Coming on November 18, 2025, a new Mennik Thorn story: The Dead Man.
It’s been a while since the final novel in the Mennik Thorn series, Legacy of a Hated God was published, and now it’s time to plunge back in to Nik Thorn’s chaotic world. Taking place about a month before the events of Shadow of a Dead God, The Dead Man is a prequel novella, a chance to see what Nik’s life was like before he got caught up into the city-threatening evens of Shadow of a Dead God. Hint: Nik is just as chaotic as ever.
Here’s the book blurb:
Becoming a mage-for-hire hasn’t quite turned out the way Nik Thorn hoped.
Sometimes you just have to take whatever job is on offer, whether it’s a missing pet, a curse to break, or tracking down a cheating husband. And sometimes it turns out to be something else altogether.
And if theft, murder, and blackmail aren’t enough, there’s a high mage involved.
Hey, Patrick. Did you entirely forget to post the new cover for SHADOW OF A DEAD GOD? Yes. Yes, you did. Nice going.
So, yes, earlier this month the first Mennik Thorn book, Shadow of a Dead God, got a shiny new cover. It’s had a couple of covers before, the first being one I designed myself, the second a very nice piece of art that I commissioned from Ömer Burak Önal.
But, time went on, the next couple of books were released, again with art from Ömer, and the cover of Shadow no longer matched the covers of its sequels. So, I went back to Ömer and asked him for a new piece of art for Shadow. And, if you haven’t seen it already, here it is in its full glory:
And here is what it looks like with the covers for the other two books.
I hope you agree that this looks more in keeping as a series.
Here’s the wraparound cover for the paperback, too.
Oh, and here are the three versions of the cover as paperbacks next to each other.
Coming up soon, I’ll have a cover reveal for the final Mennik Thorn book, LEGACY OF A HATED GOD. And this time I won’t forget to post it here!
There are two enormous book sales going on right now, and my Mennik Thorn novels, SHADOW OF A DEAD GOD, NECTAR FOR THE GOD, and STRANGE CARGO, are part of both sales. You can get all three books for 99p/99c each in the UK and US. (Sorry, Amazon doesn’t allow the same sale reductions outside those territories.)
First up is the SPFBO finalist sale. SPFBO is the most reputable and high profile contest for indie fantasy books, and over 40 finalists from all years, including most of this year’s finalists, are in the sale.
Those of you waiting for a sequel to SHADOW OF A DEAD GOD have had to wait a while, I’m afraid. Of course it’s no secret as to why after the last 18 months! But at last NECTAR FOR THE GOD is available to be pre-ordered, and I can’t wait to share it with you
Here’s the blurb:
In the city of Agatos, nothing stays buried forever.
Only an idiot would ignore his debt to a high mage, and Mennik Thorn is not an idiot, no matter what anyone might say. He’s just been … distracted. But now he’s left it too late, and if he doesn’t obey the high mage’s commands within the day, his best friends’ lives will be forfeit. So it’s hardly the time to take on an impossible case: proving a woman who murdered a stranger in full view is innocent.
Unfortunately, Mennik can’t resist doing the right thing – and now he’s caught in a deadly rivalry between warring high mages, his witnesses are dying, and something ancient has turned its eyes upon him.
The fate of the city is once again in the hands of a second-rate mage. Mennik Thorn should have stayed in hiding.
NECTAR FOR THE GOD will be published on December 2, 2021, and you can pre-order it now.
Right now, the book is at a special preorder price, but it won’t stay that way forever!
SHADOW OF A DEAD GOD has made it through to the final round of the 2020 Booknest Fantasy Awards in the self-published category. It’s up against some of the biggest names of self-published fantasy, so if you enjoyed it, please give it a vote and let’s see if we can keep up with them!
I never wanted to have to delay my books. As a reader, I hate it when a book I’ve been looking forwards to gets delayed.
But then this is this year. I’ve now been hit by Covid for the second time. The first time, in April, was pretty bad and I ended up losing a couple of month’s work from it, and everything since then has been much slowed down. Now I’ve got it again, and it’s hitting me hard again. I know recovery is going to be slow.
Last time, I pushed through and got SHADOW OF A DEAD GOD out on time, despite the Covid, but it wasn’t a good idea. This time, I need to take it more easily.
So. My short story collection, AT THE GATES AND OTHER STORIES, which was scheduled to come out on December 3rd, 2020, will now be coming out on January 2nd, 2021. I’m really sorry to those who’ve pre-ordered it and will now have to wait longer. But I want it to be right, not a rushed job.
The sequel to SHADOW OF A DEAD GOD, NECTAR FOR THE GOD, was pencilled in for May 2021, and if I suddenly hit full health again tomorrow, that would still be happening, despite the illnesses, but I know from experience that that won’t happen. It is going to take me months to get back to health. So, NECTAR FOR THE GOD will now be coming out in the second half of 2021. I can’t say exactly when, because I don’t know exactly how long it’ll take me to recover.
I really hate having to do this, but I hope everyone will understand, and the books will appear eventually.
As I’ve mentioned before (and, hell, will probably mention again, because cool things are cool), SHADOW OF A DEAD GOD is a finalist for the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO) this year. There are ten books in the finals, and they are a pretty diverse bunch. There’s probably something there for everyone. Here’s a nice flowchart graphic to help you pick which one to read!
I have been negligent in failing to mention here in this blog that my fantasy novel, SHADOW OF A DEAD GOD, reached the finals of the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO) competition. The competition started with 300 self-published fantasy novels and is now down to the best 10 for the finals.
The winner won’t be announced until next year, but I am really excited and happy to have reached the finals.
Here’s what the judges from Fantasy Faction said about SHADOW OF A DEAD GOD:
“Our judges were completely hooked by this page-turner of a mystery, set in a well-drawn world with fully fleshed characters. The characters especially won rave reviews. Supporting characters captured our affection; Mennik’s snarky humor and good heart won us over completely. It’s also a polished, well-balanced read, with plenty of humor to leaven the grisly murders, and all the tension and surprises one could wish for in a mystery. All in all, we loved rooting for Mennik through each twist and turn.”
Some absolutely amazing books have come out of the finals of this competition over the last five years, and whatever place SHADOW OF A DEAD GOD ends up taking, I am ecstatic to have got this far. Thanks are due to Mark Lawrence (the organiser and founder of the competition) and all the blogs and reviewers that judge it.
Those of you who take an interest in self-published fantasy novels might well be aware of the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off, a competition to find the best self-published fantasy novels. It’s now in its sixth year, and every year it highlights the cream of self-published fantasy. It’s run by author Mark Lawrence in association with ten book review blogs, and it winnows down 300 entries to 10 finalists and, eventually, one winner.
If you don’t follow self-published novels, you’re probably in the same place as I was a few years ago, knowing that there must be some great self-published novels out there, maybe even having come across a few through recommendations, but not knowing how to find the best ones from among the, honestly, crap.
Self-publishing has come on a lot in the last five or so years. It has become more professional and higher quality, and the best self-published books are every bit as good as best traditionally-published books. But the problem of finding those books has remained the same. Until I came across this competition, I had concluded that I just wasn’t going to reliably find good self-published books.
Here are some of the great books that I’ve discovered from finalists in the SPFBO competition:
Check some of them out. They really are worth your time. And there are many others. Here’s the full list of finalists and winners (scroll down that page). I’ve got plenty on my TBR, just waiting for me to get them, books like Alicia Wanstall-Burke’s Blood of Heirs, Virginia McClain’s Blade’s Edge, and Barbara Kloss’s Gods of Men.
When I decided to self-publish Shadow of a Dead God, the sixth edition of this competition was just about to start, so I entered. I think the competition does a great job at finding fantastic books. I have no idea if I’ll make it to the finals — undoubtedly ever year some great books don’t even get that far. Arguably the most egregious example is the magnificent Senlin Ascends, by Josiah Bancroft which fell at the first round and which I think many people since have agreed is an exceptionally good book. But there are always more than 10 deserving books each year, and not every one of them can be a finalist. Even if my book falls by the wayside early on, I am really enjoying being part of the community of writers and judges taking part in this. Even this early on in this year’s competition, I’ve come across some really good books.
You can follow along in the competition in the Facebook group, or if you don’t like Facebook, you can keep an eye on the progress of entries on the official competition webpage.
“Fast-paced, quick-witted, deftly plotted and as well-thought-out as it is well-written. Highly recommended.”
– Juliet E. McKenna, Author of The Tales of Einarinn and The Green Man’s Heir
“Recommended for readers of The Lies of Locke Lamora and anyone who loves fantasy mystery starring a delightfully reluctant, unlikely, foul-mouthed and golden-hearted hero.”
– Katrina Middelburg, Read. Ruminate. Write.
