Sorry I’ve been kinda quiet on the blog lately folks, but the truth is, I’m in what authors refer to as “Deadline Hell.”
You see, in order to have the Auri book hit the shelves November-ish, we actually have to have the book finished at the end of June.
And to have the book finished at the end of June, I have to turn in the pretty-much-all-the-way-finished manuscript at the end of this month.
The good news is that this book is much shorter than my usual. The bad news is that I’m still obsessive, and I haven’t fiddled around with this story like I normally do: tweaking and fidding, getting beta-reader feedback, re-reading and red-penning the manuscript for months.
Hence I’ve been doing my best to fit in as much revision as possible before I leave for Phoenix Comic Con. Hence deadline hell.
That said, we’ve got some new stuff to show off to you today. Stuff that some of you have been waiting months and months for….
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While I’ve been toiling in the word mines, agonizing over the difference between slim and slender, the Worldbuilders team has been hard at work.
If you remember, last month, we asked for suggestions for what to call our monthly blog where we bring you new signed books and other new things in The Tinker’s Packs.
As always, y’all impressed me with your willingness to help. There were many suggestions, and it’s helped us finally land on a name: Novelties.
It’s short, clever, and while it makes it clear that books are involved, it leaves room for us to have things other than books available in the future.
But for now, it’s books. And we’ve got some great ones for you this month.
- Defenders by Will McIntosh.
Will was one of the first to jump in with signed books for us for this month, and we’re really glad he did. Not only is he a Hugo award winning author, but this book has been getting some great reviews, including a starred one in Kirkus: “McIntosh tells a more global yet still deeply personal tale about life during wartime and its aftermath… McIntosh has his finger on the pulse, again.”
This book is new this month, and it was terribly kind of him to send us some signed copies. If you’re quick, you can grab one over here.
- Sword and Laser Anthology, edited by Tom Merritt & Veronica Belmont.
(Definitely click to embiggen)
I’m terribly fond of Tom and Veronica, to say nothing of Sword and Laser itself.
So I was excited when I heard they were going to be putting together an anthology. They sent me an early copy of it, asking if I’d be willing to write a promo blurb for them. After I read it, I said I’d go so far as to write an an introduction for the book instead.
If you’re curious about my full thoughts on this book, I posted my introduction up on Goodreads where anyone can read it.
Tom and Veronica signed 10 of these for us, and sent some cool Sword & Laser bookmarks and cards too, so grab them while you can.
- Two ARCs of Half a King by Joe Abercrombie. One UK and one US.
This is an extra cool thing. Half a King won’t even be hitting the shelves until July, but Joe sent us two Advance Reading Copies, one US edition (the black one), and one from the UK (the white one). Both are signed by the man himself.
I got a chance to read an early version of this book too, and as I said in my review on goodreads, I think it’s my favorite Abercrombie book so far.
These are going to go fast, since we’ve only got one of each.
So, if you want the US edition, click here.
If you want the UK edition, click here.
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And now, after much waiting, we’re finally making the Name of the Wind cards available in the store.
(Click to Embiggen, so you can see more of their majesty.)
Some of you probably remember NOTW Card Kickstarter we ran a year ago. Ever since it ended, I’ve had people e-mailing me, asking how they could get the cards if they missed the kickstarter.
The simple answer was that they couldn’t get them. Not until now.
Now that the kickstarter has been fulfilled, and the lovely folks that backed the project have received their swag, we’re making the cards available for everyone in The Tinker’s Packs.
I really can’t tell you how pleased I am with how these cards turned out. They’re printed by the folks who print Bicycle cards, so they’re not flimsy bullshit. They’re durable, high-quality cards.
Here’s the aces:
The art is just beautiful. What’s more, some of the cards are different on their mirror sides. In some places, the differences are obvious. Like on Kvothe and Denna’s Cards. Other cards, such as Bast’s, have more subtle changes you might need to look for a while to see…
In addition to the full deck, there’s also a spare card that shows Willem. (So if one of your other cards gets damaged, you can substitute Willem in.) And a card with Master Lorren that’s designed to be used as a bookmark.
And, of course, there’s the Jokers: Elodin and Auri.
There are three different decks. The Limited, the Standard, and the Taborlin Deck.
The art on the faces of the cards is all the same. But the Limited deck is a little more collectable. It’s the only deck with the seal on the box. Shane did some unique art just for that, showing the Amyr’s symbol: the tower wrapped in a tongue of flame.
The other difference is that the Limited deck has the green card back.
We won’t be doing another run of the limited edition. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.
(Fair Warning: Limited edition decks of Albino’s previous projects, like the White Rabbit cards or the Call of Cthulhu cards, sell for about 50 bucks online these days. So if you *really* want these, you might not want to wait too long.)
The Standard decks have the same art, but they have the red card back.
And lastly, the Taborlin deck.
This deck has an entirely different card back (which you can see more clearly if you click the picture above.) It shows Taborlin’s tools: Key, Coin, and Candle.
But that’s not the *really* cool thing. The cool thing is that this is a marked deck of cards.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve always wanted a marked deck. Not because I like the thought of cheating people at cards, but… because why wouldn’t you want a marked deck, just for fun? That’s why I called this the Taborlin Deck. It’s not for cheaters. It’s for magicians.
In this deck, the Lorren Bookmark card has been replaced with a card that describes the code embedded on the back.
So there you go. If you missed the kickstarter, or if you want to pick up a few more decks as presents, all three decks are available over here.
As I’ve said, the art Shane did for these decks was really amazing. So amazing that people wanted to buy it as posters.
So this month we’re making the Diamond face cards available.
Kilvin is the King of Diamonds, and you can grab his poster over here.
Devi is the Queen of Diamonds, and you can grab her poster over here.
And finally, Ambrose is the Jack of Diamonds, and based just a little bit off of Jim Butcher. You can buy his smarmy face over here.
As always, all proceeds from the Tinker’s Packs go to charity.
And if you don’t see what you were looking for, fear not. We’ll be posting more stuff up next month. Let us know what you were most interested in seeing in the comments, and we’ll do our best to make you happy.
42 Comments
One of the Jokers should have been a cryptic picture of Mr. Patrick Rothfuss. ;)
I want a cloak of no particular color.
Me too.
Really happy to see these are on Bicycle cards.
Also, is it just me or does Elodin look an awful lot like Neil Gaiman?
It’s not just you..
well if you follow the Kickstarter link https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1460165270/the-name-of-the-wind-playing-cards, you will find out that one Joker IS Gaiman as Eloden, and the other is Felicia Day as Auri
Although I have to say I am extremely excited the cards are finally on sale (I missed the kickstarter,,), I have to admit I imagined the characters to look way different from what the cards show… While that is pretty natural, I think, I guess the image on the playing cards does show how you intended it, since you approved of them and stuff,,, I.. I’m not sure whether I am be happy or not ._.
I missed the kickstarter too! I just bought two samples of each deck <3 <3 YES! Together with the PAIRS decks i purchased, my collection is enbiggening ;9
However, regarding the look of the characters, i think it's up to the artist… Patrick has shared several fanarts of Kvothe and each time Kvothe looks different… So i guess it's not about getting sad or not, it's just bout appreciating the specific interpretation of the characters that each artist is able to portrait. <3 <3 <3 Btw my Kvothe is thinner and has redder hair hehe :3
Yeah. I like to think of these as interpretations of the characters, not prescriptive definitions.
Said another way, what I’m doing here is giving you *a* Devi rather than *the* Devi.
I will give my left OR right testicle to be a beta reader for you, but not both. I will send bio, swear on the life of my firstborn to reveal nothing to anyone, ever. I will sew my lips shut and swear off the internet until the book officially releases. Please, for the love of all things I hold dear, LET ME READ YOUR BOOKS AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE!
P.S. I’ll pay you for the books obviously. Or just the right to beta for you!
“Slender” is more graceful than “slim.”
Slender also brings to mind more elongated body features, while slim seems to describe something smaller. Slender’s a nicer word though, I think.
‘Slender’ seems to describe thin-ness or long-ness as an aspect of beauty, while ‘slim’ describes it as being for utility. E.g. a slender knife is decorative while a slim knife can fit between the ribs.
Unfortunately, this leads to ‘slender’ being used only for women and ‘slim’ being used only for men…
Unless it’s Slenderman.
First, I got a deck from the kickstarter, and these cards are amazing.
But I cannot for the life of me figure out what the differences are on the Bast card, and this will now bug me all day… or all weekend …
Me too! I really hope someone explains it for me (the detail-seeing-challenged).
I registered just to make this comment :P
I flipped the image (PAINT hue) and nothing… i wasn’t able to find the slightest difference @@
I also compared, one of the spades is ever so slightly closer to the edge, and yes the image here is not high enough resolution to see the difference in the eyes.
…the hills have eyes… *hint hint*
I didn’t think to post this until just after I posted the other comment, but if you want to be able to see a magnified view check out the picture on AD’s shop: http://www.albinodragon.com/name-of-the-wind-jack-of-spades-bast-print-notw-jofspades-print/
Ahhhh, so cool! Thanks, tarvik! I have the decks at home, but I haven’t opened them since I got them from the Kickstarter… >_<
The bottom part has Bast with eyes that are…blue! Blue! Blue!
I’m kinda hoping people will post their observations in the Wiki…
Ha! There you are wrong, Pat! Somehow my boyfriend got me the cards for our first anniversary together and he was too late for the Kickstarter to get it from there! He said he called and mailed those who had the cards under three months to get them xD he probably got them because they got tired of him haha but that’s my win!
Thank you for creating Name of the Wind and making it so awesome! I love the cards! I’ll treasure them forever!
I bought a lot of the stuff from the Kickstarter – several coins, three decks of cards, the tinker’s bag, etc. It’s all so amazing.
My only complaint is the Taborlin deck. Even reading the instructions, I simply cannot make out the differences for the numbers. I’ve had others look at the deck and they can make out the subtle difference in the number of strokes at the bottom, but even knowing what to look for, I’ve never been able to see it. It’s frustrating.
I’d much rather read a better book and get the book a few months late than read a mediocre book soon…if you’re rushing revisions, you’re necessarily sacrificing quality–why aren’t you pushing back the deadline?
I don’t think Patrick Rothfuss is capable of writing a mediocre book. :)
Some deadlines simply can’t be moved. It would fuck up too many people’s lives.
I funded the Kickstarter and ordered a Limited deck but never got it… :/
I’ll look into contacting them eventually – shit’s been busy – but it sucks to be reminded of the fact.
Oh well, good luck escaping deadline hell!
They’ve had some trouble with the place they’re using to ship things.
I’ve asked Erik what the best way is for you to contact them about missing orders, apparently it’s to send them a message on the kickstarter itself.
Hope this helps.
If you’re interested in a carrot-like thing (but even better! ‘Cuz who wants vegetables when they can haz new books?) after finishing your current work then there’s new brilliance coming in June from Mike Carey (yes, that comic writer [and vastly under appreciated paragon of prose]). Don’t take my word for it though, Joss speaks and we must obey….
Joss Whedon:
“The story of Melanie and the people around her is so thoughtfully crafted, so heartfelt, remorseless and painfully human, that it takes the potentially tired trope of…and makes it as fresh as it is terrifying. The story spirals towards a conclusion so surprising, so warm and yet so chilling, that it takes a moment to realize it’s been earned since the first page, and even before. It left me sighing with envious joy, like I’d been simultaneously offered flowers and beaten at chess. A jewel.”
I’m hopeful that you can find solace and re-energization upon completing thy current trials with ‘The Girl With All the Gifts’ by M. R. Carey, in June from Orbit.
Hey Pat, will there be different cover art for the UK version?
Which card is Bast’s? I thought the Jack of Spades was Sim (says so on the .jpg in your post, too). Does that mean Sim is actually the Jack of Hearts? So confused. Halp!
Nevermind, Albino Dragon has it on their site.
Yeah, that got mis-labeled by mistake. The Jack of Spades is Bast, Jack of Hearts is Sim :)
It would be really nice to see the coins from the Kickstarter on the Tinker’s Pack. I missed grabbing the Tinker coin when I backed the project and would love to get it and help support World Builders as well.
We’ll hopefully have those soon…
Can one become a beta reader by any chance?
It would be awesome to get a poster of Auri :) so pumped for the book about her!
From The Wise Man’s Fear, page 741: “You must also come to understand the fine shades of meaning. The difference between slim and slender, as my poet king used to say….”
Was this on purpose?
While I love the art I am a little disappointed that the cards don’t have their number in all corners.
I’m probably one of the few people who holds the cards in his (right) hand so that it’s the upper right corner that’s visible => in these decks I only see white space :'(
I also am a bit spoiled knowing only the Carta Mundi cards (they are the standard here in Belgium for playing cards), which feels (in my opinion) a lot nicer (these are the same as the Magic TG cards).
But enough of the negativity! I love the art and that’s the most important part no?