Many thanks to fellow fantasist Marc Turner, author of The Chronicles of the Exile series and the recently released Dragon Hunters, for inviting me onto his website for a short interview on inspirations, translated editions and future plans. Check it out here: http://www.marcturner.net/blog?view=entry&id=26
The audiobook version of The Waking Fire is now available for pre-order on Audbile.com and Audible.co.uk. The iTunes version doesn’t seem to be up yet, I’ll post a link on the book page when it appears. Many thanks to the always excellent Steven Brand for once again employing his considerable vocal talents in order to bring my work to audio-life. You can follow Steven on Twitter @stevenbrand.
My UK publisher Orbit is giving away 5 advance reading copies of THE WAKING FIRE this month, out in hardback, ebook and audiobook this July. The giveaway is open to readers in the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand only (everyone else – watch out for a Goodreads giveaway closer to the release date). Find full details of how to enter on the Orbit website.
The prize draw will be open until the 7th of June, and you can enter as many times as you like.
Pre-order THE WAKING FIRE:
Amazon | Waterstones | Kindle | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play
My ever faithful friends at Goldsboro Books in London are offering 250 signed, stamped and numbered copies of the UK hardcover first edition of The Waking Fire. Available on 7th July but you can pre-order here: https://www.goldsborobooks.com/product/waking-fire-book-one-draconis-memoria-limited-edition/
Very happy to reveal the US cover for The Waking Fire. Heartfelt thanks to everyone at Ace for their hard work on this. Blurb and pre-order links on the Book Page. You can also read a sample chapter here.
You can now read a sample chapter from The Waking Fire here (trigger warnings for strong language and violence). For further details and pre-order links see the book page. Also, anyone interested in finding out more about the world of The Draconis Memoria may want to check out my short story Sandrunners, which is included in the anthology Legends II: Stories in Honour of David Gemmell.
Well, this is a bit good isn’t it? Huge thanks to cover artist Jaime Jones and everyone at Orbit UK for their hard work in making this happen. Released in the UK on July 7th. Full description and pre-order details on The Waking Fire book page.
The Waking Fire, Book One of my new series The Draconis Memoria, is now available for pre-order in ebook and hardcover (no audiobook pre-order yet – the audio version usually appears two months before release). Here’s the jacket description from the hardcover edition (cover images to come when I’m allowed to share them):
“The New York Times bestselling Raven’s Shadow Trilogy was a perfect read for “fans of broadscale epic fantasy along the lines of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series and George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire novels.” (Library Journal) Now, Anthony Ryan begins a new saga, The Draconis Memoria…
Throughout the vast lands controlled by the Ironship Syndicate, nothing is more prized than the blood of drakes. Harvested from the veins of captive or hunted Reds, Green, Blues and Blacks, it can be distilled into elixirs that give fearsome powers to the rare men and women who have the ability harness them—known as the blood-blessed.
But not many know the truth: that the lines of drakes are weakening. If they fail, war with the neighboring Corvantine Empire will follow swiftly. The Syndicate’s last hope resides in whispers of the existence of another breed of drake, far more powerful than the rest, and the few who have been chosen by fate to seek it.
Claydon Torcreek is a petty thief and an unregistered blood-blessed, who finds himself pressed into service by the protectorate and sent to wild, uncharted territories in search of a creature he believes is little more than legend. Lizanne Lethridge is a formidable spy and assassin, facing gravest danger on an espionage mission deep into the heart of enemy territory. And Corrick Hilemore is the second lieutenant of an ironship, whose pursuit of ruthless brigands leads him to a far greater threat at the edge of the world.
As lives and empires clash and intertwine, as the unknown and the known collide, all three must fight to turn the tide of a coming war, or drown in its wake.”
The book will be released on July 5th in the US and July 7th in the UK. Pre-order from the following retailers:
Very pleased to report that Jaime Jones has been confirmed as the cover artist for the UK edition of The Waking Fire (Book One of The Draconis Memoria). Jaime is a highly respected concept artist and illustrator who’s recent work includes the cover for Peter Newman’s The Vagrant. I’ve seen a rough of the cover for The Waking Fire and, suffice to say, it far exceeded my expectations so I’ll be very excited to share the final version as soon as Orbit lets me. You can view a gallery of Jaime’s work here: http://www.artpad.org/gallery/portfolio/
Pleased at long last to announce my new series ‘The Draconis Memoria’, the first volume of which – ‘The Waking Fire’ – will be published by Ace/Roc in the US and by Orbit in the UK in July of 2016. Many thanks to my agent Paul Lucas of Janklow & Nesbit, my editors at Ace – Jessica Wade and Susan Allison, and my UK editor James Long for all their hard work in making this happen. The Orbit press release can be viewed here. Below is the full text of the Ace press release:
ACE BOOKS TO PUBLISH AN ALL-NEW SERIES FROM
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR ANTHONY RYAN
New York, NY, July 22, 2015—Ace Books, an imprint of the Berkley Publishing Group, will publish The Draconis Memoria, a new fantasy series from New York Times bestselling author Anthony Ryan. Ace acquired North American and translation rights to three books from Paul Lucas at Janklow & Nesbit, and the series has been sold in Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom, where Orbit will publish. Ace will release the first novel in the series, The Waking Fire, in hardcover in July 2016.
Anthony Ryan began his career as a self-publishing sensation with the release of Blood Song, the first novel in The Raven’s Shadow trilogy. Sales began to rise and caught the attention of former Berkley Vice President and Editorial Director Susan Allison, who quickly acquired the trilogy and released Blood Song in hardcover in July 2013. The subsequent novels, Tower Lord (Ace, July 2014) and the recently-released Queen of Fire (Ace, July 2015), became New York Timesbestsellers. To date, The Raven’s Shadow trilogy has been published in fifteen countries, and over 200,000 copies of the novels have been sold worldwide.
The Waking Fire is set in a vibrant new world where the blood of drakes—creatures similar to dragons—is valued beyond reckoning, and can be distilled into elixirs that grant fearsome powers to those who are “blood-blessed.” The novel follows an unregistered blood-blessed as he searches for an elusive variety of drake so potent, its capture would mean unrivalled riches; the second in command of a blood-burning ironclad ship; and a young woman in a lifelong contract to a trading syndicate, whose espionage mission places her on the front lines of a newly declared war. As empires clash and arcane mysteries reveal themselves, these characters are tested again and again and soon discover that the fate of the world rests on their shoulders.
Ace Senior Editor Jessica Wade, who will edit the series, says, “The Draconis Memoria opens up an incredible new world for readers. It’s a perfect blend of engaging, complex characters, rich, incredibly inventive detail, and the trademark gripping storytelling on a breathtakingly grand scale that has made Anthony Ryan such a success. Readers have something amazing to look forward to.”
The Draconis Memoria is a remarkable new epic fantasy series with steampunk flavor, full of the phenomenal worldbuilding and non-stop action that have gained Anthony Ryan a global fan base.
