Sad news for fans of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch’s latest Gentleman Bastards book, The Thorn of Emberlain, has been set back a bit. It’s disappointing news as a reader, but sadder news as a fan of Scott Lynch. The guy is such a role model, such a friendly guy, such a funny person, someone who puts a smile on so many faces and yet life is so incredibly cruel to him. I don’t know much about depression, I’ve had the odd issue with anxiety in my life – as I’m sure many introverts have – but my brain really struggles to comprehend how a person who should feel so good about themselves and be so happy suffers with depression. Thanks to Scott I’m coming to see depression not as a state of mind that needs a hug or positive chat to resolve, but a disease that requires the sufferer to constantly battle against. Set-backs are a certainty, for recovery is a brutal path to tread.
I will post Scott’s statement below, but do visit his blog and bookmark it as he has promised to update it regularly, firstly though I’d just like to wish him well and – if he happens to read this – let him know that no one sees this as his fault. It is the fault of an awful condition and I believe I speak for the entirety of genre fans that we aren’t going to offer anything but support and warm feelings during this time. The gifts he has given us in the form of unforgettable characters and adventures will forever remain some of my favourite memories as a reader.
If giving you time and space to recover and perfect the next set of memories you’re gifting me and the community is the only repayment you ask for then you’ve got the equivalent of about 3000 years to get book four out, sir!
Dear readers and fans of the Gentlemen Bastards,
I’ll lay it out as plainly as I can.
With the utmost regret, we have been compelled to move The Thorn of Emberlain from its expected autumn 2015 release date to a 2016 date. I requested an opportunity to write this note so I could emphasize how little this is the fault of anyone but myself. My publishers around the world have, in fact, held the door open for a length of time that is somewhere between heroic and insane. The fault is mine; the severity of my ongoing anxiety attacks has simply made it impossible to turn the manuscript in and commit to the accelerated production process our original release date would have required.
While this is not the outcome we’d hoped for, we have every expectation that this will ultimately do more good than harm. I will continue to try to keep you more closely informed of Thorn’s progress, and I don’t think it will be long before we’ll be able to announce that the manuscript is secure and the production process has begun. We’re very close.
Although I withdrew from several public appearances in early July on account of those same anxiety issues, I am now fairly confident that I’ll be able to maintain the rest of my planned public appearances for 2015, including WorldCon, World Fantasy, and a few others yet to be announced.
Cheers, and many thanks for your continued patience and support.
SL
