February is… Looking Forward to Feist month on the Voyager blog! Book One of the Chaoswar Saga, A Kingdom Besieged, is due out in the UK in a month’s time — 3 March 2011 — and we want to share the excitement!
So today is the first day of a few Feisty February giveaways and competitions. Take a look at this awesome exclusive countdown widget:
Feist Countdown Competition
Prize: A signed first edition copy of A Kingdom Besieged
Here’s what to do:
1) Copy the HTML code from the link below 2) Paste it onto your blog — either in a blog entry or in a side bar — or alternatively on your website or in a forum, and have the widget available to view until the A Kingdom Besieged release date: March 3, 2011
3) Come back to the Voyager blog and leave a comment on this post so I can verify your entry
4) Winners will be chosen on March 3, 2011
Comments must posted by Friday, Feb 25 2011 in order to be eligible. Please note that you might not see your comment immediately as they are all moderated (but I will approve any and all competition entries!). This competition is open to everyone, not just to UK residents — so get posting!
Of course, we agree with all those choices. In fact, io9 stole the recommendations right out of our mouths.
But what about other books that would make great gifts? Well, I’ve rounded up the entire Voyager team (and some other awesome HarperCollins people) to help recommend twelve of the best books on our list – one book every day for the next twelve days – whether that be old classics or new outings from our favourite superstars. Hopefully it will help you find that perfect gift — and if you stick around for all 12 days, there might even be some prizes to be won as Voyager’s gift to a few lucky readers.
On the first day of Christmas, Voyager recommends to you…
MAGICIAN – RAYMOND E. FEIST Recommended by: Amy McCulloch, Voyager Assistant Editor
“Caution: receiving this book could result in a lifetime addiction to fantasy and Feist!” – Amy
At Crydee, a frontier outpost in the tranquil Kingdom of the Isles, an orphan boy, Pug, is apprenticed to a master magician — and the destinies of two worlds are changed forever. Suddenly the peace of the Kingdom is destroyed as mysterious alien invaders swarm the land. Pug is swept up into the conflict but for him and his warrior friend, Tomas, an odyssey into the unknown has only just begun. Tomas will inherit a legacy of savage power from an ancient civilization. Pug’s destiny is to lead him through a rift in the fabric of space and time to the mastery of the unimaginable powers of a strange new magic.
@westerosorg asked: Shift in cover art for SF/F, from more illustrative towards more abstract/graphic, seems more pronounced in UK than US. Why?
Thanks for your question @westerosorg! I can’t really speak for the US or even the UK market as a whole, but I’ll try to give some insight into cover design from the Voyager/HarperCollins art department team perspective.
The great thing about the fantasy genre is that the fantasy market is actually very evenly spread across genders and age groups. The challenge is then that our book covers have to work for an extremely varied audience. We also have to be extra careful not to alienate any potential readers as external market research has shown us that sometimes more traditional-looking, illustrative fantasy covers are off-putting for newcomers to the genre. There’s a whole website dedicated to ridiculous fantasy covers — and while hopefully we are doing better nowadays there is still a negative perception towards fantasy books (‘trashy’, ‘weird’, ‘dated’ come to mind) that we have to push back against. Basically, more graphic, elegant covers are hopefully appealling to our extremely loyal genre fanbase as well as to new readers who perhaps wouldn’t expect to enjoy a ‘fantasy’ novel — and changing the perception of the genre as a whole.
Born and raised in Southern California, Raymond Elias Feist was educated at the University of California, San Diego, where he graduated with honours in Communication Arts. He is the author of the bestselling and critically acclaimed The Riftwar Saga, and his enormous catalogue of bestsellers make him an author you’ll want to revisit again and again…
The conclusion of the bestselling Demon War series, which began with Rides a Dread Legion.
Recent events have devastated the Conclave of Shadows; the discovery of the Demon horde on the heels of the taredhel invasion of Midkemia, the threat of the star elves themselves, and the terrible personal cost paid by Pug and his family. But grieving must wait.
At a deserted fortress in the Valley of Lost Men, the Conclave’s agents witness horror beyond their imagination, orchestrated by a familiar enemy. But Belasco’s motives are as yet unclear. The Conclave must regroup and discover the true meaning behind the chaos seeded by the evil magician if they are ever to find a way to stop the destruction of Triagia before the demon horde even arrives.
List of Ray’s books by series
The Riftwar Saga
Raymond E. Feist’s best known and loved work, The Riftwar Saga encompasses three novels of epic scope: Magician, Silverthorn and A Darkness at Sethanon. Set in the stunningly realised world of Midkemia, the series begins with Magician and follows Pug as he rises from an orphan to become the most powerful magician in two worlds. The second book in the series is Silverthorn followed by A Darkness at Sethanon.
The Empire Trilogy (with Janny Wurts)
The Empire Trilogy brings us to the exotic world of Kelewan, and follows the rise of 17-year-old Mara, who becomes Ruling Lady of the Acoma after the murder of her father and brother at the hands of their deadly enemies, the Minwanabi. Surrounded by deadly assassins, spies and rival rulers seeking to bring down the House Acoma, Mara must use all her wit, intelligence and cunning to survive the ruthless Game of the Council. Gorgeous new reissues of this epic fantasy trilogy from two of the genre’s greatest minds are set to appear in September 2010.
If you follow @_TheVoyager_ you’ll know that we are very sad to have lost our marketeer Juliet to the dark side (okay, to the literary agent side, and we wish her all the best!!) and now the blog and Twitter is being taken over by me (Amy)! You may recognise me from the Voyager newsletter but if not (and if you’re not signed up yet, why not do it now), I’m the Voyager Assistant Editor and I thought I’d start off by answering a few questions from the twitterverse…
Well, how about two basics? What are some upcoming releases you are excited about, & what are some Voyager “hidden treasures”?
Hi Catherine!
This is an easy one… as I’ve just started, and as publishing works months – if not years – ahead, most of the books that are coming out in the next few months from Voyager are ones I’ve loved as a fan and not as an editor (trust me, when you’ve been a fantasy book lover all your life you still squeal like a fangirl when shiny new books come in, even if it’s your job!). I’ll start with hidden treasures… we’re rejacketing a lot of the old classics on our list to bring them up-to-date. Some of the most gorgeous recovers are from the Ray Feist and Janny Wurts Empire trilogy – they’re due out in September 2010 – and they’re an amazing epic fantasy accomplishment, fraught with political intrigue in a rich, exotic world.
As for upcoming releases… I’m so happy that the first three Downside Ghosts series (Unholy Ghosts, Unholy Magic and City of Ghosts) from Stacia Kane are now out (or imminently coming out) and generating some great buzz. It’s really hard to get noticed in this crowded market so for Stacia to make the Times Sci-fi/Fantasy Summer Reads pick is fantastic. Plus, she really deserves it – the books are fab and get better with each new title.
Can I also say that 2011 is shaping up to be the most kick-ass fantasy year ever? Not only do we have some great debuts to look forward to but new books by the legends: The Inheritance by Robin Hobb – an amazing collection of shorts written by both Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm (same person, two very different voices, and an explanation from Robin about how she switches between the two is well worth a read in itself if you’re interested in the writing process); The Omen Machine by Terry Goodkind – bringing us back to the well-loved world of Richard and Kahlan; and, of course, A Kingdom Besieged by the inimitable Ray Feist. Cannot. Wait.
There’s even a whisper… a very delicate whisper… that we might get A Dance with Dragons in 2011… but don’t look too closely or the rumour might disappear on the wind!
Drum roll please… at last we can unveil our rather splendid trailer to celebrate 15 years of Voyager publishing.
We hope it was worth the wait. For everyone that leaves a comment on the blog or on YouTube between now and the 10th May, we will enter you into a draw to win a copy of each of the published books from the trailer.
January’s Book of the Month comes from fantasy behemoth Raymond E. Feist and has been picked by Voyager Marketing bod Juliet. Part of Feist’s epic Midkemian cycle, published earlier this month, At the Gates of Darkness has gone straight into the Sunday Times top ten bestseller list.
It is the final novel in the Demonwar duology and will be followed by the final three books in the Midkemian series. Make sure you pick up a copy to find out about the continuing adventures of Pug. Or you could win a copy if you enter the competition below.
January’s Book of the Month comes from fantasy behemoth Raymond E. Feist and has been picked by Voyager Marketing bod Juliet. Part of Feist’s epic Midkemian cycle, published earlier this month, At the Gates of Darkness has gone straight into the Sunday Times top ten bestseller list.
It is the final novel in the Demonwar duology and will be followed by the final three books in the Midkemian series. Make sure you pick up a copy to find out about the continuing adventures of Pug. Or you could win a copy if you enter the competition below.
Win ALL of Raymond E. Feist’s backlist in paperback, plus a copy of AT THE GATES OF DARKNESS.
Since Raymond E. Feist burst onto the fantasy scene with his groundbreaking MAGICIAN, his writing career has gone from strength-to-stength. Twenty-six Midkemian books followed, many of them bestsellers, and MAGICIAN has sold over a million copies in the UK alone. We are now offering you the chance to win his entire backlist, recently repackaged in a sumptuous new style. We are now offering you the chance to win his entire backlist, recently repackaged in a sumptuous new style. All you need do is reply to thevoyager@harpercollins.co.uk with RAYMOND E FEIST in the subject line, and your name and address in the body of the email, and the winner will be drawn out of all the entires received by midnight (GMT) on Monday 1st February.
Welcome to the Voyager blog – full of news, reviews, and opinion pieces on all of your favourite Voyager authors. We publish a wide range of authors across the genre, from classic science fiction authors to giants of fantasy, as well as a range of bright new stars.
Sign up to the Voyager Newsletter and we’ll keep you up-to-date with the latest Fantasy and SF news!
