I have been remiss in mentioning one of my favorite fantasy books of the year, The Winds of Khalakovo by Bradley P. Beaulieu. It was published by Night Shade Books on March 15th, which gives you an idea of how long it’s taken me to get around to blogging about it. In the meantime, it’s been getting a ton of terrific reviews–no thanks to me–but I figure now is a perfect time to point it out since you can download a free Nook copy now through June 9th for your Nook, smartphone, or computer. (Actually, a few weeks ago would have been a better time to mention it, as I intended, but so it goes.)
I encourage you to grab this remarkable book while you can, because it will cost you nothing more than a few minutes of your time to decide if it’s for you. If you enjoy it, and I suspect you will, maybe post a favorable review, and/or buy a copy printed on a dead tree for you or a friend. I think it’s worth owning just for that gorgeous cover. Look at that artwork!
I had the privilege of reading a draft of Winds before publication, and was instantly drawn to Brad’s creative world-building, colorful and sympathetic characters, unique magic system, and the political intrigue. Plus, you know, airships. Airships! I think Paul Genesse’s blurb says it best:
The Winds of Khalakovo by Bradley P. Beaulieu is awesome epic fantasy with a Russian Czarist slant by an award-winning author. A Song of Ice and Fire meets Earthsea in this highly original and exciting novel set in the Grand Duchy of Anuskaya, an archipelago of bitterly cold islands where flying ships soar on dangerous winds.
If you’re still undecided even after that stellar endorsement, there’s plenty more information on Brad’s site. But the book’s free for a few more days, so might as well check it out for yourself, yeah?
Ellen
I look forward to a time when e-book formats are no longer proprietary (or e-books are less often DRMed); this sounds good, but it won’t work on my e-reader, I don’t have a smartphone, and I can’t read for pleasure on the computer!
ecmyers
I hear that! I would ignore e-books entirely if I didn’t have a smartphone that supported all the different formats, and even so, I mostly use it to read unpublished manuscripts and some library e-books. That might change if there were no DRM or a universal format, though I expect I’ll always prefer printed books.