Last year, The Winds of Khalakovo nabbed the Debut of the Year from Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist. Pat pinged me shortly after and asked if an ARC for The Straits of Galahesh was available. I said of course an ARC was available and promptly arranged for one to be sent with Night Shade’s publicist. Truth is, though, I’ve been biting my fingernails ever since. Authors are always looking for high marks, but those marks also set up high expectations for the next novel. You want to do better each time. So I was, well, not worried, exactly, but anxious about how Pat would respond to Straits.

Well, Pat finished up his read of Straits and just posted it on the Hotlist. Let me excerpt just a few paragraphs from the full review.

In addition, I’m not sure Bradley P. Beaulieu sat down and had a beer with George R. R. Martin at a convention in between books, but it looks as though he became fond of creating living and breathing protagonists that readers care about, only to kill them off when you least expect it. Indeed, The Straits of Galahesh features a body count that both GRRM and Joe Abercrombie would approve of. At one point I was left wondering who the hell would be left to make it to the third volume!

I had a bit of a chuckle at this. GRRM is one of my literary heroes. And while I don’t focus on body count, I’m not shy of it. This is a world in flux, and conflict is part and parcel of the story, and à la Glen Cook and GRRM himself, I want it to be muddy and bloody when death does come. I want it to have impact, and I don’t want to sugar coat it.

Interestingly enough, I have to give my editor, Ross Lockhart, a hat tip here. One of the characters who dies does so in a rather spectacular way at the tail end of a windship battle. He didn’t die a very spectacular death in the first draft. I had meant it to be a statement the senselessness of war, but Ross pointed out, correctly, that that’s a pretty crappy way for a hero to die. And damned if he wasn’t right. Fiction makes a different sort of sense than reality, and in this case it meant the character’s death should mean something to the plot, to the other characters, and perhaps even to himself. In a way, his death ended up being a statement about his own views on life, and I’m very glad I ended up changing it. (If you’re not sure who I mean, ask me at a con sometime. We’ll chat.)

And then this:

Dark, ambitious, complex, populated with a great cast of characters that leap off the pages, The Straits of Galahesh is just what the doctor ordered if you are looking for a quality read that’s different from everything else on the market today. The Winds of Khalakovo turned out to be one of the very best SFF works of 2011. Somehow, Bradley P. Beaulieu has raised the bar even higher for this sequel, making The Straits of Galahesh a “must read” speculative fiction title for 2012.

As I said above, we’re always looking to get better, and while I felt that I had, thinking you did is not the same as reader response. I’ve been very gratified by the reviews so far, in that they’ve all said that Straits takes a strong step forward, and I’m elated that Pat’s high expectations were met as well.

Click here to read the full review.

The latest review of Winds goes to Battle Hymns. Overall, a very nice review.

The setting here is a unique one. The place names and character names give The Winds of Khalakovo a distinct Russian feel, and the windswept archipelago geography is pretty cool too. I gotta give Beaulieu credit, he definitely found his story a unique setting without pushing epic fantasy readers too far outside of their usual European-like setting comfort zone. That said, there were a lot of the same elements that we see played out repeatedly in the genre at play here as well. Beaulieu does play with and challenge a few of these norms though, especially in terms of his female characters, and I for one was greatly pleased. Personally, I’d love to see more authors do the same thing as Beaulieu has done, but push the normative boundaries even further.

That’s a pretty gratifying paragraph. I was certainly trying to upend the notions of female roles in the societies I was portraying in Winds, not to such a degree that it was simple gender bending, but in a way that brought a new and interesting take on the power structures of this pseudo-medieval society.

Ryan expressed some trouble with the action scenes. Sarah Chorn at Bookworm Blues and a few other reviewers mentioned that their confusion might have resulted from the 3D space involved in the windship battles. Perhaps it was. Or perhaps I made things a bit too chaotic. I’m curious to see what people think of those types of scenes in The Straits of Galahesh.

In any case, my thanks to Ryan for the read and review. Click here to read the full review.

Fresh on the heels of the review from Bookworm Blues comes another review of Winds, this one from the Goatfairy Review Blog. The closing paragraph of reviews usually contains the coolest stuff, and this one is no exception:

The Winds of Khalakovo is the opening part of a series with limitless potential. I have super high hopes for the sequel, The Straits of Galahesh which was just recently released. Beaulieu has created a tremendously original world inhabited by compelling characters. What is not to love about a fantasy novel inhabited by airship flying Russians? The Winds of Khalakovo is a challenging read but it is certainly worth giving a chance and I am confident that Beaulieu can address the concerns present, and carry on all the stronger.

And, AND!, I got 7 out of 10 cheesewands! Whatever those are. Whatever they are, I’m sure they’re delicious. I may have to formulate a recipe so I can prove to everyone just how delicious they are.

You can read the full review at the Goatfairy Review Blog.

Share and enjoy!

Keith over at Adventures Fantastic recently read and reviewed The Straits of Galahesh. Keith had read The Winds of Khalakovo last year and was really impressed by it. Here’s that review. Well, he apparently likes Straits as well. Here’s the kicker:

If you read The Winds of Khalakovo, then you will want to read The Straits of Galahesh.  If you haven’t, then buy and read them both.  This one is full of excitement, suspense, and betrayal.  Lots of betrayal, some intentional, some not.  I’ve read a great deal of fantasy in the last year, and almost all of it was good to great.  The Straits of Galahesh was one of the best.

That wasn’t my favorite part of the review, though. This was:

It’s just that Beaulieu has taken his character development to a new level.  And not just with the three viewpoint characters:  Nikandr, Atiana, and Nasim.  The supporting cast of siblings, servants, soldiers, and others come alive as individuals.  I found this to be particularly true of Soroush, the terrorist leader who was one of the central villains in the first book.  Here he grows into one of the more heroic figures.  In short Beaulieu has created a cast of characters who live, breath, and about whom the reader cares.  He populates the book with them.

Then he kills them.

Not all of them, of course.  A number survive.  But no one’s survival is guaranteed.  At no time does Beaulieu kill off a character gratuitously.  Each death is logical and comes naturally from the events in the story.  None of these characters die for cheap emotional manipulation.  And once it sinks in that any one of these people may not make it to the last page, it heightens the suspense.

I don’t enjoy killing off characters. Then again, it’s necessary to do exactly what Keith describes, to make things more serious for those that survive. I’m gratified that it served that purpose, and that the deaths didn’t feel gratuitous.

If you want to read the full review, head on over to Adventures Fantastic.

Sarah over at Bookworm Blues recently reviewed The Winds of Khalakovo, calling it a book worth paying attention to and me and author worth noting.

Here’s a brief excerpt from the review:

Beaulieu has written an incredibly complex novel filled with rich cultural detail and plenty of symbolism. In fact, many reviewers have compared The Winds of Khalakovo to Steven Erikson’s Malazan novels in world building, meaning that readers might often have to go back to catch details they might have previously missed. This complex world building is a huge undertaking on the part of the author and could possibly serve to delight readers. Regardless of how you crack this egg, having your debut book compared to Steven Erikson’s Malazan books is one hell of an accomplishment. For fans of complex worlds and books that set an impressive foundation for an incredibly promising epic fantasy series, you need look no further than The Winds of Khalakovo. Despite its flaws, it’s a book to pay attention to written by an author worth noting.

You can read the review in its entirety over at Bookworm Blues.

In a special two-episode series over at Speculate!, Greg and I take a step back from our usual blend of reader response and writer analysis to look at the state of the speculative fiction field more generally, enlisting friend and fellow speculative fiction author and editor Paul Genesse to broaden the discussion. In Part 1, we focus most of our attention on E-books and self-publication, looking at trends in the field and where we think things may head next. And in Part 2, we focus on what makes a book a book, what the kids must think of all of this, and what’s next for our genre.

This is something I’ve been looking forward to doing for a while. It’s good to take a step back once in a while to see where we are as an industry. I think this series turned out great, and I’m looking forward to continuing these discussions in the future.

Head on over to Speculate! now to listen to Episode 40 and Episode 41.

The latest review for The Straits of Galahesh comes from Stefan Raets over at Tor.com. I have to say, I always love it when my work gets compared to other writers (in a favorable way, of course). In this case, it’s Robin Hobb with her Seven Duchies/Rain Wilds series and Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen series. I loved Robin Hobb’s Farseer Trilogy and The Liveship Traders Trilogy, but have yet to dive into the Rain Wilds. And any day you get compared to Steven Erikson is a good day in my book.

Here’s a brief excerpt from the review:

If you’re the kind of reader who enjoys Steven Erikson’s approach of throwing readers into a setting without too much guidance and letting the story do the job of explaining the details as it progresses, you should have a great time getting to know this fantasy universe. While that happens, you’ll be treated to healthy doses of feudal and international politics, strong characters, unique magic, romance, spectacular battles on land and in the air, and a story that continues to broaden in scope. The Lays of Anuskaya is shaping up to be a fine fantasy trilogy.

You can read the review in its entirety over at Tor.com.

Wow. It's been an entire year since The Winds of Khalakovo was released. It's strange, it feels like the year has been comprised of two separate wholes that have somehow coexisted even though they're traveling at different speeds through timespace. One part, the part that's been traveling at normal speed, is the day job, the family life. All that stuff feels as though a normal, typical year has passed. The kids have gotten older. I've gotten older. The day jobbery continues apace.

The writing part, though, feels completely different. That part feels as though years have gone by. The initial release of WINDS was very exciting—I was finally a published author!—but it was also exhausting, stressful, and demanding. I had some idea of the things I would have to do to try to promote myself; I just didn't understand the magnitude of those tasks. It takes so many disciplines. Organization, dedication, careful preparation. Technical skills to create trailers and maintain a website. Soft skills to go to readings and to create promotional materials. Dogged determination to follow through on all these things. A bright disposition so you don't come off like one of those cranky writers that never stops bitching even though they finally have what they've been working toward for years. And on and on.

Writing is, effectively, a small business, and as such someone has to do all the various jobs that need to be done. Early on, I'm afraid that's you and only you. I'll say it again. It's both exciting and exhausting.

There are dark times, too. If you haven't heard of the long tail of sales, you certainly will after you sell a book. It's great getting a rush of sales when a book comes out. But nine months later, when all the luster has worn off and it feels like everyone has moved on and you're still in the thick of the slog trying to wrap up the next book? Those are tough times. You start to wonder if your first book (or second or whatever) is going to be your last. You wonder if all of this is worth it.

Maybe it is and maybe it isn't. You'll have to decide the answer for yourself. As always, though, if you know what to expect, you can better prepare yourself. That's just part of the life of the full-time writer. And it's going to be hardest during that first novel when it's the first time you've experienced it. Next time, I'll be more ready. I'll also be ready to handle the grind of marketing. Some things are coming easier to me this year. I'm pushing myself to do other stuff, and hopefully I'm more efficient at all of it, and word spreads.

Getting this second book out feels really great, not simply because it's another book out in the world. It's also the second book in a trilogy. Two-thirds of the story is now out, and I'm closing in on the first draft for the final book. And that's a really cool feeling, to have this pretty massive story nearly wrapped up. Early reception of the book has been great, and I'm looking forward to hearing from more readers. And this brings up another positive thing. As the second book has approached, I've met a ton of people that have read WINDS and are coming back for more. What a change from when WINDS was released and nobody had heard of me outside my small circle of friends. That is one of the most gratifying things in this business, the chance to meet people that have read and liked your work.

I'm looking forward to the year ahead. I'm looking forward to pushing hard to get the word out on STRAITS. I'm also looking forward to putting The Lays of Anuskaya to bed. As much as I love the story, I'm also looking forward to the next tales. My fingers are already itching to start writing them.

I'd like to take a quick moment to thank those who have helped to spread the word. Your efforts have not gone unnoticed, and while I can't catch every single mention, I do appreciate all that you've done and will do to help bring new readers to the series. Thank you so much.

The Winds of Khalakovo is up for the David Gemmell Morningstar Award, and there are only TWO DAYS left to vote! Wow, that went fast. If Winds makes it into the top five, there will be a run-off for the final award. Well, there'll be a run-off either way, but my interest level will likely drop if I don't make it.

Click here for the ballot page, or here for the description page, which has links for each of the books and authors.

Good luck to all the entrants. It's a great field.

And my thanks if you cast your vote for my humble little epic.

The Straits of Galahesh Giveaway continues, and the response so far has been great! There's still another week to go to win one of the great prizes: a Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet (winner's choice), a Kindle Touch or Nook Simple Touch (winner's choice), a rare signed ARC of The Straits of Galahesh, and sets of The Winds of Khalakovo and The Straits of Galahesh. Click here for more information, including how to enter.

But I also want to let everyone know that Night Shade is sponsoring a giveaway through Goodreads. They're giving away FIVE copies of STRAITS (Canada and US only). Click here for the entry form over at Goodreads.

Good luck if you decide to enter!