Writing Fantasy Podcast: Dead Robot's Society #503

The Dead Robot's Society is a podcast that I've been on several times in the past, and I've enjoyed each visit. They recently had me back again and you can listen in here:

I'm joined by Terry and Paul to discuss what "fantasy" is and how to write it. This is episode 503, so a big congrats to DPS for breaking the 500 barrier. Here's to the next 500 episodes!

Historical Fantasy Bestselling List

Today's Daily Deal for Theft of Swords got that book to the spot of Amazon's  Historical Fantasy Bestseller list. When Robin told me this, I was of course thrilled. What I didn't expect was to find out that I actually have 10 titles on that list of 100!  These include:

• #  1 Theft of Swords (Kindle)
• #  5 Age of War (Audio)
• #10 Age of Myth (Audio)
• #13 Age of Swords (Audio)
• #22 Age of War (Kindle)
• #54 Age of Myth (Kindle)
• #61 Rise of Empire (Audio)
• #76 Age of Swords (Kindle)
• #83 Rise of Empire (Kindle)
• #87 Heir of Novron (Kindle)

So a big thank you from Robin and I for all the support of both Riyria and Legends of the First Empire. We're thrilled that so many people are picking up the books...and if the ratings are reflective of public opinion, it looks like you are enjoying them!

Theft of Swords Daily Deal - save 66% just $2.99 today only

It's happened again! Theft of Swords is a Kindle Daily deal and discounted to $2.99. That's a savings of 66% off the regular $9.99 price.  If you haven't started the series yet, now is a good time to start! And if you have read the book, consider gifting it to a friend you've been trying to get hooked on Riyria.

Need some convincing?  Well,  its sold several hundred thousand copies, is liked by 96% of the Goodreads readers (of which 42,000+ have given it a 4.2 rating with more than 34,800 4- and 5-star reviews). Plus there are 845 Amazon reviews and an overall rating of 4.4 over there.

So, grab a copy and enjoy the savings, and as always, we thank you for your support.

Age of War hits bestseller list

It's always nice to find yourself in the New York Times on a Bestseller list. No, it's not THAT list (this one lists the top audiobooks for the week), but, hey, I'll take it! Age of War hit #3 and shares the list with the likes of James Patterson, Bill Clinton, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and J. K. Rowlings.

Here's the full list along with some information about their authors, narrators, release dates, ratings, and # of ratings/reviews.

Title	Author	Release Date	Narrator	Rating	#
Something in the Water	Catherine Steadman	06-05-18	Catherine Steadman	4.4	8,086
Neverwhere	Neil Gaiman	04-11-17	Neil Gaiman	4.4	22,514
Age of War	Michael J. Sullivan	07-03-18	Tim Gerard Reynolds	4.8	708
The President is Missing	Bill Clinton & James Patterson	06-04-18	Dennis Quaid	4.1	3,846
The Outsider	Stephen King	05-22-18	Will Patton	4.6	15,411
Super Powereds: Year 4	Drew Hayes	07-03-18	Kyle McCarley	4.9	466
Spymaster	Brad Thor	07-03-18	Armand Schultz	4.6	378
The Testament of Mary	Colm Toibin	09-10-13	Meryl Streep	4.1	1,061
The Troop	Nick Cutter	02-25-14	Corey Brill	4.1	2,272
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone	J.K. Rowling	11-20-15	Jim Dale	4.9	58,518

This is probably the geekiest thing I've ever done

So I'm a geek, which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone (after all I do write fantasy books for a living). But when Robin and I were editing Age of War we would sometimes get into arguments about the placement of various aspects of the layout of Alon Rhist. Now part of that was because the city change a bit during the writing and some earlier sections of the book weren't updated. So, it was good that Robin challenged me on these things and it allowed us to fix any continuity errors that had crept in.

But after all was said and done I started thinking about whether I could build Alon Rhist in 3-dimensions. You know, a kind of Lego Land model if you will. Well, I don't possess the number of Lego blocks to make that possible but luckily there is a Minecraft map builder that allows for unlimited blocks. So, yeah, I built Alon Rhist in Minecraft and made a video as I walked around the area. Geeky, sure. Fun? Well, I thought so. And because there may be a few people who are interested I'm posting the video here for your amusement.

Age of Myth on Sale, Age of War releases tomorrow!

I'm pleased to announce that Age of Myth has been included in Audible's July 4th Sale. Great timing considering Age of War (Book #3 of the series) goes live tomorrow!  And if you are getting ready to read Age of War, and want recaps for the previous two books, don't forget you can get them here.

All books are just $5.95 and I've gone through the sci-fi and fantasy category to show you some other books that are available.

Here's some information about each title from Audible to help you decide what to pickup for the great price of $5.95 each.

Title	Author	Narrator	Rating	# Reviews
Neverwhere	Neil Gaiman	Neil Gaiman	4.4	22,137
Age of Myth	Michael J. Sullivan	Tim Gerard Reynolds	4.6	9,285
Strange the Dreamer	Laini Taylor	Steve West	4.5	2,140
Practical Magic	Alice Hoffman	Christina Moore	4.2	1,247
Best Served Cold	Joe Abercrombie	Steven Pacey	4.x	2,810
Binti	Nnedi Okoafor	Robin Miles	4.x	1,355
Child of Fire	Harry Connolly	Christian Rummel	4.x	410
Dungeon Born	Dakota Krout	Vikas Adam	4.x	7,028
Fated	Benedict Jacka	Gildart Jackson	4.x	5,143
Marked	P.C. Cast &  Kristin Cast	Caitlin Davies	4.x	372
Nevernight	Jay Kristoff	Holter Graham	4.x	1,518
Stonewielder	Ian C. Esslemont	John Banks	4.x	241
Super Powereds: Year 1	Drew Hayes	Kyle McCarley	4.x	6,419
The Fatal Tree	Stephen R. Lawhead	Simon Bubb	4.x	164
The Fifth Season	N.K. Jemisin	Robin Miles	4.x	7,021
The Spirit Well	Stephen R. Lawhead	Tim Gerard Reynolds	4.x	9,285
Dawn of Aspects	Richard A. Knaak	Scott Brick	4.x	1,198
The Last Wish	Andrzej Sapkowski	Peter Kenny	4.x	7,057

The sale is only running for a few days so you'll have to hurry. I hope you find something great to listen to.