Today the paperback of Sworn Sword hits the bookshelves! You’ll notice it has a brand new cover design (see bottom left), which really captures a sense of the drama contained within its pages and which I’m sure you’ll agree looks just as – if not more – striking than the original. Keep a look out for it in bookshops and supermarkets across the country.
The paperback also contains a sneak peek of the first chapter from the sequel, which is due out in hardcover and in all electronic formats this September. The title, I can reveal, will be The Splintered Kingdom. You heard it here first! More details, including the blurb and of course a picture of the jacket design, to follow in the not too distant future.
I’ll be signing copies of the Sworn Sword paperback in Waterstones in Hereford on Saturday 21 April, and I’m adding more dates to the calendar all the time, so keep checking my Events page to see if I’ll be appearing in your area in the coming months.
Also, if you’re a German speaker, look out for Der Pakt der Schwerter, which is set to be released on 17 April. Find out more on the website of my German publisher, Goldmann, and even read an excerpt.
Sworn Sword | Paperback | RRP £6.99 | Arrow | ISBN: 978-0-099-55941-2
Cover image for Der Pakt der Schwerter, due to be published on 17 April 2012.
It’s Sworn Sword, but not as you know it.
On 17 April the German-language edition, entitled Der Pakt der Schwerter, will be hitting bookshelves across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Published by Goldmann and translated by Jochen Stremmel, its 544 pages can be yours for the small sum of €9,99.
Goldmann have taken a different approach to the cover design to my UK publisher Preface, but I think you’ll agree the result is just as striking, evoking a sense of mystery as well as a lurking threat in the form of the the naked blade, both of which tie in nicely with the title, which in English translates as The Pact of Swords.
Here’s the cover blurb, for those among you who understand German:
Man schreibt das Jahr 1069. Drei Jahre sind vergangen, seit die Normannen England eroberten, doch ihre Herrschaft trifft noch immer auf erbitterten Widerstand. Der junge Ritter Tancred führt eine kleine Streitmacht ins rebellische Northumberland. Dort geraten seine Männer in einen Hinterhalt, bei dem sein Lehnsherr getötet wird. Statt diesem wird nun Tancred die Verantwortung für eine geheime Mission übertragen, von dessen gelingen das Schicksal des Königreiches abhängt.
And for those of you who don’t, here’s a translation, kindly supplied by Thomas Dyer:
The year is 1069. It’s been three years since the Normans conquered England, yet their rule is still encountering bitter resistance. The young knight Tancred leads a small troop of men into Northumberland, a county gripped by rebellion. It is there that his men fall victim to an ambush in which his feudal lord is killed. With his lord gone, it is now Tancred himself who is charged with a secret mission, on the success of which the fate of the kingdom depends.
I’ll post further pictures as soon as the first copies arrive. Until then, more information about the book can be found on the Verlagsgruppe Random House website.
17 April 2012 | Goldmann Verlag | ISBN: 978-3-442-47713-5 | €9,99 | Taschenbuch
First copies of the large print edition of Sworn Sword arrived recently and look fantastic. Published by AudioGO, one of the best-established large print publishers in the UK, it won’t be released commercially but instead will be available mainly in libraries and hospitals, as well as from hard-of-sight charities.
Apart from a few cosmetic changes to the front cover design and a snappier blurb on the back, the overall look is not unlike that of the original hardback. It’s inside that the real differences become apparent, as the photos below show.
There’s news too of the German mass market paperback edition, published by Goldmann, which is due to hit the bookshelves in August 2012. The title, I’ve been told, will be Der Pakt der Schwerter, which translates literally as The Pact of Swords.
I can’t wait to see the finished product, and I’ll post pictures here on the blog as soon as I receive advance copies next year. Eventually I hope to post a picture of all the different editions of the book – hardcover, paperback, foreign and large print – lined up next to one another: a kind of Sworn Sword family photo!
