Tag Archives: sword and sorcery

May 12, 2022

Fire Wings – Out Now in Print and Ebook

By Anthony Ryan

The standalone version of my novella Fire Wings is now available in ebook and illustrated print editions. The illustrations are courtesy of Kevin Goeke who also painted the terrific cover illustration. Check out more of Kevin’s work on his website.

The illustrated paperback edition is currently stuck in Amazon’s labyrinthine bureaucracy – I’ll update you when it becomes available.

Book description:

For centuries the Sentinel Eyrie has stood watch over the Maw, the foul lair of the Voice and its monstrous servants. Long have the dishonoured and the damned journeyed to the Eyrie in search of restored honour. 

Shamil, disgraced warrior from the southern desert, has journeyed to the Eyrie seeking redemption for a terrible crime. To earn it he must win the trust of a Great Wing, one of the mighty birds that carry the sentinels into battle. But such trust is not easily won, and the Voice is rising… 

Fire Wings is a soaring fantasy adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of the Raven’s Shadow trilogy.

Buy the ebook here*:  Amazon.com –  Amazon.co.uk –  Nook –  Kobo –  Apple Books –  Google Play

Buy the illustrated hardcover here:  Amazon.com –  Amazon.co.uk –  Barnes & Noble

(*affiliate links used for Amazon stores)

Sample interior illustrations from the print editions:

Fire Wings was originally published in the now sadly discontinued Deep Magic Magazine and takes place in the same world as my short story The Hall of the Diamond Queen. Although Fire Wings can be read in isolation, if you want the full back story to the tale of the Wraith Queen Sharrow-Met, The Hall of the Diamond Queen is available free to subscribers to my mailing list. It can be found in the Unbound anthology published by Grim Oak Press.

To mark the occasion I’m running a mailing list give-away for five signed Fire Wings hardcovers. To enter, join my mailing list before midnight GMT on May 17th. Existing subscribers are automatically entered. The giveaway is open to all readers worldwide. The winners will be chosen and notified on May 18th.

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April 4, 2022

Announcing ‘To Blackfyre Keep’ – Volume Four of the Seven Swords

By Anthony Ryan

To Blackfyre Keep – Volume Four in my ongoing fantasy novella series The Seven Swords – is now available for pre-order from Subterranean Press as a limited edition signed hardcover. 

To Blackfyre Keep is slated for release in September this year. Pre-order from the Subterranean Press website.

Many thanks to everyone at Subterranean for making this happen, and, as always, to Didier Graffet for the wonderful cover illustration. You can view more of his work here.

The ebook edition will appear on the day of the hardcover release. There will also be an audiobook edition but the release date is not yet confirmed. Details to follow when I have them.

Book description:

GUYIME—DEMON CURSED WIELDER OF THE NAMELESS BLADE—FOLLOWS THE TRAIL OF THE FABLED SEVEN SWORDS INTO THE TROUBLED NORTHLANDS, A REALM WHERE HE WAS ONCE CALLED KING…AND RAVAGER.

Magically guided to enlist in the retinue of a lovesick knight, Guyime and his companions journey to the haunted ruin of Blackfyre Keep, a castle legend tells cannot be held. But a far deadlier threat than mere ghosts awaits. An ancient evil has been conjured and to defeat it Guyime may be forced to become the monster he used to be—the Ravager reborn.

Continuing the epic adventure of The Seven Swords, To Blackfyre Keep is an enthralling tale of creeping menace and pulse pounding action from New York Times bestselling author of the Raven’s Shadow and Draconis Memoria trilogies.

Newcomers to this series should start with Volume One, A Pilgrimage of Swords – details on the book page.

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September 30, 2020

The Kraken’s Tooth – Released Today

By Anthony Ryan

My new novella The Kraken’s Tooth – Book Two of The Seven Swords – is released today by Subterranean Press. Most of the hardcovers have already sold out but I’m told there may be a few left if anyone wants to head over to the Subterranean Press site to snag one.

The Kraken’s Tooth is also available in ebook:  amazon.com  – Kobo – Nook 

The ebook edition doesn’t appear to have filtered through to non-US stores yet. There will also be an audiobook edition, narrated by Steven Brand, available from Audible (hopefully soon) – I’ll post links  to both when I have them. 

About the Book:

THE GREAT MERCHANT CITY OF CARTHULA—RAISED FROM THE BONES OF A KRAKEN ON THE WHIM OF A GODDESS

WHERE NOBLE HOUSES CALL UPON DARK MAGIC TO TRIUMPH IN THEIR ENDLESS AND DEADLY GAME FOR DOMINION…

Landless one-time king Guyime, once called Pilgrim but known to history as the Ravager, has survived the fall of the Execration – an event that set him on a path to find the legendary Seven Swords. 

Guided by sorcery, Guyime journeys to Carthula in the centre of the First Sea to claim the mythical blade known as the Kraken’s Tooth. Aided by three companions – the beast charmer Seeker, a powerful sorceress and a scholarly slave – Guyime ventures into Carthula’s perilous underbelly to secure a prize guarded by ancient magics, cursed spirits, and lethal traps. But can he survive an ultimate ordeal crafted from his worst nightmares?

Continuing the epic story begun in A Pilgrimage of Swords, The Kraken’s Tooth is a fast-paced tale of low intrigue and grand adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of the Raven’s Shadow and Draconis Memoria trilogies. 

From Publishers Weekly (Starred Review):

“Ryan masterfully combines vivid characterization and understated worldbuilding in the stellar second fantasy novella in his Seven Swords series (after A Pilgrimage of Swords)… Ryan does a superior job of propelling the adventure along while simultaneously pulling back the layers of [the fallen king] Guyime’s tortured backstory, and the robust fantasy world is described in clean, evocative prose…”

Anyone wishing to check out the first book in the Seven Swords series, check out the Pilgrimage of Swords book page.

Thanks to my editors, Yanni Kuznia and Bill Schafer, and everyone else at Subterranean for making this happen. Also, many thanks to Didier Graffet for another wonderful cover. 

I’ll be running a mailing list giveaway for signed hardcovers closer to Christmas, so be sure to sign up to the list to make sure you don’t miss out. 

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June 18, 2019

A Pilgrimage of Swords – Hand-Drawn Map Giveaway

By Anthony Ryan

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. 

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