Tag: thecommon

Wolfskin: pre-orders are open!

Website:

So. After about three thousand years, the Wolfskin finally has an official release date:

March 3, 2026.

And yes, it is available for pre-order.

(The copy description has massive spoilers in it, so unless you’ve finished Blindspace, I do not recommend reading it!)

I do not exaggerate when I say that Wolfskin is the best thing I’ve ever written. The character arcs, the storylines, the set-pieces, even the prose, just works. Never before have I written something so epic, so brutal, so heart-wrenching. It is, in my humble and totally unbiased opinion, a damn good book.

Yes, it’s taken a long time to come out. But that’s given me the time to make sure that what I’ve put down is my absolute best, and my exact vision for the story. Again, it is my best book.

However, because of various reasons, including things that are totally beyond my control, my career is not the best place at the moment. Wolfskin is still coming out, but after that? I don’t know. Things are unclear. I’ve suffered a lot of sleepless nights because of it, and there have been days where I’ve contemplated giving up this gig for good.

I’m not giving up. But that also means that I cannot afford to hold back, either.

So. I am going to ask you all to please pre-order Wolfskin.

Pre-orders are disproportionately helpful for authors. It helps the book trade to gauge the interest on a book, or a series. The more pre-orders there are, the more copies get printed. The more copies get printed, the more the publisher has to work to sell said copies, and the greater likelihood of those copies selling.

I kinda hate that I have to weigh all these things up instead of, you know, writing. But that’s the business we’re in.

So, any and all pre-orders and support is much, much appreciated.

Here’s a link to Wolfskin’s Books2Read page, where you can select the retailer of your choice.

Alternatively, you can also pre-order from Galaxy Bookshop, my local bookstore, and I can happily sign and personalise any copies ordered from there.

If you cannot pre-order it, then there’s a lot of other things you can do for Wolfskin and for the Common series. You can buy them. Ask your local library to purchase them. Tell others about them. Review them on Amazon and Goodreads. Sacrifice goats on an altar of black stone in their name.

Not sure about the last one, but you can always give it a go.

If you are a reviewer with a blog/review channel/BookTube/Instagram account, please get in touch with me and I’ll get my publisher to send out a review copy to you.

It’s been a hell of a long journey, for me and Vakov both. But we’re nearly at the end of his story. I hope that you’ll all stand by my side and see it through to the end.

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The Wolves are on the horizon!

After nearly three years, Wolfskin, Book 3 in the Common Saga, has been delivered to my editor, Gillian Redfearn, at Gollancz!

It feels like an end of an era, in a way. I discovered the brooding, dark hero of Vakov Fukasawa back in December 2016, when I was just 22 years old. I’m nearly 29 now, and I’ve walked with him for three books as we’ve gone on this wild journey together. Now, I’ve told the (final?) chapter in his story, and I’m immensely proud of it.

Has the road been easy? No. It’s been rough. I was going through a lot during the drafting of Book 3. A lot. There were days when I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue writing. But I’m in a much better place now.

The book needed to go in a different direction from what I originally envisioned, and I’m very glad that I’ve taken the extra time to get it nailed down the way I want it. I’m *extremely* happy with how Vakov’s story has shaped up, and I do genuinely feel that this is not only the best book in the series, and my favourite, but that it will have the best reception of the trilogy. Those three things can sometimes fall into different sections of a Venn diagram, but in this case, it’s a circle.

But time will tell.

So, I hear you ask: when do I get to read it????

I don’t get to make that decision. It’s currently on my editor’s desk, and I can do nothing until she edits it and sends it back to me. I will have to go through those structural edits, discuss things with my editor, make my own changes, and then send it back to her. Then she’ll edit the book again, this time for line-edits. And then I’ll go through it again. And then there’s copyedits, proofs, etc.

So don’t expect to get your hands on it for a little while. No one is more eager for this book to come out than I am. But it has to come out at the right time, when it is ready, and not before.

But delivery is the biggest and most important step, and that’s been taken. I’ll be sure to announce it when a release date slides into view.

Till then, I’ll be going on a month-long holiday (I’ve earned it!)

I’ve also given a lot of thought to what I’m going to write next. And I know exactly what my next project is will. I aim to get that written sooner rather than later.

Finally, thank you so much for your trust and patience, dear readers. I greatly appreciate it, and I’m determined to end this trilogy with a bang.

Before I go, I’ll leave ya with the opening line of Wolfskin:

“Most people have to die before they get sent to hell. I had not been given the privilege.”

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Blindspace typos corrected

This note is long overdue, but I wanted to say that it’s come to my attention that there are some typos in the print editions of Blindspace (I was as surprised to find them as the readers were), and that my publishers have corrected the errors.

This means that the ebook versions of the book have already been fixed. For physical copies, the corrections will come into effect for all future printings of the books. The errors, and the source of these errors, have been weeded out.

Thank you for your patience with this.

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Cover reveal: Wolfskin

Here it is, my people, the cover for WOLFSKIN – Book 3 of the Common Saga.  

There is treason! Duels! Armour! Planetary sieges! Action! Betrayal! Twists! Turns! Character tension! Trauma! Gin! Wolves! Brotherhood! Found families! Nomad warriors! Alien empires! Gothic cathedral spaceships!

And a lot of savage emotional moments that will (hopefully) rip your heart out through your throat.

It’s shaping up to be the most epic, ferocious, and intense entry yet. The direction it takes will be different from the last two entries, familiar and yet surprising in all the best ways. While it’s also the darkest and most action-packed book in the series, it’s also the most heroic, with the most “stand up and cheer” moments than the last two books combined. There’s also a strong element of political character tension, a la Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon. I’m afraid to say more than that, so I don’t spoil the surprise.

And this cover is probably my favourite of the bunch. The folks at Blacksheep Studios have outdone themselves in every conceivable way, and they deserve all the praise here. (Support human artists, not AI.)

I’ve had a little of a rough time in writing this book, due to both real life issues and narrative congestion. But I’ve been doing very well recently, and I’m burning through my second draft like an armoured Reaper through a Battalion of cultists. My publisher hasn’t nailed down a release date yet (that’s their fault, not mine), so I don’t have a word on when it’ll be in your hands. Until then, I’m hard at work, orchestrating the next chapter in Vakov Fukasawa’s life as he battles through this savage little world that I discovered way back in 2016.

Till then, feast your eyes on this divine cover art and see that it is good.

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Stormblood hardback edition: Phantasia Press

The excellent folk over at Phantasia Press – a recently revived small press publisher of special deluxe hardback editions – have acquired the rights for Stormblood!

This means that there’s going to be two hardback editions of Stormblood – one lettered, one numbered. There’ll be 350 numbered editions. The books will include a slipcase, interior artwork, a dust jacket, a cover. And, of course, all copies of the books will be signed (or narcissistically defaced, if you prefer), by yours truly.

I don’t know any dates or have any idea of when any of this is going to happen, or what it’s going to cost. But I know a lot of people are avid collectors of special hardbacks, and with the Goldsboro hardback edition of Stormblood selling out within a week, I imagine there will be one or two people who will be very eager to check out what Phantasia Press does with Stormblood.

And if sales are good, there’s no reason why they cannot give the whole trilogy the deluxe edition treatment.

My agent, John Jarrold, has the full announcement here.

Alex Berman at Phantasia Press has acquired limited edition hardback rights in STORMBLOOD, the brilliant SF debut by Jeremy Szal. The deal was concluded with Alice Cottrell, Rights Manager at Orion/Gollancz. Gollancz published STORMBLOOD in 2020, and the sequel, BLINDSPACE, in 2021. The third book in the sequence, WOLFSKIN, is being written.

If you want to make sure you hear about the release dates/pre-orders as soon as possible, you’d do well to subscribe to my Book Club, since I’ll be posting the news and links there first.

The link to sign up is here.

Till next time . . .

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Ebook Sale: Scream in Blue

As some of you good people already know, I self-published a novella called Scream in Blue. It’s set in the world of The Common, but takes place before the events of Stormblood. It’s got a new cast of characters, a new setting, but the same old style and sense of adventure and danger.

For a limited time, the novella is now on sale for the low low price of $0.99 cents. Which means it’s virtually for free. So if you’re looking for a little dip back into the world of the Common, or want to try a little sample of Szal, you can do that for less than the price of a 7/11 slushie.

Amazon US link

Amazon UK link.

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End of Year Wrap Up

Hey folks.
 
That’s it. Another year gone by! Slightly less crazy than the last two, but no less busy.
 
The Common Saga:

2022 was the first year for me not to have a novel published, since Stormblood debuted back in 2020. Blindspace was published on one of the last days of 2021, and due to all the delays with distribution and shipping it (sort of) is a 2022 release.

Blindspace released to solid praise, and the responses from readers have almost unanimously agreed it’s a superior book to Stormblood. It’s much more of a space opera, more diverse in set-piece and world-building, more focused on the whole cast of characters rather than just one. I’m still immensely pleased with it. It only released in the US a few weeks ago, so it’s still picking up readers.

But, for some reason, it’s had very, very few reviews and ratings on Goodreads/Amazon. So, please drop a little review, even if it’s just a sentence, that would be very appreciated. Books, unfortunately, depend on word of mouth (and algorithms, it seems, these days) for success, so every review helps.
 
Stormblood: https://www.amazon.com/Stormblood-Jeremy-Szal/dp/1473227437/

Blindspace: https://www.amazon.com/Blindspace-Jeremy-Szal/dp/1473227488/
 
And on that note, ordering books in for libraries are a fantastic way to support authors without actually spending any money. And in some countries, we even get paid everytime someone borrows our books. You don’t want me to starve, right?




 
Goldsboro:
 
The good folks over at Goldsboro books have informed me that there’s still some of the signed hardback, sprayed edges edition of Blindspace left available. There’s only 250 of them in existence, and once they’re gone, they’re gone forever.
 
You know you want it:
 
https://www.goldsborobooks.com/product/blindspace
 
Wolfskin:

I spent the majority of 2022 focused on nailing down a draft of Wolfskin. It’s a rambling, bloated, monster of a draft, with a dozen missing scenes and a dozen other scenes that need to be gutted/rewritten/reworked, but it exists, and I’m very happy in the big picture.

I’m honestly not optimistic on a 2023 release date, as early 2024 seems more likely, but that’s all up in the air at the moment. My agent is having a look at the (very very) early draft over the holidays, so we’ll see what his thoughts are in January.

But I can promise you: I’ll be putting out all the stops to make sure Vakov’s last (?) adventure is as bad-ass, brutal, emotional, satisfying, intense, and insane as I can possibly make it.
 
Short Fiction/Anthologies

I only had two short stories published in 2022. The first is Mindstrings, published in the anthology Night, Rain, and Neon.

The second is The Black Horse, published in Grimdark Magazine’s stellar anthology The King Must Fall. The anthology has an insane line up of talented authors, and I’m stoked to be amoung them. My novelette is the longest short story I’ve ever written, and is also the first fantasy story I’ve written in almost five years. It also may be my personal favourite of all the short stories I’ve written.

Give the anthology a crack when it releases to the public in a few weeks.

Link:
https://www.grimdarkmagazine.com/announcement-the-king-must-fall-dark-fantasy-anthology-kickstarter/



 
Self-publishing
I dived into the world of self-publishing by releasing Scream in Blue, a novelette set in the world of the Common. It was mainly meant for newsletter subscribers, but it’s been picking up a few sales on Amazon, too.

I’ll be self-publishing more of my work in the future (including, perhaps, a few of my trunk novels, if I have the time).

Scream in Blue link:

 https://www.amazon.com/Scream-Blue-Jeremy-Szal-ebook/dp/B0BM6LFFLK


Conventions:

I attended Supanova Gold Coast and Melbourne in early 2022, which were both new conventions for me. I had a blast at both, and got the chance to meet readers and fans who were actually excited to meet me, which was a great experience (albeit a little intimidating).

I also got to hang out with a few of the actors and writers and artists there, including the wonderful Georgina Haig (who you may know as Elsa from Once Upon a Time, and other shows like Limitless, Archive 81, etc). She ended up grabbing both my books (signed to her, of course), which wasn’t nerve-wracking at all.


 
And then there’s this crazy photo we all did. We’re not usually allowed to share these, but this time we were. You’ll spot folks from *deep breath*  The Book of Boba Fett/Once Were Warriors, Lost/Once Upon A Time, The Lord of the Rings, Spartacus/The Vampire Diaries, Wolf Creek, Mortal Kombat, Power Rangers: Ninja Storm, The Amazing Spider-Man/The Sound of Music/Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood.




 
Upcoming Appearances
 

  • I hope to be attending a Supanova convention sometime in 2023, down here in Australia.
  • I hope to attend a major convention, either in the UK or the US, sometime in 2023.
  • I may be attending WorldCon China in 2023.
  • I will be attending WorldCon Glasgow in 2024

 
 
Finally, I wanted to say thanks to everyone who bought Stormblood and Blindspace, and all the bloggers, book-Tubers, readers, fans, booksellers, and fellow writers, who make it possible for me to continue to do this. Since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to be a published writer and to have my books read by folks around the world. That’s now possible because of your support and help and I couldn’t be more grateful. Thank you so much for letting me do this crazy little thing, and for reading about the wild adventures of Vakov as he charges through his savage little world.
 
Have a safe holiday!
 
Best,
Jeremy Szal

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Virtual event: Blindspace US launch with Mysterious Galaxy

The good folks over at the excellent US-based bookstore Mysterious Galaxy are hosting a virtual event for the US launch of Blindspace. I’ll be chatting with my friend/nemesis Richard Swan, the author of The Justice of Kings. You can attend the event for free, but you have to register.

Come along and watch me and Richard duel verbally to the death. There will be scintillating questions and compelling responses on the subject of all things Stormblood, Blindspace, and science-fiction in general. And, of course, buy a book. All books by me will be signed, because I love you all that much.

Details and links below!

Click here for the event page and to register!

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