Also available in English!

For those of you whose German is as a rusty--or indeed non-existent--as mine, the option of reading Dragonchaser in English is perhaps more appealing. The self-publication is still available here, in every conceivable format bar e-book. Prices vary wildly with exchange rate fluctuations, but the best value edition is perhaps the paperback omnibus (bundled with the rather different The Zael Inheritance) currently at GBP £15.64.

While Dragonchaser was never successful in attracting a UK publisher, it's a still a book I believe in, and will probably appeal to those who enjoyed The Dog of the North. What's not to like about galley-racing, lethal political intrigues, and a man with a past run ragged by beautiful but manipulative women? Aficionados of familiar Stretton motifs will also enjoy a swordfight or two, a trademark hanging scene, and of course a fire, without which no story could be complete.

Exciting News on Dragonchaser!

The Dog of the North was not the first Mondia novel I've written. Before that, there was Dragonchaser, a tale of galley racing and political intrigue which I'd always felt deserved a wider audience. Sadly commercial publishers never shared that sentiment, but soon the discerning folk of Germany may get the chance to form their own judgement.

Editions Andreas Irle, a small press specialising in the translation of Jack Vance into German, has been working on Dragonchaser in the background for a while. Andreas, an old friend and colleague from the Vance Integral Edition, has now all but finished his translation, and I've also seen a draft of the cover. For copyright reasons I can't share that yet, but it's very pleasing in its restrained elegance. Andreas has used translator's licence to retitle the book Serendip, thereby naming the book after the hero's galley rather than the villain's (or to be more accurate, one villain to another; it's that kind of book).

We are hopeful that Serendip will be on sale in late 2010 or early 2011.

The Dog in the States

A couple of people have asked me about The Dog of the North's publication status in US, and shamefully I was rather hazy on the details. All I knew was that there was no separate US edition. I've now clarified the position with Macmillan and can report:

The paperback is distributed by our distribution partner IPG, one of the big names in US export distribution. This means that, while the book won’t be as visible as a US published edition would be, it will appear in the IPG catalogue and be presented to retailers nationwide, as well as being easily available for order locally.

New copies are available on Amazon.com Marketplace for $5.99 including postage, so come on guys! What have you got to lose?

The Dog of the North crosses the pond

My attention was drawn today to the following very favourable review of The Dog of the North in the US Publishers' Weekly. It's hard not to be satisfied with with a starred review that characterises the atmosphere as "almost Shakespearean".

The Dog of the North Tim Stretton. Macmillan UK/Tor (IPG/Trafalgar Sq., dist.), $14.95 paper (304p) ISBN 978-0-330-46083-5

Debut author Stretton skillfully chronicles court intrigue in rival city-states in this unique fantasy tale. Arren is a young boy taken from poverty and brought into the Lord of Croad's household. Beauceron, the Dog of the North, is a vassal of the Snow King of Mettingloom and obsessive in his desire to capture the city of Croad. Each plot line moves adroitly through themes of love and revenge toward a surprising climax. Stretton adeptly uses courtly, carefully structured discourse and Italianate names and places to evoke an almost Shakespearean atmosphere, providing hints to Beauceron's identity but never giving too much away. This cleverly plotted fantasy mystery is full of intelligent dialogue, enthralling characters, and dramatic world-building that will hold readers' attention to the last page.

On the Big Screen...
Avatar
dir. James Cameron

Last week, before the snows swept in, I caught the big budget spectacle that is Avatar at the cinema in 3D. It's fair to say that I went without particularly high expectations; and although the film was reputedly twelve years in the making, not much of that time seemed to go into the script. Nonetheless, overall the film exceeded my limited expectations. The 3D was genuinely jaw-dropping on occasion, and for a long film it zipped along with minimal longeurs. Of the plot, the less said the better: a confection of familiar ideas and conflicts, with not a single surprise in sight. There was no danger of the audience becoming so wrapped up in the story that they forgot to admire the special effects.

Avatar is great cinema, but not a great film.