Monthly Archives: November 2017

Charity, Games, Spirit Made Steel

Extra Life 2017 Recap

Posted on by Russell Newquist
09
Nov

I’d like to make an extra thank you to everyone who supported us this year for Extra Life 2017. This was our biggest and best year ever. Attendance was strong throughout the day and even overnight this year. We had more games than ever, and best of all we set an all time record by raising over $2200 to help sick kids!

There are several people who deserve a special mention this year for all of their help and hard work this year.

First of all, Kerry Jordan did a fantastic job of running down prize support. We had over $1500 worth of prizes donated by various game companies this year thanks to Kerry’s hard work! Kerry also took the lead on the numerous scheduled games we had this year, and did a wonderful job helping us organize it. The following companies and groups donated games and prizes this year:

 

I’d also like to leave a special shout out to Rebecca Renfroe and her coworkers at QuantiTech. QuantiTech donated lunch, dinner, and – perhaps most importantly – coffee this year. And their generous donation still left us enough to add another $160 into our fundraising total.

The 14-hour Dungeons & Dragons game!

Thanks again to Chris Shotts for once more loaning us the 10 foot projector screen, Andrew and Samantha Dubbel for bringing out their VR rigs again, Tim Hite for bringing the arcade cabinet, Sensei Brian for bringing more video games than I can count, Drew for running a fourteen hour Dungeons & Dragons game (that is not a typo!) and, of course to everyone who came out and played with us.

Thank you all again for making our fifth Extra Life event our best ever! If you want to pitch in, there’s still time to make a last minute donation. We hope to see you all next year!

Announcements, Silver Empire

Silver Empire Updates

Posted on by Russell Newquist
02
Nov

We’ve been pretty quiet on the Silver Empire front for a while, but we’ve had a lot in the works. In the last sixty days, we’ve released War Demons, Lyonesse Volume 1, and Paragons. We’ve also put out audiobook versions of A Midsummer’s Party, The Cinder Witch, and The Witch’s Gift.

Well, I’m happy to tell you that we also have a lot more in the works!

First of all, our next anthology, Secret Stairs, is coming very soon! This one hit some delays because we got so many submissions. No joke, we got more submissions for that than we’ve received for every other anthology we’ve ever done. Combined. File that one under “great problems to have!” But has taken longer to finish than we’d planned. If you submitted to this anthology, please be patient with us. We’re still finalizing the list and will get back to everyone soon! We hope to have it out by the end of November. Worst case, it’ll be out in December. We’ve also got Vigil – the first follow-up to War Demons – due out in December, and Lyonesse Volume 2 will be on preorder by next week.

Think that’s a lot? You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

In January, we’ve got Declan Finn’s A Pius Legacy coming, and we’ll be spitting out the rest of that series (A Pius Stand, Pius Tales, and A Pius History) each about 30 days apart after that.

We’ve also got another as-yet-unannounced novel due out in January, from a new Silver Empire author. I’m excited about this one, as it’s somewhat different than our other works – but in a great way. And we’re reaching out to another author as well, hoping to have his works hitting your digital bookshelf in February.

Of course, there’s also an audiobook of War Demons coming early in 2018.

Excited yet? There’s more!

S.D. McPhail is making great progress on the next Treasures of Dodrazeb book, and we hope to have that out next year. Fans of Paragons rejoice – we’ve got no less than three superhero novels on the calendar for next summer. Spirit Cooking, the sequel to both War Demons and Vigil, is on track for a spring 2018 release, and I’m currently aiming for the finale to that series, Sacrifices to be out by the end of 2018. Fans of Peter Bishop, ease your worry – when Sacrifices is done, I’ve got an entirely new series planned with those characters! Join the Order of the Sword and keep up with updates on all things Peter Bishop!

Did I say something about Urban Fantasy? Well, I can’t say much more yet. Except to expect some yuuuuge news from Silver Empire and Declan Finn next year on the UF front. Or was that two pieces of major news? Something old, something new, something bloody, something holy… Trust me, you won’t want to miss either of these!

But on top of that… well, that would be telling.

Strap in, folks. This ride is just getting started!

Best Male Led Urban Fantasy, Book Reviews, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy

Obsidian Son – BOOK REVIEW

Posted on by Russell Newquist
01
Nov

I’m angry at Shayne Silvers over Obsidian Son, book one of The Temple Chronicles. I’m angry because I spent last night reading this book when I should have been working. I have too much of my own writing to do to go down this rabbit hole. Fear not, though, fair readers! The second draft of Vigil is 50% done, and I should have it finished by this weekend (consider joining the Order of the Sword for details on how to get a free advance review copy). That book will still be out on time in mid December. Still, I greatly enjoyed Obsidian Son.

First of all, Nate Temple is a great character. Unlike so many of the men in current Urban Fantasy, he’s not whiny or emo. I do have to admit that at the very beginning of the book I worried that he would turn into a hipster douche. And he does, in fact, carry shades of that. But only shades, and Silvers takes the character to a far greater depth. But it’s not just Temple himself. The supporting cast really breathes life into the story. Gunnar the werewolf and Indie the “Regular” stood out to me, in particular.

One thing I find particularly fascinating is the way in which Silvers incorporates several themes that I also hit upon in War Demons, while still writing a book that’s vastly different than what I wrote. It’s always fun to see similar subjects approached in new ways, and I really enjoyed Silvers’ touch on the topic.

The plot didn’t carry many surprises, but that never bothered me. At every turn I enjoyed the ride well enough that I didn’t mind a predictable destination. And one particular plot twist that I half-expected from the first quarter of the book never happened – thankfully. I might have taken off a full star if it had gone down that way. Sometimes the paths an author doesn’t take matter as much as the ones he does.

This is easily a five out of five star book. If you love urban fantasy – especially the kind with solid, masculine leads, Obsidian Son book is for you. Personally, I can’t wait to dive into the rest of the series.