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The Wait is Finally Over!
Yes, you heard that right. Four years after the first book in the Templar Chronicles trilogy hit the bookstore shelves, a deal had been finalized to bring the final two volumes to fans here in the US in the language they were originally written in – English!
Blackbetty Mobilemedia, in conjunction with telecommunications giant Vodafone, will be publishing a small screen edition of all three volumes specifically designed to be read on your mobile phone. Featuring high quality fonts, easy-to-use navigation controls, high resolution graphical cover art, and a host of interactive features, this edition of the Templar Chronicles will be the best yet!
All three volumes – HERETIC, A SCREAM OF ANGELS, and A TEAR IN THE SKY – will be available December 1st in both English and German language editions. Translations for fans in Saudi Arabia, India, Finland, and South Africa will follow shortly thereafter, most likely by the end of the first quarter of 2010. European fans will be able to download them directly from Vodafone’s customer portal, Vodafone Live. US fans will be able to get them in a similar fashion, though I’m not yet at liberty to say who the US distribution partner is, though its a name you’ll all be familiar with when you hear it.
More details will be available soon, including sample downloads and new cover art for all three books in the series!
Final Polish cover art
The final cover art is in for the Polish edition of HERETIC coming Nov. 19th from Replika. (If you’re a Polish reader, you can order your copy HERE)
Preorders now available for HERETIC
I just received word from Full Moon Press that the limited and lettered editions of HERETIC, book one of the Templar Chronicles, have just been made available for preordering. Remember, these are hardcover collector’s editions that will make beautiful additions to your library.
Each limited edition will feature:
* Hardcover binding
* Full Color Dustjacket
* 4 Full page B&W illustrations
* Signature page
* Decorative endpapers
There will be 500 copies available. You can preorder the limited edition at this link
Each lettered edition will feature:
- Full Leather Bindings
- Satin Ribbon Page Markers
- Full Color Frontis Piece
- Full Color Dustjacket
- Leather, Velvet Lined Traycase Extra Artwork Not Found In The Limited Edition
- Special Signature Page Artwork Not In The Limited Edition
- Special Endpaper Artwork or Decorative Endpapers
There are only 52 lettered editions available (A-Z and AA-ZZ. )You can preorder the lettered edition at this link.
As I’ve mentioned before, strong sales on HERETIC will ensure that A SCREAM OF ANGELS and A TEAR IN THE SKY will follow. To make things even easier, Full Moon has graciously included HERETIC in their “preorder any book for $5.00″ offer, which you can find here.
Support the Chronicles and preorder your copies today!
Pre-orders coming this week!
Preorders* for the limited and lettered editions of HERETIC – Book One in the Templar Chronicles should be available this week at the Full Moon Press website.
Word is that Don Paresi is one of the potential artists for the trilogy and I’m very happy to hear it. Don has done some excellent work on my friend Dave Wilson’s limited editions and I know he’ll bring a terrific look to the Chronicles. If you aren’t familiar with Don, here’s a sample of his black-n-white artwork. This one is entitled Pandemonia and trust me, this low-res image doesn’t do it justice…
I can’t wait to see Don’s take on some of the scenes from HERETIC – like where Knight Commander Williams and Sergeant Duncan find themselves in the Beyond, facing off against a swarm of hungry spectres!
I will post the preorder link right here as soon as I have it.
*If you aren’t familiar with this process, let me explain. Specialty press books like these are all printed in limited numbers to enhance their collectibility and make them more valuable over time. With only 500 copies of the three books in the series to be published, you might want to take advantage of the preorders in order to ensure that you get a copy. Preorders are usually taken while the book is still being developed and printed, so understand that it will take several months (sometimes 6 or more) before the book is actually released and shipped to you. However, by preording, you can be assured of not missing out on a title that gets snatched up quickly once the announcement is made that it is actually available.
That Cleansing Fire – Part Six
While the others stood guard, Cade knelt down beside the pole and gently touched Bishop’s face. The man’s skin was icy cold.
They had gotten here too late.
Keeping one arm around his teammate’s body, Cade leaned around the back of the pole and cut through the cords that bound the body to it with his knife. With its support suddenly released, Bishop’s corpse slumped against him. Cade gently eased Bishop onto his back on the floor.
Just to be certain, Cade leaned in close and listened for a heartbeat.
Only silence was returned.
Cade raised his head and looked down at his teammates dead face, burning it into his memory, another victim he would now have to avenge.
Bishop’s eyes suddenly popped open.
His gaze met Cade’s confused one and a wicked grin scurried across his lips.
“Sorry, boss,” he said, without a touch of remorse, and his hand whipped around toward his former leader, a razor sharp set of talons extending from his fingertips and seeking Cade’s face.
At that exact moment, most likely the result of some undisclosed prearranged signal, the rafters suddenly vomited a scurrying, seething horde of ravenous creatures that descended the walls with spider-like grace and came rushing across the warehouse floor toward Olsen and Riley.
“It’s a trap!” Cade yelled, throwing himself away from Bishop and out of reach of those deadly claws.
His warning was unnecessary, however, for Olsen had already caught sight of the swarming horde. Without hesitation the Templar opened fire with his MP 5, pouring 800 rounds per minute into his foes. Riley followed suit, his combat Mossberg booming in the echoing confines of the warehouse in sharp contrast to the buzz of Olsen’ weapon.
Cade rolled away from his opponent and came up in a crouch, his pistol held securely in his right hand. He could see that Bishop had already risen to his feet and was snarling in rage at having missed his target.
As his enemy came charging toward him, Cade triggered his Sight.
In the Beyond, the warehouse was a darker, more ominous place, full of the shadows of pain and suffering caused by the slave-driving mentality of its owners. Here, the true nature of the team’s attackers also revealed themselves, as their thirst for the team’s life force was an almost physical presence pulsing out from them in waves of need and desire.
There was no mistaking the fact that the warehouse was full of very hungry Ch’iang shih.
Nor was there any doubt as to what had happened to Bishop.
Cade calmly noted his former teammates altered condition – his savage hunger, his unholy rage, and his dual existence in both the real world and in the Beyond – and then he was out of time. As his formed teammate rushed in to savage him, Cade fired point blank into the man’s face.
Bishop went down, hard, with a bullet hole just beneath his right eye.
In the fifteen seconds it had taken Cade to dispense with Bishop, Olsen and Riley had littered the warehouse floor with vamp bodies. The staccato stutter of Olsen’ weapon was interspersed with the booming tones of Riley’, but still more of the creatures swarmed off the rafters high above and charged toward them. Worse yet, many of those who had gone down were now starting to get back up.
While Bram Stokers’ fictitious creations had access to regenerative powers, the Chaing ‘shih did not. Yet such powers were not really necessary, for their bodies were really nothing more than animated corpses give new life by the hunger and desire of their souls. As such, bullets, even high powered ones from a weapon like Olsen’ MP5, did little to actually stop them. Those Chaing ‘shih who had gone down under the Templars’ onslaught did so more from the sheer velocity of the striking ammunition than from any physical harm the bullet might have caused them. A bullet hole to the chest was of little concern for an undead creature and was nothing more than a few moments worth of inconvenience as they were knocked off their feet.
Cade quickly took in the situation. “Go for their legs, ” he yelled to the others. When it appeared they did not hear him, he stepped up between them and directed his own fire at the legs of his opponents. It only took a moment before his companions caught on to what he was doing and followed suit.
The warehouse was filled with a cacophony of sound; the bark of Cade’s handgun, the booming sound of Billing’s shotgun, the shrieks and wails of the Chaing ‘shih as they were cut down in mid-step by the precision shots of the knights. Conversation between Cade and his men was next to hopeless. It was only the steady training and discipline that Cade enforced on his team that allowed them to operate as a cohesive unit even in the face of such an overwhelming assault. As one man’s weapon would run dry, the others would step up their volume of firepower, allowing him to reload and rejoin the fray.
Soon, however, their supply of ammunition began to dwindle and then disappeared altogether.
As one, the knights dropped their weapons and drew their swords. The vamps closed in, anticipating an easier time of things now, only to discover that the knights’ still had plenty of bite left to them.
In the face of the savagery of the knights’ defense, the vamps retreated to the darkness among the machinery in the far corner of the warehouse. Those wounded that could walk followed suit, while still others, unable to walk due to shattered legs and kneecaps, used their arms to drag themselves along the floor in pursuit.
The three knights took a moment to catch their breath.
