Just heard from my editor in the US, Lou Anders, that he’s bought the Kingdom of the Serpent sequence – Jack of Ravens, The Burning Man and Destroyer of Worlds – to be published shortly by Pyr.

For American readers, those books will finish off the massive story that began with World’s End in the Age of Misrule, a trilogy of trilogies covering more than two thousand years of human history, three worlds – this world, the Otherworld and the world beyond death – and our greatest mythologies.

Maybe I’ll stop getting all those emails now.

I’m on Stargate producer Joe Mallozzi’s blog talking about my short story in the just-released superhero anthology, Masked.

And a Writing For TV panel at the alt.fiction literature festival with me, Rob Shearman, Stephen Volk and Bill Boyes has just been made available as a podcast.”

I’m currently neck-deep in the second draft of The Scar-Crow Men, where I expect to be for a while, so it will be a little quiet around here.

But just to keep things ticking over, here’s a new interview about The Sword of Albion, by Sandy Auden at SF Site.

And here’s an appreciation of The Dark Age books by Rick Kleffel at The Agony Column, which also includes a look at Mark Charan Newton’s excellent Nights of Villjamur.

Art genius John Picacio has made his Pyr cover to World’s End available as free download wallpaper, including a version for iPhone.

You can get it here.

Is this going to stop all you lot asking for free Picacio artwork? Probably not. Sigh.

…is published today.

By John Picacio, coming soon from Pyr.

Art by Chris McGrath. Coming from Pyr.

I’m currently head down and writing the final part of the next book so it’s necessarily been a bit quiet round here. The Swords of Albion series is a departure on many levels from what I’ve done before, particularly the degree of necessary research ( and if you’ve read any of my books you know I do a lot of research). But it seems to be coming together pretty well, I think.

In advance of normal service being resumed, here’s a quick catch-up:

Firstly, take a look at the new cover for the Pyr edition of The Queen of Sinister, Book Two of The Dark Age. Once again it’s by the astonishing John Picacio.

Secondly, the first US review of The Devil in Green, Book One of The Dark Age, is in, and it’s from Rob Will Review. To be honest, I don’t read most reviews, even if they’re brought to my attention. I do what I do, and it’s up to readers to take it or leave it. But there are a handful of reviewers I respect, and I listen very closely to their criticism and try to improve my work accordingly. Rob is one of those. You’re probably already aware of the others. In fact, here’s another…

…from Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review. It’s the first UK review of The Sword of Albion, out in May from Bantam. Not only did Graeme like it, he made some good comments which I am now addressing in the next book.

Here’s the new cover to the US edition of The Devil in Green (Book One of The Dark Age) coming from Pyr in May:

The art, as with the previous and interlinked Age of Misrule titles, is by the great John Picacio.

Careful viewers will note the thematic links with John’s cover for World’s End, which echoes the themes in the two stories.

The blurb:
Humanity has emerged, blinking, from the Age of Misrule into a world substantially changed: cities lie devasted, communications are limited, anarchy rages across the land. Society has been thrown into a new Dark Age where superstition holds sway. The Tuatha De Danaan roam the land once more, their terrible powers dwarfing anything mortals have to offer. And in their wake come all the creatures of myth and legend, no longer confined to the shadows. Fighting to find their place in this new world, the last remnants of the Christian Church call for a group of heroes: a new Knights Templar to guard the priesthood as they set out on their quest for souls. But as everything begin to fall apart, the Knights begin to realise their only hope is to call on the pagan gods of Celtic myth for help.

US readers can order the book here.

As the UK edition is currently out of print, I don’t have any problem with British readers filling a gap in their collection with this one. You can buy an imported edition in the UK here.

I’m very gratified to see Destroyer of Worlds, Kingdom of the Serpent Book 3, sitting at number three in SF Site’s 13th annual Editors’ Choice Best Books of the Year.

It’s a prestigious list that gets a fair bit of attention. And frankly, the company is great: Daryl Gregory’s The Devil’s Alphabet at five, Julian Comstock: a Story of 22nd Century America by Robert Charles Wilson at four, The City and the City by China Mieville at two, and the hugely deserved Dust of Dreams by Steven Erikson in the top slot.

Here’s the SF Site review of the book and here’s a new review at the excellent NextRead site.

And as if by magic, the mass-market paperback of that book has just been published in the UK.

Came across a quote today (from Rabbi Jonathan Sachs, used in relation to the US finally passing its health care legislation) which perfectly summed up the theme of Age of Misrule, The Dark Age and Kingdom of the Serpent:

“Hope is the faith that, together, we can make things better. Optimism is a passive virtue, hope is an active one. It takes no courage to be an optimist, but it takes a great deal of courage to have hope. Hope is the knowledge that we can choose; that we can learn from our mistakes and act differently next time. That history is not a trash bag of random coincidences blown open by the wind, but a long slow journey to redemption.”

Here’s the finished article and a first look at the cover copy for the UK edition.

Very different from the US version (which the artist Christian McGrath styled on the work of Caravaggio, fact fans), but I like the sense of adventure and intrigue here too.

The front cover photo is by Jonathan Ring and the design by Stephen Mulcahey. The Sword of Albion is out in the UK from Bantam in May and you can pre-order it here.

Lou Anders, my editor at Pyr Books in the US, has done a brief round-up of some of the amazing reviews I’ve been getting in the US for The Silver Skull – out in the UK under the title The Sword of Albion, from Bantam, in May. To say, I’ve been bowled over by the US reception would be under-stating.

Lou has been working up the catalogue copy for the follow-up book, which will be announced in the US soon. In fact, it looks like there’ll be news of the sequel before the book is even out in the UK.

There’s also a new review of the The Silver Skull out today here. Enough blowing of trumpets.

Here’s the new cover for the mass-market paperback edition of Destroyer of Worlds, Kingdom of the Serpent Book Three:

Pretty much the same as the hardback, although the blue is darker, less vibrant. The marketing department felt the more muted tones worked better on the bookshelf. I don’t know if I agree.

Another perceptive review of the first book in the Swords of Albion series:

“Faeries. British Folklore. Alternate Elizabethan History. Magic. Spies. Political Intrigue. Christopher Marlowe. If these fantastic components weren’t enough to get me excited about reading The Silver Skull, the first novel in the new Swords of Albion trilogy, the fact that Mark Chadbourn is the author sealed the deal.”

The Silver Skull is out now in the US. The UK version – re-titled The Sword of Albion – is out in May.

Happy New Year everyone. A quick catch-up post as I get my head back into work-mode after the seasonal festivities, during which I saw and enjoyed both Sherlock Holmes and Avatar amid the usual carnage of what is my favourite time of year. I’m definitely a mid-winter person.

I’m currently snowed-in and watching the reports of Britain grinding to a halt (again). I’m afraid to consider how we’ll cope in a real catastrophe.

My work had a good showing among the usual “Best of…” lists, published at the end of 2009.

The Silver Skull (Swords of Albion) appeared in the favourite novels of Locus magazine critic Paul Witcover, SteveReads, Fantasy Book Critic Cindy’s best of 2009 list, and Fantasyliterature.com.

Meanwhile, Age of Misrule was flagged up in the best of 2009 lists of Rob Will Review, Fantasy Book Critic Cindy’s list (again!), and Nethspace.

Thanks to all.

Here’s a first look at the cover to the UK edition of the first Swords of Albion book, out from Bantam in April:

The first reviews of The Silver Skull prior to its US publication are starting to trickle in. Here’s one from Geeks on Fire! – favourite book of the year so far. I’m happy with that.

Also featured on: fantasyliterature.com.

(Usual note: UK publication to follow with a UK-specific edit.)

A nice Lord of Silence review from Robert William Berg.

The Silver Skull US Edition

It’s worth noting for US readers of this blog that the first Swords of Albion book is now available at the usual outlets across America. Elizabethan spies vs Faerie, in a line.

UK readers have to wait a few weeks – and I hope they do wait. If everyone rushes to import the US edition, my UK publisher (Bantam) isn’t going to be very happy. It’ll be worth the wait – for once, the UK and US versions may be quite different.

For one, the UK version probably won’t be called The Silver Skull (although that’s not yet definite). Secondly, the books have two different editors with different tastes and suggestions.

Often a book is edited and published in one territory first and then re-published in a new territory with minimal changes. But the Swords of Albion books were sold to the US and the UK simultaneously, and instantly went into the relevant publishing schedules with editors attached. The US one just ran through the process quicker. Once I’ve seen the editor’s notes on the UK version I’ll know how different the two editions are.

I have had an advance look at the cover for the UK edition and it’s excellent. Apologies to UK readers for the wait, but I promise for future books in the series the publication dates will be perfectly aligned.