Rhune (Book 1 of The First Empire) by Michael J. Sullivan

[sullivan_riyria]

Thanks for the update Michael. Your writing is so good but I also love how you always take the time to answer your fans questions. Best wishes to you and Robin.

I hope you get a break from work and get to recharge your creative side. Have fun with the bike ride and the one thing I know is that when we get our hands on Rhune it won't be long before we are asking when does the next book come out.

My bookshelves have a Hall of Fame shelf and your six Riyria Revelation books and both Riyria Chronicles books have their place on honor right between the A Song of Ice and Fire books and Joe Abercrombie's Best Served Cold.

I'm hoping someday you will get to do a signing in Columbus and I'll get to thank you and Robin for the hours of reading enjoyment that you have given me. It has been so much fun over the years being able to introduce friends to your work and I must say it makes me feel great to come to this site and other fantasy sites and see your hard work get the credit it deserves.

Thanks Heather. I've had a break that did recharge my creative side. I've been editing Rhune lately and it is going really well. And I think you are right - it's always an issue as you guys consume the books in a fraction of the time it takes me to write them. I am indeed honored you have all my books on your Hall of Fame shelf. Being include with George and Joe is pretty surreal so thanks for that.

I'd love to come to Columbus. I'll certainly keep you posted if I head that way. I do get to Detroit in January and so that's not too much of a detour. Thanks again for all the kind words.

 

[Heather Myst]

Thanks for the information Michael. I just read your Rhune update on your website and I'm so excited to dive into your new work.

 

[sullivan_riyria]

Thanks for the information Michael. I just read your Rhune update on your website and I'm so excited to dive into your new work.

As I'm nearing the end, it's really getting exciting to see this whole thing play out. It's hard writing the entire series first, but it makes for a more cohesive story in the end. Early feedback has me even more excited. Writing a book for yourself is satisfying but once you start hearing what others say, well that pales in comparison.

 

[sullivan_riyria]

Time for another update!! Lot's of news and movement on the front of this series.

1. The first four books have been sold to Random House's Del Rey imprint
2. The audio rights have been sold to Recorded BOoks and Tim Gerard Reynolds will be doing the narration
3. The first book has been through two rounds of beta and if all goes well it will go to Del Rey for editing in July
4. The fifth book is 80% complete and on schedule to be finished in April or May
5. A release schedule of "Summer 2016" has been set for the first book.
6. The books have been added to goodreads for those who want to add them to their shelves
7. Some "interim" covers (not by Del Rey - these are mine) have been created

Well, that's about it for now. I feel things coming to closure pretty quickly now. But if I left anything out, please feel free to ask questions.

​

 

[Ryan Mueller]

Those covers look great. I'm really excited to read these. I enjoy your books because they remind me of the reasons I love fantasy.

 

[sullivan_riyria]

Those covers look great. I'm really excited to read these. I enjoy your books because they remind me of the reasons I love fantasy.

Thank you! The covers are just "working covers" that I created - I'm sure Del Rey will have different ideas - but they are at least something to have in the interim.

 

[Contrarius]

Congrats on getting the very excellent Tim Gerard Reynolds to do the narration again. Huge thumbs up.

I'm looking forward to these. I wish you had picked different names, though. No doubt you aren't aware, since there's very little chance that you read such trash, but the Black Dagger Brotherhood books by JR Ward use several character names with "h"s thrown in the middle -- Rhage, Dhestroyer, Vishous, Phury, and so on -- so your "h" words remind me of those all too much. Ah well, I'm sure the books will be great anyway!

 

[sullivan_riyria]

Congrats on getting the very excellent Tim Gerard Reynolds to do the narration again. Huge thumbs up.

I'm looking forward to these. I wish you had picked different names, though. No doubt you aren't aware, since there's very little chance that you read such trash, but the Black Dagger Brotherhood books by JR Ward use several character names with "h"s thrown in the middle -- Rhage, Dhestroyer, Vishous, Phury, and so on -- so your "h" words remind me of those all too much. Ah well, I'm sure the books will be great anyway!

No I wasn't aware...but you know it's almost impossible not to "bump up" against other things. If I had removed the H's and made them Rune, Derg, Rist, Pyre, and Frey it would be even worse. "Rune" on a goodreads search gave me 75 pages of results where Rhune gave just 7 entries - not 7 pages but 7 entries. Yes there is another book called Rhune - came out in 2013 so between the time I started Rhune and finished it. But it has only 4 ratings so my guess is it's not too popular so there won't be too much confusion on that.

You do your best in picking titles -- and it's possible that Del Rey will change them anyway - they're only working titles. We'll see how it all works out in the end.