One of the best books I’ve read in a while that I didn’t edit/publish at Pyr was Tim Akers’ absolutely brilliant, Heart of Veridon, a steampunk noir forthcoming from Solaris in August. The book is fantasticly imaginative, the dialogue pitch perfect, the story screaming to be an Alex Proyas film. In fact, it impressed me so much that I chased Tim down for his next one.
Thus, I am very happy to inform you all that we concluded a deal last Friday to publish his novel, The Horns of Ruin, which mixes those same elements of steampunk and crime noir that he does so well with both high fantasy and urban fantasy. I was hooked from the first line of the pitch:
Eva Forge is the last paladin of a dead god.
Cue the Keanu Reeves “whoa.” And if that doesn’t get you, Tim elaborates, “You know, paladins with jetpacks. Clockwork monasteries besieged by revenants.”
Excited? I sure am. Tim’s writing it at the moment, so we’re looking at late 2010 for a pub date at the earliest, but you can pick up Heart of Veridon in August, and then you can get as excited as I am.
Now, why not head over to Tim’s blog and congratulate him?
Well done all. It's gonna rock.
And doubly good that Tim has a lifeline second series on the go.
Marco / Angry Robot
Great news.
Looks interesting. Do you know what format Pyr is releasing in or if they will reissue Heart of Veridon in a matching format.
PS-You're link to post still isn't working for me.
http://yetistomper.blogspot.com/2009/06/pyr-o-mania-youre-going-to-love-eva.html
Hi Patrick,
As I've just posted to your blog, you are misunderstanding me and I apologize. The Horns of Ruin is NOT the second book in a Veridon series. It's a completely new story, its own animal in a new world/universe. It just happens to be steampunk noir fantasy (or "noird" as China Mieville terms it), which is what I responded to so well in Heart of Veridon. I have a policy against picking up books in a series begun elsewhere. But having read Heart of Veridon and LOVED it, I really wanted to work with him, hence this new, completely-its-own-thing book.
No idea why the link back isn't working.
Thanks for clearing that up Lou. Rereading your post, it's fairly clear that it's a different series.
Is this book a stand alone or the first in a series?
Yes.
Lou, do you know who the artist is for HEART OF VERIDON?
ces, that's Jon Foster's work
ces, that's Jon Foster's work
I agree with Lou about Heart of Veridon, just a great book and will have a review on FBC in mid July sometime.
Horns of Ruin is an asap book for me and while I would love a new Veridon novel, this one sounds great too.
You can read a novella with the main character of Veridon in Solaris SF 3 and I remember that Mr. Akers had some free stories online set in that universe.
Great news!!
I sincerely hope that Solaris finds a buyer, and that the new Solaris continues the Veridon series. For one thing, I have read the outline of book two and it rocks, and I want to read that book!
Mr. Akers,
Thank you so much for your response! I love the cover! And John Foster's art too!
Sorry I'm late in responding – hubby & I were out-of-town (and no, I did not take my laptop with me!) for a couple of days. And VERIDON has been ordered from Amazon. Anything bearing Lou's stamp-of-approval goes on my reading list – so far I've been surprised by liking a couple of books I didn't think I'd like!
Yeah, just Tim is fine. 😉
I'm very happy with that cover as well. Another great thing about signing with Pyr…Lou's taste in cover artists is impeccable.
Thanks for the kind words, everyone. I'm excited and energized and all that jazz. Now I just need to write. All the time.