Tag Archives: the seven swords

June 1, 2020

SciFi Indie Author Giveaway and ‘The Kraken’s Tooth’ Gets a Starred Review in Publisher’s Weekly

By Anthony Ryan

Win a signed paperback of Slab City Blues: The Collected Stories.

I’m happy to announce I’ve teamed up with sci-fi authors Glynn Stewart, Christopher Ruz, Daniel Willcocks, and Matt Ward to do a SF/F raffle giveaway for FREE signed paperback copies of The Ragged Blade, Starship’s Mage, Slab City Blues: The Collected Stories, Dawn of Chaos, Cynetic Wolf, and Death Donor.

Very excited to be working with some of the heavy-hitting indies in the space to offer up some late-night, award-winning distraction in these challenging times.

The contest will be running from June 1st-10th. No purchase necessary.

NOTE: By entering the sweepstakes, you are expressly giving each participating author permission to add you to their email newsletter. You are free to unsubscribe at any time.

Just hop over to mattwardwrites.com/raffle and enter your email to register. Then, on June 11th, one lucky winner will be chosen to receive free signed copies of each of the books. And to keep things interesting, five runner-ups will also be selected to get free electronic copies because everyone loves free books, right?

Interested? Again, just hop on over to mattwardwrites.com/raffle before June 10th and enter your email to register.

Good luck!

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In other news, I’m delighted to report that my upcoming novella The Kraken’s Tooth has received a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly – ‘Ryan masterfully combines vivid characterization and understated worldbuilding in the stellar second fantasy novella in his Seven Swords series.’

Read the full review here.

The Kraken’s Tooth will be released in September 2020 by Subterranean Press in special limited edition signed hardcover and ebook. Pre-order here: https://subterraneanpress.com/krakens-tooth

The 26 signed and lettered copies have now sold out. However, you can still pre-order one of the 1000 signed limited editions. These might sell out too so order soon to make sure you snag one. Pre-orders for the ebook will appear closer to the release date.

For anyone new to the series who wants to catch up, A Pilgrimage of Swords is available in ebook here:  Amazon.com  –  Amazon.co.uk  –  Nook  –  Kobo  –  Apple Books  –  Subterranean Press

Buy the audiobook here: audible.com  –  audible.co.uk

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April 20, 2020

The Kraken’s Tooth – Original Illustration Pre-Order Giveaway

By Anthony Ryan

Those fine people at Subterranean Press are running a giveaway for the original frontis illustration for the hardcover edition of my novella The Kraken’s Tooth – Book Two of The Seven Swords which began with A Pilgrimage of Swords.

The giveaway is open to anyone who pre-orders the hardcover from the Subterranean Press website. The winner will receive the original illustration hand-drawn by yours truly, signed and dated. It looks like the signed and lettered special traycase hardcover has sold out but the signed and numbered edition is still available. Don’t worry if you’ve already pre-ordered as you’ll automatically be included in the draw. The Kraken’s Tooth will be released in September 2020

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I hope you’re all staying safe and well in these trying times. For everyone patiently waiting for The Black Song advance reader copy giveaway, I hope to run it sometime in May. It will be exclusive to my mailing list subscribers so be sure to sign up to make sure you don’t miss out.

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March 24, 2020

‘A Pilgrimage of Swords’ Audiobook Released Today & ‘The Wolf’s Call’ is an Award Winner

By Anthony Ryan

The audiobook edition of my novella A Pilgrimage of Swords, Volume One of The Seven Swords, is now available from Audible.

Buy here: audible.com – audible.co.uk

Thanks, as always, to Steven Brand for his excellent narration.

A reminder that The Kraken’s Tooth, the second novella in this series, is now available for pre-order. Links on the book page.

In other news, I’m proud and delighted to announce that The Wolf’s Call has won the Booknest Fantasy Award for Best Traditionally Published Novel. Huge thanks to everyone who voted and congrats to my fellow winners. Best of all, I now own this badass blade!

Check out the announcement here. 

And finally, the audiobook of The Black Song, the second and final book in The Raven’s Blade, is also now available for pre-order from Audible.com. No UK pre-order yet but watch this space. 

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March 18, 2020

A Pilgrimage of Swords – Audiobook Pre-Order Now Available & Other News

By Anthony Ryan

The audiobook edition of my novella A Pilgrimage of Swords, Volume One of The Seven Swords, narrated by Steven Brand, will be released by Audible on March 24th and is now available for pre-order.  

Buy here:  audible.com  –  audible.co.uk

In other news, I’m delighted to report that The Wolf’s Call, Book One of The Raven’s Blade, has been shortlisted in the ‘Best Traditionally Published Novel’ category for the Booknest Fantasy Awards. Thanks to everyone who voted in the first round. Anyone who would care to drop by and vote in the final round please go here: http://booknest.eu/component/k2/AWARDS/1812

And finally, those of you who follow me on Twitter may have noticed that the Advance Review Copies of The Black Song, Book Two of The Raven’s Blade, have arrived. I’ll be running an exclusive mailing list giveaway for five copies closer to the release date (when, hopefully, it’ll be easier to get to the post office). Be sure to sign up to the list if you want a chance of winning a signed ARC. 

Thanks for reading and please stay safe in these troubled times.

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December 20, 2019

A Pilgrimage of Swords – Signed Hardcover Giveaway

By Anthony Ryan
*cover illustration by Didier Graffet

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 available in ebook, buy here:  Amazon.com  –  Amazon.co.uk  –  Nook  –  Kobo  –  Apple Books

Full details are on the book page. 

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.

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September 30, 2019

A Pilgrimage of Swords – Release Day

By Anthony Ryan

My all-new novella, A Pilgrimage of Swords, is released today by Subterranean Press. Most of the special edition hardcovers have already sold out but I’m told there are a few left if anyone wants to head over to the Subterranean Press site to snag one.

A Pilgrimage of Swords is also available in ebook: Amazon.com – Amazon.co.uk – Nook – Kobo – Apple Books

Book description:

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. 

‘Fans of quick, descriptive tales built around shadowy figures with murky motives will enjoy this quest-based story and come away craving more.’ – Starred review in Publishers Weekly.

‘This grim succinct tale should find an eager audience amongst fans of sword-and-sorcery fare.’ – Library Journal.

‘A Pilgrimage of Swords is an engrossing adventure for anyone who likes a story with a great atmosphere and imagination. It is short, sweet, and will leave you wanting a lot more.’ – The Quill to Live.

‘A Pilgrimage of Swords may be a short, quick read, but for what it lacks in pages and words, it makes up for in fantastic storytelling.’ – FanFiAddict.

Thanks to my editor Yanni Kuznia and everyone at Subterranean for the efforts in bringing this to fruition. Thanks also to the always excellent Didier Graffet for his spectacular cover illustration. You can view more of Didier’s work here: https://www.alanlynchartists.com/didier-graffet

The winners of the signed hardcover mailing list giveaway have now been chosen and notified. Check your spam folders to make sure you haven’t missed out on a prize. Join the mailing list so you don’t miss out on future giveaways.

A Pilgrimage of Swords is the first in a series of novellas The Seven Swords. The second volume, The Kraken’s Tooth, will be published by Subterranean Press next year.

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September 19, 2019

A Pilgrimage of Swords – Ebook and Hardcover Pre-order

By Anthony Ryan

My all-new novella, A Pilgrimage of Swords, will be released on September 30th by Subterranean Press. This is the first a series of stories entitled The Seven Swords. The second volume, The Kraken’s Tooth, will be published next year. Full details and description are on the book page.

Subterranean tell me they only have 50 copies of the limited edition hardcover left so hurry on over to their website to order to make sure you don’t miss out. Anyone who orders direct from Subterranean or one of their approved outlets will also be entered in a draw to win a signed original hand-drawn version of the map from the book.

A Pilgrimage of Swords will also be released in e-book, price $4.99. Pre-order links are here.

I’ll also be giving away four signed copies of the limited edition hardcover to existing mailing list subscribers or anyone who joins the list between now and midnight GMT 29th September. Go here to sign up. Winners will be chosen at random and notified on 30th September.

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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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