Full details and buy links for other formats are on the book page.
And now for something completely different…
Last September I managed to carve out some time to write a non-fantasy novel that’s been hanging around my head for quite a while. It’s still early days so there’s no publication date yet, and the title may well change, but here’s the announcement on Publisher’s Marketplace to wet any interested appetites.
Watch this space for more concrete news when I have it.
The Kickstarter for The King Must Fall has met its funding goal but there are still plenty of stretch goals left, including stories from Deborah A. Wolf (Godsworld) and Matthew Ward (Legacy of Ash).
The King Must Fall is a dark fantasy anthology from Gimdark Magazine featuring 14+ authors writing about rogues, assassins, mages, blackguards, and warriors on quests to kill their kings, rulers, and leaders.
Wrapped in Felix Ortiz’s beautiful cover art, designed by the legendary Shawn King, and with a stretch goal to fill it with Carlos Diaz’s interior art, The King Must Fall will be a gripping read and an eye-catching addition to your bookshelf.
The anthology will feature an all new Raven’s Shadow novella by yours truly and great stories from the following authors:
Bradley P. Beaulieu (The Song of the Shattered Sands, The Lays of Anuskaya)
Kameron Hurley (The God’s War Trilogy, Worldbreaker Saga)
Michael R Fletcher (Manifest Delusions, Black Stone Heart)
Anna Smith Spark (Empires of Dust)
Shawn Speakman (The Annwn Cycles, Unfettered)
Daniel Polansky (Low Town, Those Above)
Devin Madson (The Reborn Empire)
Adrian Tchaikovsky (Shadows of the Apt, Children of Time)
Lee Murray (Into the Mist, Hounds of the Underworld)
Jeremy Szal (The Common)
Justin Call (The Silent Gods)
Trudi Canavan (The Black Magician, Age of the Five)
Peter Orullian (The Vault of Heaven, The Astonishing)
I’m delighted to report that City of Songs – Volume Three in my Seven Swords novella series – has received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly.
‘Ryan ingeniously combines magic and mystery in his outstanding third Seven Swords fantasy.’
Read the full review here (some mild spoiler warnings for those who prefer to come to it completely cold).
City of Songs will be released in special edition signed hardcover and ebook from Subterranean Press in September. Hopefully, the audiobook edition will appear shortly after. To answer an oft-asked question, there won’t be a pre-order page for the ebook, however, I’ll be sure to announce the release and provide the relevant where-to-buy links when they become available.
Heartfelt gratitude to everyone who supported the Kickstarter for Grimdark Magazine’s anthology The King Must Fall. Thanks (I like to think) to you, the anthology – which includes an all new Raven’s Shadow novella – has now reached its funding goal. A number of really great stretch goals remain with 8 days left to run. So, if you haven’t already become a supporter, please consider doing so now.
Thanks to those nice people at Orbit for providing this nifty video to remind everyone that my next full-length novel, The Pariah – Book One of the Covenant of Steel – will be released in two months time.
Grimdark Magazine (purely coincidentally) were kind enough to review the book last week and seemed to like it a lot:
‘The Pariah is Anthony Ryan at his best. A fast-paced, brutal fantasy novel with larger than life characters and a plot full of intrigue and suspense. With bloody twists and turns aplenty, this novel is destined to become a favourite of the grimdark community.’
Draconis Memoria RPG update – work continues on this project despite some dreadful pandemic related issues for the publisher. I still don’t have a start date for the Kickstarter but you can now register your interest here to make sure you don’t miss it: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hirukoa/draconis-memoria-rpg
And finally, it will be Blood Song’s tenth birthday on July 31st, which marks the day when I first self-published the book on Smashwords (whereupon it sold a massive five copies before I put it on the Kindle store in January 2012, but that’s a different story). Watch out for a book birthday related giveaway towards the end of the month. Please note – you’ll need to be signed up to my mailing list to have a chance of winning.
The King Must Fall is a dark fantasy anthology from Gimdark Magazine featuring 14+ authors writing about rogues, assassins, mages, blackguards, and warriors on quests to kill their kings, rulers, and leaders. We’ll be offering ebook, hardcover, numbered signed edition hardcovers, and a leatherbound signed lettered edition.
Wrapped in Felix Ortiz’s beautiful cover art, designed by the legendary Shawn King, and with a stretch goal to fill it with Carlos Diaz’s interior art, The King Must Fall will be a gripping read and an eye-catching addition to your bookshelf.
The anthology will feature an all new Raven’s Shadow novella by yours truly and great stories from the following authors:
Bradley P. Beaulieu (The Song of the Shattered Sands, The Lays of Anuskaya)
Kameron Hurley (The God’s War Trilogy, Worldbreaker Saga)
Michael R Fletcher (Manifest Delusions, Black Stone Heart)
Anna Smith Spark (Empires of Dust)
Shawn Speakman (The Annwn Cycles, Unfettered)
Daniel Polansky (Low Town, Those Above)
Devin Madson (The Reborn Empire)
Adrian Tchaikovsky (Shadows of the Apt, Children of Time)
Lee Murray (Into the Mist, Hounds of the Underworld)
Jeremy Szal (The Common)
Justin Call (The Silent Gods)
Trudi Canavan (The Black Magician, Age of the Five)
Peter Orullian (The Vault of Heaven, The Astonishing)
Go to the Kickstarter Page to support this anthology and check out al the great the rewards and stretch goals. (NB, sorry but the Tuckerisation pledge reward for the Raven’s Shadow novella has already been claimed).
Thanks to those nice folks at Subterranean Press I have three signed advance review copies of City of Songs – Volume Three of The Seven Swords novella series – to give away to existing mailing list subscribers and anyone who subscribes between now and midnight GMT June 5th.
Winners will be chosen and notified on June 6th. As usual, remember to check you spam folders to make sure you haven’t missed out.
City of Songs will be released in September in special edition hardcover, audio and ebook. It looks like the lettered tray-case editions have already sold out but the signed and numbered hardcovers are still available. Go to the Subterranean Press website to place your orders.
In other news – for today only the UK ebook edition of The Wolf’s Call – Book One of the Raven’s Blade duology – is on sale at £0.99 as a Kindle daly deal on the UK Amazon store. Buy here: amazon.co.uk.
I’m also delighted to announce that I will contributing an all new Raven’s Shadow novella to the upcoming anthology The King Must Fall from Grimdark Magazine.
This will be a crowdfunded publication so, if you want to make it happen, head over to the Kickstarter page to be notified when the project goes live on June 15th. More details on the novella coming soon.
Thanks to Ace Books for including The Black Song in their Summer Fantasy Sweepstakes draw along with these four other great books. To have a chance winning go here to sign up the relevant mailing list.
For more info on The Black Song check out the book page.
Songs of the Dark – Short Fiction from the World of Raven’s Shadow is now available in ebook and paperback. Songs of the Dark collects all the Raven’s Shadow novellas published so far into one volume.
*Cover illustration by Kevin Goeke. Cover design by STK Creations.
The special limited edition signed hardcover is also still available to buy from Subterranean Press.
About the Book:
“Heard whispers of the Dark all my life. It’s a strange feeling when a whisper becomes a shout.”
Songs of the Dark collects all four novellas from the world of Anthony Ryan’s internationally best-selling Raven’s Shadow trilogy.
A Duel of Evils – Centuries before the rise of the Unified Realm, the final battle looms between the city-state of Kethia and the Volarian Empire. As told by Imperial Chronicler Lord Verniers, this terrible event is shrouded in many secrets and, some say, wrought by servants of the Dark.
Many Are the Dead – When word reaches the north of a fresh outbreak of the dreaded Red Hand, Brother Sollis, the finest swordsman in the Sixth Order, leads a small band to a long-abandoned castle in search of a potential cure but discovers a far greater threat lurking in the mountains.
The Lady of Crows – A quest for bloody vengeance forces Derla, a skilled and deadly veteran of the Varinshold underworld, into the service of the arch schemer King Janus.
The Lord Collector – Veteran Realm Guard Jerhid, newly appointed Lord Collector of the King’s Excise, finds himself battling ruthless smuggler gangs and worse on the wild southern shore of the Unified Realm.
Four compelling tales of mystery, magic, intrigue, and battle presented in one volume for the first time – featuring all-new introductions by the author. The print editions also feature and black-and-white interior illustrations by Anthony Ryan.
In other news, many thanks to David Walters of FanFiAddict.com for his spoiler free review of The Pariah – Book One of The Covenant of Steel:
“The Pariah is a sharp, brutal tale and a brilliant introduction to theCovenant of Steel series. While the story itself is grim and bloody, Ryan’s prose and characterization are a beacon in the darkness. A remarkable story that I did not want to end.”
I’m pleased to report that Publisher’s Weekly has given The Pariah – Book One of The Covenant of Steel – a starred review.
“Ryan (the Raven’s Shadow series) impresses with this fantasy trilogy opener… The author makes buy-in easy thanks to three-dimensional characters and intelligent prose that grips from the opening sentence.” – Publisher’s Weekly.
You can read the full review here – warning for mild plot spoilers for those who prefer to come to the book completely cold.
Congratulations to the winners of the signed Pariah advance review copy who have been chosen and notified today – check your spam folders to make sure you haven’t missed the notification. Thanks to everyone who took the time to enter and for the many nice comments, apologies I couldn’t respond to everyone.
Any US readers who would like a second chance can enter the Goodreads giveaway for 100 e-book review copies currently being run by Orbit US – sorry, US readers only. The giveaway ends on May 2nd. Go here to enter: https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/322986-the-pariah
I’ll be running my own giveaway for signed hardcovers and paperbacks closer to the release date in August so watch out for that. Make sure you’re signed up to the mailing list to ensure you don’t miss out on a chance to win one.
The UK audiobook, narrated by Steven Brand, is now available for pre-order from audible.co.uk. No US pre-order yet, I’ll update the book page when I have one.
And finally, I’m happy (and relieved) to report that, as of two days ago, I finished the first draft of Book Two in The Covenant of Steel trilogy. There’s still some work to do on the text and the title is yet to be finalised, but it’s always a good feeling when I get to type these words:
My advance review copies of the US edition of The Pariah – Book one of The Covenant of Steel – have arrived. I’ll be running a giveaway for five signed copies exclusively to my mailing list subscribers on April 19th. If you want a chance to win one, sign up here before then: Mailing List Sign Up.
I’m also delighted to report that I recently confirmed with Orbit that Steven Brand will be voicing The Pariah audiobook. Pre-order links to come as soon as they go live.
*Cover illustration by Jaime Jones (www.artpad.org). Cover design by Lauren Panepinto (@Panepinto).
About the book:
The Pariah begins a new epic fantasy series of action, intrigue and magic from Anthony Ryan, a master storyteller who has taken the fantasy world by storm.
Born into the troubled kingdom of Albermaine, Alwyn Scribe is raised as an outlaw. Quick of wit and deft with a blade, Alwyn is content with the freedom of the woods and the comradeship of his fellow thieves. But an act of betrayal sets him on a new path – one of blood and vengeance, which eventually leads him to a soldier’s life in the king’s army.
Fighting under the command of Lady Evadine Courlain, a noblewoman beset by visions of a demonic apocalypse, Alwyn must survive war and the deadly intrigues of the nobility if he hopes to claim his vengeance. But as dark forces, both human and arcane, gather to oppose Evadine’s rise, Alwyn faces a choice: can he be a warrior, or will he always be an outlaw?
The Pariah – Book One of the Covenant of Steel – will be released by Orbit in the US on August 24th and in the UK on August 26th, 2021.
My novella A Pilgrimage of Swords was released by Subterranean Press in September and, somewhat to my surprise, has since sold out in hardcover.
In the spirit of the season, and to express my gratitude for the response to this novella, I thought I’d give readers who missed out another chance to win a signed copy. Therefore, I’m holding a quickie giveaway for existing subscribers to my mailing list and anyone who subscribes between now and midnight GMT December 25th.
Five lucky winners will receive a signed limited edition hardcover of A Pilgrimage of Swords. Winners will be chosen at random and notified on December 26th.
A Pilgrimage of Swords is the first in a series entitled The Seven Swords. The next volume, The Kraken’s Tooth, will be released by Subterranean Press in September 2020. Check back in the new year for a cover reveal – once again the illustration is by Didier Graffet and is really something special.
