And a couple of days later (as usual) the British readers get it too. Alex Verus #7 is available outside of the US as of today!
Tomorrow’s post will probably be a collection of reviews, and possibly a link to my PW interview (though probably not – I’m doing it today, but I don’t know exactly when it’ll go live). For now, I’m back to writing book #8!
And the seventh Alex Verus novel is finally out!
On sale in mass market paperback and on Kindle, as per usual. Audiobook version should be available by today, too. For now, I’m still spending all my time finishing the sequel!
And it’s finally here! Burned will be released in the US this coming Tuesday, on April 5th, and two days later in the UK, on April 7th.
I’m mostly still busy with book #8, but to mark Burned’s release I’m doing a radio interview with Publishers Weekly on the 7th – I’ll post up a link to it when it goes live.
For those of you who’ve been waiting for Burned, I hope you enjoy it – I had a lot of fun writing this one, and I think you’ll probably like it too. Oh,and if you do, feel free to leave a review at Amazon or somewhere similar – it does help.
Right, back to writing the next one.
Word count: 105k.
Projected word count: 110k (I really really hope).
Is the book finished: stop asking.
Deadline: hoping to only miss it by a month, if I’m lucky.
Mood: even more stressed.
About the best that can be said at the moment is that at least the first number is going up faster than the second one.
Word count: 100k.
Sections completed: 5, in theory.
Have I hit the projected word count for the book: yes.
Is the book finished: no.
Deadline: somewhere in the rear view mirror.
Mood: stressed.
Still inching along.
With less than a month to go before the release of Burned, here’s a very complimentary starred review from Publishers Weekly!
The seventh Alex Verus novel (after Veiled) may be the best so far in a consistently outstanding urban fantasy series. Jacka ruthlessly rips away all the protections that London-based diviner mage Alex built against his former master, power-hungry Dark mage Richard Drakh. While trying to reverse a death sentence engineered by a grudge-holding mage on Britain’s Light Council, Alex is distracted by a fiery assassination attempt that destroys his home and livelihood . . . Alex has been reliably clever and resourceful while remaining independent of both Dark and Light cabals, but this novel shows him recognizing his own desperate vulnerability. The stakes suddenly are much higher for Alex and his friends, putting the complex, sympathetic central characters in real peril and rousing serious concern in readers. As the action gathers momentum, a dramatic series climax hovers on the horizon. Fans of Jim Butcher and Ben Aaronovich absolutely should not miss this deeply intelligent, morally complex, and action-packed series.
Work on Alex Verus #8 is still going; don’t ask about the deadline. More updates as I go.
Chapter 1 of Burned is now available! You can read it here.
Only a month to go now – the book will be out on April 5th in the US, and April 7th in the UK.
Word count: 90k.
Sections completed: 4 and a bit.
Sections still to be completed: less than 1 (or at least I REALLY hope so).
Title: let’s finish the book first, okay?
Mood: very busy.
Deadline: way too close.
The saga continues . . .
A nice early review from Romantic Times. It doesn’t seem to have made it online yet, so no link, but here’s an image file. (Note: does contain some mild spoilers for Burned, but nothing you wouldn’t find out from reading the blurb.)
In other news, Alex Verus #8 is at 90,000 words and edging closer and closer to the finish line. Still hoping to make the end of the month, but if I do miss it it probably won’t be by much.
From: Joseph
Dear Luna,
Just had a few questions regarding life magic.
1. Regarding life mages, I imagine they can affect animals just as well as humans. However, can they detect and manipulate other forms of life, like plants or even microbes? Could a life mage make a modern day equivalent of the Black Plague or on the flipside, create “super” plants for agricultural purposes? Is there a life mage equivalent of DC’s Poison Ivy out there?
2. Can life mages harvest life energy from animals just as much as humans? Their “touch of death” is supposed to transfer life energy from the target to them, which I imagine they could use to boost themselves, such as their own self-healing.
3. Can life mages affect their own neurological functions? I mean things like being able to react faster, process detailed information faster, being able to stay calm by dumping the appropriate neurotransmitters, etc? Could they potentially even resist a mind mage’s mental attacks or domination attempts using this ability?
4. Do we know anything to what extent life mages have control over genetic information? Could a life mage perform gene therapy, cure cancer, GIVE someone cancer, etc?
5. How does life magic and death magic interact? I know that other life mages can resist the whole life mage touch of death thing, like Anne did at one point. Can a life mage resist the non-kinetic portion of a death mage’s attacks, just the part that uses negative energy and vice versa, can a death mage prevent a life mage from draining them even on touch?
Thanks for being patient with me,
Joseph
1. Yes, kind of, but it depends on the life mage. There’s a big gap between the ‘healer’ type mages, who specialise in putting bodies back together the way there were, and the ‘morpher’ ones who go in for changing them completely. There are Poison Ivy types, but they’re less common than the healers, as far as I know. Plus, the plant still has to work.
2. Yes, but it doesn’t work as well. Apparently there are some issues with taking the life energy of one species and draining it into a different one. Anne’s never told me exactly what happens if you try it, but I have the feeling it could be uncomfortable.
3. Kind of. They can mess with their body chemistry to affect their mood, but really high-level stuff like resisting mind magic would be out of their reach. Plus, since it’s basically the equivalent of self-medicating, you’d expect the same issues you get with heavy use of drugs.
4. I know Anne can’t cure cancer, because I’ve asked – her magic works by encouraging damaged tissue to regrow, and encouraging a bunch of cancerous tissue to grow more is exactly what you DON’T want to do. There are other life magic treatments that work better, but according to Anne it depends a lot on the patient. Though you’ll still have better odds than you would by going to a doctor.
5. Yes, kind of. It comes down to who’s better with their magic. Life mages are one of the only types that death mages are actually scared of, but then, death mages don’t have to worry so much about just being shot from a distance.
From: Holly
Hi Luna,
Was Alex still an apprentice when he left Richard? If so, how did he
graduate to becoming a full Mage?
Thanks
H
This gets in to the whole can of worms about what exactly makes someone a ‘mage’. If you’re Light, then it’s all about permission. You sign up for your journeyman tests, you wait a while, and assuming the Council lets you take them, you pass and you have a ceremony and you’re officially a journeyman, congratulations, here’s your pointy hat.
If you’re a Dark mage, then it’s a lot simpler. You call yourself a mage, and that’s that. Yes, it really is that simple. Of course, if you only started learning magic last month and can barely make a light spell, then calling yourself a ‘mage’ is like some pimply-faced nerd calling himself ‘Panther’. You’ll either get laughed out of the room, or if you keep it up long enough to annoy the wrong person, you’ll get hurt.
You really only get problems when the two systems mix and you have Light mages that Dark mages don’t think count, and Dark mages that Light mages claim aren’t authorised. Usually Light and Dark mages deal with that particular problem by not talking to each other in the first place.
From: master of your fate
Hey Luna I get the feeling that Alex while skilled as a Seer has fully mastered his magic, so how would he rank himself as a Seer 10 being Helikaon an 1 being those phony tv psychics.
Also Helikaon said Alex is loud when path walks what does mean?
Alex would probably say he’s a 7 or so, though it depends on the sub-type. For example, Alex is pretty bad at auguries, but he’s great at combat divination. When it comes to defensive precognition, I’d guess he’s as good as Helikaon.
As for being loud when Alex path-walks, I have no clue. Doesn’t mean anything to me.
