Last month we were excited to see one of 2013’s most popular debutantes, Brian McClellan, release a Novella, Forsworn, to keep us occupied whilst we waited for the follow up to his first book in The Powder Mage series.
Well, yesterday, Brian gave us something else to tide ourselves over with by revealing the cover for the third book, The Autumn Republic, on his blog. Yes, that’s right, a cover for the third book – already! You can find a picture of the aforementioned cover below and it has to be said that it’s absolutely beautiful. Noticeable is how Orbit have maintained the strong historically-themed covers throughout this series and minimised any clues that SFF is contained within them. This is in contrast to, for example, Anne Lyle’s covers, which were historical, but also made obvious the magic they contained. It seems Brian’s publishers have been more cautious to draw attention to the fantastical in a bid to earn more readers who wouldn’t typically read fantasy. Certainly, you see the similarities with covers of historical fiction’s big names such as Ben Kane.
Brian said, ‘I absolutely love this cover … [Orbit have] knocked it out of the park with every single cover in the trilogy. I couldn’t be more happy.’
The good news is that The Crimson Campaign is only ten weeks way. However, at the same time, isn’t that a little nerve-wrecking? I always find that as exciting as it is this close to the second book of a debut author, there are always questions as to whether the sequel will live up to my expectations. Will it be as good now that the author has the restraints of a deadline?
Brian is one of the big name debut authors that the SFF community are waiting to either give a gold stamp of approval (should the second live up to the first) or move down their reading list (should it not) – the other two of 2013 being Django Wexler and Anthony Ryan.
Anyway – not long now until we find out! To leave you with some ‘words’, here’s the blurb for the Crimson Campaign, out May 6th, 2014:
When invasion looms, but the threats are closer to home…Who will lead the charge?
Tamas’ invasion of Kez ends in disaster when a Kez counter-offensive leaves him cut off behind enemy lines with only a fraction of his army, no supplies, and no hope of reinforcements. Drastically outnumbered and pursued by the enemy’s best, he must lead his men on a reckless march through northern Kez to safety, and back over the mountains so that he can defend his country from an angry god, Kresimir.
In Adro, Inspector Adamat only wants to rescue his wife. To do so he must track down and confront the evil Lord Vetas. He has questions for Vetas concerning his enigmatic master, but the answers might lead to more questions.
Tamas’ generals bicker among themselves, the brigades lose ground every day beneath the Kez onslaught, and Kresimir wants the head of the man who shot him in the eye. With Tamas and his powder cabal presumed dead, Taniel Two-shot finds himself as the last line of defense against Kresimir’s advancing army.
Geoff Matthews
Julia Kitvaria Sarene