Hey, all. If you’ve been following along, you know that my next big project is a book series called Skyward. This is my next YA project with Random House (though, like Steelheart, it walks the line between YA and adult–and is being published in my adult line with my other books in the UK.)
I am ridiculously excited about this book. It’s been on my “To Write” pile for years, and the opportunity finally arrived. It’s a little bit Star Wars, a little bit Ender’s Game. It involves a girl who wants to be a starfighter pilot who finds an old broken down ship that she decides to try repair in secret–while navigating flight school.
It’s being released November 6th. The official blurb follows, and the US cover reveal is happening right now on io9!
Spensa’s world has been under attack for hundreds of years. An alien race called the Krell leads onslaught after onslaught from the sky in a never-ending campaign to destroy humankind. Humanity’s only defense is to take to their ships and combat the Krell. Pilots are the heroes of what’s left of the human race.
Becoming a pilot has always been Spensa’s dream. Since she was a little girl, she has imagined soaring above the earth and proving her bravery. But her fate is intertwined with that of her father—a pilot himself who was killed years ago when he abruptly deserted his team, leaving Spensa’s chances of attending Flight School at slim to none.
No one will let Spensa forget what her father did, but she is determined to fly. And the Krell just made that a possibility. They’ve doubled their fleet, which will make Spensa’s world twice as deadly… but just might take her skyward.
Adam here. In this week’s new Writing Excuses episode, Character Nuance, Brandon, Mary, Amal, and Maurice talk about characters who have conflict built right into them; characters whose attributes and attitudes might seem to contradict one another; characters who like, y’know… actual people. Last week, in Tor.com’s continuing reread of Oathbringer, we jump back in Read the full article…
Adam here. I saw a ton of questions about Subterranean Press doing a limited edition hardcover printing of the final Stephen Leeds book, Legion: Lies of the Beholder, that would match the first two Legion books. In case you missed the announcement that went out earlier this week, Subterranean Press has started taking pre-orders on Read the full article…
Dragonsteel art director Isaac here. If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve probably seen me post about the maps for the latest Osten Ard books by Tad Williams: The Heart of What Was Lost and The Witchwood Crown. The original trilogy was what hooked me on epic fantasy in the late 80s/early 90s, and the Read the full article…
Adam here. In this week’s new Writing Excuses episode, Handling a Large Cast, Brandon, Mary, Amal, and Maurice discuss their favorite techniques for managing large casts of characters, and how their processes differ from when writing small casts. What does “large” and “Small” mean? Last week, we looked at foolish oaths, broken oaths, and the Read the full article…
