Clocks that run on time. Cars that actually look good.  18-hour Opera. And kick-ass fantasy stories. Oh wait, forget that last part. Don’t vote for him! Look over here! Me! Over Here! The American. Ah, crap.

My fourth and fourth-and-a-halfth opponent is the ubiquitous (and also American) Brandon Sanderson. Brandon is the author of approximately 417 novels. Who is also known as the man who has lost the David Gemmell Legend award more times than anyone else has even been nominated.  However:  DO NOT PITY THIS MAN.  He is also the only man in the world known to proficiently dual-wield Baby Snagas (having had more practice than anyone alive). And of course, the other halfth of his team is the utterly inimitable Robert Jordan who is, indeed, a legend. And if you vote for Robert Jordan (a personal hero of mine), I might someday– after a long and bitter time of personal sorrow–forgive you.

Ok, fine. So the field’s crowded. And the other guys… They’re not half bad. Not even those guys who are splitting a Snaga in half. So, here’s the reason you should vote for me…

Ok, well gosh darn it, I’m just pretty psyched that I get a Baby Snaga! So thanks all you guys for getting me this far in the David Gemmell Legend Award. And, if you’re a glutton for punishment, you can throw in a vote on the losing side. It’s only a couple clicks of your mouse, and maybe you’ll help me sacrifice some dignity by coming in a distant fourth rather than a distant fifth-and-a-half (I hate it when the write-in votes for Mickey Mouse beat me)! Go here to vote.

Thank you so much for the honor, and I hope I entertained you with this brief fight preview! (raw-KEY, raw-KEY, raw-KEY, ROCKY!) C’mon, even the Russians voted for the underdog, and that was during the Cold War!

 

Posted on in Uncategorized

Russia Reads the Trilogy

Maybe not ALL of Russia – but the final book of the Night Angel Trilogy is now available for all you Russian readers – or readers with Russian friends !

And they’ve got Kylar Stern surrounded. Hot chick on his right, army on his left, and bad-assed beastie behind him… well, even Kylar Stern could use a little help. Looks like no one’s safe!

Of course, this is Brent Weeks! So we already knew that.

Posted on in Uncategorized

At the Edge of the Shadow–Russian Cover

… or in Russian, “At The Edge of the Shadow”. As well as I can tell, EKSMO has renamed the trilogy “Masters of Might and Magic”. Many thanks to the alert reader who let us know that the Russian cover for the second book is now available online.  Once again, the artist has pulled things from the book in a great way. Notice the divided background between day and night which puts Kylar right at–well, you know.

Lots more details from the series on this cover. Can’t wait to see what they do for the third book in the trilogy!

*EDIT* Apparently, the “Masters of Might and Magic” is an imprint under which EKSMO publishes foreign fantasy books. Thank you to Aleks for the heads up!

Posted on in Uncategorized

This Looks Perilously Close to Hawking my Wares

And I’m not a big ware-hawker… (Hmm, a were-hawk, there’s a story in that somewhere).

*ahem*

So, you’re looking for a signed book. Some authors are crazy enough that they grow big beards and say, Send All Your Books To My House (With Something Interesting) And I Will Sign It. Problem is, I’m not that guy. I have only a small goatee, and a penchant for losing even my own things.

Ergo, come to a book signing.

“Ah, Brent,” you say, “but I live in a foetid corner of Tasmania, and though I voted as per your instructions, you are not coming to an urban center near me. More’s the pity. Do you hate Australians?”

No, in fact, I like Australians so much, I don’t even attempt to do the accent–unlike many Americans, who are totally unable to restrain themselves from that whole “shrimp on the barbie” line. (I’m strong. I also don’t attempt the Sean Connery accent. Though that one’s a near thing.)

But, granted, there are a few thousand corners of the globe to which I have not trotted, or at least not while anyone knew that my scribble on a piece of paper might have some sentimental value to someone on the Australian version of Ebay. (Do you have Ebay Down Under? I heard in Russia it’s Mobile Money or something…)

To the matter at hand: You want a book with a Brent Weeks scrawl in it. I want you to be a happy fan. Here’s where The Signed Page steps in.

Basically, you buy the book through The Signed Page at a reasonable mark-up; I sign it (for free, I don’t make any money off this), and they will send it to you–and if I understand correctly, they send books anywhere in the world. And I will be happy to personalize your book for you. HERE is the direct link to Shawn’s Brent Weeks page.

I’m signing the first batch of books when I’m up in Seattle for my book tour on August 26th, so if you want your book without delay, please get your order in. Sorry for the short notice. (I live 3.5 hours away from Shawn, so I can’t promise the fastest signing all the time.)

Those of you not interested in were-hawks, carry on.

Posted on in Uncategorized

Russian Launch of The Way of Shadows

Sometimes these things come to me in the strangest ways. Apparently, The Way of Shadows was just released in Russia by EKSMO Publishing. Someone in the comments dropped me the link, and sure enough, this has got to be my book: blue glowy sword, crumpled guard, broken window. This is a good example of what’s known as a ‘narrative cover’. The art tells a story. It’s a concept of what a cover should do that you don’t see as often in America or the UK anymore. (Blame short attention spans or evolving market demand or a simple quest for novelty.) But it can be a lot of fun to pick out things from the book and see how the artist has worked those together. It’s also proof that the artist read the book–which is definitely not guaranteed. I’ve seen hugely successful books by great authors that got totally random covers overseas–just because maybe the editor had rights to some piece of art that he liked. So… it’s a big world, strange things happen. So my thanks to my Russian editors and the translator, who contacted me many times (something I love!) to get things just right.

The Russian language version isn’t a huge launch, but if you see it and speak Russian, please let me know what you think!

Posted on in Uncategorized

I’m Thinking Hungarian

Seriously, I love Eastern Europe. And apparently the feeling’s mutual. Konyvmolykepzo Publishers has purchased the rights to publish The Night Angel Trilogy in Hungarian. That brings the Night Angel trilogy to a total of nine languages now: Czech, Complex Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Polish, Russian. Whoa.

Posted on in Uncategorized

Not Quite David Hasselhoff…

Who is/was wildly popular in odd places, BUT I am taking eastern Europe by storm. Well, by squall anyhow. Okay, it’s light drizzle–but with fiercely overcast skies. Last week, we sold the Polish rights to the whole trilogy. Mag Jacek Rodek will be publishing The Way of Shadows within 24 months. Then, this week, we sold the rights to the whole trilogy to the Czech Republic. Not sure which publisher, but most likely will also be out within 24 months, as well. Woo hoo!

As always, huge thanks to agents Don and Cameron at DMLA, and this time a double thank-you to Milena at Prava i Prevodi!

The Night Angel Trilogy will now be available in the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, France, Germany, the UK, Ireland, Australia, Russia, Poland, and the Czech Republic. This weekend I will post the French cover of The Way of Shadows, its release date–and a new poll.

Posted on in Uncategorized

Russian Book Deal & What’s Next

I’m happy to announce I’ve signed a deal with Eksmo Publishing (Эксмо) to publish The Way of Shadows and Shadow’s Edge. And of course I hope we sell well enough that they’ll buy Beyond the Shadows as well. I’d hate for a reader to never get to read Beyond after SE’s ending. It’s just cruel. (But it’s not a cliff-hanger. Really. There’s a satisfying ending. It’s just that there’s a big twist in the epilogue. Don’t peek!)

I’ve also had lots of queries about what’s next. I’ve addressed this on the forum, but you don’t want to pick through posts on some forum, your mouse-clicking finger is tired, you just want the deets, man. Fair ’nuff.

I’ve signed a new three book deal with Orbit. I submitted an outline, and so much happened in the story, they were like, “Looks like three books to us, but do what you think is best. We just want your next three books.” Sweet. “And we want them fast. Your deadline is a book each November.” Gulp. So the trilogy is (extremely) tentatively titled Black Prism. I’m working as fast as I can, and I’m really excited about what’s forming. It’s set in a new world. Think more 1500 Mediterrean Sea, rudimentary fire arms and magic together. Woot. But don’t worry, it’s not a pirates-and-their-peg-legged-mateys book. Cross my heart. But there are awesome characters, lots of action, much cooler magic this time out, secrets, lies, betrayal, and butt-kicking. You know, the good stuff. After this trilogy (if it is indeed a trilogy), I will be returning to Midcyru with a new series. And yes, numerous of the important characters who actually survived the end of the Night Angel Trilogy will show up. 🙂

Next week, I hope to be able to announce another foreign deal, announce the pub dates of the foreign deals we’ve already got, and maybe post a cover or two…

Posted on in Uncategorized