Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Kickstarter Day 28 (1 day left!): Interior art and Ultimate Fan Reward Raffle

Big news: The Labyrinth of Flame Kickstarter passed the interior art goal!!!!  I just...I...wow. WOW.  I keep staring at the project page in dazed delight.  I really was not sure if we'd make it.  But now, to think the book is going to have Kristina Carroll's amazing art in it...oh goodness, I can't stop smiling.

That's not all I'm excited about, either! I know some of the biggest fans of the Shattered Sigil series don't have $900 to plunk down for the Ultimate Fan reward.  So starting today I'm running a drawing for interested backers, where one person will get their reward upgraded to Ultimate Fan level.  Rules are simple: comment here with your backer name and the name of a book you wish more people would read.  One entry allowed per backer; drawing is open until midnight MDT Thursday Mar 19.   On Fri the 20th I'll randomly choose one commenter for the reward upgrade.  Notification of winner will happen here on the blog and via Kickstarter message and update.

(What is the Ultimate Fan reward?  Here's the description from my KS page: "I'll write a short story set in the Shattered Sigil world featuring the characters of your choice (and I'll name a new character after you if you like!). Plus you get a signed set of trade paperbacks of the entire series, DRM-free ebook of The Labyrinth of Flame (and ebooks of the first two novels if you don't have them already), hi-res image of series map, 18x24 poster of the cover art for Labyrinth of Flame, your name in the acknowledgments, and your choice of a peak climb, skating lesson, climbing lesson, or lunch with me at a convention.")    

Good luck to all!  Looking forward to seeing what books you recommend.  In closing, I offer pics from Kit Carson Peak  in Colorado's Sangre de Cristo range, because Kit Carson is top of my list for "14ers I want to try again."  The Sangre de Cristo loom high over Great Sand Dunes National Park in a way that reminds me happily of the Owens Valley and eastern Sierra:

Sand dunes to the left, Sangre de Cristo in background

After playing about on the dunes for a while, my husband and I backpacked into Willow Lake on the peak's western side.  Willow Lake is one of the most scenic places I've camped in Colorado - the lake itself is beautiful, and the ridges around it have all kinds of fascinatingly odd rock formations.  Plus there's a local herd of bighorn sheep that wander about the lakeshore, displaying very little fear of humans.    

Willow Lake
Knobby ridge
I could spend weeks here scrambling up all the side peaks
Bighorn sheep visiting our campsite
On the day we had planned to climb Kit Carson, the weather did not cooperate.  Heavy fog blanketed the mountain (complete with graupel and sleet).  We started up the class 3 route but the rocks were icy and our visibility nil; we couldn't be sure of staying on safe terrain, so we turned around.  So it goes, in Colorado! But I was not sad. Turning back just meant I had the perfect excuse to return to Willow Lake some day.  And if you win the Ultimate Fan raffle, maybe you can even come with me.  (But it's okay if you just prefer to have a nice sedate lunch. :)    

50 comments:

  1. Paul Weimer
    There are lots of books I wish more people would read, but I will go with a mutual friend's book. Teresa Frohock's Miserere is a wonderful dark fantasy, rich and full of interesting characters. It deserves a wider audience!

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    1. I agree! That books deserves way more love!

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  2. My kickstarter name is Elizabeth and I wish more people had read Pauline Alama's The Eye of Night.

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  3. I'm pretty sure mine is A Grace. And Yeesus H, you want me to name just one book? Belgariad? Susan Cooper? Hmm, maybe a toss up between Robin Hobb, and CJ Cherryh. Robin Hobb's Golden Fool. That'll do me.

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  4. Andreas Leathley
    I wish more people would have read the Babylon 5 books (especially Techo-Mages Trilogy and Centauri Prime Trilogy) - this may seem nerdy, but Babylon 5 is - in my opinion - one of the best sci-fi (& fantasy) series there ever was and still holds up today. The books are at least as good as the series and improve on the series narrative, as many lingering questions/contradictions are answered and they are well written. Unfortunately some of the books haven't been printed for years and are hard to find. Many people who are fond of fantasy/sci-fi would probably be surprised how much they would like these books.

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    1. Oh that's awesome, I've just been re-re-re-re-re-reading parts of the first Centauri Prime book. :) Peter David occasionally gets a bit OTT in his storytelling, but I thought he handled these books very, very well.

      The Techno-Mage books are also quite good, though not quite on the same level for me personally.

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  5. angelmercy on kickstarter

    And one book I can totally recommend is Joe Haldeman's Forever War!!

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  6. Ryan Young
    I wish more people read the Codex Alera novels by Jim Butcher. Its one of my favorite novels, with rich world building, and a very imaginative magic system.

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    1. Adore Codex Alera so much - definitely a fantasy fave of mine. In an alternate universe, perhaps that series hit it big instead of Twilight.

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  7. Nancy K on Kickstarter
    I wish more people would read The Icarus Hunt by Timothy Zahn. It's an excellent combination of sci-fi, action adventure, interesting characters, murder mystery, intrigue, and humor. It's just plain fun to read, and it's a stand-alone novel so no need to commit to a long series.

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  8. Alissa on Kickstarter.
    I really wish there would be more readers who cherish immersive and challenging series, series meant to make one think. I will forever recommend "To Ride Hell's Chasm", an epic fantasy gem, standalone, superbly written, fast-paced and with great depth of the whole cast of characters.

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  9. Let's try again. I'm having trouble. It's hard to pick one... I love the works of Jack Vance and L. Sprague de Camp, not to mention the fantasies of Niven & Pournelle (Inferno books), and C.S. Lewis, but to pick one, I'll go with Robert Heinlein's "Job: A Comedy of Justice," a unique and humorous take on religious dogma (and, speaking of Dogma, "Dogma" is one of my favorite films... but that's a discussion for another day).

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  10. Kristen Bell on Kickstarter.

    It's hard to pick just one book I wish more people would read, but I'm going to choose THE SILVERED by Tanya Huff. I loved this book, a standalone fantasy with a great cast of characters.

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  11. Sorry if this is a duplicate post. I've tried several times with both Safari and Chrome, and Blogspot doesn't seem to want to accept me.

    I'm Adrianne Middleton on Kickstarter. One of my favorite under-appreciated authors is Martha Wells. The Wizard Hunters is the first in her Il Rien trilogy, and it is a delight to read. It's got a great adventure, an incredible heroine, steampunk before steampunk became a thing, and a touch of romance. What could be better?

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  12. Since you mentioned the Sangre de Cristo range, my choice for a book would be Red Sky at Morning, by Richard Bradford. It's from 1968, but could easily be a YA novel today, with its coming of age tale of a teenager moving to Salgado and meeting a great cast of characters.

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  13. I can't believe you specified "one book". THIS IS HARD. My choice is definitely vN by Madeline Ashby, the Robot Book of my Heart. ROBOT CANNIBALISM, robots in love <3 <3 <3, FAMILY, technological adventure!! (Kickstarter: Renay)

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  14. I'm KendallPB on Kickstarter, and I'd like to nominate the high fantasy novel "The Door Into Fire" by Diane Duane - #1 of 3* (yes, it's a trick!). You can buy the ebooks directly from her.

    * Sadly, #4 was never written because the series didn't sell well enough, but don't worry - it ends in a good spot - you won't regret it!

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  15. I'm Amelia Smith on Kickstarter. I'd recommend Flesh and Spirit & Breath and Bone by Carol Beg. Technically that's two books, but it's really just one story.

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  16. The Kickstarter ID is Sara Hemenway, but this one was my idea, not my wife's, so Labyrinth can be mine all mine! :) I'm Larry. As for one book I wish more people would read.. that's tough, because there are so many amazing books. But I'll put forward Of Blood and Honey by Stina Leicht. It's urban fantasy with the Irish Time of Troubles as the backdrop; the first of (currently) two with a third hopefully to come. (Especially if more people read the first two? :) )

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  17. Arul Isai Imran and my recommendation is 'Riddle in Stone' by Robert Evert

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  18. I'm Alexander Doganov on kickstarter. I would recommend Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. A wonderful and heartwrenching novel.

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  19. Hi, I'm V.L. on kickstarter, and this is bloody hard, picking just one of my favorite books I wish more people would read and talk about. But I found one. "The Changeling Prince" by Vivan Vande Valde.

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  20. Ria Bridges on Kickstarter. And there are so many books that I think more people should read, but I think I'm going to go with Nnedi Okorafor's "Who Fears Death." It's an amazing novel, and I don't hear enough people talk about it.

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  21. My Kickstarter name is Lisa Taylor. There are so many books I would love to see more people read. Today I will pick Moon's Artifice by Tom Lloyd

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  22. Posting on behalf of Andres Haralson:

    Andres Haralson on Kickstarter. The books I would like to recommend is Zones of Thought series by Vernor Vinge and Gentlemen Bastards series by Scott Lynch

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  23. Posting on behalf of Melanie Jacobs:

    "More people should read the Lymond chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett."

    (I totally second this, by the way. Dunnett is my favorite author and her Lymond books my fav series of all time!)

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  24. (Angela Banks on Kickstarter)

    Like many here it is too hard to pick just one book, in the end I could only get it narrow as a duology. Jacqueline Carey's Banewreaker and Godslayer. which together make up The Sundering. It has a very Lord of the Rings epic feel except that we are given a nice big window on the 'evil' side of things. which is perhaps my favorite part of these books.

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  25. (Amanda Woods)

    If I had to pick just one, it'd be Covenants by Lorna Freeman. But beware, if you get into it. It doesn't look like the fourth book is going to be published, sadly.

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  26. My name is Bart Vonk and I recommend Assassin's apprentice of Robin Hobb. I love all her work, but this is the first one and got me hooked on her work ;-)

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  27. Scott Myron on Kickstarter :D

    There are a lot of books I want more people to read, but I guess I would pick Joe Hill's graphic novel series, Locke & Key. Amazing story and characters by Stephen King's son, backed up with lots of great artwork, well worth reading, especially for any fans of horror.

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    1. I actually know nothing about the series, but did enjoy playing the card game based off it once upon a time, enough to add it to my Amazon wishlist. The fact that I won didn't hurt. :)

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  28. Posting on behalf of Rebecca C:

    "I would like to highly recommend Warchild, by Karin Lowachee. I just discovered this book recently, and was surprised by how deeply I got drawn into it. My limited experience with "war-themed" sci-fi is that most of it is very gritty, or focused on world-building, told on a large scale with large casts; but the main character's journey in this book is an emotional one, viewed from a tight, singular lens. Basically, it's the equivalent of a feelings punch to the stomach."

    (I second this one as well! Read Warchild myself recently & was really impressed by Lowachee's handling of character development.)

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  29. I am Brandon C on Kickstarter and if I had to pick one book? Tough choice I'd say Grass by Sherri S Tepper or Galveston by Sean Stewart.

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  30. Andrew Corvin, and I'd like to refer people to Kyell Gold's "Red Devil", the second book in a trilogy (third is due out this year I believe...sound familiar? :p) The first book was pretty good, but this one was...amazing. I've read several of his books, but this is the one where he made me most ache for what the characters go through. Also, Russian history figures into the story!

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  31. I'm Brandon Zarzyczny, and while this is a tough question, I think I'll have to go with Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. Last year after the release of her excellent new book in her long running world, I decided to reread all of her books, and I swear that they were even better the second time around (especially the Fitz & Fool trilogies). After I finished reading all of her books again, I wasn't able to read anything else for awhile because I didn't want to leave her world. I'd always loved her books, but I'm pretty sure that she became my all-time favorite author after that. I really think everyone should be reading her books, they're all so well written, and really it's an excellent character study where the reader sees Fitz grow from a child to an older man all the way through, something you really never see, even in other huge long running series. Also, congrats on the success of the Kickstarter Courtney, I'm really looking forward to reading the new book. :)

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  32. I'm gossymer of kickstarter/tumblr/lj and my pick would be the Mathew Swift series by Kate Griffin, which starts with A Madness of Angels. The author has followed it up with a sequel series (Magicals Anonymous) who POVs of other characters but I still wish there were more books in the 'verse since its so darn good.

    On a different note, am currently reading A Darker Shade of Magic
    by V.E. Schwab which is pretty great so far :D

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  33. I am querysphinx on Kickstarter, but I probably shouldn't enter the ultimate fan drawing because I am in you critique group and that would be serious favoritism.

    I will instead engage in shameless self-promotion and suggest that more people should read "Sparrow's Flight" because I am completely shameless. (and because my other books seem to be in perpetual limbo)

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  34. Rosa Williams on Kickstarter. I just discovered "The Death of the Necromancer" by Martha Wells, and highly recommend it, along with her other Ile-Rien novels. Her more recent Raksura novels are also excellent, of course, but I'd never run across her earlier work and was impressed.

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  35. Brett Mastin on Kickstarter. I've recently read The Paradox Trilogy by Rachel Aaron and I'd highly recommend it. The first book in the trilogy is Fortune's Pawn and it is a really fun space adventure with a strong female lead. It also has many romance elements in it.

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  36. My comment didn't show up... I will try one more time. :D Sorry if it is a repost!

    Jana de Libero - I would go for novels written by Piers Anthony, I know he is already main-stream-ish but I love his stuff! I started on the Xanth series but my fav book from him is And Eternity.

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  37. Hi, my Kickstarter name is Tracy E.
    There are so many books I wish people would read. But I am going to go with Paula Volskys 'The Wolf of Winter'. It's fabulous.

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  38. Bryce Lee
    I wish people read more Janny Wurts, especially The Curse of the Mistwraith and her Wars of Light and Shadow series. It touches emotions I've rarely read elsewhere and it's beautiful.

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  39. On kickstarter I'm Caitrin Clewell. My recommendation is The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley. I nominated it for the Hugos this year. Fantastic, interesting and diverse world building and it's intricate and expansive but easily readable. I love the Apocrophya (sp?) Trilogy but it's harder to access I think. I'm a big Kameron Hurley fan. She's so good!

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  40. Kickstarter: Hilart Treat

    I wish more people would try The Thousand Names by Django Wexler

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  41. My Kickstarter name is Andrew Barton.

    I wish more people would read 'How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming' by Mike Brown, a charming memoir by the man who has discovered new planets beyond Pluto.

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  42. My Kickstarter name is Efthymia Despotaki

    I wish more people would read The Dogsland Trilogy by J.C. McDermott.

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  43. Hi. Mia on Kickstarter. I wish more people would read Resurrection Man by Sean Stewart. Such a beautiful book.

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  44. Hi,
    my name is Philippe Gravelle. I would recommend another kickstarter book : the Dawnhawk trilogy from Jonathon Burgess. Very funny story. Great author.

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  45. Posting on behalf of Eric Edquist:

    "On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson is a fun story with a playful use of language."

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  46. Posting on behalf of Saphirablue:

    "Since "Warchild" has already been rec'd, I want to rec "The Cloud Roads" by Martha Wells. It's a wonderful and great story with awesome
    characters and such fantastic worldbuilding. It's one of my favourite
    books and one that I re-read on a regular basis or just pick up to
    re-read my favourite passages."

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