The Vagrant by Peter Newman – Cover Reveal & Competition

Every year hundreds, if not thousands, of genre books are released. Generally the most looked forwards to of these are by authors who have had previous successes. For début authors you generally have to trust that the person in your publisher’s press department is skilled at their job. You see, what typically happens is that a few months before your book is due for release the publishing house begins sending advanced copies of it out to bloggers, paying for advertising and so on – all to build hype. Sometimes, however, a book causes so much excitement that publishers and people involved in the industry can’t wait to shout about it. Mark Lawrence is a good example of an author who everyone had heard of way, way in advance of his novel actually hitting shelves and look where he is now – it was certainly for good reason.

Peter Newman seems to be the latest author that industry folk can’t stop talking about. I first heard his name mentioned very early on this year (January, in fact) when Voyager snapped him up for their list and have since had a number of reasons to have my expectations raised exceedingly high. Firstly, when Voyager take on a début you immediately take notice. You see, Voyager’s list is STACKED with the likes of Robin Hobb, George R.R. Martin, Raymond E. Feist, David Eddings and Peter V. Brett; they also have a back catalogue of authors such as Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Philip K Dick and Ray Bradbury too. So it’s not like they need take any risks. Secondly, everyone who has laid eyes on Peter newman’s prose and experienced his story tells me ‘YOU NEED TO READ THIS’.  And, finally, this is Editor Natasha Bardon’s first deal for Harper – and having been fortunate enough to meet her at a number of conventions I know her taste in fantasy to be very similar to my own (excellent! :))

Anyway, enough talk, we’ve got the synopsis and the official, finalised cover finally ready to share with you guys today and, if that’s not enough, we bring you a chance to win some super early proof editions of the novel months and months before it officially hits shelves… want one? Keep reading!

Pretty damned impressive right? It’s got all the things you could possibly ask for from a fantasy cover: a dark and mysterious protagonist (hooded too, cause we all know that is a must!), an abstract view of a broken world that hints at many dangers and, essentially, there’s a giant sword! All of these dangers contrast in a disturbing manner with the baby that the character is daring us to make comment on. The blurb that we’ve been supplied teases us all the further:

The Vagrant is his name. He has no other.

Friendless and alone he walks across a desolate war-torn landscape, carrying nothing but a kit-bag, a legendary sword and a baby.

His purpose is to reach the Shining City, last bastion of the human race, and deliver the sword, the only weapon that may make a difference in the ongoing war.

But the Shining City is very far away and the world is a very dangerous place.

If this lives up to the excitement surrounding it over at the Harper Voyager Press Office we could well be looking at the cover to one of 2015’s best books. And, we have a chance for you to be among the first in the world to read it. Harper Voyager have been kind enough to provide us with a fair amount of copies to give away. These copies are usually handed out only to staff, review writers and booksellers – but we’ve sweet-talked them and we’re ready to hook you up! All you’ve got to do is enter your details below 😀 Sharing on social media will earn you an extra entry meaning you stand an even better chance of winning too!

[contesthopper contest=”25556″]

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