Black Gate

Thomas Dunne Books has released the cover art, and announced the release date, for Howard Andrew Jones’ The Bones of the Old Ones, the sequel to The Desert of Souls, which The Mad Hatter’s calls “one of the most enjoyable Swords & Sorcery novels in quite a few years.”

The Bones of the Old Ones will be released in hardcover on August 21, 2012, with a cover by Stephen Stone. This will be the third book chronicling the exploits of Dabir and Asim, Arabian adventurers par excellence, following The Desert of Souls and the short story collection The Waters of Eternity, released in Kindle, Nook and iBook format on November 22.

Here’s the groovy cover blurb for Bones:

A thrilling, inventive follow-up to The Desert of Souls by Howard Andrew Jones, a “rare master of the storyteller’s art” (Greenmanreview.com)

As a snowfall blankets 8th century Mosul, a Persian noblewoman arrives at the home of the scholar Dabir and his friend the swordsman Captain Asim. Najya has escaped from a dangerous cabal that has ensorcelled her to track down ancient magical tools of tremendous power, the bones of the old ones.

To stop the cabal and save Najya, Dabir and Asim venture into the worst winter in human memory, hunted by a shape-changing assassin. The stalwart Asim is drawn irresistibly toward the beautiful Persian even as Dabir realizes she may be far more dangerous a threat than anyone who pursues them, for her enchantment worsens with the winter. As their opposition grows, Dabir and Asim have no choice but to ally with their deadliest enemy, the treacherous Greek necromancer, Lydia. But even if they can trust one another long enough to escape their foes, it may be too late for Najya, whose soul is bound up with a vengeful spirit intent on sheathing the world in ice for a thousand years…

Tomorrow is the release of The Desert of Souls in trade paperback — a perfect chance to job on board if you haven’t already. Don’t miss out on one of the most exciting fantasy debuts in years.

Here at the rooftop headquarters of Black Gate, overlooking the majestic Chicago skyline, we’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time: the day the first volume of John R. Fultz’s Books of the Shaper series finally hits bookstores.

Seven Princes is John’s first novel.  He’s had three highly acclaimed short stories appear in Black Gate — including “Oblivion Is the Sweetest Wine” (BG 12), “Return of the Quill” (BG 13), and “The Vintages of Dream” (BG 15),  — and has published short fiction in Weird Tales, Space & Time, Lightspeed, and the anthologies Way of the Wizard and Cthulhu’s Reign. Here’s the cover blurb:

It is an Age of Legends. Under the watchful eye of the Giants, the kingdoms of Men rose to power. Now, the Giant-King has slain the last of the Serpents and ushered in an era of untold peace and prosperity. Where a fire-blackened desert once stood, golden cities flourish in verdant fields.

It is an Age of Heroes. But the realms of Man face a new threat — an ancient sorcerer slaughters the rightful King of Yaskatha before the unbelieving eyes of his son, young Prince D’zan. With the Giant-King lost to a mysterious doom, it seems that no one has the power to stop the coming storm.

It is an Age of War. The fugitive Prince seeks allies across the realms of Men and Giants to liberate his father’s stolen kingdom. Six foreign Princes are tied to his fate. Only one thing is certain: War is coming.

SEVEN PRINCES. Some will seek glory. Some will seek vengeance. All will be legends.

For those lucky enough to be in San Francisco this Saturday, John will be doing his first signing at Borderlands Books. Bring your copy of Seven Princes and meet one of the rising stars of fantasy.

Read John’s interview with Seven Princes cover artist Richard Anderson right here at Black Gate.

Howard Andrew Jones’ first novel The Desert of Souls has been named one of the best fantasy novels of the year by Barnes & Noble.

Paul Goat Allen, a full-time genre book reviewer who’s reviewed thousands of titles over the past 20 years, posted his choices for the Best Fantasy Releases of 2011 at Explorations, the highly respected Barnes & Noble science fiction and fantasy Blog. In addition to Desert of Souls (#4), the list also includes Prince of Thorns by Black Gate blogger and author Mark Lawrence (at #5), and our good friend James L. Sutter’s first novel, Death’s Heretic (#3).

The top two books in the list were The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss and Farlander by Col Buchanan. Allen writes:

The sheer amount of noteworthy fantasy debuts in 2011 was remarkable. Besides Buchanan and Sutter’s stellar first novels, this year gave us The Desert of Souls by Howard Andrew Jones, Mark Lawrence’s Prince of Thorns, Stina Leicht’s Of Blood and Honey, Courtney Schafer’s The Whitefire Crossing, Paula Brandon’s The Traitor’s Daughter, The Emperor’s Knife by Mazarkis Williams, Among Thieves by Douglas Hulick, Michael J. Sullivan’s Theft of Swords, and Teresa Frohock’s Miserere.

You can read an exclusive excerpt from Prince of Thorns, Brian Murphy’s recent review of The Desert of Souls, and Andrew Zimmerman Jones’ review of Death’s Heretic, all right here at Black Gate. Don’t tell us we don’t point you to the best fantasy.

Congratulations to Howard, Mark and James!