Fantasy Book Critic: Winners of the R. Scott Bakker Giveaway! Plus News (Nightshade Partnership, New Fantasy Trilogy to be published by Solaris)

Congratulations to Leslie McEwan (Massachusetts) and Diana Giblette (Colorado) who were both randomly selected to win a SET of R. Scott Bakker’s The Prince of Nothing Trilogy (New Paperback Editions) including copies of The Darkness that Comes Before, The Warrior Prophet, and The Thousandfold Thought!!! Each winner will also receive an ADVANCE READING COPY of R. Scott Bakker’s new book “The Judging Eye”, all thanks to The Overlook Press! “The Judging Eye” will be officially released in the U.S. on January 22, 2009 with a review forthcoming from Liviu C. Suciu :)

In news, Night Shade Books has joined forces with World Fantasy Award-nominated magazine Electric Velocipede. Like a pair of steam-powered metal titans joined together to form a mighty behemoth, the pair plans to march forward in unison, changing the genre fiction battlefield for the better.

Electric Velocipede is a critically acclaimed science fiction/fantasy/cross-genre magazine published twice a year. Issues of Electric Velocipede have included works by award-winning authors such as Jeffrey Ford, Jeff VanderMeer, Alex Irvine, Liz Williams, Hal Duncan, Charles Coleman Finlay, and others. Many stories appearing in Electric Velocipede have appeared in the recommended reading lists for both the Year's Best Fantasy & Horror and Year's Best Science Fiction for several years running. Electric Velocipede editor John Klima will remain at the helm of the magazine, relying on Night Shade Books' expertise and deep market penetration to help shepherd the magazine to the next level.

In celebration of this momentous alliance, Night Shade Books and Electric Velocipede are proud to announce a subscription drive: sign up for a one year subscription or renewal, and we'll send you your choice of any two in-print Night Shade paperbacks or trade hardcovers! Just list your selections in the comments field when placing your order. Sorry, this offer applies only to United States subscribers only. Books must be in-print and available from Night Shade Books at the time the order is placed, and will be shipped concurrently with Electric Velocipede double issue #15/16. Night Shade Books reserves the right to make substitutions.

Subscriptions are for four issues, starting with the current issue. New subscriptions will begin with double issue #15/16. Double issues will be counted as two issues. Renewals are also four issues, starting with the next issue after your current subscription ends. Offer expires January 8, 2009. For more information, visit www.nightshadebooks.com/velocipede

Moving on, John Jarrold has concluded a three-book deal for Australian fantasy writer Rowena Cory Daniells with Christian Dunn of Solaris, the mainstream genre imprint of Games Workshop’s publishing division, BL Publishing. The series is entitled King Rolen’s Kin and the first book, provisionally called “Byren’s Bane”, is due for publication in early 2010. The deal is for World English Language rights.

The books follow the lives of three of King Rolen’s heirs, when their kingdom, Rolencia, is invaded by their ancestral enemy, Merofynia. A sweeping fantasy adventure, the narrative explores the eternal questions of ambition, trust and betrayal.

Rowena Cory Daniells first became involved in speculative fiction in 1976. Since then she has run a bookshop, then a graphic art studio where she illustrated children's books, sold nearly thirty children's books and a fantasy trilogy (The Last T’En) internationally, established R&D Studios and served on the management committees of state and national arts organizations. She lives by the bay in Brisbane with her husband and children, and has a Masters in Arts (Research).