The nice folks at Subterranean Press are running a giveaway for a hand-drawn, signed and dated version of the map from my upcoming novella A Pilgrimage of Swords. The map is the product of my own not-very-dainty hands and will be given away to one randomly chosen lucky person who pre-orders one of the hardcover editions. It looks like the signed and lettered special traycase editions have sold out but the signed edition is still available. Don’t worry if you’ve already pre-ordered as you’ll automatically be included in the draw. 

Pre-order from the Subterranean Press website. 

A Pilgrimage of Swords – the first novella in a proposed series entitled The Seven Swords – will be released in September 2019 in hardcover and ebook (the pre-order for the ebook will appear closer to the release date). I’ll be running a mailing list giveaway for signed hardcovers prior to the release so be sure to watch out for that.

Here’s the Publishers Weekly’s Starred Review of A Pilgrimage of Swords:

“Ryan introduces a monster-riddled fantasy world with a perfectly balanced novella, including just enough backstory to create a cohesive story line and flesh out the characters… Fans of quick, descriptive tales built around shadowy figures with murky motives will enjoy this quest-based story and come away craving more (and longer) works set in this fascinating world.”

And here’s the blurb:

ENTER THE EXECRATION,

WHERE THE DAMNED AND THE DESPERATE

COME TO PRAY TO THE MAD GOD…

It is two hundred years since the deity known as the Absolved went mad and destroyed the Kingdom of Alnachim, transforming it into the Execration, a blasted wasteland filled with nameless terrors. For decades, desperate souls have made pilgrimage to the centre of this cursed land to seek the Mad God’s favour, their fate always unknown. 

Now a veteran warrior known only as Pilgrim, armed with a fabled blade inhabited by the soul of a taunting demon, must join with six others to make the last journey to the heart of the Execration. Allied with a youthful priest, a beast-charmer, a duplicitous scholar, an effete actor and two exiled lovers, Pilgrim must survive madness, malevolent spirits, unnatural monsters and the ever-present risk of treachery, all so that the Mad God might hear his prayer and, perhaps, grant redemption. But can sins such as his ever be forgiven? 

Set in a world where demons and gods walk the earth, A Pilgrimage of Swords is a dark and exciting fantasy adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of the Raven’s Shadow and Draconis Memoria trilogies.