Thanks to those nice people at Subterranean Press I have three signed Advance Review Copies of my novella The Kraken’s Tooth – Book Two of the Seven Swords, to give away to mailing list subscribers. If you’re not already a subscriber please sign up here by midnight GMT on July 12th to have a chance of winning. Winners will be chosen and notified on July 13th.

Any book reviewers/bloggers/book-tubers who would like a copy please get in touch via the contact page and I’ll ask Subterranean to send you one. The book is also available to reviewers via Netgalley. 

The Kraken’s Tooth will be released in special limited edition hardcover and ebook on September 30th. Further details, excerpt and pre-order on the Subterranean Press website: https://subterraneanpress.com/krakens-tooth

Also, a reminder that anyone who pre-orders will be entered into a draw to win this signed original illustration that appears at the front of the hardcover. I’m told the hardcover may well sell out prior to release so act now if you don’t want to miss out. 

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In other news – I’m happy to report that Goldsboro Books now has a pre-order page for the signed and numbered UK edition of The Black Song: https://www.goldsborobooks.com/product/the-black-song-limited-edition.

About this time I was hoping to run a giveaway for signed UK and US edition hardcovers of The Black Song. Sadly, due to ongoing COVID chaos, I’m not sure when my author copies will turn up. As I don’t want to promise books to readers without a reasonable expectation of when their prize will arrive, I’ll be holding off on this giveaway until I have my author copies. It’s possible this may happen after the book is released, so watch this space for updates.

Please note – the release date for The Black Song has been changed from July 28th to July 30th for the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa – August 4th in the US & Canada. Pre-order details for all formats are on the book page.

The audiobook edition of The Black Song – the second and final book in the Raven’s Blade duology – narrated by Steven Brand, is now available for pre-order in the UK. The book will be released on July 28th in the UK and August 4th in the US. 

Pre-Order here: Audible.co.uk

Pre-Order the US audiobook here:  Audible.com

Other formats:

US ebook:  amazon.com  –  Nook  –  iBooks  –  Kobo  –  Google Play

US hardcover:  amazon.com  – Barnes & Noble  –  Indiebound

UK ebook:  amazon.co.uk  –  iBooks –  Kobo  –  Google Play

UK hardcover:  amazon.co.uk  –  Waterstones –  Hive.co.uk

I’m also pleased to report that The Black Song has received a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly: “…expert worldbuilding, crackling dialogue, gripping action and subtle shifts on the political chessboard.”

Read the full review here.

Read an excerpt from Chapter One of The Black Song.

I’ll be running a giveaway for signed copies of the UK and US hardcovers for mailing list subscribers in July. Be sure to sign up for the list to make sure you don’t miss out.

…’L’Appel du loup’ – published today by Bragelonne.

Many thanks to Maxime le Dain, my French translator, and everyone at Bragelonne for making this happen and to Didier Graffet for another excellent cover.

Buy here: Amazon.fr

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Today is also the last day to enter the SF/F raffle giveaway.

I’ve teamed up with sci-fi authors Glynn Stewart, Christopher Ruz, Daniel Willcocks, and Matt Ward to do a SF/F raffle giveaway for FREE signed paperback copies of The Ragged Blade, Starship’s Mage, Slab City Blues: The Collected Stories, Dawn of Chaos, Cynetic Wolf, and Death Donor.

NOTE: By entering the sweepstakes, you are expressly giving each participating author permission to add you to their email newsletter. You are free to unsubscribe at any time.

Just hop over to mattwardwrites.com/raffle and enter your email

I realise many US readers will have a lot on their plate at the moment, but anyone seeking a distraction might want to know that the paperback edition of The Wolf’s Call – Book One of the Raven’s Blade – is now available in the US and Canada.

Buy here:   Amazon.com – Barnes & Noble  –  Indiebound

Buy links for other formats are on The Wolf’s Call book page.

I’d normally do a paperback giveaway at this point but COVID chaos means I haven’t received my author copies yet. I hope to run a Wolf’s Call paperback giveaway closer to the release for The Black Song – Book Two of the Raven’s Blade, so watch out for that.

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Also, a reminder that I’ve teamed up with a bunch of other great sci-fi authors to do a SF/F raffle giveaway for FREE signed paperbacks, including Slab City Blues: The Collected Stories.

Just hop over to mattwardwrites.com/raffle and enter your email before June 10th to register. 

Win a signed paperback of Slab City Blues: The Collected Stories.

I’m happy to announce I’ve teamed up with sci-fi authors Glynn Stewart, Christopher Ruz, Daniel Willcocks, and Matt Ward to do a SF/F raffle giveaway for FREE signed paperback copies of The Ragged Blade, Starship’s Mage, Slab City Blues: The Collected Stories, Dawn of Chaos, Cynetic Wolf, and Death Donor.

Very excited to be working with some of the heavy-hitting indies in the space to offer up some late-night, award-winning distraction in these challenging times.

The contest will be running from June 1st-10th. No purchase necessary.

NOTE: By entering the sweepstakes, you are expressly giving each participating author permission to add you to their email newsletter. You are free to unsubscribe at any time.

Just hop over to mattwardwrites.com/raffle and enter your email to register. Then, on June 11th, one lucky winner will be chosen to receive free signed copies of each of the books. And to keep things interesting, five runner-ups will also be selected to get free electronic copies because everyone loves free books, right?

Interested? Again, just hop on over to mattwardwrites.com/raffle before June 10th and enter your email to register.

Good luck!

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In other news, I’m delighted to report that my upcoming novella The Kraken’s Tooth has received a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly – ‘Ryan masterfully combines vivid characterization and understated worldbuilding in the stellar second fantasy novella in his Seven Swords series.’

Read the full review here.

The Kraken’s Tooth will be released in September 2020 by Subterranean Press in special limited edition signed hardcover and ebook. Pre-order here: https://subterraneanpress.com/krakens-tooth

The 26 signed and lettered copies have now sold out. However, you can still pre-order one of the 1000 signed limited editions. These might sell out too so order soon to make sure you snag one. Pre-orders for the ebook will appear closer to the release date.

For anyone new to the series who wants to catch up, A Pilgrimage of Swords is available in ebook here:  Amazon.com  –  Amazon.co.uk  –  Nook  –  Kobo  –  Apple Books  –  Subterranean Press

Buy the audiobook here: audible.com  –  audible.co.uk

Many thanks to the Fantasy Inn for hosting the reveal of the UK cover for The Black Song, the second and final book in The Raven’s Blade duology. 

You can now read an excerpt from the first chapter here. 

The Black Song is released in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa on July 28th. Pre-order here: 

Ebook:  amazon.co.uk  – iBooks –  Kobo  –  Google Play

Hardcover:  amazon.co.uk  –  Waterstones – Hive.co.uk

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In other news, the French edition of The Wolf’s Call – L’Appel du loup – will be released on June 10th and is now available for pre-order:  Amazon.fr.

Thanks once again to Didier Graffet for perhaps the most Vaelin-y illustration to date and to everyone at Bragelonne for making this happen. 

Mailing list subscribers will know that I ran the advance review copy giveaway for The Black Song last week – congratulations to the winners who have now been notified. For any US readers hoping for another chance, ACE Books is running a sweepstake giveaway for a paperback of The Wolf’s Call and an advance review copy of The Black Song. In order to enter head over to the sweepstake page: https://sweeps.penguinrandomhouse.com/enter/ravens-blade-sweepstakes

Please note the sweepstake is open to US residents only and will run until Sunday, May 24th.

I will also be running a signed Black Song hardcover giveaway for mailing list subscribers closer to the release date so be sure to sign up for a chance to win one. 

The Wolf’s Call will be released in paperback in the US on June 2nd. Pre-order here: Amazon.com – Barnes & Noble  –  Indiebound

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In other news, my German publisher has now unveiled their cover for their edition of The Wolf’s Call – Das Lied des Wolfes (if anyone knows the name of the artist please let me know). 

Das Lied des Wolfes: Rabenklinge #1 will be released by Hobbit Presse on August 22nd this year. Go here to pre-order the ebook or hardcover: Amazon.de

I’m delighted to announce that, at long last, the Spanish language edition of Blood Song is now available in ebook. 

Buy here: Amazon.es – Amazon.mx

Thanks to everyone at Orok Editorial for making this happen. Also thanks to Nil Gascón for the translation and Waurus for the awesome cover illustration (check out his Instagram for more of his work: https://www.instagram.com/waurus/). 

I’m told that the Kindle version of the Spanish edition of Blood Song will be available worldwide and will hopefully appear on other ebook platforms soon. The print edition was originally slated to be released in Spain at the same time but has been delayed due to the current crisis. Watch this space or the Orok website for news on when the print version will appear. 

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I’m also pleased to reveal that the Draconis Memoria trilogy is now being developed into a tabletop role-playing game by the good people at Hirukoa Editorial (coincidentally, also a Spanish publisher). It’s still very early days for this particular project but the intention is to eventually run a Kickstarter campaign to fund the release of the game. I don’t yet have any information on when that will happen so be sure to watch out for future updates. 

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In other news, the UK ebook edition of The Wolf’s Call is currently on sale at £0.99. I don’t know how long this sale will last so, if you haven’t yet picked up the latest adventure of Vaelin Al Sorna, now would be a very good time. 

Buy here (sorry, UK only):   Amazon.co.uk  –  Kobo  –  iBooks  –  Google Play  –  Hive.co.uk

Those fine people at Subterranean Press are running a giveaway for the original frontis illustration for the hardcover edition of my novella The Kraken’s Tooth – Book Two of The Seven Swords which began with A Pilgrimage of Swords.

The giveaway is open to anyone who pre-orders the hardcover from the Subterranean Press website. The winner will receive the original illustration hand-drawn by yours truly, signed and dated. It looks like the signed and lettered special traycase hardcover has sold out but the signed and numbered edition is still available. Don’t worry if you’ve already pre-ordered as you’ll automatically be included in the draw. The Kraken’s Tooth will be released in September 2020

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I hope you’re all staying safe and well in these trying times. For everyone patiently waiting for The Black Song advance reader copy giveaway, I hope to run it sometime in May. It will be exclusive to my mailing list subscribers so be sure to sign up to make sure you don’t miss out.

The audiobook edition of my novella A Pilgrimage of Swords, Volume One of The Seven Swords, is now available from Audible.

Buy here: audible.com – audible.co.uk

Thanks, as always, to Steven Brand for his excellent narration.

A reminder that The Kraken’s Tooth, the second novella in this series, is now available for pre-order. Links on the book page.

In other news, I’m proud and delighted to announce that The Wolf’s Call has won the Booknest Fantasy Award for Best Traditionally Published Novel. Huge thanks to everyone who voted and congrats to my fellow winners. Best of all, I now own this badass blade!

Check out the announcement here. 

And finally, the audiobook of The Black Song, the second and final book in The Raven’s Blade, is also now available for pre-order from Audible.com. No UK pre-order yet but watch this space.