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PUBLICATION ROUNDUP: TWO WEEKS IN

Posted on by Austin Gunderson in News, Publishing

“The Heir and the Herald,” my series of epic fantasy novels, continues to take the market by storm.

— Those of you who prefer to flip physical pages will be ecstatic to learn that Book 1, A Sea Sought in Song, IS NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK! Just select the paperback option on the Amazon listing: https://amzn.to/3D49t2J

— Book 2, Wrath and Crimson Rime, is available for Kindle here: https://amzn.to/3DjaDre

— Amazon’s “Look inside” feature is now enabled for both novels. So if you prefer not to drop money on something you aren’t sure you’ll enjoy, click the cover image on the Amazon listing to read the first two chapters. My style is distinctive and consistent; every page is representative. I personally guarantee that if you like what you see in the sample chapters, you’ll love the novel as a whole.

— Preaching to the choir here, but if you’re interested in doing a deep dive into the world of Arlam, you’ll find maps, magic system primers, character and location profiles, and over sixty custom illustrations at the official series website: www.austingunderson.com. If you haven’t taken a look around lately, it’s well worth your while.

— And if you want to connect on social media, Arlam is online:

FB: www.facebook.com/ArlamOnline
IG: www.instagram.com/arlamonline
Twitter: www.twitter.com/ArlamOnline

I’ll see you beyond the portal!

Book 4 Begun

Posted on by Austin Gunderson in News, Writing

The fourth and final volume in “The Heir and the Herald” epic fantasy tetralogy has rapidly taken shape. I have the blueprints in hand and am on the jobsite. Last week I completed a chapter-by-chapter outline and started and finished the Prologue (at over 4,200 words, it’s my longest yet). This week I began work on the Overture.

For a guy who didn’t outline a single thing until beginning work on the second half of Book 3 six months ago, this pace feels supersonic. The Book 4 outline will allow me to plan ahead and avoid the brick walls I typically run myself into and then despairingly stare at for half a year at a time. And the added financial incentive of actually being a published author (in case you missed it, A Sea Sought in Song and Wrath and Crimson Rime are both available for purchase, with Loose the Sealed Tongue due to hit the market soon) will help keep the creative fire lit.

Book 4—Bind the Tree of Time—is going to be insane. Insane. And that’s really all I can say about it. If you enjoy its predecessors, then it will blow away all your expectations for a cataclysmically grand finale.

Get hyped. And in the meantime, get reading!

Day One

Posted on by Austin Gunderson in News, Publishing

The wait is over.

After seventeen years of intensive preparation, “The Heir and the Herald” epic fantasy tetralogy has officially LAUNCHED. Its first volume—the 400-page novel “A Sea Sought in Song”—is now LIVE: https://amzn.to/3D49t2J

But reader beware! Beyond this portal lies Arlam—a land vast beyond imagining, ancient beyond reckoning, harsh beyond foreboding, beautiful beyond describing. A place where strong men struggle just to survive, and the wise are brought to grief. A realm of dream and night-sweat nightmare.

There is evil afoot in Arlam, and its nature remains obscure. Pay attention! Your arrival shall be like a stone striking still waters, your decisions like ripples through a conflict you can’t yet comprehend. You’ll be walking into a trap with eyes wide open. See, I have told you beforehand.

My name is Hugh Conrad. My father claims he reigned as king of an alien world, but all I know for certain is that he sent my friend in there to die. Time flows strangely in outer darkness—Dan is aging decades as we speak. I’m out of time, have to go now. Are you coming or not?

It’s okay. Trust me, we’ll make it. Here, take this rifle and stick close. I know what I’m doing.

Arlam awaits. Are you ready?