Also, with the publication of The Wolf’s Call due in July, some people have been asking about the best reading order for the Raven’s Shadow series. To date, the series consists of three full-length novels, three novellas and one short story. As the novellas contain some mild spoilers for the novels, I’d recommend reading in the following order:
Blood Song
Tower Lord
Queen of Fire
The Lord Collector
A Duel of Evils
The Lady of Crows
Many Are the Dead
However, here’s the reading order if you want to follow the strict chronology of the overall narrative:
The cover above is just a place-holder but the book description has now been released:
‘Anthony Ryan’s debut novel Blood Song – book one of the Raven’s Shadow series – took the fantasy world by storm. The sequels, Tower Lord and Queen of Fire were both New York Times bestsellers. Now, Anthony Ryan returns to the world of this acclaimed fantasy series with The Wolf’s Call, which begins a thrilling new story of razor-sharp action and epic adventure.
PEACE NEVER LASTS
Vaelin Al Sorna is a living legend, his name known across the Realm. It was his leadership that overthrew empires, his blade that won hard-fought battles – and his sacrifice that defeated an evil more terrifying than anything the world had ever seen. He won titles aplenty, only to cast aside his earned glory for a quiet life in the Realm’s northern reaches.
Yet whispers have come from across the sea – rumours of an army called the Steel Horde, led by a man who believes himself a god. Vaelin has no wish to fight another war, but when he learns that Sherin, the woman he lost long ago, has fallen into the Horde’s grasp, he resolves to confront this powerful new threat.
To this end, Vaelin travels to the realms of the Merchant Kings, a land ruled by honour and intrigue. There, as the drums of war thunder across kingdoms riven by conflict, Vaelin learns a terrible truth: that there are some battles that even he cannot hope to win.’
In other news, because it’s that time of year, I’m running a mailing list giveaway for two signed, lined and dated US hardcovers of The Empire of Ashes, Book Three of The Draconis Memoria. Existing mailing list subscribers are automatically entered. If you’re not a subscriber, go here to sign up. The competition will run until 25th December with the winners being chosen at random and notified on the 26th.
Many Are the Dead – A Raven’s Shadow Novella is now available.
“The Faith requires all we have.”
New York Times bestselling author Anthony Ryan returns to the Raven’s Shadow world in this prequel novella set ten years before the events in Blood Song.
For decades the brothers of the Sixth Order have fought a savage war against the Lonak clans amidst the frozen peaks of their Dominion.
When word reaches the north of a fresh outbreak of the dreaded Red Hand, Brother Sollis, the finest swordsman in the 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.
Enemies become allies as Sollis leads an increasingly desperate fight against an inhuman enemy steeped in the power of the Dark.
‘Brilliantly written… Anyone who has read Blood Song will adore this.’ – Fantasy Book Review.
Congratulations to the ten winners of a signed paperback who have now been notified. Sign up to the Mailing List to make sure you don’t miss a giveaway in future.
I’m very pleased at long last to announce the release of Many Are the Dead, an all new never before published Raven’s Shadow novella.
Description:
“The Faith requires all we have.”
New York Times bestselling author Anthony Ryan returns to the Raven’s Shadow world in this prequel novella set ten years before the events in Blood Song.
For decades the brothers of the Sixth Order have fought a savage war against the Lonak clans amidst the frozen peaks of their Dominion.
When word reaches the north of a fresh outbreak of the dreaded Red Hand, Brother Sollis, the finest swordsman in the 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.
Enemies become allies as Sollis leads an increasingly desperate fight against an inhuman enemy steeped in the power of the Dark.
Mailing list subscribers will know that I promised this a while ago but for ‘reasons’ had to sit on it until now. The ebook will be released on 2nd November but you can pre-order it now on the Amazon Kindle store: Amazon.com – Amazon.co.uk – and Kobo. Links to ibooks and Nook to follow. Anyone who just can’t wait, or prefers the dead tree option, can order the paperback which is already available: Amazon.com – Amazon.co.uk.
To celebrate the release I have ten signed paperbacks to give away to existing mailing list subscribers or anyone who joins the list by the 2nd of November. Winners will be chosen at random and notified on 3rd November. Go here to sign up.
Thanks once again to Kevin Goeke (movco-art.com) for the spectacular cover illustration and to Shawn King (stkcreations.com) for the cover and interior book design.
Well not quite. Check out this epic music cue inspired by The Raven’s Shadow Trilogy composed by the remarkably talented Will Musser – visit his website for more epic movie and TV soundtracks.
I’m delighted to announce my next novel The Wolf’s Call, the first volume in a two-part series The Raven’s Blade which is a return to the world of Raven’s Shadow and will continue the story of Vaelin Al Sorna.
The Wolf’s Call will be published in summer of 2019 by Ace/Roc in the USA and Canada and by Orbit in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. No word yet on non-English editions but I’ll keep you all updated whenever I hear anything.
The standalone ebook version of my Raven’s Shadow short story A Duel of Evils is now available. Go here to buy: Amazon.com – Amazon.co.uk – Kobo – Apple – Nook
‘Legendary warrior King Tavurek marshals his mercenary army to combat a mighty Volarian host led by a man known to history as the Spear-point. In the blood-bath that follows, there can be only one victor. The final battle between the city state of Kethia and the Volarian Empire, as told by Imperial Chronicler Lord Verniers, is an event shrouded in many secrets and, some say, wrought by servants of the Dark.’
Many thanks to Kevin Goeke for the spectacular cover art. You can view more of Kevin’s work here: https://movco-art.com/
I’ll be doing a mailing list giveaway for some signed Legion of Flame hardcovers closer to the release date so sign up here to make sure you don’t miss out.
Thanks to Grimdark Magazine for publishing the new Raven’s Shadow novella The Lady of Crows, which is released today. Also many thanks to Jason Deem for the marvellous cover art – you can see more of Jason’s work here.
The stand-alone ebook edition of The Lord Collector – A Raven’s Shadow Novella, is now available from the following retailers: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Kobo, iBooks, Nook and Smashwords.
Author’s Note – The following story takes place in the same world as my novel Blood Song, the first volume in the Raven’s Shadow trilogy. I wrote it because I wanted to more fully explore characters who appear in Blood Song and the sequels Tower Lord and Queen of Fire. Readers familiar with my work are sure to recognise a certain pale-eyed, raspy voiced Sword Master of the Sixth Order and those curious as to the origins of the Tower Lord of the Southern Shore will find answers here. The tale takes place at the mid-point of the timeline described in Blood Song, a time when King Janus, with typical ruthlessness, is in the process of fully consolidating his grip on the Unified Realm.
‘The Lord Collector by Anthony Ryan: a grim introduction to our protagonist, Jehrid, leader of an Excise Guard unit (think a kind of investigative military) to kick this story off. Jehrid is tasked by his Tower Lord with working with Brother Sollis of the Sixth Order and two others with finding a passenger from a month-old shipwreck. But Jehrid has another agenda: vengeance. A story told with standard Anthony Ryan style. Enjoyable, violent, somber at times and galloping like a horse at others.’ – Adrian Collins, Grimdark Magazine
