King of the Crags (due April 2010)
Right. ARCs for this are out and about now and there will be reviews soon. I’m not going to say anything that will be a spoiler for The Adamantine Palace (unlike the blurb on the back – sorry but not under my control). Suffice to say that it picks up right where The Adamantine Palace left off. There are a couple of major characters who now appear and one or two of the minor figures from TAP get a bigger role. The pace is maybe a little more measured than TAP. OK, a maybe *tiny* bit more measured. There are deaths, oh yes. And burning. Much, much burning. There are a couple of characters who might be mistaken for the ‘good’ guys, although I’m not saying how long they last before they get eaten. And a few secrets of both the dragons and the alchemists are beginning to leak out.
Ideas from early drafts for a lengthy chapter on dragon anatomy and a cameo appearance by a flight of were-ducks have been firmly rejected, however.
For the truly dedicated, there is a map here and the ALL-NEW alternate prologue here
Still due for publication in April 2010. To keep you all hungry, here’s an early draft of the cover:
June 19th, 2009 at 2: 57 pm
well, i have to say that the book is marveillous, i’m of course talking about “The Amandine Palace”. I haven’t been so intrigued since Zimmermans “The Mists of Avalon”.I read the book in two days!I can not describe how much i enticipate the realese of the next book in line. A year feels like forever.
The only thing i have a thiny comment on, is that i want more; more about characters, their way of thinking, ploting, and even an deeper insight in their (ruthless) feelings.
June 19th, 2009 at 2: 57 pm
with best compliments,
irina
June 19th, 2009 at 3: 09 pm
’sorry for writing wrong name of the book…oh i meant ofcourse “The Adamantine palace”…the kees on the board can be rather evil…
June 20th, 2009 at 6: 18 pm
Irina – if that’s what you want then I think you will be happy. King of the Crags will focus on a smaller number of characters, some new, some old.
July 19th, 2009 at 12: 05 pm
Hi Stephen!
I absolutely loved TAP! The world, many of the characters and especially the dragons are utterly compelling. Snow is a delightful creation.
My reading is of a voracious nature and includes various genres. This year among my top 5 books so far are three fantasy titles:
TAP, Nights of Villjamur and Dragonkeeper.
April 2010 is a very long time to wait
I am hoping for more info on dragons, in-depth exploration of the reasons why Snow and Kemir work together and how they come to understand each other’s motivations.
Will you slowly reveal more about the past? How the dragons were subjugated?
Needless to say I am extremely curious about the silver riders…
One request: PLEASE, please, please include a map with the next book!
Were-ducks?! Sound intruiging, too bad they had to be ditched.
Nice cover design, by the way. Snow looks great.
Happy & plentiful writing!
Jaquie
July 19th, 2009 at 4: 33 pm
The schedule, I’m afraid, is out of my hands. However as to the rest… There will be more of all of those things, and there will be all sorts of tit-bits sneaking out in the Gazetteer once it goes online. The silver riders, well they’re one mystery I’ll hang on to for a while longer though.
As for a map… That’s out of my hands too, but I’ve done one anyway and it’s online here. I shall endeavour to make it more prominent!
http://www.stephendeas.com/maps-772009/
July 20th, 2009 at 11: 17 pm
LOL
So, somebody clocked you round the head for not including a map Stephen?
Expect no sympathy from me, I fully agree. Besides, it did “encourage” you to put up the lovely map that I just printed out & stuck in the book. It’s great, no need for a more professional one. You are just being modest
The Gazetteer sounds promising, holding back on the silver riders less so. Bet they have something to do with the mysterious traders.
Hasn’t it occurred to Jehal that there might be a master dragon to observe him & his two little spies? Guess that’s something you won’t answer…
Now that you have kindly provided a map online, I shall have to nag Mark Charan Newton (again) to do the same for Nights of Villjamur and cite your good example…
Hope King of Crags will hit the shelves soon. 2010 is a long time to wait
Cheers,
Jaquie
July 21st, 2009 at 6: 55 am
Can’t give everything away in book 2, now can I…
July 31st, 2009 at 9: 49 am
Hi Stephen
I am a dragon fanatic, and i must just say that TAP is one of the best dragon books i have read. You hit the nail on the head with their personalities. I actually find myself rooting for them to burn all the humans
I would however like to have more chapters from the dragons perspective, but maybe in book 3 hey? I bought the book 2 days ago without ever having heard of it (i liked the cover so i bought it) and couldn’t put it down. 2 days later and i am wondering how i am going t wait until 2010. very good work!
August 27th, 2009 at 7: 28 pm
i loved the adamantine Palace and looking forward to the king of the crags and i hope that it comes out in america sometime soon i was just lucky eneough to travel to denmark and buy this because it looked like a good book and i was not wrong
November 16th, 2009 at 12: 36 am
I just finished reading TAP after getting it as a birthday present and wanted to say that I enjoyed reading it and am looking forward to the sequels. Having read some monster size books of late (inc. other fantasy novels) it was a pleasure reading a fantasy novel that didn’t needlessly occupy 800 pages when 370 would do the job. For a change I didn’t skim through entiure chapters!
Am I right in assuming that there will be 2 follow-up novels?
November 16th, 2009 at 7: 47 am
Lexx, there will be more from the dragons in King of the Crags.
Scott, yes, two more books in this series.
November 18th, 2009 at 2: 23 pm
Hi Stephen,
I just finished reading TAP, could not put it down. A fine read which i thoroughly enjoyed.
I enjoy reading fantasy novels (you may gather this by my email address)and this was a breath of fresh air, and i have not been this excited since the Redwall series. I followed the link above to view the map which you created, however it only took me to a page of writing about the map. Was wondering if you could send it again please.
I have read a number of dragon-themed fantasy novels and this is one of the best, thank you.
Cannot wait for the second book of the trilogy.
Jacob.
November 18th, 2009 at 3: 25 pm
There is a link to a hand-drawn map buried in the post, but there’s now a swanky map drawn by a trained professional available from my home page.
December 15th, 2009 at 10: 23 pm
Thankyou, I enjoyed TAP. I thought the idea of the alchemists and their medicinal enslavement of the dragons a brilliant idea. I enjoyed all your characters and I liked that Jaslyn was represented as plain. I found it intriguing because all too often lead women characters are incredibly beautiful. (some novels are so full of amazingly beautiful female characters its rediculous, unless you live in hollywood one area doesn’t have that many beauties.)
I’m interested in Kemir and where his decision to support Snow will take him. I look forward to KoTC.
Thankyou for a fast paced,enjoyable read.
January 1st, 2010 at 4: 02 pm
I’ve bought and half finished 5 books in the last month and had thought I’d lost my passion for sci-fantasy. Now I realise I’ve just been picking shitty books to read. Until now that is. I bought and finished The Adamantine Palace today and absolutely loved it. Thanks for giving me what I thought was lost Stephen!
Can’t wait to read more!
January 1st, 2010 at 5: 53 pm
Naomi, I am writing how it pans out between Snow and Kemir at the moment in Order of the Scales.
Stylor (and everyone else), it’s comments like these that make me not mind that I’m spending my evenings on re-writes instead of Dragon Age: Origins
January 28th, 2010 at 1: 58 am
Hey Stephen
or at least someone who is able to create such amazing dragon characters should get in touch with them and lend them some ideas, although saying that TAP would make a pretty good RPG lol
TAP is probably the most awesome book I have ever, possibly will ever read, although maybe I should reserve that judgement until the King of the Crags is released, also i see you’re a Dragon Age fan now theres a game that could have an awesome companion novel(hint, hint)
anyway thanks for the great read, hurry up april 2010
February 12th, 2010 at 5: 00 pm
Hi Stephen,
Thought i would add my ‘thumbs up’ to TAP. An excellent read and (your) dragons are now added to dire wolves (GRRMs) as must have mythical pets. The characters of Jehal and Zafir are wonderfully rotten and incredibly likable. I especially like the understanding starting to come out between Snow and Kemir. I have just pre-ordered the second book and can’t wait for some burning!! Great work.
February 12th, 2010 at 9: 23 pm
Dan, Benny, you are clearly people of taste!