Today marks the release of Spellwright by debut author Blake Charlton.
It is one helluva read. I’m not the only person to think that. The reviews have been glowing for Spellwright, people loving the characters, story, and especially the magical system.
Terry Brooks, who gives out few cover blurbs, gave one to Spellwright.
So did Robin Hobb, Tad Williams, Piers Anthony, Kate Elliott, Kevin J. Anderson, Tobias Buckell, Sean Williams, and Daniel Abraham—all of whom are published by different publishers and represented by different agents.
In short, just on word from those authors alone, it means Spellwright is a solid book.
I decided to send Blake four short questions this morning:
1. Hi Blake, tell us all a bit about Spellwright?
It’s is an epic fantasy that takes place in a world in which the written word can be peeled off of the page and made physically real. Such magical texts, if written correctly, are called spells. Our protag, Nicodemus Weal, is a young wizard who’s especially good at producing magical language but has a severe disability that causes any magical text he touches to misspell with dangerous results. Everything sucks in a bearable way for Nico until a powerful wizard is murdered by a misspell and suspicion falls on him. Pursued by investigators and a hidden killer, Nico has to race to discover the truth about the nature of magic, the murderer, and himself.
2. Todd Lockwood is one of the best cover artists in the business. What is it like having his work on your cover?
Like winning the lottery! I’ve been following and loving Todd’s art since the 90s, both his D&D work and cover art. When the manuscript went in to Tor’s art department, I begged and pleaded for Todd and was thrilled to get him.
3. Today is Spellwright’s release day. What does it feel like to see your book on the shelves?
Surreal. I’m still in my scrubs (aka pajamas for medical students) but friends and family have “texted” me pictures of the books on the shelves. I have the strange sensation that they’ve photoshopped in extra copies to make me feel better.
4. Why should people buy Spellwright? Surely not only because you are a poor medical student…
Folks new to epic fantasy might want to check out a classic quest filled with intrigue, mystery, and adventure. Connoisseurs of our kick-ass literary tradition (perhaps looking for a change up from the increasingly common but still awesome ‘gritty’ epic fantasy) might want to check out how I tried to reinvent classic fantasy’s tropes (say clichés if cynical) by adding “hard fantasy” (like hard science fiction) laws to a text-based magic-system and then wove a protag’s story out of my own struggles with dyslexia.
To learn more about Blake and his very interesting history or read an excerpt from the book, click HERE and visit his website!
Or just buy the book outright.
Spellwright is in fine bookstores right now!
Very cool! I found Blake on Twitter recently and discovered that we have a connection with RFB&D! I’m very excited for him and wish him all the luck possible!