This week, I’ve been running the UK and new US covers for The Wall Of Night series  side by side, together with an extract from the books, as follows:

The Heir Of Night (Monday)

The Gathering Of The Lost (Wednesday)

Daughter Of Blood (Friday)

And here, by way of a Grand Finale are the three UK covers side-by-side — (check back tomorrow for the US covers finale):

UK/AU/NZ

UK/AU/NZ

UK/AU/NZ: Jan 2016

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Cool, huh?

“Lowe never misses a beat … She has created a dark and magical world, and given readers sympathetic characters and a reason to follow them … The Heir of Night is a grand entrance.”
~ the bookbag.co.uk

“The Gathering of the Lost returns the reader to a world of hidden history and shadowed loyalties and keeps you there until well past your bedtime, loving every minute of it.” 
~ Fantasy Book Review

 “I loved this book and I didn’t want it to end.”
~ Radio New Zealand: Afternoons

For this week’s fun I’ve been running The Wall Of Night series covers side by side, with an excerpt from t’books thrown in for extra fantastica — doubly so for Daughter Of Blood since today’s extract should be completely “new to you.” 🙂

The Heir of Night was up Monday and The Gathering Of The Lost featured Wednesday — but he-er-rre’s Daughter Of Blood:
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UK/AU/NZ: Jan 2016

USA: Jan 2016

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In The Ship’s Prow House

“As the door closed behind them, his captor spoke another, indecipherable word and Faro’s rigid body went limp. The man shoved him away at the same time, and he collapsed in a sprawl of arms and legs, gasping for breath. Running footsteps sounded, then came to an abrupt halt. Still sucking in breath, Faro peered up at the new arrivals: an elderly servant, and a much younger man with dark shoulder-length hair and an ascetic expression.

“This is an outrage,” the servant began, but his voice was shaking.

Don’t be a fool, old man, Faro thought. The three who had entered the house with him said nothing, but the dark-haired man sank to his knees, dragging the old man down with him.

“Prince Aranraith,” he husked, as though his mouth was as dry as Faro’s. “You honor this house.” He bowed forward until his forehead touched the floor, and after a moment’s hesitation the old man, clearly bewildered, did the same. Faro lay absolutely still, aware that this hall, too, had grown cold. He was trying to breathe shallowly, but he could see the air misting just past his lips.

All three strangers lifted back their hoods—and Faro stifled a cry, because now he could see why the tallest man’s hood had moved. He closed his eyes, hoping that he had fallen asleep in the temple porch and when he looked again the nightmare would be gone. But the stranger was still there, a powerfully built man in gold-washed black mail, with long coils of hair falling down his back. Except that the coils were not hair at all, but a sinuous twist of blue-black snakes, their forked tongues a perpetual flicker about the stranger’s head and shoulders.

Nauseated, Faro screwed his eyelids shut again, but his heart still hammered painfully and he had to fight to control his trembling. Outside, the rain began to drum.”

~  from © Daughter Of Blood, The Wall of Night Book Three

USA

UK/Aus/NZ

The recent unveiling of the US  and UK covers for Daughter Of Blood  — and now the new look US covers for the whole WALL of Night series — has inspired me to spend some on-blog time with the characters from the first two books in the series, in the same way I spent time on the worldbuilding in A Geography Of Haarth.

I also decided to on the more minor players to begin with, because: “I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”

And sometimes, the minor characters may not be human, but still have a role to play nonetheless…

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Falath: one of the hounds belonging to Rowan Birchmoon, the Winter Woman

‘ There was usually a white hound running at her heels, or a spotted, tuft-eared hunting cat pressed against her legs. Tonight, Malian saw with a pang of envy, it was one of the feather-footed hounds … her greeting was forestalled by the hound, which thrust a cold wet nose into her hand. Malian laughed, stroking the silky head, and the Winter woman smiled back. “Falath is remiss in matters of tradition,” she said, in her clear voice, “but very attentive in friendship.” ‘

~ from © The Heir Of Night: The Wall of Night Book One, Chapter 2 — Heralds of the Guild

Just for fun I’m running The Wall Of Night series covers side by side this week — with an extract from each book for added awesome. 😉

The Heir of Night was up Monday and Daughter Of Blood is forthcoming on Friday — but today is The Gathering Of The Lost’s turn to star:
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UK/AU/NZ

USA

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In The Cavern Of Sleepers

“Malian’s dream was darkness: blackness without stars, water without light, a tower without a shadow that she remembered climbing—but that too fell away as she plummeted, diving head first through the dream. She kept her eyes open, remembering the crow in the shadow tower, the one that had told her this was something she would need to learn how to do.

The crow had been right, Malian thought, not that it helped when the universe of her dream was devoid of light.

“It is not the eyes.” The voice of Nhenir, the legendary helm that had once belonged to Yorindesarinen, the greatest of all Derai heroes, was a mixture of light and dark, speaking into Malian’s mind. “Your inner awareness must be open: you must learn to eat the dark lest it eat you.”

Malian did not answer as she plunged deeper, and then deeper again into the well of her dream. Mind, heart and soul, she felt as if she were made of darkness—but was that not fitting since her name was Night?

She was far, far down in the dream before she saw light, a single star drowned at the bottom of the well. She turned toward it and the light grew, finally becoming a torch that gleamed white in a crystal bracket. Malian caught at it with her mind and stepped forward—into the center of an enormous cave that was ringed with more torches.

The cave was so vast that both its roof and the light were lost in the darkness overhead. But the space surrounding Malian was not empty: thousands of warriors lay all around her on stone biers. All were armed, but their helms and weapons, like their companion beasts—horses, hounds, and even the occasional hawk—were disposed around them. They looked exactly, Malian thought, like the depictions of legendary heroes in ancient sepulchres. Yet these warriors were alive: she could see the steady rise and fall of their breath.

“Asleep,” Malian whispered, “they’re all asleep.” “

~  from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two

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side by side wheelchairs
in the mall

his’n’hers vanilla ice creams
licked
with lingering
………concentration

not one drip
allowed to fall

eyes taking in
………everything
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© Helen Lowe

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“Side by side” is turning into a bit of a theme for this week, so I thought: “Why not go all the way and include a “side by side” poem as well?”

Enjoy! 😉

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To read the featured poem on the Tuesday Poem Hub and other great poems from fellow Tuesday poets from around the world, click here.

Just for a bit of fun, I thought I’d run The Wall Of Night series covers side by side this week, over Monday (The Heir Of Night), Wednesday (The Gathering Of The Lost) and Friday (Daughter Of Blood)  — with an extract from the books for added goodness.

So here are those The Heir Of Night covers, side by side: 🙂

UK/Aus/NZ

USA

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In The Keep Of Winds:

“Another tile banged and rattled its way down the roof as a slight figure swarmed up one of the massive stone pillars that marched along either side of the hall. There was an alarming creak as the climber swung up and over the balustrade of a wooden gallery, high above the hall floor—but the timbers held. The climber paused, looking around with satisfaction, and wiped dusty hands on the seat of her plain, black pants. A narrow, wooden staircase twisted up toward another, even higher gallery of sculpted stone, but the treads stopped just short of the top. She studied the gap, her eyes narrowed as they traced the leap she would need to make: from the top of the stair to the gargoyles beneath the stone balcony, and then up, by a series of precarious finger-and-toe holds, onto the balcony itself.

The girl frowned, knowing that to miss that jump would mean plummeting to certain death, then shrugged and began to climb, testing each wooden tread before trusting her weight to it. She paused again on the topmost step, then sprang, her first hand slapping onto a corbel while the other grasped at a gargoyle’s half-spread wing. She hung for a moment, swinging, then knifed her feet up onto the gargoyle’s claws before scrambling over the high shoulder and into the gallery itself. Her eyes shone with triumph and excitement as she stared through the rear of the gallery into another hall.

Although smaller than the High Hall below, she could see that it had once been richer and more elegant. Beneath the dust, the floors were a mosaic of beasts, birds, and trailing vines, while panels of metal and jeweled glass decorated the walls. A dais spanned the far end of the long room, with the fragile remains of a tapestry draped on the wall behind it. The hanging would have been bright with colour once, the girl thought, the whole hall must have glowed with it, but it was a dim and lifeless place now…”

~ from © The Heir Of Night: The Wall of Night Book One

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Also, for North American followers, there’s a joint The Heir Of Night and The Gathering Of The Lost giveaway
currently running on Sf Signal — just click here:

GIVEAWAY (US/Canada Only):
Win Copies of THE HEIR OF NIGHT and THE GATHERING OF THE LOST
by Helen Lowe!

USA

USA

An end-of-week reminder that there’s a joint The Heir Of Night and The Gathering Of The Lost giveaway currently running on SF Signal — just click here:

GIVEAWAY (US/Canada Only):
Win Copies of THE HEIR OF NIGHT and THE GATHERING OF THE LOST
by Helen Lowe!

It closes on the 22nd, I believe.

Sadly, it’s only for North American readers this time, but I promise you I shall do something international very soon — when the proofing for Daughter Of Blood is done and dusted.

First and foremost — how absolutely not? — was the cover reveal for Voyager’s new look Wall Of Night series covers — exclusive to SF Signal.

The feature included a behind-the-scenes look at the cover creation process from the author and editor, so if you haven’t checked the goodness out already, do head on over and take a look. 🙂

[EXCLUSIVE] Making Covers New: Creating An Epic Look For Helen Lowe’s THE WALL OF NIGHT Series

Plus there’s a giveaway running, here:

GIVEAWAY (US/Canada Only): Win Copies of THE HEIR OF NIGHT and THE GATHERING OF THE LOST

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Kim Falconer on the Supernatural Underground:

But there were also some equally great posts around the traps. Kicking off with Kim Falconer’s fabulous post on the Supernatural Underground:

Marinating Ideas

Did you know that coffee may have shaped the history of ideas?

Seriously, though, this is a wonderful post on how creativity really works—or doesn’t. Well worth your while checking out.

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Margaret Atwood on Slate:

One of my favourite authors from the time when I was first discovering speculative fiction was John Wyndham, who is possibly most famous for The Day Of The Triffids. But one of his books that I enjoyed most was his last, Chocky.

So I was delighted to see this feature from Margaret Atwood on Slate, introducing the latest edition of Chocky with a retrospective look at both John Wyndham’s writing & Chocky itself.

I think it’s excellent reading, and if it encourages you to check John Wyndham out for yourself, so much the better:

Chocky, the Kindly Body Snatcher

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Ann Leckie (on her own blog):

Last but not least, I very much enjoyed this post by Ann Leckie:

What The Reader Wants

Spot on, in my humble opinion—but I’m not going to tell you what Ann said: hie thee to her site and check it out for yer ownself. 😉

In case you didn’t believe me—here it is, the tangible proof that there really is a Daughter Of Blood coming your way…

Just as if there hasn’t been enough excitement this week with the new-look US covers being revealed on SF Signal.

At any rate, despite new covers and giveaways (Yep, that’s happening on SF Signal, too!) I am also very busy proof reading this (not so) little number.

All good fun stuff and bound to keep me busy over the weekend—but hey, I think it’s meant to be rainy anywayz. 😉

UK

USA

The recent unveiling of the US  and UK covers for Daughter Of Blood  — and now the new look US covers for the whole WALL of Night series — has inspired me to spend some on-blog time with the characters from the first two books in the series, in the same way I spent time on the worldbuilding in A Geography Of Haarth.

I also decided to on the more minor players to begin with, because: “I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”

I’m starting at the beginning, with characters from The Heir Of Night, the first book in The Wall Of Night series — and today we’re on “E.”

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Eria: an initiate priestess, serving in the Temple of Night

‘ The young faces looked at each other and then to Eria, as their spokesperson. The initiate shook her head. “We were proud to be chosen for this mission, Herald Jehane, and to be of service to our House. But now we are here and have seen what you do…” Her voice trailed away and she shook her head again. ‘

~ from © The Heir Of Night: The Wall of Night Book One, Chapter 10 — In The Old Keep

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Also, for North American followers, there’s a joint The Heir Of Night and The Gathering Of The Lost giveaway
currently running on Sf Signal — just click here:

GIVEAWAY (US/Canada Only):
Win Copies of THE HEIR OF NIGHT and THE GATHERING OF THE LOST
by Helen Lowe!