Art by Eric Belisle
Like most of the Radovan & the Count stories, Lord of Runes begins with a mystery. You can read the first chapter, featuring the first clues of that mystery, at the Paizo blog.
And bonus! Here’s another terrific illustration of Count Varian Jeggare by the estimable Eric Belisle. Keen-eyed readers will realize that the weapon he’s wielding is a katana rather than a jian, as I envisioned the Shadowless Sword. But hey! Katanas look cool, too.
Cover by Alberto Dal Lago
Tomorrow (Saturday, June 13) you can find me at Chapters Strathcona from noon to 5:00 pm. I’ll hang out to chat and sign copies of Lord of Runes and—judging from how well they stocked my back list last time—pretty much any of my Pathfinder Tales novels or recent anthologies. There may even be a few golden oldies from the Forgotten Realms. They sold out of a few titles when we did this last fall, so if there’s something you’re keen to pick up, maybe visit earlier in the afternoon. Here’s the Facebook event.
And the day after (Sunday, June 14) I’ll be at Audrey’s Books at 2:00 pm to read a bit from Lord of Runes. Naturally I’ll stick around to chat and sign books. Here’s Facebook again.
Please join us for one or both events—and, better still, bring a few friends who enjoy tales of high fantasy, eerie horror, wry quips, and one very good dog.
In both cases, the usual suspects and I will retire after the event to a local public house for pints and gabbery. Feel free to join us. We’ll probably push off right at 5:00 on Saturday and around 3:00 on Sunday. Just where we end up depends a lot on how many folks linger, so we’ll work out deets closer to launch time.
Cover by Alberto Dal Lago
The new Radovan & the Count novel is available everywhere today. For the first time, you can buy the latest Pathfinder Tales in Kindle format directly from Amazon. For those who love print, the new trade paperback format shows off the epic Alberto Dal Lago artwork to great advantage.
Speaking of Alberto, a Creative Colleagues interview with him goes up just an hour from now, so come back to meet the mind behind the masterpiece.
And mark your calendar for Thursday, June 4, when I’ll entertain questions at the fantasy subreddit. Ask me about Pathfinder Tales, my work at TSR, Wizards, and Paizo, my trips to Skywalker Ranch, Industrial Light & Magic, and Weta Workshop, or how to make the perfect Satan’s Soulpatch. Ask Me Anything.
Soon I venture out into the year’s first light dusting of snow to sign Shattered Shields along with all of my Pathfinder Tales novels and perhaps a few other books in stock at Chapters Strathcona from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm.
Long signings can be lonely, but two things make me think this time will be different.
First, Chris Allen, the fabulous Customer Experience Manager, scheduled me for the last author event of the year, meaning today brushes up against the holiday rush. Instead of dozen of shoppers slinking past without making eye contact lest they feel obliged to buy a book, we’ll have hundreds. The odds of selling a few rise proportionally.
Second, the fabulous Amber E. Scott will join me at the signing, not just to keep me company but also to autograph her own work (bring copies of Mummy’s Mask to make her day) and to run Beginner Box (also on sale, and a great holiday gift for new gamers) demos of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. In the unlikely event of a lull, we’ll have each other to amuse and delight.
Amber and I are Gaming Guests of Honor at next week’s Pure Speculation Festival, right here in Edmonton. We’ll hand out flyers and talk about our upcoming events there. I might even have a few Pathfinder promotional goodies to give away.
Join us, and I’ll read a bit on the half hour, including an excerpt from next summer’s Lord of Runes, the next Radovan and the Count novel. If you buy me a coffee, I might even tell you my Harlan Ellison story in advance of the convention.