It's here! Tim Gerard Reynolds joins Royce and Hadrian for the first Riyria adventure in over six years. Come join the boys, along with Gwen, Arcadius, and Albert as they travel to Tur Del Fur to attempt to stop a disgruntled dwarf from destroying the twin towers of Drumindor. It's over twenty and half hours of non-stop fun and adventure.
Recently, I announced "The Cycle Project" which is my current work in progress that is a sequel to the Riyria Revelations. It will pull from all twenty of the books based in Elan. To fill in some important gaps in the overall story arc, I'm going to be publishing some short stories and the first one is called "The Storm." I'm debuting it as part of the Unavowed Anthology released by Shawn Speakman's Grim Oak Press. |
 | Grim Oak Press puts out some of the best anthologies out there. I'm honored to be in several of them including Unfettered, Unfettered II, and Unbound. Not only will it contain my short story, but also shorts from some of the best indie authors out there, many of whom are personal friends. The Kickstarter launched yesterday and there are early-bird discounts for backing within the first 24 hours - so check it out and please pick up a copy. Here is a link. |
The Unavowed anthology features stories by twenty-two (22) short stories. Here is a complete list:
The Touch of the Eternal by J. A. Andrews
The Last Ride of Kanashimi by Zack Argyle
Rival of Ghosts by Dyrk Ashton
The Old Lie by Ryan Cahill
My Soul Has Teeth by Sarah Chorn
The Wanderer by A. C. Cobble
Lord of Vengeance by Michael R. Fletcher
The Last Sentinel by Rob J. Hayes
Sinner's Grave by Kevin Hearne
Curse These Metal Hands by Ben Galley
Hild the Humble by Michael R. Miller
A Mother's Love by Andy Peloquin
The Power of Perception by J. Zachary Pike
Fragile Gods by J. D. L. Rosell
The Unavowed Light-Weaver by Shawn Speakman
A Darker Talent by M. L. Spencer
Sails at Dusk by Patrick Swenson
The Storm by Michael J. Sullivan
The Darkdancer by Ramon Terrell
The Parable of the Silk Weaver by R. R. Virdi
How the Dragons Became Extinct by M. L. Wang
The Brotherhood of Shadows by Jeff Wheeler
The Cycle Project
With the completion of The Rise and Fall series and now Drumindor, some of you have asked, “What’s next?” And you haven’t just inquired, I’ve received suggestions.
Some of you want to see a story about the First War, others the early years of Royce and Hadrian. Although after the release of The Rose and the Thorn — after seeing how Royce used to be in the old days — I’m seeing fewer requests for that. By far the top request, however, has been for a post-Riyria Revelations book or series. To understand why I’ve resisted this idea you first need to know how I write my books.
I am not a fan of stories that start out fantastic and then quickly run out of steam with each added installment. Usually, this happens because the author puts all their “best stuff” up front to gain an audience. I don’t do that. When I started writing the Riyria Revelations, I didn’t think any of them would be published, so I wasn’t concerned about making a “big splash” with my initial offering. Instead, I saved all the juicy stuff for the end. As a result, the last book in that series has been the best — by design — mostly because it was the culmination of everything that came before. Knowing I couldn’t top that, I wasn’t about to try.
The entire notion was incomprehensible. How could I raise the stakes higher than they were? How could I make the climax more dramatic? The series-long plotline had been satisfied and there was simply no way to top Percepliquis. In order to do that I would need a larger, profounder, over-arching plot: something with even greater stakes, more characters, and a bigger bang at the end. Without knowing it, what people were asking me to do would require nothing less than creating a whole new series devoted to the forming of the world and the Novronian Empire. Then it would be necessary for me to write another series linking those books to the Riyria stories. And somehow in doing all that, I must nurture a growing desire — no, a desperate need — on the part of the readers to see how it all turns out.
And that, dear friend, is just crazy.
A good case could be made that I am not altogether sensible because, of course, that’s exactly what I did when I spent a decade writing the Legends of the First Empire and The Rise and Fall series. This effort, that culminating in the publication of Farilane and Esrahaddon, launched a new contender for the most requested suggestion that has rocketed to the top spot: the desire to know what happens to Turin.
In one sense this was good, as that was the point after all, to establish a hunger in my readers for something greater. But it’s also like getting everyone’s attention by grabbing the microphone at a wedding. The audience expects you to say something worth hearing, and as it turns out, laying the foundation was the easy part of this challenge.
The obstacles were overwhelming. I would need to invent new content and seamlessly marry it to aspects of Elan previously known only to myself. I also had to tie up twenty books in a comprehensive bow all while maintaining the established rules and laws of my world — meaning I couldn’t cheat. These pre-established, load-bearing walls that can’t be relocated or removed, would hinder, if not entirely prevent, me from creating my be-all, end-all masterpiece that could challenge Percepliquis for the top spot. Because of this, I didn’t know if what I hoped to do was even possible.
When facing such an insurmountable task, I did what any normal person would do in my situation. I formed a committee of highly skilled experts in the world of Elan and ordered them to deliberate on the feasibility of contemplating such a project. This became The Exploratory Committee and given the necessary requirements to sit on such an esteemed advisory council, the TEC became a committee of one — me.
On February 23rd of the year 2022, The TEC entered the research and development room, and the door was nailed shut. For more than two and a half years the committee has deliberated in secrecy. Recently, however, there have been some leaks — both good and bad. Perhaps the worst is that “The Project” cannot receive a green light until all the required books have been written. I don’t like promising something I ultimately can’t deliver, so I won’t. The best news is that “The Project” has been officially renamed: The Cycle. This wouldn’t have happened if the committee didn’t have a high degree of confidence in the outcome because giving something a name has the power to breathe it into existence.
Since Drumindor may very likely be the last novel I publish for a number of years, we won’t be able to have these little chats for some time. As such, I want to leave you with a means of checking up on the process of The Cycle Project. You can do so by visiting our webpage at bit.ly/the-cycle or by joining the discord server found at bit.ly/cycle-discord. Through these outlets we will endeavor to keep you up to date with any significant developments
But only if you buy directly from the author.
The ebook of Drumindor will be available through the retail chain starting on October 21st. But more than 2,200 Kickstarter Backers have received it already. If you would like to get your hands on the story now, you can do so by doing a "late pledge" to the Kickstarter through our pre-order store. Not only can you get the Drumindor ebook you can also order regular or deluxe hardcovers of the prior books in the Riyria Chronicle series.
Use this link to get your own copy
And here is a bit about the book from the back cover:
He planned to obliterate an entire city. He thought no one could stand in his way.
But he hadn’t heard of riyria.
When a master-craftsmen dwarf is fired and threatens retaliation, the rogues-for-hire known as Riyria are commissioned to stop him. Traveling to the paradise resort of Tur Del Fur, the two are granted a lavish allowance that, along with an easy task, promises to turn a job into a vacation. Everything would have been perfect except that the disgruntled worker’s last name is Berling, and the target of his wrath is the legendary towers of Drumindor.
Welcome to the fifth installment of the Riyria Chronicles, the eleventh book starring Royce Melborn and Hadrian Blackwater. It’s been over six years since we last saw the pair. We hope you enjoy their latest adventure!
And if you want to talk to other Drumindor readers while you read, then please stop by the Drumindor Discord Server where you can comment on a chapter-by-chapter basis.
Hope to see you there!
So, last year Robin planned for us to exhibit at Brandon Sanderson's DraongSteel Convention in Salt Lake City. A last minute cold (that could have been Covid) meant that I had to stay home to prevent getting others on the plane sick.
But Robin and my daughter soldiered on and they went there without me. They explained what a great experience it was and how we should sign up again next year. Well, between Robin's surgery and a bunch of travel (that had been booked more than a year ago (family trip to Bar Harbor and Robin and I going to Scotland for Worldcon), she forget and by the time she went to sign up, the exhibitor spots were all taken.
But, our good friend Shawn Speakman (from Grim Oak Press) had a booth and we politely asked if we could "split it" and he graciously agreed. So . . . we'll be in Salt Lake City from December 4 - 7. I suspect most of our time will be hanging out int the exhibit hall, so please stop on by and say hello if you are one of the lucky 7,500 people who got tickets to this event before it sold out (I think I heard something like 5 minutes)
But for those who don't have tickets that happen to be in or around Salt Lake City, we can also arrange for a meetup for signing books, or grabbing a drink, or a bite to eat. If you are interested, email michael.sullivan.dc@gmail.com with the subject SEE YOU IN SALT LAKE CITY, an we'll setup a day time that works.
Oh, and related to this. Grim Oak Press is making a hardcover book with short stories from various authors who will be at the convention. It'll make a great "keepsake" and you can go around and get the books signed. Here's what it looks like:
My friend J.A. Andrews will have a short story in this book, and so will the great Robin Hobbs! I hope to see Robin again, we once shared a dinner with her in the palace of Napoleon's sister. Yes, I kid you not! If you won't be at the convention you can get a copy of this from here. I didn't have time to write a new short story so I gave Shawn my short called "Traditions" - it's based in Elan but in a time long, long ago. It's the only version of that story in a printed hardcover - so if you like collecting my stuff - that's a great place to do so.
Hope to see in Salt Lake City.
