At the time though, I didn’t know how much I would delve. I knew the story of its sequel novel, The Everwinter Wraith. And I knew the general story of the third book, The Splintered King. That was it.
I wrote The Unfettered Knight for Unfettered knowing it would be a prelude to The Everwinter Wraith. And I thought, “You know, Bald One, there are other stories that lead directly into the events of Wraith too. Maybe you should write those.” And the more I wrote, the more I liked the idea of collecting those stories and publishing them before Wraith.
The Twilight Dragon & Other Tales of Annwn is that collection. Besides The Unfettered Knight, the book collects three other short stories not published before. And not only that, but I also decided to tease The Everwinter Wraith by including its first three chapters!
Here is more about the book:
Upon finishing his debut novel, The Dark Thorn, author Shawn Speakman knew he would return to its world of Annwn. He does that here in The Twilight Dragon & Other Tales of Annwn. Four short stories anchor this collection of magic and darkness, conflict and shadows:
- Where an ancient dragon seeking a cure for his dying race returns to the Misty Isles of his birth—to devastating result.
- Where an unfettered knight enters Rome’s Vatican to end the threat of a vampire—who bears the darkest of secrets.
- Where an Arch Druid tracks a witch—who in turn chases a thief who has stolen dangerous books of shadow magic once thought lost.
- Where a musician is coerced to return to a past she abhors—to confront a shattered gargoyle whose past is just as broken.
All four short stories play a role in and are preludes to The Everwinter Wraith, the sequel novel to The Dark Thorn. As a bonus, the first three chapters of The Everwinter Wraith are also included in this collection.
Where Annwn will never be the same again.
As you can see, it is a rather large collection. About 60,000 words or by definition a short novel. It is available on Amazon right now as a pre-order HERE! My plan is to have the final book publish on December 25, 2014.
A huge thank you to artist Todd Lockwood, who painted another gorgeous cover for me! And yes, if there is interest, I will produce a very limited hardcover, likely numbered and signed by myself and cover artist Todd Lockwood! Post that interest below so I can gauge it.
I’m really excited about this collection. And if it is successful, I will write a similar collection before The Splintered King as well.
Visit Annwn again!
Full support for a hardcover version! I have trouble reading ebooks sometimes, so having a hard copy would be great.
I don’t read e-books so a hardcover version would be great.
I’ll be posting the pre-order period for that tomorrow I think. Stay tuned!
I am in for a hardcover version as well.
I’m really looking forward to reading this! Any chance the ebook will be available for purchase at Kobo (as an ePub), so I can support my local, family owned, indie bookstore?
Yes, it will be available on Kobo. As a matter of fact, I just finished putting the book up as a pre-order book. Kobo should list in the next few days, I would imagine. Thanks for the interest!
Hurray, pre-ordered, now I have one more reason to look forward to Christmas! Thanks bunches for including us non-Amazon readers.
Signed/numbered limited edition, please!
Just read/listened to The Dark Thorn last week. I went looking for a sequel and was happy to find this collection today. While I’m really looking forward to the next book in the series I’ll be happy to dive into this collection in the coming days. 🙂