Chosen & Alex Verus #5

No Encyclopaedia this Friday (the last one in the Master and Apprentice series will be published next week, after which we’ll move on to something else).  Instead I thought I’d give you an update on general happenings in the Alex Verus series.

Copy-edits on Alex Verus #4, Chosen, are all done.  I’ve even seen the cover (the UK one at least) though I won’t post it just yet since it was only a draft version – it looks good though!  Effectively the book’s finished, which makes it a little bit weird that you’ll have to wait for the end of summer for the book to be released, but that’s publishing schedules for you.  Provisional release dates for Chosen are:

UK release:  September 5th 2013 (Orbit)
US release:  August 27th 2013 (Ace)

The positive side to the long wait time is that I’m effectively ‘ahead of schedule’ for writing the other Alex Verus books – the first draft of the as-yet-untitled Alex Verus #5 will almost certainly be finished before Chosen is released.  Speaking of Alex Verus #5, I’m in the middle of writing it at the moment, and I’m about 15% done.  It’s due in at the end of June.

Being one book ahead makes these kind of posts (and talking to readers in general) somewhat weird for me, since when readers ask me about the next book in the series, I’m spending all my time thinking about the book after the next book in the series.  It’s going to be even weirder when we get close to Chosen’s release date, since by then I’ll have finished #5 and I’ll be planning out the book after the book after the next book.

That said, since Chosen’s all done now – and since, due to having just finished the edits, I’ve been reminded of the story again – I can give you a sneak preview of some of what’ll be in it!  In Chosen you can expect the following:

  • Anne and Variam have joined Luna and Sonder as Alex’s friends and companions (at least to begin with).
  • Cinder and Deleo are back.
  • Several new characters are introduced, including a number of adepts and a Council Keeper.
  • An old character is returning.
  • There’ll be a lot more information about Alex’s past, especially what happened during his time as an apprentice.

The book’s also going to start the move towards a long-term story arc for the series.  It won’t reveal the details, but by the end you’ll know who the one initiating things is.

Right, that’s enough vague hints.  Time to get back to working on the new book!

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One Response to Chosen & Alex Verus #5

  1. Glad to hear more books are coming !

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