[Trinuviel]

Myshkin, on May 4 2009, 17.52, said:

Shame on you! Seriously though, AAW takes the series to a whole new level. If you liked the first two, AAW will blow you away.

Damn, the wait is just going to be even more agonising for me then. I'm waiting for the paperback since space has now become a serious issue in the tiny space that I live in - and I am trying to wrest by compulsive book-shopping back to more acceptable levels by refraining from buying any more this month.

I finished "Betrayal" in a marathon reading-session yesterday and was very very pleased with it. Abraham has written some very compelling characters, Idaan especially and he has painted a detailed and vivid image of a strange and exotic culture. This second book really reminded me a lot of Martin in terms of the complexity of both the characters and the story. It was very well done.

[DanielAbraham]

Myshkin, on May 3 2009, 15.54, said:

He's also apparently working on a new epic project, but he refuses to tell me anything about it.

Well, Now It Can Be Told.

Bad news first: The new project didn't get picked up by Tor. That's a bummer, because I really liked working with those guys, and I'll miss them. But the economy's in the crapper, and apparently they're being very bottom-line conscious, and the Long Price books -- despite great reviews and all -- didn't move as many copies as they had hoped. I'm not happy about it, but I respect that it's business.

Good news next: My agent shopped the new proposal around, and we got a fair amount of interest from other publishers, with the upshot that Orbit (my UK publisher) bought world rights to the new series in what the trade papers are calling "a good deal." One thing I thought was particularly interesting: there's a clause in it that dock's a fair percentage of my advance if I don't turn the books in on time. So just be aware that the guys at Orbit have got all y'all's back.

But the new project -- The Dagger and the Coin -- starts up next year. It's a very different project from the Long Price books. I'm not using the same jump between books I did with Long Price. The magic system's totally different (and I love the hell out of it). The pace is faster. I'm very conscious of the influences I'm cultivating going into it -- Walter Tevis, Alexandre Dumas, Tolkien, J. Michael Strazinski, Joss Whedon, GRRM, Friedrich Reck-Malleczewen, Dorothy Dunnett, Tim Parks -- and I'm trying to take the things that I love about each one of them and make a stew out of it. It's set right at the friction point between the medieval period and the renaissance, so we've got knights and kings, but we also have merchant houses and finance. There's some magic of the understated magic. There's political intrigue. There's a girl who was raised as the ward of a Medici-style bank, there's a high nobleman who's gotten himself and his family in over his head, there's an emotionally scarred mercenary captain straight out of Dumas.

The point of it all is to make a book that reads to me now the way that the Belgariad did when I was 16. I'm going to be swimming in everything I think is cool for the next year. I'm *really* looking forward to it.

[Myshkin]

Awesome!

[RedEyedGhost]

Myshkin, on Jun 5 2009, 16.35, said:

Awesome!

seconded!

I can't wait to read this. Now if only The Price of Spring would get here.

[Myshkin]

RedEyedGhost, on Jun 5 2009, 15.50, said:

seconded!

I can't wait to read this. Now if only The Price of Spring would get here.

Seriously. Daniel should send the two of us signed and personalized copies. If he cared about his fans at all he'd totally do it.

[Mr. X]

DanielAbraham, on Jun 5 2009, 18.28, said:

Well, Now It Can Be Told...

Sweet! Looking forward to reading it.

Of course, I'm also counting the days until The Price of Spring comes out as well.

[gero]

DanielAbraham, on Jun 6 2009, 00.28, said:

Well, Now It Can Be Told.

...

This just made my day. :)

Next year should become a very good year.

[Foreverlad]

DanielAbraham, on Jun 5 2009, 18.28, said:

Well, Now It Can Be Told.

-SNIP-

The magic system's totally different (and I love the hell out of it).

-SNIP-

*really* looking forward to it.

A big Congratulations, definitely well deserved. I hope there's a clause in the contract for a nice bonus if the story is turned in early :P

For those interested, I found this interview Daniel had in April about writing fantasy:

Quote

For instance, in this new project I'm working on, a particular kind of very insidious magic changes your blood. Because of that, legal contracts involve a little bloodletting, just so everyone knows the negotiation wasn't tainted. And because of that, there's an idiom in the world "scarred as a banker's thumb" or "numb as a banker's thumb" referring to the buildup of damage that comes from signing lots of contracts just the way "mad as a hatter" was about mercury poisoning.

That's the kind of attention to detail and immersion that I thrive on. :thumbsup:

You always seem to have really inventive forms of magic in your worlds. If you don't mind me asking, are you systems of magic designed or brainstormed well in advance of your story or are they considered just another element, created and implemented during the construction of your novels?

Whatever it is you're doing, please please please keep it up :)

[Samalander]

Is "The Dagger and the Coin" going to be a stand-alone novel or a series?

[Red Sun]

The new project sounds awesome, and I'm waiting for the Price of Spring.

This post has been edited by Red Sun: 06 June 2009 - 02:15 AM

[mashiara]

Awesome news on the new project. Like Red Sun, I'm waiting for The Price of Spring. :)

[DanielAbraham]

Foreverlad, on Jun 5 2009, 21.23, said:

If you don't mind me asking, are you systems of magic designed or brainstormed well in advance of your story or are they considered just another element, created and implemented during the construction of your novels?

Y'know, the magic system is so basic, it's one of the things I seem to need going in. I'm sure I work out some of the implications when I'm into the actual books, but I think I need to nail down all the basics before I get there.

Samalander, on Jun 5 2009, 23.21, said:

Is "The Dagger and the Coin" going to be a stand-alone novel or a series?

Five-book series. The whole thing's already outlined, and I know how it ends. The world's big enough that there may be another stand-alone or series after this in the same general setting, though.

[Xray the Enforcer]

That's some great news, Daniel. :)
I look forward to seeing the next series come to light (and in the interim, I get to read The Price of Spring).

[gyrehead]

DanielAbraham, on Jun 5 2009, 18.28, said:

Well, Now It Can Be Told.

Bad news first: The new project didn't get picked up by Tor. That's a bummer, because I really liked working with those guys, and I'll miss them. But the economy's in the crapper, and apparently they're being very bottom-line conscious, and the Long Price books -- despite great reviews and all -- didn't move as many copies as they had hoped. I'm not happy about it, but I respect that it's business.

Good news next: My agent shopped the new proposal around, and we got a fair amount of interest from other publishers, with the upshot that Orbit (my UK publisher) bought world rights to the new series in what the trade papers are calling "a good deal." One thing I thought was particularly interesting: there's a clause in it that dock's a fair percentage of my advance if I don't turn the books in on time. So just be aware that the guys at Orbit have got all y'all's back.

But the new project -- The Dagger and the Coin -- starts up next year. It's a very different project from the Long Price books. I'm not using the same jump between books I did with Long Price. The magic system's totally different (and I love the hell out of it). The pace is faster. I'm very conscious of the influences I'm cultivating going into it -- Walter Tevis, Alexandre Dumas, Tolkien, J. Michael Strazinski, Joss Whedon, GRRM, Friedrich Reck-Malleczewen, Dorothy Dunnett, Tim Parks -- and I'm trying to take the things that I love about each one of them and make a stew out of it. It's set right at the friction point between the medieval period and the renaissance, so we've got knights and kings, but we also have merchant houses and finance. There's some magic of the understated magic. There's political intrigue. There's a girl who was raised as the ward of a Medici-style bank, there's a high nobleman who's gotten himself and his family in over his head, there's an emotionally scarred mercenary captain straight out of Dumas.

The point of it all is to make a book that reads to me now the way that the Belgariad did when I was 16. I'm going to be swimming in everything I think is cool for the next year. I'm *really* looking forward to it.

I'm so not going to touch this Tor news in light of the Sanderson deal. I'm not. Really I'm not. Grrrrrrr....

Loved The Price of Spring. Adored it. And glad to hear of the new project and my now favorite puiblisher Orbit.

I am torn. I loved the completed feel the Long Price has. But I also loved the slight glimpses of the world that have me hungering for more. The description of Udun (that doesn't really count as a spoiler) was frustrating as it was so elegant and yet way too close to the end.

And I still get to look forward to the hardcover release if only for the cover image (why the delay? I understand it not making the arcs but even on Amazon it is nekkid). Assuming it is another brilliant Martiniere cover.

All in al, this has turned out to be one of my all time favorite series and I'm glad and eager to read this next series. What is the first penalty date so I can mark it on my calendar! :P

[RedEyedGhost]

gyrehead, on Jun 6 2009, 13.49, said:

And I still get to look forward to the hardcover release if only for the cover image (why the delay? I understand it not making the arcs but even on Amazon it is nekkid). Assuming it is another brilliant Martiniere cover.

Here's the artwork, and this is the only one I could find with the lettering on it.

It is odd that amazon doesn't have a cover up when the book is out in a month and a half. :/

[gyrehead]

Okay then I had seen it on Stephan's site under 'Spring" but it seemed a bit different and thought it was maybe for something else. It kind of fits in some ways but it also seems a bit Arthurian in some ways to me. Which threw me. Nice image but the other four all had a certain something to them that this one seems to lack. I have no idea what that is. But still the feeling is there.

I guess I'm saying I like the image but I'm not sure I like it as much as the other three. It does fit the storyline the more I look at it.

Here is the image in better size from Stephan's site:

Spring Cover Image

This post has been edited by gyrehead: 07 June 2009 - 10:01 AM

[beniowa]

I see gyre's already found the larger cover image. The cover is a little different from the others but I think it speaks to what the final book will about it. I can't wait to find out!

Mr. Abraham, congratulations on the new project. Best of luck and I look forward to reading it!

[pat5150]

Just posted an excerpt from The Price of Spring on the blog. . . :)

Patrick

[AverageGuy]

Thanks for posting that, Pat. One question, though, based on the end: weren't all the Galts essentially turned into eunuchs? I would've assumed a boy of the right age would never have hit puberty. If they were just made sterile, I wouldn't have expected all the bleeding.

[DanielAbraham]

AverageGuy, on Jun 10 2009, 19.55, said:

Thanks for posting that, Pat. One question, though, based on the end: weren't all the Galts essentially turned into eunuchs? I would've assumed a boy of the right age would never have hit puberty. If they were just made sterile, I wouldn't have expected all the bleeding.

I imagine mileage varies. There's a lot of ways to break a complex system.