This is the thread for my new urban fantasy series being published this year, the Alex Verus novels!
The US edition was published on February 28 2012 by Ace Books, and here's the cover:
And the UK edition came out on March 1 2012 from Orbit, and looks like this:
Fated is the first in a series, and here are the release dates for the next two.
Book #2, Cursed: 29th May 2012 (US), 7th June 2012 (UK)
Book #3, Taken: 28th August 2012 (US), 6th September 2012 (UK)
About the Series
The series is urban fantasy, set in London, England. Magic is real, but most people don't believe in it and only a very small fraction can use it. The most skilled are called mages, and they can each use a specific type of magic determined by their personality - you can think of them in D&D terms as sorcerers or psions with very limited spell lists, or in WoD terms as mages who only get one part of one Sphere. The main character is Alex Verus, a diviner (aka a knowledge or probability mage) who runs a magic shop in Camden. Alex's magic lets him see the future but can't affect the physical world, and the first book follows his adventures as several other factions of mages try to use his abilities to gain access to a relic.
As of a few weeks ago, the series has a TVTropes page, too. Edits are appreciated!
Publicity with Jim Butcher
Genre-wise the closest match to my series is Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, which isn't a coincidence, as he's one of my favourite authors. In fact, we have the same US editor, Anne Sowards from Ace (she's excellent by the way).
Jim was kind enough to both read my book and send me a really nice email and blurb (which you can see an extract from on both front covers). He also did an email exchange/interview with me, which was hosted along with a review on Barnes & Noble!
My Website
As part of the run-up to the launch, I've revamped my old author's website, which can be found here. I've also started a blog, which I'm going to be updating regularly every Friday at 9 AM. The blog will contain reviews, news, and announcements about the series, but the main content will be the Encyclopaedia Arcana, a series of background/setting articles about the universe of the Alex Verus series.
The website also has affiliate links to where you can buy or pre-order the books (meaning I get a small extra amount of money) and extracts of the published and soon-to-be-published novels.
My Name
I've been on these forums for five years now, and one of the odd quirks I've had during that time is that I've always stayed anonymous (okay, any poster could probably have figured out my real name if they really tried, but the posters on these forums are quite good about respecting people's privacy). But there's not much point in doing that anymore, so I'm going to drop anonymity from now on. (I actually thought about changing my name to match my real one, but I've been going by Saph on these forums so long that I'm used to it. I'll just update my signature instead.)
Updates
I'll use this thread to post any further information about the series as the publication date approaches, as well as any Encyclopaedia Arcana articles. Post any questions or requests!
And finally, thanks to everyone who's helped out with suggestions or contributions over the last few years concerning my books - I've been a member of these forums for a long time and I've had lots of help from them. :smallsmile: