The Witcher returns! A brand new novel set in the early days of The Witcher saga - the inspiration behind the bestselling series of games!
Geralt. The witcher whose mission is to protect ordinary people from the monsters created with magic. A mutant who has the task of killing unnatural beings. He uses a magical sign, potions and the pride of every witcher - two swords, steel and silver. But what would happen if Geralt lost his weapons?
Andrzej Sapkowski returns to his most popular hero in a stand-alone novel where Geralt fights, travels and loves again, Dandelion sings and flies from trouble to trouble, sorcerers are scheming... and across the whole world clouds are gathering - the season of storms is coming...
Read more: Season of Storms - Andrzej Sapkowski
GUEST POST: World-Building by Steve Rodgers
- Written by Seregil of Rhiminee
- Category: Guest Post
Risingshadow has the honour of publishing a guest post by Steve Rodgers.
Information about Steve Rodgers:
At seventeen, Steve Rodgers built his first world using colored pens and poster paper as part of a D&D game, complete with intricate geography, long treatises on magic, and attended by players with scruffy beards and ponytails. Steve also began writing at that time—though in a completely different world than D&D, because the Players Handbook rules seemed too limiting for a novel.
Steve’s been writing all his life, but didn’t restart the novel until much later. He scrapped every word written at seventeen, keeping only some of the high level concepts to write the uber-novel “Morphat”. Morphat was then broken into two books—“City of Shards” and “In the Claws of the Indigen”, the first two novels of the Spellgiver series. These were passed through armies of beta readers, then honed until they finally, at long last, said what he wanted them to say.
Steve put down the books unpublished, and began writing SFF short stories, selling them to magazines like Compelling Science Fiction, Metaphorosis, Perihelion, and many others. After two years, Steve returned to the novels, passing them through a last caravan of beta readers, and then release: “City of Shards” came out on April 1, and “In the Claws of the Indigen” came out on May 1. He is currently working Spellgiver book 3, “Secrets of the Land.”
You can find out more about Steve’s short stories and books at his website here: www.steverodgersauthor.com
Information about City of Shards:
In the gang-ridden Wormpile District, 16-year-old Larin shouts nonsense words into the decaying alleyways, a magical tourette’s syndrome that has brought him grief from every neighborhood thug. Protected from the worst beatings by his drug-addicted warrior-uncle, Larin’s life is one of loneliness, trapped in his uncle’s four block safe zone where no gang member dares tread. But when he learns his words have marked him as servant to Lord of Demons, things go from bad to worse. For that phrase has shoved him into the middle of an ancient war between his Master and the Six-Legged gods, both of whom regard humanity as mere playthings.
With his home facing threats from every direction, Larin will have to tread the narrow path between two evils, his only allies his drug-addicted uncle, a permanently drunk priestess, and a high-born wizardress who must hold her nose and work with the street rabble she despises. For as bad as Larin's Master is, refusing to follow him will only plunge his empire into a greater darkness—an abyss so deep, it will turn mankind’s soul to ash.
GUEST POST: World-Building by Steve Rodgers
Read more: GUEST POST: World-Building by Steve Rodgers
A review of Christopher Nuttall's The Promised Lie
- Written by Seregil of Rhiminee
- Category: Reviews
Christopher Nuttall's The Promised Lie was published by Elsewhen Press in a digital edition in February 2018 and will be published in paperback in May 2018.
Information about Christopher Nuttall:
Christopher Nuttall has been planning sci-fi books since he learnt to read. Born and raised in Edinburgh, Chris created an alternate history website and eventually graduated to writing full-sized novels. Studying history independently allowed him to develop worlds that hung together and provided a base for storytelling. After graduating from university, Chris started writing full-time. As an indie author, he has self-published a number of novels. The Royal Sorceress was the first of his novels to be published by Elsewhen Press. Chris is currently living in Edinburgh with his wife, muse, and critic Aisha and their two sons.
Click here to visit the author's official website.
Click here to visit the author's blog.
Information about The Promised Lie:
The Golden City has fallen, the Empire is no more, ancient magic threatens the land
In The Unwritten Words, Christopher Nuttall’s story-telling mastery weaves a new epic which follows on from his bestselling Bookworm series and is set in that same world. In The Promised Lie, the first book of the new series, five years have passed since the earth-shattering events of Bookworm IV.
The Golden City has fallen. The Grand Sorcerer and Court Wizards are dead. The Empire they ruled is nothing more than a memory, a golden age lost in the civil wars as kings and princes battle for supremacy. And only a handful of trained magicians remain alive.
Isabella Majuro, Lady Sorceress, is little more than a mercenary, fighting for money in a desperate bid to escape her past. But when Prince Reginald of Andalusia plots the invasion of the Summer Isle, Isabella finds herself dragged into a war against strange magics from before recorded history...
...And an ancient mystery that may spell the end of the human race.
The Promised Lie is the first book in The Unwritten Words series.
A REVIEW OF CHRISTOPHER NUTTALL'S THE PROMISED LIE
Read more: A review of Christopher Nuttall's The Promised Lie
Q&A with G.S. Denning
- Written by Seregil of Rhiminee
- Category: Interviews
Risingshadow has had the honour of interviewing G.S. Denning.
About G.S. Denning:
G.S. Denning is the author of the acclaimed Sherlock-fantasy mashup series Warlock Holmes, including Warlock Holmes: A Study in Brimstone and Warlock Holmes: The Hell-Hound of the Baskervilles. He has a background in improv and has performed with Ryan Stiles and Wayne Brady. He lives in Las Vegas with his wife and two children.
Click here to visit his official website.
About the Warlock Holmes novels:
Warlock Holmes - A Study in Brimstone:
Sherlock Holmes is an unparalleled genius who uses the gift of deduction and reason to solve the most vexing of crimes.
Warlock Holmes, however, is an idiot. A good man, perhaps; a font of arcane power, certainly. But he’s brilliantly dim. Frankly, he couldn’t deduce his way out of a paper bag. The only thing he has really got going for him are the might of a thousand demons and his stalwart flatmate. Thankfully, Dr. Watson is always there to aid him through the treacherous shoals of Victorian propriety... and save him from a gruesome death every now and again.
An imaginative, irreverent and addictive reimagining of the world’s favourite detective, Warlock Holmes retains the charm, tone and feel of the original stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle while finally giving the flat at 221b Baker Street what it’s been missing for all these years: an alchemy table.
Reimagining six stories, this riotous mash-up is a glorious new take on the ever-popular Sherlock Holmes myth, featuring the vampire Inspector Vladislav Lestrade, the ogre Inspector Torg Grogsson, and Dr. Watson, the true detective at 221b. And Sherlock. A warlock.
Warlock Holmes - The Hell-hound of the Baskervilles:
The game’s afoot once more as Holmes and Watson face off against Moriarty’s gang, the Pinkertons, flesh-eating horses, a parliament of imps, boredom, Surrey, a disappointing butler demon, a succubus, a wicked lord, an overly-Canadian lord, a tricycle-fight to the death and the dreaded Pumpcrow. Oh, and a hell hound, one assumes.
Warlock Holmes - My Grave Ritual:
As they blunder towards doom, Warlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson find themselves inconvenienced by a variety of eldritch beings. Christmas brings a goose that doesn’t let being cooked slow it down; they meet an electricity demon, discover why being a redhead is even tricker than one might imagine, and Holmes attempts an Irish accent. And, naturally, Moriarty is hanging around... in some form or other.
Q&A WITH G.S. DENNING
Read more: Q&A with G.S. Denning
GUEST POST: SFWA Science Fiction StoryBundle (The Sci-Fi SFWA Space Bundle) blog post from Steve Miller
- Written by Seregil of Rhiminee
- Category: Guest Post
Risingshadow has the honour of publishing an SFWA Science Fiction StoryBundle (The Sci-Fi SFWA Space Bundle) blog post from Steve Miller.
About Steve Miller
Adopted Mainer Steve Miller is a lapsed journalist, book and newspaper publisher, con-running fan, and librarian who writes SF professionally, mostly in the bestselling Liaden Universe® shared with Sharon Lee. He survived Clarion West in 1973, is a life member of SFWA, and has participated in hundreds of SF conventions as a fan, SF library curator, art agent, and pro author.
Steve’s first SFWA qualifying story appeared in Ted White’s Amazing in the 1970s. He was Vice Chair of the Baltimore in 80 WorldCon bid and editor of the SF tabloid Star Swarm News. When the Newsfolded, Steve and partner Sharon Lee started Bookcastle & Dreamsgarth, Inc., a genre bookstore with a traveling SF art agency component. A few years later Lee & Miller sold Agent of Change, their first novel, and moved to Maine, where they became ebook and online publishing pioneers.
With Sharon he has more than twenty five novels of SF and fantasy to his name, and dozens of shorter works, garnering a number of awards as well as dozens of invitations as Guests of Honor, Special Guests, and panelists at science fiction conventions across the U.S. and Canada.
Steve and Sharon are currently working on a multi-book contract for Baen. Their most recent novel offering is Locus Besteller Neogenesis, published in January of 2018 in hardback, audio, and ebook formats. Their most recent chapbooks was Degrees of Separation: Adventures in the Liaden Universe® No. 27 in ebook and a special Amazon paper edition.
About SFWA Science Fiction StoryBundle (The Sci-Fi SFWA Space Bundle)
Welcome to the largest, grandest and most out there bundle SFWA has ever done: the Sci-Fi SFWA Space Bundle! With 17 books that range from hardcore military sci-fi to character-focused alien encounters, we might have gone through the wormhole and out the other side.
SFWA serves authors at all points in their careers and we've embraced that diversity for this bundle. First, the Self-Publishing Committee reached out to a number of sci-fi authors throughout the genre who we know have enthusiastic and diverse fanbases. Then we opened the bundle up for submissions to our entire membership. We received far more submissions than we could actually put in this bundle, but after some rousing debate, we settled on a total of 17 spectacular titles.
Some of the proceeds of the bundle go to support SFWA in its mission to support, promote, inform, defend, and advocate for professional fantasy and science fiction writers. For more about the organization, see sfwa.org. For its grants program, see http://www.sfwa.org/2017/09/call-grants-2017/ – Daniel Potter
Not only that, but during our 3 week run, all StoryBundle newsletter subscribers get Qualify - The Atlantis Grail Book 1 by Vera Nazarian for free. Make sure to get that so you can enjoy Compete - The Atlantis Grail Book 2 by Vera Nazarian, available in the bundle!
This bundle is available only for a limited time via http://www.storybundle.com. It allows easy reading on computers, smartphones, and tablets as well as Kindle and other ereaders via file transfer, email, and other methods. You get multiple DRM-free formats (.epub and .mobi) for all books!
GUEST POST: SFWA Science Fiction Storybundle (The Sci-Fi SFWA Space Bundle) blog post from Steve Miller
A review of Joseph Malik's Dragon's Trail
- Written by Seregil of Rhiminee
- Category: Reviews
Joseph Malik's Dragon's Trail was published by Oxblood Books in 2016/2017.
Information about Joseph Malik:
Joseph Malik writes and lectures on advanced intelligence theory and asymmetric warfare for the U.S. military. He has worked as a stuntman, a high-rise window washer, a computational linguist, a touring rock musician, and a soldier in the United States Special Operations Command. A veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom, he lives in the Pacific Northwest along with his wife and their two dogs.
Dragon’s Trail is his first novel. A sequel, The New Magic, is scheduled for 2018.
Click here to visit his official website.
Information about Dragon's Trail:
"I didn't come here to sell my soul. I came here to buy it back."
Once dubbed "The Deadliest Man Alive," Jarrod Torrealday is a former Olympic saber hopeful and medieval weapons expert banned from competition for killing another fencer in a duel. Despondent, volatile, alcoholic, yet still one of the greatest swordsmen alive, he now works for third-rate fantasy films as a technical consultant and stuntman.
When Jarrod accepts the gig of a lifetime from a sorcerer looking for a hero, he finds himself facing an invading army in a world inhabited by creatures from Earth's mythical past. He soon learns that the enemy mastermind is also from Earth, and has laid the foundations for a new kind of war.
Seamlessly blending hard science with elements of classic sword and sorcery, Dragon's Trail is an international bestseller that's being hailed as the pioneering work of a new genre: the Fantasy Technothriller.
A REVIEW OF JOSEPH MALIK'S DRAGON'S TRAIL
Read more: A review of Joseph Malik's Dragon's Trail