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Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Cover and Blurb Reveal: The Labyrinth Of Flame (The Shattered Sigil #3) by Courtney Schafer


Official Author Website
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Whitefire Crossing
Read Fantasy Book Critic's review of The Tainted City
Read Fantasy Book Critic's multi-author interview with Courtney Schafer

At Fantasy Book Critic, Robert and myself are big fans of Courtney Schafer and her Shattered Sigil series. The first two books: The Whitefire Crossing and The Tainted City were sumptuous reads and were both strong candidates in the best of 2011 & best of 2012 lists. We are mightily indebted to Courtney for giving us the golden opportunity to host this cover & blurb reveal of the final book in the Shattered Sigil trilogy. The cover art (above) is by series regular David Palumbo & the cover design is provided by Martha Wade.

Here’s what The Labyrinth Of Flame is going to be about:

Dev's never been a man afraid of a challenge. Not only has he kept his vow to his dead mentor, rescuing a child in the face of impossible odds, but he's freed his mage friend Kiran from both the sadistic master who seeks to enslave him and the foreign Council that wants to kill him. 

But Kiran's master Ruslan is planning a brutal revenge, one that will raze an entire country to blood and ashes. Kiran is the key to stopping Ruslan; yet Kiran is dying by inches, victim of the Alathian Council's attempt to chain him. Worse yet, Dev and Kiran have drawn the attention of demons from the darkest of ancient legends. Demons whose power Dev knows is all too real, and that he has every reason to fear. 

A fear that grows, as he and Kiran struggle to outmaneuver Ruslan and uncover the secrets locked in Kiran's forgotten childhood. For the demons are playing their own deadly game - and the price of survival may be too terrible to bear.


Now after the financial upheavals and the change of ownership of Nightshade books, many fans were reasonably worried about the publication of this title. Courtney however didn’t let this affect her plans for writing the third book and after taking all factors into consideration. She’ll be running a Kickstarter for the book in mid-February and if you want to stay updated about it. Then please be sure to sign up for The Labyrinth of Flame mailing list by emailing the author at Courtney(at)CourtneySchafer(dot)com (kindly replace the appropriate symbols).

The book has a tentative release date in spring of 2015 and so keep your eyes peeled for the Kickstarter in mid-February next year. Lastly if you haven’t read The Whitefire Crossing & The Tainted City until now, then mayhaps these fantastic blurbs ought to change your mind: 

"Book by book this story is building toward something remarkable. Schafer creates real people on the page that you can invest in then sets them loose in a fascinating and dangerous world. I can't wait to see what happens next, and you shouldn't wait either. Top rank fantasy." - Mark Lawrence, author of the Broken Empire trilogy

"Courtney Schafer has the gift of bringing this reader up to the brink, heart in my throat as I think--no! she's not really going to do that, is she?--and then ruthlessly dropping me over the cliff. That's why I love her books." - Kate Elliott, author of the Spiritwalker Trilogy

"Best new author I've encountered in years! Exquisitely paced, beautifully researched, with well written characters that live and breathe. Highly recommended!" - Janny Wurts, author of the The Wars of Light and Shadow series, on The Whitefire Crossing 

"Enthralling from the very first page, Schafer's novel lavishes rich characters and refined narrative on to a story of intensely personal scope. Refreshing and brilliant." - New York Times bestselling author Jason M. Hough, on The Whitefire Crossing 

It’s not very often that I get to say this, but Courtney Schafer’s The Whitefire Crossing is the complete package. Fully developed characters. Across the board world-building. Intriguing magic. Accomplished writing. Engaging storytelling. Thrilling adventure... Add it all up and there's no doubt in my mind that The Whitefire Crossing is not only one of the best fantasy debuts of 2011, but it’s also one of the year’s best fantasy novels period...” - Fantasy Book Critic (Robert Thompson) about The Whitefire Crossing 

Courtney Schafer takes her story in a slightly different direction whilst never compromising on the positives that made her debut such a stand out one. This book is another excellent book from this very talented lady and I for one can’t wait to see how it all goes down in The Labyrinth of Flame. I hope that the author continues her superb writing form, and surprises us all in the exciting climax to the Shattered Sigil series.” - Fantasy Book Critic (Mihir Wanchoo) on The Tainted City

NOTE: Author photo courtesy of Albert E. Bogdan and Courtney Schafer

5 comments:

Helen Lowe said...

Exciting to see Courtney's cover--and am thrilled that the "book is coming"!

Paul Weimer said...

I recognize that Canyon :)

Definitely looking forward to Labyrinth.

Courtney Schafer said...

Paul - haha, I knew everybody would think of Antelope Canyon. In truth I gave Dave pics from a whole bunch of canyons, most of which were in the Escalante and San Rafael Swell areas of Utah. (Neon, Leprechaun, Larry, for example, though I think I did have a pic or two of Antelope in there.) But a sandstone slot is a sandstone slot... :)

Steve MC said...

Wow. This is the best cover of the series. Even the flared colored font seems to fit best here, looking somewhat like flames, and the cool blue smoke off-sets it all really dramatically.

As a fan of her previous books, this one is a definite read.

Brad Beaulieu said...

The cover looks great, Courtney. Looking forward to the book coming out!

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