Amazon now shows the cover design for
Surrender to the Will of the Night, the third volume of Glen Cook's The Instrumentalities of the Night series. It uses the same Raymond Swanland image that I displayed a few weeks ago, and I think it is attractive, even if it doesn't really suggest the grittiness of Cook's work in the same manner as Swanland's other covers.
As part of the preparation for Surrender's November release, Tor have reissued the first two Instrumentalities books,
The Tyranny of the Night and
Lord of the Silent Kingdom, as trade paperbacks. The latter was released this past week, and I was able to examine a copy today. It is a handsome book, and I will eventually get a copy of it and its predecessor to replace my mass market paperbacks. However, this leaves me in a quandary. I'm anal retentive enough to want my books to be in uniform editions, and that would mean waiting for an eventual trade paperback for Surrender to the Will of the Night. But, of course, I want to read the books as soon as possible. I might end up buying the hardcover upon release, and then also buying a copy of the trade or mass market paperback. Sometimes I envy those of you who aren't bothered by such issues, but that envy is more than offset by the collector's feeling of satisfaction I get from looking at my uniform editions of various book series on my shelves ;-)
I hope that Cook will do an interview or three soon, to promote the releases of Surrender and of
Gilded Latten Bones. If so, perhaps he'll pass along more information about the forthcoming Dread Empire Wrath of Kings omnibus.
Nightshade Books hasn't issued any sort of update, and I'm itching to learn a publication date, even one far off. I recognize the possibility that the book will never come to pass, and I try not to take anything for granted. But I do hope and believe the book will eventually appear.
In distantly-related news, the
Malazan re-read continues on
Tor.com. It looks to be one of the most popular features on the site, with
this week's installment receiving over 100 comments (including #2, by yours truly). Bill and Amanda, the hosts, are roughly 2/3 of the way through Gardens of the Moon, and the discussion is bringing up numerous insights that I missed during my reading of the book. Every Wednesday, I eagerly check the site for the posting of the latest entry. I'd love to see some Glen Cook book receive similar treatment, perhaps the Black Company series, omnibus by omnibus, chapter by chapter. Maybe I should suggest it to Tor!
