Words do not begin to express how thrilled I am to tell you all that…
Adrian Tchaikovsky’s brilliant Shadows of the Apt series is coming to the US!!
We’ve just done a deal to bring Empire in Black and Gold, Dragonfly Falling, and Blood of the Mantis out here. All three books will be appearing from Pyr in early 2010, published in trade paperback in three consecutive months , March-April-May, so US readers can catch up with this dynamic series fast. Shadows of the Apt is a fantastic fantasy, with steampunk elements, that absolutely blew me away when I read it. Airships, steam trains, giant insects, fantastic characters, great action…
From the book description of Empire in Black and Gold:
Seventeen years ago Stenwold witnessed the Wasp Empire storming the city of Myna in a brutal war of conquest. Since then he has preached vainly against this threat in his home city of Collegium, but now the Empire is on the march, with its spies and its armies everywhere, and the Lowlands lie directly in its path. All the while, Stenwold has been training youthful agents to fight the Wasp advance, and the latest recruits include his niece, Che, and his mysterious ward, Tynisa. When his home is violently attacked, he is forced to send them ahead of him and, hotly pursued, they fly by airship to Helleron, the first city in line for the latest Wasp invasion. Stenwold and Che are Beetle-kinden, one of many human races that take their powers and inspiration each from a totem insect, but he also has allies of many breeds: Mantis, Spider, Ant, with their own particular skills. Foremost is the deadly Mantis-kinden warrior, Tisamon, but other very unlikely allies also join the cause. As things go from bad to worse amid escalating dangers, Stenwold learns that the Wasps intend to use the newly completed railroad between Helleron and Collegium to launch a lightning strike into the heart of the Lowlands. Then he gathers all of his agents to force a final showdown in the engine yard…
And for those of you wondering why you should wait for the US edition? (And needing another reason other than your karma and the desire to support Pyr in bringing across more such deserving UK authors…)
Well, I’m pleased to announce that the brilliant and talented Jon Sullivan, who did the covers for the 2nd and 3rd books in the UK, is going to be doing brand-new artwork for all three of the US editions. Now that’s worth waiting for, isn’t it?
Well, I'm pleased to announce that the brilliant and talented Jon Sullivan, who did the covers for the 2nd and 3rd books in the UK, is going to be doing brand-new artwork for all three of the US editions. Now that's worth waiting for, isn't it?
Yes, yes it is. 🙂
Glad you think so!
Sweet. Congatulations Adrian Tchaikovsky!
As a bookseller here in the UK I'm so please to see that Tchaikovsky is getting more distribution. Such a great series. I can't wait to read Blood of the Mantis. It can't come out fast enough for me.
Looking forward to seeing the new covers.
Have you seen the covers for the German editions? They're up on his Shadows of the Apt wedsite.
And keep up the good work. I keep trying to get my buyers to get more of your imports in 🙂
Hi Bethy,
Thanks for this. I had not seen the German edition but just checked them out now. Very interesting, understated.
And thank you – with titles like James Enge and Matthew Sturges – we have UK rights so importing shouldn't be a problem through our UK distributor.
Yeah, we've had a couple come in. I love my section of the bookshop and I love to bug my buyers about getting books I think are great on our shelves.
Well, thank you again then!
Can I ask which store you work for?
Wonderful news. It will be a pleasure to see how Sullivan can improve these.
http://booktionary.blogspot.com/
I'm delighted for you and Adrian! And for getting Jon Sullivan. Both great guys.
I really need to get over to the UK soon.
You absolutely do.
If only to meet everyone who doesn't come to the US.
It's about time. I've been reading about these books for what feels like years.
They are awesome. And I appreciate you waiting for US versions!
Tried to create a link but it doesn't look like it's showing up.
http://yetistomper.blogspot.com/2009/06/pyr-o-mania-adrian-tchaikovskys-shadows.html
I try to support the US publishers and bolster the US sales where I can.I would hate if an author sold extremely well in England due to American readers cannibalizing the sales and then flopped when the books finally made it across the pond since the most interested people already bought them internationally.
Thank you so much for that sentiment. People don't realize how much it hurts a UK author's US future to have their sales cannibalized like that. Your support really is a very real factor in our being able to continue doing this.
Don't know why the link back didn't show up, btw. Blogger is fickle.
No worries. I work for big ol' Borders. Frustrating at times to deal with a big company but I'm happy to have a job and I get to sell books.
Sweet. I'm looking forward to this. And I didn't know I'd bought British editions – I thought they were standard Tor paperbacks with $ on them and everything.
Still, I'll be really tempted to buy the new editions.
I can't fault you if you don't want to buy them twice, but if you want to help spread the word about how great they are *when March gets here*, much appreciated.
Bethy, we like Borders. Your SF buyer is a good guy. We like independents too, of course. We like book sellers, book readers, book writers, and books!
Here in the UK the Borders is now owned by a different company so we're not really attached to the Borders state-side.
My heart still lives at an independent, Uncle Hugo's, in my hometown. Like you though, I like pretty much anything to with the books.
Cheers!
I have always wanted to visit Uncle Hugo's!! My own favorite independent is San Francisco's Borderlands Books.