Hey Everybody,
We wanted to thank you all for supporting us through this journey from April Fool’s joke to actual book coming out today. We are both so grateful to everyone who encouraged us, waited patiently and even ordered or per-ordered the book. We couldn’t have done it without you.
A huge shoot out to the folks at the Nancy Yost Literary Agency: Nancy, Sarah, Natanya, Amy, Sandra, our editor. I’ve said it before but it bears repeating, you all are the best, thank you so much.
On the excellent advice of Jeaniene Frost, Ilona is hiding from the interwebs today but Brandi is on the job and we are checking to make sure there are no problems with orders or links or whatever. Like tv operators, she is standing by.
So sad that I am already finished with the book. I love it so much, I think this a close tie with Hidden Legacy for being my favorite book/series of yours. One of my favorite scenes was Elara riling Nez. And for all his arrogance and assholey tendencies Hugh has many redeeming qualities. An anti-hero after my own heart.
Hah, I have been so busy at work that I haven’t even cracked it open yet. And sadly that may continue on till tomorrow.
Loved it! Didn’t expect to enjoy it so much. I had a hard time imagining Hugh as main character. You made it work in a way that seemed real.
I decided that the book didn’t “redeem” Hugh so much as it showed a more complete version of him. He’s still everything he was before, but in the Kate books, we only see him filtered through Kate’s perspective, when he’s focused on her as his main objective. We don’t see loyalty or (very much) kindness. Not that he’s overflowing with human kindness in this book, but you definitely see different sides of him here. I liked the part where the book compared him to Nez…compared their leadership styles, especially with respect to their subordinates.
I’m also glad that he’s well-matched in Elara.
+1
+1
I like how you described the book. It made me look at Nez in a new light too.
Yass! Everything you said, lol.
Swoon.
I’m reading it now and really enjoying the story. I disliked Hugh so much in the other books that I wasn’t sure I could make myself like him as the main character. It speaks to how wonderful your writing talents are that you managed to make me start liking him within the first few chapters. Thank you both for sharing your talents with all of us!
Totally awesomesauce!!
Only gripe is one related to the publishing industry in general: WHYYYYY all the releases on a Tuesday?!! Bathroom breaks are my lifeline today.
Yes! If they were on Friday I could sleep in after the first read through!
Great book! Loved how you kept Hugh, but explained many of his actions in the context of the Roland link/addiction. Thank you both!
You know could literally give her a ‘happy pub day’ and whisk her off down the local pub (do they have those in the USA?) for a pub lunch. I do love a pub lunch. Plate covering schnitzels with various wonderful gravies to choose from … plus:
*alcohol; and
*no washing up!
I already said my thanks and gave a small piece of feedback in yesterday’s blog post, but I’ll offer my congrats again for the wonderful book.
Well done guys.
Had on my kindle this morning. I started it but had to stop because you really cannot read and drive at the same time.
Looking forward to reading more and finding out more about Hugh.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Lol!!!!!!!
Do I spend the extra money on the paperback even though I own it in ebook? Psh…as if that was a question! Of course.
I think the surprise dead tree release is annoying. I’d rather have the book than the kindle, and wish the paper book release had been announced in advance.
This book is self-published, I believe, so they incur all the costs. Same as with the Innkeepers. I’m guessing they were waiting to see if there was enough interest to justify the cost and/or it took them time to find a printing company. This book is longer than the innkeepers, so more cost, or the other printers weren’t available.
No, they had been planning on a paper book. When the reader noticed the character name glitch, Gordon said they fixed the e-book but maybe not the paper book to have it ready on June 26. So it was ready to go.
And if they didn’t think they could turn a profit, they would not have made it available. This is their business, after all.
Love it!!! Happy pub day ? Had to leave the end to let my iPad charge and cook dinner lol ?
Annoyingly, Real Life has gotten between me and starting the book, because I have to work (so I can afford to buy more books and may the mortgage…). Happy Pub Day to you two!
Likewise, although it wasn’t work, just appointments. I actually had to go to bed at a reasonable time. Well, 3am, which for a book release day is early.
+1 ? can’t wait to read, had pre-ordered
This Has been the best April Fools joke ever! I have started – busy day AND I want to savor – and am loving it! I can’t say it enough…you guys are awesome!!!! Thank you for putting up with our pushy behaviors; you are just so approachable. Enjoy your reviews. As soon as I finish, I will Amazon review. Congratulations!
So disappointed this morning when I checked my paperwhite for the book, not there! Turned my fire on to check email and there it was, had to reboot the paperwhite to get it to show up but all is well now. Been a PIA day for me and electronics and no time to read the book until Sunday. Great reviews everywhere, so Thanks for another great book!
Wow…just wow! Amazing story! Thank you both!
Not sure if it could be distilled into a blog post or two, but I’d be very interested in hearing the story of how April-1st-joke Hugh eventually became the reality of Iron-and-Magic Hugh.
She made a joke with a whole cover about Hugh getting a book, it had a whole blurb and everything. We the fans then thought itwas a real book and even after she explained it was a joke we still pushed for it to be a whole book and whalah! If you search for hugh in the posts section it should come right up do u can see the original April fools joke
Yep, I do know that much about how Iron and Magic came to be. It’s more the behind-the-scenes how. When did the Authorlords first think it might be possible and not just a joke? How did Hugh morph in their minds from horrible person and antagonist to antihero? I suppose it’s the mental process of character creation and development I’m curious about. Which I imagine is horribly hard to explain.
Thank you thank you thank you. Thoroughly enjoyed every word.
Usually when an audiobook doesn’t come out for a while after the text book is released? No problem! If I’m intending to buy it in audio, I wait. My life doesn’t allow for a lot of actual reading with my eyes, so most of that goes for online social interactions. I’ll make the occasional exception, but mostly, no big.
This is driving me nuts. So much to get done right now. Also, today is a work from home, mostly on low level data analysis stuff, which is pretty audiobook friendly…. and I’m sooo tired and sore,* which makes the thought that maybe I’d be just as well served by a hot bath and curling up with, say, a good book…
* I regret nothing. Well, I don’t regret ramping up too quickly on the TRX stuff. I regret following that up with too little sleep…
Downloaded it at midnight and stayed up much too late reading. Now I must wait (im)patiently for the next.
Anxiously awaiting my paper copy. Thank you both for all your efforts and your creative talents.
Great job. Can’t wait for the next book.
Bought the book this morning and have started reading. Didn’t want to stop at lunch, but the boss wouldn’t have been happy. Hmmm, how late will I be up tonight?????
For some reason, my copy has not yet shown up in my kindle….?
Reboot your kindle. I had to do that.
Maybe recheck your library?
PS that gif at bottom of your post is hilarious ?
Got it this morning, saving it for a vacation trip next week. Thank you. Hugh’s been my favorite “love to hate this guy”for quite a while now. Great pub day, guys, have a terrific rest of the week.?
I checked to make sure it downloaded, but I won’t start reading until I know I can finish it in one sitting.
That’s my situation also. Living on a river means lots of summer company which I usually love….. luck would have it that I have a house full of company starting tomorrow so I refuse to start reading until after they all leave Sunday.
I will have time to savor it (meaning read it twice) before the next group arrives
Congratulations
Love it! Just finished it and lef a glowing review.
Really great job as usual with you guys! Thank you, you rock!
Mine’s in with no problem; I’m about halfway through, and loving it.
I can’t start it yet! I have classes! And I have a car trip coming up! I was going to save it for those glorious 10 hours.
That’s a lie. I can’t wait. I’ll start it tomorrow when my paper is finished!
Husband (who I got to read this whole series after he cried about the Dresdan Files ending) doesn’t want to read it. He’s not sure he wants Hugh redeemed. I think he wants to punch him in the testicles. Repeatedly. So, I’m going to read it first then convince him it’s totally worth it.
The Dresden Files still has close to 8 books to go, including the BAT, doesn’t it?
Yep and according to JB he’s trying to get the next book, Peace Talks, into the publisher before Sept.1. Real life had delayed writing it for 3 years.
Jim Butchers real life has been spent doing other fun things besides writing. So fun for him, tough luck for us if we are not into the games he writes and publishes. I did enjoy his Cinder Spires quite a bit and I am generally not a steam-punk fan.
Happy Publishing Day! When there is time a picture of the latest yarn purchase would be great!
I knew he was writing Peace Talks, thanks for a possible timeline!
1st, love the gif. 2nd, haven’t finished the book yet, but am loving it so far. Elara & Hugh in public remind me of Henry & Eleanor in ‘The Lion in Winter’ (smile, smile, snark, smile)
Loved it! Planned on waiting till this weekend but couldn’t resist taking a quick look…. and now I’ll be up tonight catching up on my work. So worth it! Thanks for another awesome read
Love love love the book! Please more Bale in the next one, that goofy berserker is EVERYTHING!
I’ve read the book. I can’t believe how good it was! I honestly expected to be a bit disappointed, but no, you exceeded all expectations. It nearly killed me to reach the end. Now the wait for the next one. Sigh.
Thank you for being so awesome, authorlords! You rock!!
I already have book cravings since I couldn’t control myself and read it so fast. I’ll be honest I had some doubts about how you would make it work but as always The Authorlords were good to us. So good I have no idea how I’ll return to the mediocre series I was reading. Now on to wait for the audiobook.
Really want to read it now but probably not going to be able to read it till next week. We just got in from Japan after being away for 6 years. So everyone wants to see us before we leave for NC on Saturday. Everyday this week is booked with family/friend visits. Then I get to make the drive down there with kids and dog to meet up with the husband.
It would be bad manners to ignore everyone, so I have to be good and wait.
Welcome home!
Brilliant. Was bound and determined that nothing would make me even think of forgiving Hugh for his many sins, but ended up (reluctantly) almost loving him. Look forward to when he and Kate come face to face.
Happy Book Birthday! I just got home and am going to download now. Can’t wait. Thank you in advance for all your hard work. I appreciate all you do for the BDH and the wonderful novels you write.
It was all so good! His new horse is a hilarious choice and Elara is amazing 😀
Bucky is the nickname. His horse is named for Alexander the great’s ? There’s something funky about how he likes to escape his stall and go for midnight romps in the enchanted arcane forest. Humm. And prancing. Def a horse w ego!!
PS. I actually am thinking of Bucky in my head as a Lippanzer horse, doing airs above the ground, ROFL.
Yesterday 3:06pm local time: Google tells me the time in USA is 11:06pm EST, assume that the Kindle edition will be released at midnight EST (I’m patient, I can handle the wait and I can’t start reading it at work. It’s all good).
4:00pm check if it’s downloaded, it’s not. Slight panic, was Google wrong about the time? (Deep breath, it’s all good. The book will be there soon, still can’t start reading at work anyway).
4:15pm after continually refreshing email page finally get notification it’s been released. Download so it’s ready and waiting.
5:00pm Drive home, cook dinner, start book, eat dinner while reading. Move to couch and continue reading while husband does dishes and stuff (don’t know what the stuff was, busy reading).
1:00am finally go to bed blown away by how Ilona and Andrew produced a story in which one of the nasty character they’ve created has now became someone I’m rooting for.
Thanks for taking an April fools joke and turning it into a wonderful story, can’t wait to see where it goes next.
+1
I loved it. I loved how Hugh was waking up and Elara was the one who pulled him out of himself. It was great.
I’m holding out for the audio book.
After Mauro, the idea of Hugh being redeemed, or at least the antihero of his own book, didn’t initially sit well with me. And then, after thinking about it- though not for long, I was like “what’s wrong with you? These are the Author Lords we’re talking about here! If anyone can do it, they can!” to myself and bought it as soon as it was available. So glad I did.
I had wondered what kind of woman would be able to take on Hugh and Elara exceeded my expectations. Thank you two for yet another great entry in KD’s world.
Not to pressure you, but with each new book and serial release, my love and appreciation for your work grows. Thank you both so very much for all that you do.
Loved it. It shows nature vs nurture. I did not like Hugh in Kate’s series but I felt he had to have something redeemable about him,at least I hoped. You guys delivered from beginning to end.
It took me all day to finish but I am so sick. Yucky. The book was wonderful. Oh wow she scared him. Had to delete names because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. You always surprise me. Thank you.
SIMPLY AMAZING! I loved every minute of it! I plan to read it again over the weekend
Still reading and am enraptured. Fabulous story!!! Loved the scene of the live lopping of the mercenary.
Just one negative: the version I received has the sword blade on the sections offset a little so it is actually superimposed over the first two lines of text. A tad bit annoying.
Reading in two page format and on my IPad so it might be the Kindle version I have (don’t think it’s been updated in awhile so it may not be most recent one). I’ll try to read it from my Fire and see if that issue is still present.
NO SPOILERS Please ??
What a great story! Thrilling, funny romantic and smart! Loved it so much! Thank you for following through on the April fool romance! A little award from the internet for an epic character redemption! ? The clever detailed character interaction was delightful. Absolutely delicious! Thank you for your awesomeness ❤️
Okay,
I know this will sound insane but I was offered 2 different dates for a dental implant surgery.
I picked today because I knew I would have a lot of sitting and waiting and I would have a totally wonderful book to distract me from fear and pain.
Thank you so very much. You two have a gift the helps others in very many ways.
Thank you
Thank you Ilona and Gordon. I’ve purchased and read everything you’ve written and with Iron and Magic, you continue to bat 1000! It’s a great story – adventure, magic, snappy repartee. And something that I never would have thought could happen – I’ve become a Hugh fan girl. I can’t wait for the next book in the series and how this coordinates with Kate’s finale.
thanks for sharing
I’m about half way through and love it!!!
I should have trusted you guys more. I was so afraid since I really strongly disliked Hugh, but I do like how you guys wrote him.
Can’t wait for my coffee break so I can read more!
I have just started and am going to ration myself to 10 pages per day…if I can^-^
I’m currently reading…I really hope that feeling in my chest is the anticipation of a Kate/Hugh collabo & not heartburn…