Die Fernen Lande - Finally In Hand

You know that I always love receiving foreign copies of my books. This one isn't new. Been out for a little while now in Germany. But I've just received a few copies all my own. It's a pretty book...

I think I'll toss one in the package I'm sending over to Pat Rothfuss for this year's Worldbuilders charity campaign.

A Trio of Reviews

Last week Jessica Nani of ScienceFiction.com wrote a very nice review of Acacia: The War with the Mein. She promised to continue with the other two books of the trilogy. And she has!

Her review of The Other Lands is HERE.

And her conclusion with The Sacred Band is HERE.

It's quite a treat to see all three books reviewed in short order - as a package!

Acacia Trilogy Week!

The insightful and intelligent Fantasy Matters blog has done something I'm very pleased about. They are featuring not just The Sacred Band, but the entire series on their website. Apparently, it's Acacia Trilogy Week!


What a fine thing.

They have posted a piece by yours truly which you can go directly to HERE.

They also have a recap review The War With The Mein and The Other Lands.

They've weighed in on The Sacred Band too. You can read that review HERE.

And the Fantasy Matters website address in general is HERE. It's a worthy one to have bookmarked!

Acacia: Die Fernen Lande

Just want to acknowledge that The Other Lands debuts today in Germany! I'm very pleased about this. I absolutely love the way that Blanvalet has presented my books, and I really appreciate the faith they have in them.

Of course, I hope to hear that they're signing on for The Sacred Band, but it's early days for that.

Today, I'm just happy to be aboard this boat...

It's available HERE, at Amazon.de if your German is up to it!

Two Reviews

Daniel A. Rabuzzi has posted a terrific review of The Other Lands at Lobster and Canary.

And Allan Fisher has given Acacia wonderful treatment at the UK site Fantasy Book Review.

Very pleased by both of them.

The Other Lands, Version Wee (Small)

The Other Lands is out in bookstores in the US as of yesterday!

I hope very much that it’s in a store near you. Go check for me. If it’s not, ask somebody in the store what they’re thinking! If it is… well, consider buying one. For a friend if not for yourself. Spread the word? Why not? They’re cheap at $7.99. They won’t exactly fit in a trouser pocket, but you could slip one in a coat pocket. And fall is coming - despite the 90 degree temperatures here in Massachusetts the last week. Anyway…

Oh, and I’m very pleased to remind Kindle readers that the ebook version is now $7.19. Yay! Discounted as it should be for you all. I hope that any folks that put off buying it at the higher price point will give it a shot now.

For my part… well, things are low key. I’m not heading off on book tour or any such thing. I’m up in the woods, walking the puppy, settling my kids into the new school year (we’ve homeschooled for several years, but they’re going to local elementary school this year, very exciting for all involved), and seriously buckling down on Acacia 3. (This is made easier because the kids are in school, actually.) I still have a lot to do, but the end is in sight. I’m going to finish this thing in the next few months, get it to Doubleday, and then hopefully we’ll stay on schedule for a late 2011 publication.

If you’re reading the series thank you for your patience.

If you’re not, we’ll how about starting?

Hey, There's A Pub Date Coming!

What with travel, a new pooch, and a few other things of significance having happened recently I've almost forgotten that the paperback of The Other Lands is just about to pub! It's in stores on August 31st! I very much hope you'll pick up a copy for yourself (if you haven't read it) or for a friend (if you have read it and would be kind enough to pass it on).

For my part, I'm making good progress on Acacia 3. I'll have more specifics on that as we head into the fall.

I Do Give Quarter - To Most People, That Is

I know. An author shouldn't give much thought to negative reviews, but sometimes people say things so stupid I can't resist. Take, for example, my latest three star review of The Other Lands (Acacia, Book 2) on Amazon. It's not very in-depth or anything, but I can't help shaking my head at this line:

"Durham picks up like the names and events might be as familiar as if the reader finished reading the first book the day before, and he gives no quarter to the fact that his readers might need a refresher on the story and characters."

Really? I give "no quarter" that a reader might "need a refresher"?

Ah... How about the fact that the book begins with a five page synopsis of the major characters and plot points of the first book? It's titled They Story So Far, with the subtitle As related in Acacia, the first book of the trilogy... I wrote it exactly because I thought readers might appreciate a refresher, exactly because I wanted them to be able to enter the story with things fresh in their minds. I've had lots of readers mention to me how much they appreciated it when they began the book. That's been gratifying.

Anyway... that's the fact of the matter. This particular reviewer skipped it, ignored it, lied about it, or just didn't really read the book. He was mistaken, or stupid, or malicious. That's often the case, but it never stops me from being surprised by it...

Typographical Idiosyncrasies

Geez. Ever suspect that written text rewrites itself while nobody is looking?

I recently had a few queries from Anchor as they prepare for the massmarket release of The Other Lands later this summer. Seems the copy editor found some mistakes and wanted to run them by me.

Mistakes? Now, a year after the book had been put through the editorial mill by Doubleday? Surely not!

Er... or maybe so. They produced several gems that I'll not repeat here. Happily, they won't appear in the paperback. They will live on the hardback, of course, but that's part of what makes hardbacks worth it. Little... um... typographical idiosyncrasies (that's what I call mistakes whenever I can).

I guess I can be thankful that I have a publisher that copy edits a book that's already been copy edited. Nice to have professionals involved...

The Finished Mass Market US Cover...

...of The Other Lands (Acacia, Book 2) looks like this:

Works for me.

Fourth Annual BSCreview Book Tournament

This may be a lost cause from the start, but I won't go down without a fight!

BSCreview has just begun their annual contests for best novel of the year. The voting is entirely done by the general public, in a series of rounds that puts books against each other one on one, sort of like a joust. The winner moves on the next round, etc. The basic description is HERE.

They've been kind enough to include me in their long list of contestants. But it just so happens that my first round bout is against Cherie Priest's Boneshaker. Now that's cruel. Boneshaker was a real crowd pleaser last year, with lots of fans that will likely rally to her cause. So, I may be out early, friends.

But if you want to help me have a shot please do! The match is HERE. Thing is, if you're going to vote it has to happen fast. I think this round is only open today through tomorrow evening. So, if you're a fan, pop over there and say so!

The SF Site on The Other Lands

I just noticed a kindly review on the SF Site. What's the use of a blog if I can't use it point you toward such a thing.

It's HERE!

RevolutionSF on The Other Lands

I just noticed a very nice review of The Other Lands (Acacia, Book 2) over at the RevolutionSF site. The reviewer, Peggy Hailey, has reservations about second books in unfinished trilogies; hey, so do I! But she overcame them rather nicely in this case. Among other things, she writes:

"The various pieces are being moved into place for what looks like a truly epic endgame, with Acacia facing seemingly impossible threats both from without and within. Given the amount of care and thought that has gone into the story so far, I have no doubt that I will enjoy the trip wherever David Anthony Durham decides to take us."

You can read the whole thing HERE.

Locus: Three Out Of Four

Locus has just come out with their list of recommended titles from 2009. Alas, The Other Lands (Acacia, Book 2) isn't on the list. Sigh. Not that I'm surprised. I don't think Locus reviewed me this time around, and that kind of precludes later inclusion in a "Best Of" list. Such is the way it is, though, and one must remember that you can't have everything. In this case, there's a balance that still leans in my favor.

Locus did, for example, give me a doozy of a great review for Acacia: The War with the Mein. And this year they also published Jeff VanderMeer's reaction/list of his own. The Other Lands features nicely on that one.

And... I'm to be featured in an interview in an upcoming issue! So I'll get to have my say within their pages in my own words. All in all I'm quite happy about it.

Now, if the New York Times would just remember how much they used to love me…

New Cover

I'm writing from the lobby of the hotel at Boskone. Just taking a break for a sec. It's been good, but I'll keep this quick.

I just got a glimpse at the cover Doubleday has planned for the massmarket paperback of The Other Lands. It's the same basic image, but retooled a little. Take a look...

Small Thing

The Other Lands now has a page for the mass market paperback edition on Amazon. And I've a sales rank, which means at least one kind person has actually ordered it!

Don't necessarily wait until August 31st to pick one up, though. The hardbacks really are lovely, and they're available now!

Strange Horizons...

...has just posted an amazing review of The Other Lands (Acacia, Book 2)!

Niall Harrison is the reviewer, and I couldn't be more pleased with the treatment he's given the book. Yes, I like it because it's positive. But it's more than that. Niall thoroughly engages with the book on many levels, giving it not so much a thumbs up or down treatment, but something more akin to probing criticism at its best.

Yes, folks, it's true; I'm a fan of Niall's. You will be too, if you read the review HERE!

69

Hi. I've just been page 69'd again.

This is in reference to the site that invites authors to discuss page 69 of their book, with an eye toward how much it does or doesn't reflect the book in general.

Does it for The Other Lands?

Um... Take a look HERE to see.

Publishing Presents 1

Two of my foreign publishers sent me cool things recently. One of them I'll write about tomorrow, but for today I offer this...

And what's that? It's a hardback edition of the British The Other Lands (Acacia, Book 2). Why is that cool? Because they actually published the book as a paperback. This one is a special edition done for the Book Club Association. A book club! I didn't even know one of those was in the works. I'm chuffed, though. This one is rather small format, tight pages with some fine print. It's a mini - and hard - version of the book. I like.

And tomorrow, I'll tell you what my French publisher just sent me...

A Couple Of Reviews

Noticed a pretty nice one in the San Jose Mercury News today. They slipped me in after Cory Doctorow, but I don't object to that. Actually, I think Cory had tails on his tux at the Hugos, so think of me as sliding in on them... The reviewer does want me to write faster than two years between books, though. Hmmm. Sorry. Not happening this time around.

The other one is from a web journal called Alexander's Philosophy. There's not a thing for me to complain about. Seems a perfect reading of the book and things I was hoping to do with it. Thank you much.