Lost Things is out at Barnes & Noble in the Nook First program, and will be exclusive to B&N until August 1. It's also selling AMAZINGLY well! Right now it's sales rank 151 overall in ebooks, and it's been in the top 100! This is absolutely phenomenal!
Two reader reviews on the site:
Lost Things is quite possibly the best book I’ve read all year, and the definition of exactly what I like the most is as tricky to pin down as its subject matter. I’m not sure what enthralled me the most: the perfectly paced, desperate chase across 1929 USA, France and Italy (complete with the most exquisitely described Airship you could imagine), or the brilliant occult-based sections where the Lodge, comprising our Heroes Alma, Jerry, Mitch and Lewis, flex their powerful but loosely trained Hermetic and Oracular abilities, or the overriding plot that describes the dark designs of a demon that wore the skin of Emperors and villains past and seeks more power again, or perhaps it’s just the sheer level of detail that brightens this story to a gleaming finish without showing off how clever the research is. You really are in 1929 here: the flying of new, powerfully-engined mail and passenger planes, the clothes and fashions, the architecture, the pre-feminist social attitudes, the occasionally xenophobic, post-Great War spirit of entrepreneurialism – it’s all rendered in such rich detail that you are swept along as the plot unfolds and our group of willing but nervous Heroes pursue their quarry back to where it was first bound, with many twists, turns and clever interventions along the way. The underlying tale of romance, both present and past, and strong moral belief, keeps the group together in faith as much as hope, and arms them suitably for the final conflict.
While this is a fantasy story, not historical fiction, the authors' research appears to have been meticulous, lending the fantastic elements credibility. I'm something of a history geek, particular 20th century occult history, and they nailed the feeling and supporting details of their hermetic lodge perfectly, while avoiding the temptation to share all their research with the reader which bogs down so many historical settings. I found the characters both likeable and believable. There are no larger than life heroes here - all are believable, flawed people. They've survived the horrors of the first World War with scars of one sort or another - physical, mental or both, but they're going on with their lives, and committed to doing work they believe in. The plot flows naturally. The pressure on the characters to prevent disaster builds steadily, but manages to avoid having any of the increasingly hazardous setbacks appear to be contrived purely for the sake of adding tension. I'm looking forward to the sequel, which I understand is already underway, with impatience.
I am so thrilled! And if you haven't already tried Lost Things, give it a try! I think it is really good!
Meanwhile, The Furies is also out! I'm fascinated to read some of the discussion about it around the web, and I'm delighted that people are enjoying it so much! This may have been my favorite of the Legacy books to write, and it's wonderful to share it with you.
Secrets, the fifth book in the Stargate Atlantis Legacy series, is currently at MGM for edits. My best guess is that it will be out at the end of August. I'm going to start posting previews and teasers for it very soon, so let me know what you'd like to see!
Also, The General's Mistress is moving toward its October publication date. The advance review copies are out to Publishers Weekly and other reviewers, and a very few copies have been shared with some lucky readers who won the contest here -- so hopefully reviews will be forthcoming! As always, I have my fingers crossed that all will go well. I began Elza's story in 1992, so I've lived with this book for so long that it's hard to believe that people are actually beginning to read it. This is truly the one closest to my heart, and I hope you find Elza as extraordinary a hero as I do.
Further down the road, Melissa and I have finished Steel Blues, the sequel to Lost Things, and it's in edits now, so hopefully it will be out early in the new year. I think it's even better than Lost Things!
Also in the pipe -- The Inheritors and our SG-1 novel, Moebius Squared, upon which there will be more later -- and the second book of Elza's, The Emperor's Companion, which has not yet sold but hopefully shall.
So talk to me! What are you looking forward to? What do you think of the books that are out? Questions? Comments? Things you'd like previews of? Questions about writing or selling or the process? And may you all have a lovely summer!
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