As you probably guessed by now, Beast Business has been pushed back to Friday. Arabella POV ran too long. Don’t laugh.
Today we bring you a companion to the free preview of This Kingdom.
Here it is again, if you missed it. It is a promo done by the US publisher and available everywhere the US edition reaches.
Amazon / BN / Bookshop / Google Play Books / Kobo
Nobody knows Kair Toren better than a stelka. Stelkas can’t talk, but if they could, they would tell you all sorts of secrets about what going on in the capital of Rellas.
This stelka is going to take us on a tour of Kair Toren as envisioned by Candice Slater.
The Mage Tower.
The Mage Tower is ancient. It smells of magic, and if you get too close, your fur will start crackling. This is where mages of Kair Toren make their magic. Sometimes stupid birds fly into the flower petals at the top and the magic fries them. They are good eating.
The Garden of Soft Blossoms
The Garden is located in an ancient fort, with thick stone walls and towers. It sits on the edge of the city, just south of the North Wall and looks over one of the rivers. It smells delicious. There are a lot of humans there, mostly at night. Sometimes you can sneak to the back and raid the garbage in the back courtyard by the kitchen for yummy tidbits.
The Bad House
This is the bad house. It smells like human blood. The humans inside are mean and they will kill you if you come close. But it won’t stay the bad house for too long. This is where I’m going to live eventually. I will get to sleep on the human bed, and people will give me yummy meat.
The Map
Here, you can have this map. Click it to make it bigger. See, I can be kind to humans. I am not all teeth. Although my teeth are pretty amazing. Chomp.
This is your official spoiler thread for This Kingdom. Speak freely! Ask your questions here, in the comments. The humans said they might do a zoom later and even answer some.
hi!!!!
Very bummed to hear I have to w*it, but I am so happy it’s because there will be more content. I shall practice p*tience
doesn’t appear I can download the preview as it’s not available in the UK. bummed
Did you try the Kobo link? I was able to download the DRM-free preview ePub from outside the US and read it on my desktop.
Thank you – thank you – thank you – UK based but managed to get it on kobo
Hi, I’ve just taken a look at the Amazon UK site and the preview is there … enjoy. Xx
The extended preview is not the same as the “Look Inside” sample 🙂.
I’m in the U.K. too, the US extended preview does not appear for Amazon UK.
Please email me at modr@ilona-andrews.com if you have a link because then it’s an issue we have to sort out with the publishers.
Hi Moderator R. It doesn’t appear to be available at Amazon AU either. I’ve tried several times to find it. Bummer!
No, the extended preview isn’t available to anyone served by the U.K. edition, because it is a US publisher promotion.
OK, Australia & UK have to wait until March to purchase the whole thing…we’re not missing out on anything, are we?
First certified 🙂
I am chomping at the bit! I have been waiting for an Isekai novel to be put out! I am so happy it is and so upset that I read the extended preview! 🥲
Waiting is going to kill me. Why can’t I be the lucky ones that get a ARC? I ate this extended preview up!!!
Think I would have died with an ARC, can you imagine?
LOVED the sneak peek of Maggie! Can’t wait to read more!
Squee!!!! My excitement is spilling over. I am impatiently/chalently waiting for release day.
I hae/love you! Awake until 4 am reading and rereading the story! Want more NOW! Ah, please?!?!?
thank you
Attempting to be chalent as I wait…..
🤣
+1
Ahhhhhh they end the preview at the best place for hooking people HARD!
I love Maggie. March cannot come soon enough.
Oh, this is the closest to first I have been, I think. Neat.
I would love a FrInnday Interview for Maggie’s stelka ‘friend’. You just need someone who can speak with animals. Now where might you find a Prime like that? hmmmm
I LOVE, love, LOVE this idea – and either Matilda or Cornelius as the stelka’s interpreter would make me squee with delight!
I think it might be nice to meet Corneilius’ brother.
YES! in the immortal words of Capt Piquard, “Make it so!”🤣
Lolllllll
That is such as good idea! Matilda would be great.
+1
The preview showed up on my Kindle last night and I couldn’t go to sleep until I finished reading it. I was very happy that the preview, while ending on a cliff hanger, felt like a complete story arc. Think of it as a novella. Yes, I really want to get the rest of the book, but it was *very* enjoyable reading this first part.
Well, the preview was 34.000 words, so I think that definitely qualifies as a (slightly shorter) novella. Best of all, by my (guesstimated) count, the preview, as generous as it is, is still only 20% of the full novel, so there’s plenty more story to look forward to this end of March!
Enjoying preview. Thank you.
Oh the cuteness! It’s so fluffy! Am I sad about the longer POV…..no, no I am not. This just means I get to have time to enjoy Silver and Blood then dive into Beast Business!
Nice start but a major cliffhanger. Sneaky with hint on Stelkas, I was wondering with interaction in preview.
Not exactly what I call a cliffhanger. We’re seven chapters into a doorstop; HA is partway through the second book. This series is called Maggie The Undying, Maggie has already survived having had her throat slit once, and she specifically tells him to remember her name (which she gave him as Maggie the Undying) and wait for her. Her goods may be odd, but her odds are good.
That was amazing! I can’t hardly w*it for the end of March! Obviously, my husband will need to feed himself ’til I finish the story!! Thank you for the preview! ( But…also…AAAAaarrrrrggggghhhhh!) 😉
thank you! We just got power back on and this was here! Praying for the people who are still waiting
AAAAAAH, THAT CLIFFHANGER! I KNEW GOING IN AND I DID IT ANYWAY!
So, so good. Let the wa*ting begin.
Oh and for Mod R, Kobo did finally add an actual listing for the preview:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/this-kingdom-will-not-kill-me-7
Added, thank you 🙂
I am not going to read the preview. I am not going to read the preview. I am … not…ahhhhggggrbhhrrbjej.
That’s what I said!!!!
I’m trying to read it slowly! We’ll see how that works out!
I’m reading the spoiler comments instead.
how long do we wait for the whole book?
March 31st so another 2 months and a tiny bit 🙂
Does it matter for business reasons whether we get the preview or not? I have pre-ordered This Kingdom, and thought I would try to wait rather than get the preview, but if getting the preview makes a positive difference for authors and publisher, I’ll probably get the preview too
Off to reread “The Inheritance” and chalantly w@it
I will ask 🙂 but House Andrews policy is always “do whatever is most comfortable”. If you don’t intend to read it, the answer will probably be that you don’t need to get it. Preorders are great!
Thank you!
I am HOLDING STRONG!! Ignore the preview! IGNORE IT.
I am holding off till this weekend when I have time to respect and enjoy the preview then will go right into Augustine….THANK YOU ALL!!!
so the cliff hanger left me devastated until I did the mental math, a month and a half long w*it. I can manage… maybe
but who else is trying to figure out if mister nosey from the garden is Adrien or if he is the Archmage… and unfortunately by his description im rooting for the archmage already as mmc… not that I couldn’t be persuaded to love Everard. also, from the previous snippets and the awesome clue up above, the house becomes the house she keeps… dorothy?(I know thats wrong name, the information is still settling) Clover, and … the knight…😬 but I dont remember the boy in any of the snippets and im assuming hes to young to be river fog, does anyone remember a snippet he was in… i feel like maybe he was vaguely refrenced in tbe market snippet we got forever ago but I cant be 100%
Yes! I really want to know who that guy is??? He’s got foreshadowing all over him.
haha, same for trying to make sense of the guy in the garden! ill definitely reread the snippet again to see if Imisswd any hints. And to tie me over, this was great. I am absolutely hooked!
Thank you o’cute Stelka,
We love the pics and Map. Question(s) for the humans:
1) What was the moment that they realized that Maggie the Undying went from a small story into this big, epic fantasy story?
2) Will we get another map showing more of the world particularly the east (some say it bleeds crimson)
3)Thank you for Maggie, her story has been a shining spot amidst a dry reading year. How fares her second chronicle?
same!
Has Maggie already met the author of the book series in the preview chapters?
🧐 Hmmmmm……. No. No, she has not. 🤔
Well. Could be the handsome man from the garden of delights. He immediately knew that there was something different about her and that they *both don’t belong SO…
That was my thought. That the author had fallen into the story, earlier, and is waiting for another outsider to help him change the outcome. Even to the point of changing the existing books?
That’s what I thought too after reading the preview. Yes, I caved in and read it all last night.
By the way, thank you for the BDH acknowledgement! Maggie is definitely one of the Horde. 😁🤣
New members are always welcome.
Oooohhhh… That’s awfully clever, Katharina and Bill G. After all, if one can fall into the story world, why not two?
This is a much more chalant version of what I wanted to ask lol.
I’m wondering even if the Kair Toren world being a “book world” isn’t a huge misdirect. There were several instances in the preview where Maggie observed that the world she had fallen into was extremely vast, felt very real and its happenings went far beyond what the books had described–and I can’t imagine that observation was random. Anyway, it’s clear that “characters” like Solentine and Everard and Reynald aren’t mere “paper people” but very complex and dynamic individuals, and Maggie treats them as such.
So it’d be fun if it turns out that the author “Adrian Latour” was someone who simply observed the reality in the world of Rellas, in its original timeline, and recounted it as best they could in the book. So rather than an author writing fiction, they were a chronicler of actual “history” (albeit with a pretty omniscient POV). And since Rellas is a world of magic users, maybe someone was able to get this “history chronic” out into our world, where Maggie and others read it, and also reverse time back to the origin point of the Rellas timeline and bring Maggie to Kair Toren. I know your run-of-the-mill isekai wouldn’t dream of explaining the origin of the books and the actual physics of how Maggie transmigrated (and keeps getting resurrected)–those would be just accepted illogicalities of the genre–but I would have mad respect if HA have thought these issues through and will actually tackle them in the books at some point.
My thoughts too
What if Adrian Latour, after getting transported back to Rellas after book 2, engineers the Sleepless Duke to return to the Capitol, give Maggie money, and save her life so he’s waiting for a true fan to turn up at the Garden during “chapter 1”
OR. They were a previous Maggie returned to mundania.
Maybe Balcony Guy is Adrian Latour?
I thought this too.
Stayed up last night to finish the whole preview and it did NOT disappoint! Thanks very much to the publishers for that yummy chunk of the new world. I was watching the amount of time left in the book as I read, and the end still hit me like a splash of cold water. As always, we love love love your writing!! Pre-ordered my eBook from NOT Amazon (thank you for offering that, because I refuse to buy from Amazon after their policy change), and now I have something to obsessively check my calendar over. Love it, love it!!
I am IN LOVE with the art.
Sadly, it has been a while since I’ve seen artwork accurately depicting places described in a book, and these images are eating my brain. (Or is my brain eating the images? Nevermind, it’s mutual devouring.)
Will there be more art? Pretty please with a chalant chomp on top?
Just finished the Preview and I love the story so far.
Thank you so much for giving me another universe to care for and another set of fascinating people to get to know.
How much longer for the whole book? Counting the days.
“Thank you so much for giving me another universe to care for and another set of fascinating people to get to know.”
yes! this!
These are amazing!! Already read the arc and am obsessed! So cool to compare how I imagined things to this beautiful art
Thank you! Once again I think you Authors write the best fight scenes – I can follow them and picture where all the players are, and it makes it so much more exciting to read!
Can we pretty please have a pronunciation guide? I don’t want to imagine it one way and get pulled out of the story later if the audiobook narrators pronounce everything different.
Yes I second this!
This is such a great story! I am hooked, I‘m addicted, I need to actively distract myself so the wa*ting won’t break me. I feel like Maggie… a true member of the book devouring hoard. I need more story, I need the book… aaaaahhhh (very chalant)
I devoured the preview & screamed “Nooooo!” quite dramatically when I reached the end, to my husband’s amusement. Now I have to w*it again. I want morrrrre!
This exact thing happened at my house, too! Huh, what are the odds? 🤣
The preview was so, so good! It really does feel like a love letter to fans who obsess over a world in a book. And will there be a color map in the hardcover?
Thank you so much for this wonderful early preview. I may have excitedly screeched several times while reading. I love all the characters introduced so far (well, all the good or morally grey ones at least).
It is darker than most of your stories but I feel like it makes the city more realistic and Maggie’s survival all the more nail biting.
I cannot wait for more. I hope these two months fly by quickly!
This is great. I read the preview at warp speed, I so needed to know the story line. I have read the comments, now I can reread and absorb all the hints written the story. The art matches my imagination, thank you! What week the Horde is having…❤️
All the pretties!
I did enjoy the preview, I am definitely excited for the book… and the stelkas!
I couldn’t decide whether to read the preview then w@*t, or w@*t then read the whole book after publication… spoiler, I read the preview! lol, now I have 64 days to w@*t!! Ahhhh! But also, Tor, or whoever, did a great job picking the end point to the preview. It was *chef’s kiss*.
Questions:
With a book this big, how do you keep track of all the details? Especially coming back to it for different rounds of editing at different points in time. Do your brains just retain it all during the writing phases?
Now that you’re working on Maggie 2, has the story changed lots from how you initially imagined it when you started book 1?
The BDH is insatiable: is it possible Maggie 2 will be released a year after Maggie 1, or should we mentally prepare to have p@t!ence and w@*t longer? 😉
I think I remember that you have a three book contract with Tor but that Maggie is expected to be two (giant! ❤️❤️❤️❤️) books. What does that mean for the third book (if I’m remembering this right)…
Last, big thanks for posting your zoom interview people to watch if they can’t catch it live! I so appreciate being able to catch up. Hope everyone is staying warm and safe!
If Maggie isn’t a trilogy I nominate Puffles as Tor’s third book. I’m confident they would do a dragon story justice.
I second that!!!
Love that absolutely none of us forget any of the snippets and simply hope and pray that one day they’ll become fully fledged the way Maggie was
+!
Loved it!! Need to reread! Nine weeks!!!!
The Maggie preview was awesome. I love the world building details. What is the release date on Maggie 2?
There isn’t an official one yet, but the manuscript for Maggie 2 is already halfway done! 🙂
When does HA have to start on Maggie 3?
Did the deadline get extended? I vaguely remember Ilona mentioning (a long time ago) that Maggie 2 was due at the end of last year.
Thank you very much for giving us such a long preview. I was really surprised how much remained when I finished chapter 3, which is usually where most Amazon or Kobo previews cut off, if not sooner.
Given somebody’s interest in perfect teeth, does Maggie have fillings, surgical scars, or anything else that might make it harder for her to blend in with the locals?
Everything you write is a treat. I finished this preview hours ago and patiently await Friday. See, BDHers can be patiently impatient🥰
I knew I should not have downloaded the free preview… I can quickly see the number of pages left to me dropping way too quickly for my liking, and then I will have to WAIT until March. I am racing through it way too quickly.
March!
It’s enough to make one weep… At least I’ve got my preorder in.
Aaaahhhhh, so many reads all at once! I haven’t read the sneak peek of This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me yet. I started reading another book first. It’s not Blood and Roses at the moment.
I’ll read the sneak peek once I’m done with the other book.
Beast Business will be after I read either the sneak peek or Blood and Roses.
Eeeeek! 🤪📚🎉🤣🤣🤣
As I mentioned above, I caved in and read the sneak peek last night. All. 8. Chapters. It went by way too fast.
Two months and two days from now for the precious! I almost said two months from tomorrow, but that is for my birthday. 😉
I debated on reading it or just waiting for the full thing, but couldn’t resist. It was wonderful! Really looking forward to seeing the map on paper.
When we got to the kids, I was all “Clover!”. I love seeing how people from the snippets fit into the story.
Also, thanks for the teaser that the stelka comes back around.
I just shouted Argh!!! On my lunch break.
Ok so now my coworkers are side eyeing me.
Y’all got me good. 👍🏻
Mahalo for the preview and Stelka teasers.
squeee the artwork is so pretty! Candice is really amazing. Can I thrown my hat in the ring for a stelka plushie in the merch store? Pretty please? It’s such a cute fox-like creature!
I just finished reading the preview. I loved it and I want more! I cried, screamed, and threw myself to the floor when I realized that the story ended. (But I’m fine now- just have to try to find the patience to w@it for the full story.) Thank you!
great read! normally, cliff hangers irritate me but this one wasn’t so bad with context. looking forward to the new series!
Seconded! It’s only a cliffhanger without context, and there’s enough context available even within the preview.
Only 63 days or 9 weeks or 2 months and 4 days to go. Ahhhhhh!!! Can’t wait. The end of the preview made me yell out loud. It was glorious!
Should we start the countdown on the homepage? 😀
Sure. 😁
It it’s a great way for all of us in the Horde who have birthdays at the end of March to get our birthday present. 🎂🎉
This made me laugh out loud. I really needed the laugh, especially since it’s only Tuesday and I have already started stress eating my tub of Amay’s almond cookies (best almond cookies ever, made by a local company here in LA tho you can purchase them online).
How many parts are there in the book, and how many chapters in each part?
I hope Tor won’t flag me for spoilers for this one – 4 parts, all in all 43 chapters and an epilogue. I’m too tired to count chapters by part, sorry 🙂
Thank you!
It’s been driving me nuts how familiar the name Kair Toren is, and today I finally figured out why. It sounds incredibly similar to the place where the Witchers train in Sapkowski’s books and the spinoff games and TV show – Kaer Morhen. Did you realise that, or was it flagged to you by your editors at all? (Or was it deliberate, as a nod to obsessive fandoms?)
SO much research and work has gone into this from House Andrews, it’s a minute detail but honestly the behind the scenes was absolutely impressive, and I hope they won’t mind if I spill from backstage, I know they usually want everything to appear effortless and not show the sausage being made. They generated a whole language and “Kair Torren” is one of its pillars.
I only committed the bare bones to memory. Basically the etymology (which Sapknowski probably used too, because afaik it is not a reference, at least not a direct one, the word appears in different spellings in many fantasy books) mixes the Welsh “caer” – fortress, and the Norse “Kair” meaning rock or cliff and Hawaiian “kai” meaning sea. It’s a fortress on a cliff surrounded by sea, you see!
Minutia and clockwork detail is the thing with this book. I’m way over 10 rereads in at this point, since late 2022 and the first version, and I STILL pick up stuff every time! It’s like a fractal.
ooh, that makes it even more fascinating!
Loved the preview. It ended at a good spot. As someone else mentioned, like a novella. I was going to savor, but once I got in it, I couldn’t stop. I was totally hooked with the first chapter.
This looks to be an awesome book! W*iting for the end of March!
Glad there is another book to read between now and then!
I am so excited to hear this! I reread almost everything, but a book of this complexity offers many more rewards on each reading.
Hi Louise,
Sapkowski is a Polish author. Like many Slavic authors, when he was writing the Witcher, he reached for Welsh terms. Caer is an actual word in Welsh, meaning “fort” or “citadel.” He probably picked it because it sounded cool.
There are historical and contemporary placenames that use it real world.
Cair Brithon (“Fort of the Britons”: Dumbarton in Strathclyde[10][14])
Cair Caratauc (“Fort Rampart”: Salisbury?[11] Sellack?[10])
Cair Ceint (“Fort Kent”: Canterbury)
Cair Celemion (Camalet?[16] Silchester?[10])
Cair Colun (“Fort Colonia”: Colchester?[10][11])
But that’s probably not why it seems familiar. It is a cool word. So cool that everyone reached for it. You recognize it because it is heavily overused in fantasy media, in books, in games, in tabletop RPG…
Caer Benowyc, Caer Berkstead, Caer Boldiam, Caer Caddug, Caer Diogel, Caer Erasleigh, Caer Gothwaite, Caer Hurbury, Caer Renaris, Caer Sidi, Caer Sursbrooke, Caer Ulfwych, and Caer Witrin from the video game Dark Age of Camelot
Caer Bocram from the video game Tales of Vesperia
Caer Bronach and Caer Oswin from video game Dragon Age: Inquisition
Caer Cadarn from the novel series The Warlord Chronicles – set in Cadbury Castle, Somerset, according to the author’s note in The Winter King.[citation needed]
Caer Dallben from The Chronicles of Prydain novel series
Caer Darrow from the video game World of Warcraft
Caer Dhú from the novel The Sword of Rhiannon
Caer Llyr and Caer Secaire from the novel The Dark World
Caer Lyon from the video game Wizard101
Caer Siorai from the video game Death’s Gambit
Caer Xhan from the video game Breath of Fire III
Cair Paravel from the Chronicles of Narnia novel series
Kaer Morhen and Kaer Trolde from The Witcher novel series
Kaer Norvent from the video game Final Fantasy XVI
Kêr-Is (Ys), of Breton legend
Kerrith, town mentioned in the novel Rebecca, set in Cornwall
The Rabbit of Caerbannog from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Caer-Konig & Caer Dineval from the D&D Campaign “Rime of the Frost Maiden
This Kingdom is a world of archtypes. So when our language generator spat out “kairr” at us as a castle word, it was clearly a sign. We had to go with it. It works precisely because it seems familiar.
We do have 3 languages, or rather 3 vocabulary lists for this book. Kair Toren means Castle Towers in the Old Tongue. There are other castles, such Demkair and Wilkair, which also compound place names. 🙂
I figured there was probably a reason for it! 🙂 Thanks so much for the response and the explanation. It’s fascinating how much thought goes into all of the worldbuilding for a project on this scale – can’t wait to finally read it!
I’ve read the preview and it didn’t disappoint. The rest can’t come soon enough for me.
Hey,
Thanks so much to Tor for this generous preview.
I have so many question but will only ask a random one and hope the book answers most of the others.
Who is Adelai’s father and will this family (Galiene & Adelai) play a larger part in the book?
I’ve read the preview and I’m feeling very Gollum-ish about it. I’m not saying I would bite a finger off for the full book, but I’m not saying I wouldn’t either. So all in all it was everything I wanted it to be, and we needs it precious.
The precioussssss
It’s sitting there. On my Kindle. Taunting me every time I turn it on and try to read something else. Not sure why I ordered it. I promised myself I would just w*it for the full version in March. Yet here we are. Me and the preview…
Ta-na-na-na-na-DUM-DUM-DUMMMM
*The Good, the Bad and the Ugly whistle soundtrack slowly fades into the background*
You know you’re gonna read it… why else did you download it? It’s alright, really. It’s like an appetizer before the main course and who doesn’t love those? You know you’re just waiting to Devour it 😈
Riiight….
It’s like having an excellent, tantalizing appetizer and having to wait for the delicious dinner the following evening…
Might die of hunger in the night….
In this case precisely, the PREVIEW WILL KILL ME….My heart won’t take it and I can’t afford to stay under my covers while I count the days to the end of March.
Nope, can’t do it… not downloading, not reading… the best I’ll do is sneak in this particular thread…
The preview is saying “read me. Read me. Read me right now.”
I WANT A STELKA AND I WANT ONE NOW!!
**clears throat of Veruca Salt**
What I mean is, I have never had such a gut-Horde-reaction before even reading the book. And if there are suddenly stelka pushies available (unlikely, I know) I wouldn’t say no to a dozen.
I chose to read Silver and Blood today, but I look forward to hear what the cute little heist stelkas get up to tomorrow….or right now…brb…
The dedication brought tears to my eyes. Thank you so much for this book! 💜💜💜 Being part of this community and the BDH for the past 10 years has brought me so much joy. Love you all! So excited for this book to release!!!
Me too! The BDH is a safe, happy place to come and hide and lose yourself. The dedication really made me appreciate the group and how much House Andrews interacts with us. Plus I blew through the preview in an hour so now to go back and read carefully.
🥰
Yes,
I love House Andrews, Mod R and the BDH… we need to show each other love… now more than ever!
This is truly a special community. Being able to hang out here, and in the books, helps me sally forth into the world restored.
Need plushie Stelka
I second this.
I finished the preview already and am obsessed. I hope more people in the world discover your wonderful catalogue!
Awwwwwwe!!!!! I should have waited!!!! I am screaming! Great book so far though!
I’m devouring the preview so far but had to stop to comment that I just read “ One, two, three … five.” and cracked up!
Monty Python was the first thing that came to my mind though it’s not exactly quoted! 😂
Just finished and arrgghh!! What a cliffhanger!! Thank you for the awesome and lengthy preview!
Good thing I already preordered the book – so excited!!
I downloaded Silver & Blood to my eReader last night and This Kingdom preview to my Fire tablet. I’m almost hoping for another snowstorm so I have an excuse to stay home with my books.
By the time I get to the weekend (after downloading Beast Business on Friday) I will be well stocked for the weekend!!!!
I have a 5 hr plane ride and a weeks vacation in late April…I will try reaaaaally hard to save Maggie for the trip. 😉
You can reread on the trip to find stuff you missed the first time! Problem solved!
Free preview of This Kingdom has a cliff hanger line from Maggie “Wait for me.”
Oh, I am!!!! So waiting …….
Me too!
Yes, Maggie, we know your name and will wait. Not very patiently I will admit.
This is the official spoiler page, but not much spoilers yet, so I’ll put my two cents in now (some spoilers coming up)!
1. I’m so glad that Maggie told Galiene what Hreban planned to do to get her under his thumb. What a disgusting man. I sure hope he gets his comeuppance asap.
2. The parts with the stelka in the story were hilarious. Especially when it and Maggie realized they were basically holding onto each other after they escaped that monster thing in the river.
3. I wonder why Everard and his guards entered the city in such a rush.
4. Who was that guy in the Garden who called Hreban a gilded toad?
5. “What if my body was fed to pigs? Would I resurrect as sentient pig crap?”; “I didn’t have any professional abilities valued by Rellas. Nobody would be impressed by my expertise in Google Docs integration….” Hahaha, these were some of the lines that made me chuckle.
6. I sure hope Reynald AND Kinkaid fuck up the slavemonger after Maggie dies at the end.
7. I also enjoyed the interaction with Solentine.
I can’t wait for the full story!
So many many juicy delicious tidbits! So many threads to follow in the tapestry… so many questions and I cannot wait to find out the answers!
Love the preview – I look forward to the rest of the book!
I am so I love with this already! I originally wasn’t going to read it, but then I remembered I have a toddler and I need to read as much as possible now because he won’t give me a whole day to read it when it comes out 😁
I’m feeling pretty confident Reynald is the love interest. He’s the guard, she’s already being a little more honest about her unusual situation with him, and most importantly, the book summary says “dangerously appealing soldier.” Well he’s a soldier and I’m appealed, so I’m convinced.
Now what can I ask that they might actually answer… we know that Maggie doesn’t know every detail of Kair Toren, but their do seem to be some important gaps. Like her memory of the book description of Reynald doesn’t quite match reality, and that seems important. is Maggie potentially an unreliable narrator or is the “author” potentially an unreliable source?
Hehehehe.
You have a little evil showing there at the corner of your…yeah, you got it now 😉
Evil? Never.
😉🤣🤣🤣🤣
😀
They also potentially got the age wrong. But if she’s 26 and he’s 38 isn’t that a bit much for the age gap? I don’t remember what the general rule was for House Andrews but I know, for example, there used to be a group that shipped Augustine and Arabella but they were a) too far apart in age and b) Arabella and Augustine’s younger sister are in school together and that would be weird. So *yes* Reynold’s a soldier but we don’t know what the mysterious man in the pleasure house does yet and you could argue that Everard, while also a Duke, is a soldier as well. Just saying, she’s got to have her pick, right?
I read an ARC review many moons ago, and the writer mentioned how the “coins” interaction Maggie had with you-know-who was so ML-coded. I agree.
Plus, you know, I remember the night scene from the very first Maggie preview published on this site a couple of years ago (before Tor acquired the book), and originally, Everard just rode past Maggie in that “first encounter”; he didn’t stop to give her money. But even so, because he was portrayed as such a powerful and dangerous figure–able to give even the reigning king nightmares–I had a gut feeling he must be the ML. Because what is even the point of such a powerful, bad and dangerous character if not to serve as the FL’s romantic interest? ;p
Yeah, i flagged that moment of inconsistent description of Reynald as a CLUE, same as the invisible monster from the river. I’m theorizing we’ll run into the original author at some point and find out WTH why he did that. Also, its suspicious how the orginal author “disappeared” so I think he’s currently on planet. Of course that begs the further question of how he got out in the first place, and maybe….just maybe that’s how Maggie gets back (if she so chooses, i probably wouldn’t).
I’ve been thinking about the author too! Because of details like the the river monster, I’m pretty certain this is actually another world; Maggie didn’t literally fall into a book. And I would bet that he portalled just like Maggie to Earth and then was portalled back. How or why is anyone’s guess.
My theory is he’s a mage with the gift of “sight.” Whether past or future, I don’t know but it would have to be something that allows for serious specificity, like he relives a person’s experiences.
“is Maggie potentially an unreliable narrator or is the “author” potentially an unreliable source?”
To add my 2 cents, I think the preview made it clear that the books aren’t all-encompassing: there are potentially important events and actions that they do not cover (like the Sleepless Duke’s unexpected arrival in Kair Toren). So while I don’t consider the books unreliable per se–at least, Maggie hasn’t yet come across any situation that directly contradict the facts established in the books–they are likely limited in the information they convey and might even have dangerous omissions.
Then, even in the limited information that the books convey, there might be some obscure details that Maggie doesn’t fully grasp (as shown in there being an unexpected guard ordered to watch the sold children). Which brings me to the second point, that Maggie might be an unreliable narrator in the sense that, because of her rich book knowledge, she now believes she knows everything important about every thing and every person in the narrative, and she might get blindsided when she encounters dynamic situations (that develop slightly differently than she would have anticipated, from the books) and “characters” acting unpredictably for some unexpected reason.
In short, her book knowledge is her most important card in hand, but it inevitably also gave her many preconceived notions and biases, which might lead her astray sometimes.
Derog Olgren, not Ogden. Sorry.
This seems very likely to me.
Re: ML tropes: In the hands of accomplished authors, tropes were made to be screwed around with. Thank God. Excessive devotion to predictability doesn’t appeal to everyone. Although admittedly, nothing does.
“Is Maggie potentially an unreliable narrator or is the “author” potentially an unreliable source?”
Thanks Stefanie! That is a great thought and question and I’m going to have to keep it mind when I re-read the preview.
Wow, I read the preview (amazing!!) and the thought that keeps coming back to me is what a good head Maggie has for this whole adventure. I’m a compulsive re-reader, but I’m also about a 4.5 out of 5 on the aphantasia scale. Sad to say it, but I usually skip a lot of the visual descriptions in books (even in this preview 😬) because they don’t mean anything to me. I could never have recognized characters from their crests or navigated streets based on a character’s journey! Better Maggie than me for suuuure. Can’t wait to read the rest!
LOVE the commentator! He needs his own story!
I’m reading, I’m reading, and… the moment Maggie fan geeked over getting money from Everard I was sold.
I am confused, I don’t know where to order Beast Business. It is not showing up on my Amazon.
Kristen: “As you probably guessed by now, Beast Business has been pushed back to Friday. Arabella POV ran too long. Don’t laugh.”
Not laughing that Arabella has run long, rather I am very hopeful/encouraged that there is a lot more story in Arabella for another occasion, or novella or book…..
This is a good omen.
Plus One Billion!!!!!!!!
😉 😁
There’s no preorder period because we want it straight away!
So it will just drop on Friday and we’ll remind you and share links 🙂
This made my day. I just finished reading the preview and yelled out Nooooooooo! And scared my cat and my husband. So excited for this to come out.
It was fun as I read it to think way way back when House Andrews did a small snippet and asked if the Horde would be interested in this sort of story. we all lost our minds reading it and begged for more and to see it coming out soon is so cool. Thank you House Andrew for another great upcoming adventure.
So excited (but not at all surprised!) to read all of the positive comments here re: the This Kingdom preview. Usually when I read as many positive reviews as I’ve been reading here, the book doesn’t live up to my expectations when I finally get to read it. I’m glad that I know that’s not going to happen here! 😁
Also: since 3/31 is my birthday I want to save reading the entire book as a birthday present to myself. To that end, I have somehow managed to control myself and not order the preview of This Kingdom! I even skipped reading any potential spoilers comments. Let me tell you, though, I don’t think I can hold out another two months!!!!!!! 😂
OMG! I have not read any of the advance blog blurbs on Maggie. All I can say is:
1. The amount of effort, skill and imagination that has gone into this tale is, IMHO, phenomenal.
2. I read the sneak peek in one sitting. I haven’t read a book that hooks me so thoroughly in a long time.
3. The characters are so real.
4. The world-building is first class.
Thank you Ilona and Gordon for Maggie. It’s wonderful.
I hate cliff hangers so I decided I would wait for the book release.
but of course I didn’t have the self control so I devoured it the moment our toddler fell asleep.
And now I’m wide awake and not regretting it because IT WAS SO FREAKING AWESOME but also despondent over waiting until Marv
ch 31st.
Standing ovation to House Andrews but also a tip of the hat to the fiendish genius at Tor who decided to offer an extended preview. Is he or she a closet BDH member or just a lurker here on the blog? Tor has the BDH’s number. They must have read at least some of the thousands of comments on a serial post as we wail and wring hands with bated breath. But this ain’t a week’s w@it; it’s months.
Hmmmm, how to generate publicity and excitement: Give a horde with a propensity to devour just a taste. A delicious taste with a cliff hanger.
Cue wailing and hair clutching and gnashing of teeth.
Maggie is fantastic. Everything I hoped for and more. As always.
omg I loved the preview!! ❤️🎉 I’m sure I’ll think of a question to add but for now I’m just basking in this feeling of joy!
That’s so cool that she’ll take over that residence!
I knew it wasn’t the complete book but still yelled “NOOOO” loud enough my poor hubby jumped a mile in the air…sigh. I will be chalently waiting. sigh Thank You Thank You 😊
Sad to find out that preview novella of “This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me” is not available from those retailers in my country (New Zealand). I can usually buy ebooks on Amazon and apps on the Google Play store but the offer seems to be geo restricted.
Not complaining, just envious. I should be able to get the full book, I’ll have to …………… wait ………a…..bit……………..longer………….
Hi – this free preview does not appear to be available in New Zealand?
Check again I just got it in my inbox this afternoon across the ditch
I’m reading this now in Oz and I know others are too because I put ‘Can some people’ and the it finished the sentence for me!! … ‘smell ants’. I’m so excited that the BDH and I are all reading at the same time. Gotta return to the story! So so good!!
OK. I put it into Google. Sorry about that.
I have finished my sneak peek and am stealing myself to chalant everyday until my preorder is delivered. It is so so good!! Thank you so much House Andrews for this brilliant brilliant story. And another story dropping Friday! Woohoo! Glory, Glory to House Andrews!! (lucky you can’t hear me singing this).
That has to be the BEST cliffhanger choice of all time.
I am DYING. Tor knows what they are doing! Im even more excited to see them representing House Andrews than when it was first announced. I predict many, many new members of the Horde will be arriving soon. Calling it right now.
Is this my new favorite series by HA? I think it might be!
I very challantly will not be asking about when book 2 will be out or dropping hints that book 3 through 10 would also be welcome. Nope. Not going to say a word about it. 😁
I am having a hard time with reality right now. Thanks for putting all this stuff out.
I loved the preview, thanks so much!
And I have a question: did HA have to “write” the books Maggie has landed in before they wrote Maggie, or did they make the stories she read up as they wrote her adventures?
Ooh, great question! (And great name 🙂 )
the subtle changes in Celeste’s acquisition in the newest excerp is really great!
oh wow! the book is amazing. I don’t know how I’m going stand the wait. okay. breathe. I’m sure glad Augustine will be out soon. I should survive the wait. Maybe?. Thanks for a wonderful book. so happy.
Wow! Wow! Wow! Amazing story, and I can hardly w*it for the full release.
I downloaded the free preview after work, promptly devoured it and now have to… wa*t.
It’s amazing. You phrases and way with words bring pages, stories, and worlds to life. And yes, you perfectly captured why fantasy is my favorite genre. I want to live in someone else’s head/world for a while. I want the magical and fantastical elements. I am very impressed that you have somehow managed to create a book that is much much darker than what you usually write and yet, I can’t turn away. It does help that I know you (through your writing and what you’ve said before) and you’ve expressed that this won’t be a complete dumpster fire of doom. For which I am unbelievably thankful.
This book is and will be amazing – like all your others. And the jokes are awesome. The take on Isekai is very fun. And I want a female Stelka of my own. Preferably one that comes with a starter package of being slightly less bitey since I am NOT Maggie The Undying. Now that I think about it, is this Stelka of this world kind of like the BDH for you Ilona? We’re sorry and we’ll try to bite less. 😬. Maybe we’re kind of growing on you? (Like some of the fun fungus/plants from the Inheritance? (Sorry – I’m exhausted and my brain won’t shut up.)
Sorry three more parts that made me laugh/swoon/sigh with deepest love and appreciation:
1) “I’d tried every genre under the sun, but fantasy was my vice of choice. There was something about blades and magic that did it for me… my eyes glazed over while my hand crept to the BUY button, budget be damned.” Yep, yep, yep. One of the original care carrying members of the BDH. Absolutely. I’m not even sure how many copies of this book I’ve actually bought. #noregrets (although I don’t care about the hot dude in armor on the cover – I prefer to make my own image in my mind.)
2) Everard… I absolutely adore that The Villian saw a person in need (in a place that clearly is more used to stepping on them or murdering them) and is so generous. I’m not sure who I’m shipping yet, but Everard or Reynald are looking good so far lol.
3)Gailene and her daughter. Beautiful. If they don’t survive and live well, I’m going to need all the Kleenex, cute kitten videos, and ice cream with hot fudge and walnuts.
Everard is my ship. Hardcore. Reputation for war and never being able to let his guard down. Gives a barefoot beggar money in a city known to be cut throat? The rough tough cream puff man is SO my pick. We have a long history in house Andrews of warrior men with terrible, bloody reputations and hearts of gold winning the day. Hope we get the opportunity to see him again ~swoon~
*ahem*
HOWEVER, we will not discount the mysterious stranger in the petal garden house OR the body guard. Though he maybe a bit old for her.
There’s also Solentine! I know he’s too crazy to be the final ship, but he’d be so much fun (cough*scary*cough) to read, as Maggie’s suitor.
Ok, just a quick other comment that has nothing to do with Maggie (but I thought of because she’s cold and needs warmth lol):
Ilona if you ever decided you need money on short notice or that you want to donate something to a charity, you could make a small knitted (crocheted?) animal or a shawl. Or just put up a time slot for someone to meet with you via Zoom (or actually meet in person – I’d fly to Texas to actually meet you – I know this sounds creepy and I promise I’m not weird (well, ok, I am weird but not BAD weird). Then notify the BDH and we could all bid and I guarantee you’d have a LOT of money ( not nearly as much as your book deal, but still). I also really hope we can get soft stuffed Stalkas of our own.
Anyway. Thank you for sharing your words and world’s with us. You have brought me personally more hours and even years of joy, peace, happiness, laughter, and brightness in the midst of darkness than I think you could ever know. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Your books are some of the ones I read and reread. That I can quote from memory. Thankfully your website is not abandoned lol, although I do stalk it.
Ok, but now I do wonder, will Adrian Latour be in the books? Is that why he stopped writing? Or was he a specter of magic that writes stories and VERY OCCASIONALLY pulls them into the stories.
+1zillion Thanks for being so articulate about how much these books mean to us.
Also, I wonder if someone could come up with a knit or crochet pattern for a stuffed Stulka? I would bid on anything too but I’d love to be able to buy the pattern and create it. I’m not much of a sewer unfortunately but I’m one heck of a good pattern follower.
I’ve actually just finished the sneak peek and then gone through this and I am flabbergasted!! What an amazing privilege to be able to SEE the places in the story. And the map is just so fabulous. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Can’t wait, love all your books especially Kate, but very excited about Maggie x.
Aaaargh, who is the love interest?From the blurb it is a soldier. Raymond was a soldier. But Everard is also kind of a soldier, fighting againts the raiders. And he is mysterious and scary but also kind.
We’ll just have to read on in March…
Nut alas, that sounds awfully close to ‘w*iting’ and ‘p*tience’…
Also the Duke at the beginning… the one who rides the warhorse named Villian?
I know “This Kingdom” is a *serious* fantasy primarily, but because HA has always taken their romantic (sub)plots seriously (or deliciously, if you will), I’m fairly confident that here too they shall hold true to that age-old universally acknowledged truth in all traditional romance: the most powerful and most attractive unattached man shown in the narrative *has* to be the heroine’s romantic interest. 🙂
The two men you named both check the “attractive” box (as described in the book), but while a mighty duke perfectly satisfies the “powerful” box, a mere bodyguard does not. Unless he has a secret identity.
The romantic hero everyone expects (and deserves) can have a lower social background, if needs be, but he must still be exceptional overall. Exceptional to the point where he cannot overshadowed by any other, more powerful, man in the narrative. Because how could he, then, be a deserving romantic hero? ;p
That was my hope as well! As Maggie tells us, the story is full of tropes, so the Duke must be it, right? Right?!
Too early to guess if it’s the Duke or Reynald or even Solentine (though Solentine is almost certainly too unhinged to be it), but my gut feeling is he must be that character who’s either the strongest man in any room he’s in, or able to hold his own against the strongest man in that room. Like I said above, exceptional in one way or another. Because nothing else would be convincing/fitting in the world of Rellas.
This is why I don’t usually read genre romance. I realio, trulio appreciate when I can’t predict where an author is going with a story. I make the exception for HA’s genre PR, and a handful of others, because their worlds are so rich in every other way that it makes up for any issues I have with predictability.
I’ve seen what happens when dedicated romance fans run up against an author who’s writing in a genre different from romance, and whose storylines depart from or twist romance genre tropes. It can get seriously, seriously ugly. Please keep an open mind regarding the correct romantic outcome for any MC. The story and the characters belong to the authors, and they know better than any reader what that outcome should be.
I’m sorry if you’ve had unhappy experiences interacting with romance fans when discussing non-romance books. But why not stick to an optimistic mindset, regardless? My comment was tongue-in-cheek and only meant in good fun. I don’t really have any preconceived notions about who the romantic interest should be that can’t be dismantled by good writing, and I’m fairly certain that’s true for the very vast majority of HA readers, be they primarily romance fans or not.
That said, my opinion that HA always take take their romantic subplots seriously even in non-romance-centric books is informed by my having read most of their books, and I stand by that opinion. And I do still believe they will never give the FL an average Joe romantic interest. Not because such a character wouldn’t qualify as “a deserving romantic hero,” like I joked above, but because an average Joe would, by definition, not be interesting to read about. I’m happy to be proven wrong, though, so let’s continue the discussion come April.
Maybe the next challenge will be taking average Joe and “redeeming” his interestingness hehe. We’ve seen antagonist to beloved hero done masterfully, why not? 😀
hi, unfortunately if you are in Australia none of the links work, I tried Google play, kobo and Amazon and get message that this book is not available in my country, very sad 😭
UK publisher isn’t doing a free preview, but there will be something that I cannot announce yet that should let you read it anyway.
Is there any way to get the preview in the UK?
I have tried everything I can think of but no success. Though, to be fair, it’s probably a mixed blessing… if I can’t read the preview my wait till the full book comes out will be, very marginally, less frantic!!
Looking forward to Friday, obviously, and the end of March!
UK publisher isn’t doing a free preview, but there will be something that I cannot announce yet that should let you read it anyway.
Are you able to read book samples on Amazon.com?
The US hardcover edition provides a pretty long sample, which covers more than half of the extended preview’s content (5 chapters out of 8, with maybe a couple of pages missing).
Check it out here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBM45442/
I just want to make sure I didn’t miss out somehow… is the extended preview just the first chapter? It’s such a teaser and I hate having to be “patient and wait”!!!
No, it’s the first 8 chapters 🙂, almost the entirety of the first part (of the book’s 4 parts).
Need…. MOOOOAAAARRRR
I can’t seem to get hold of the preview in the UK. Has anyone succeeded and can you tell me how?
I’m so bloody excited about Friday that if you tell me the preview isn’t available this side of the pond I promise to be totally ok about it. Mostly.
It is not available in the UK, Australia or India – the U.S. publisher is behind this free preview, and we are served by the U.K. edition.
Not to be ‘that guy’ and super sorry if this has been answered but will the preview be available in Australia and other countries? Do we have dates?
Please…? Please….? (Quietly sobbing into my previewless kindle)
No, it will not be available in Australia before March 31st, the release of the whole book *consoling hugs*
Australia is served by the U.K. edition and publisher, this is a US publisher promo.
I ate up the Maggie preview in one session yesterday. What can I say, can March be tomorrow, pretty please? I will reread it again and again. Now I am waiting for beast business. I love your books, best ever. Wonder if the author of Maggie’s book will enter the setting?
Would explain why the 3rd one never came out and why they knew about things in such exquisite detail
“This is where I’m going to live eventually” !?!?
I am so so excited to read the full book. I’ve read the preview twice and cannot wait to see what will happen next. Thank you for the amazing art!!
Maggie is SO DARN GOOD!
FEED ME MORE.
PS-thank you for the dedication. Sincerely, BDH
Seriously, the depth of description you’re providing right off the bat is amazing. I got as caught up in it as Maggie did. Maggie herself is already a fully fleshed person with a great deal of complexity, but she’s reinventing herself even before we get to “meet” her. I’m extremely glad that Tor gave you a multi-book contract, because Maggie is someone I’d gladly spend many years with.
I thought it was amazing that we didn’t even learn her name until several scenes in. Like she’s a real person and it’s just so visceral of an experience for her and I didn’t even realize it at first but she doesn’t say her name until quite a ways into the story
I don’t seem to be able to access it waaahhh – did I mis something about it only being US available?
It is not only available in the US, it reaches everywhere the US edition is sold – USA, Canada, Latin America, EU, Japan etc.
But Australia, India and U.K. fall under the U.K. publisher, who is a different entity, and not doing this promo. We will make it, only 2 months left!
I am in Australia the links for the preview do not work unless in the US ?
It is a promo by the US publisher 🙂
It will not be available for Australia, as the UK edition is the one distributed there. Not long until March now!
There was so much in this preview, it was loaded with backgrounds. I’ll be going back to read it a few times to prepare for the full book.
I was struggling yesterday.
I lost my job last October and while applying like mad I haven’t secured a single invitation yet. It grinds me down and yesterday with yet another rejection sadness swallowed me whole.
To get myself out of the funk I read the preview. It really helped! I got out of my own head. And very much enjoyed the story. So looking forward to March when, in a first for me, I get ebook and the signed Waterstones edition.
I’m so happy it helped with a bit of respite! Best of luck on your hunt!
Best wishes to you. That’s a tough position to be in. The BDH is rooting for you.
These illustrations are beautiful! I’m so very excited for the whole book! I know it’s gonna be my fav seriessss everrr!
This is awesome, thank you for the wonderful visuals! Also for the “bad house” spoiler!! I read the preview and loved it, I’m so looking forward to the book release!
Thank you for all the creative beautiful delightful shinys! The perspective of our cute guide is TRULY appreciated right now! So excited for the end of March!
Thank you Ilona, Gordon, ModR and the Horde for holding this space and continuing to make it a bright spot on the internet!
I am truly grateful.
Sending peace, health and safety to all!
I loved it so much! I almost didn’t want to read the preview because I knew it would just leave me chomping at the bit for more, but I couldn’t hold myself back! Okay, so,
***SPOILERS BELOW***
.
.
.
-based on the above info re: stelkas, assuming the “bad house” is the slaver’s place I’m going to assume that somehow Maggie is able to take it over? I place bets that she keeps the kiddos, at least a couple if they don’t have anywhere else to go because where else are they supposed to go in that world?
-I think we’re definitely going to see the guy who gave her money again. Mr. Terrifying. At least I hope so. That was no chance encounter!
-We know Maggie’s goal is to stop a war, so is she going to be stopping the guy who left out the thief as an example? I think this is most likely. She’ll need to build her influence, household, and money to get it done. And knowing she has less than a year to make it happen puts a lot of stakes in her early moves.
-Have I mentioned my deep love for political fantasy? It’s a very deep appreciation. I think the only thing that would have made me squee harder for this book was footnotes, but it’s not part of the style for isekai or portal fantasy so I’ll let it be. Otherwise Every. Single. Other. Box. Was checked! And knowing that they’re ALREADY working on a sequel??? ~swoon~
Please don’t get mad at me, Mod R, but I just started devouring Beast Business and — I’m not sure if all edits have been approved and that’s the final version but — there’s a change in POV at the very beginning where it becomes first person. Specifically, the moment that they’re giving Augustine a box. I don’t know how easy it is to fix that or if it needs to be, but wanted to bring it up just in case…
Hi Danae, why would I get mad? Do I ever get mad 😀
Thank you so much for pointing it out, I have fixed in the excerpt on the website 🙂 (in case anyone is wondering, Danae is not reading the actual book, that’s not out yet- you too can find the excerpt here https://ilona-andrews.com/featured-release/).
The excerpt is the pre-edit manuscript draft pasted in last week when Ilona made the featured release page for us all to enjoy. There have been at least 3 versions since :D. Thank you for your patience and grace with us, our brains go “bloop bloop” atm if you come close and listen haha.
The BDH will have the best Beast Business and extras and Arabella POV surprises possible on Friday, no worries 🙂
**The Horde screaming and cheering across the world all at once.** 🥳🎇😁
Ohhh. thanks for the next spoiler. Maggie acquires the Bad House and get a cute pet. The sneak peak was fun. This is super cute.
Loved the sneak peek!
Any way of getting this from the UK? Very sad 🙁
I’m sure it is brilliant but I’m very determined to wa*t for the whole book. I have it preordered and will buy and devour immediately after it’s out! Sadly getting only a bit now will drive me seriously mad. It’s not so long now and we’re getting a whole Augustin/Diana/baby tiger novella on Friday! I thought we will be getting it as a serial and was completely caught off guard by it’s sudden appearance and release date so soon! Thank you, it was the best surprise ever!
Hold firm! I said I wasn’t going to read it….and I did…..and now I will be tortured with questions for 2 months. Don’t do it! 🤣
Please, do you know why is Inheritance listed twice on Audible? Today came another release announcement about it and only difference I can see is the higher price…
One is from back in the day when it was an Audible exclusive in October.
In January, the exclusivity period ended and the file got sent to all the audio retailers. Unfortunately, the Audible system picked it up as a second release and we have a ticket with them to sort it out, but they are slowwwwwwww.
Thank you for your patience!
If ‘Parting is such sweet sorrow’, then waiting can be the same. “Beast Business” will come, as will the full book of Maggie.
Chortle: I’m sure that neither will be ‘Maggies Drawers’.
My thoughts this morning, “Oh God. If I don’t put Maggie down Right Now I am going to be late for work” and “When does Maggie come out again???”
HA!
You can at least keep track enough to know that you’ll be late for work!
I HAVE actually been that person whose husband said, don’t you have work today and I am in bed and it’s time to get in my car…
Take shower or be on time??? 🤔
In bed devouring a HA new release
Thank you. I was feeling lazy about starting a new series, but it’s Ilona Andrews so I know it will be good. But having the tour with Kair sparked my curiosity and a bit of excitement to get tucked in. I must pace myself given the book is not out until March!
Cried when I read this. Things are so bad in MN right now.
Big, big hugs of support and solidarity from across the pond.
🫂 🫂 🫂
Maggie has a steam deck! she’s just like me I love her already.
also #teamsleeplessduke until otherwise swayed✌🏻
IMHO ~ I am in love with the ALL of the art I have seen for Beast Business. I know that it is all subjective. This art work is my favorite of all that you have…not to say that the other isn’t good. I just think that Augustine deserves to be a poster ~ Diana is the perfect match for him. Their edges seem to blend so perfectly.
The links don’t seem to work for me because I am in Germany. So I guess no preview novella for me….
Have you searched on Amazon Germany or just used the .com link?
Because it’s there and lots of readers from Germany have read and commented on it 🙂 https://www.amazon.de/Ilona-Andrews-ebook/dp/B0GGCXD843/
We’re not able to link every single country and domain in a blog post, sometimes we can just point you to the retailers and you need to do a search in the catalogue that applies to you 🙂
Can I just confess that I will be taking March 31st and April 1st off of work so that I can devour this book?
It is happening. I am not even going to pretend it’s not.
I do have a question…spoiler alert!
It seems that Maggie and Reynald waited “almost 4 months” before infiltrating Derog’s compound. I am guessing she waited for the right timing? Where did she stay during that 4 months? I can’t imagine she stayed at the terrible place she previously rented. I am hoping that gets answered later in the book? Did she ever get her money from Solentine? Again, I am guessing there will be some filling in of the missing 4 months. Maybe the sample release chapters are not in the same order as the book? Can anyone who has read the ARC tell me? I am sure they would not just leave that part out (as I am writing this I am realizing I need to just w*it and all will be revealed in the book). Don’t tell me what happens just that it will be revealed (of course it will). I am stupid, nevermind. LOL.
Why did I read the sample???
Why????
Now I have to w*it over 2 months to read the rest and get my answers!
Ugh. I did this to myself. 😆
Also, super excited for Beast Business! My comments above are about This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me. 😆
And on a side note, props to whoever decided NOT to call it something with Serpent, Wings (or Feathers), Blood, Bones, Shade, Night, Metal (insert choice), Flame (Fire, Ashes, or Smoke) in the title.
Maggie and Reynald went to infiltrate Derog’s compound the very same day after meeting at the teahouse (or, more accurately, that same night).
The “almost 4 months” refers to how long it had been since Reynald (after returning from his military tour and finding his wife dead and his son vanished) had learned that the one who kidnapped his son was Derog. Thus, it was almost 4 months since Reynald had been trying by himself to find a way to get to Derog in his fortress for information or revenge (according to the original novel, which Maggie had read). “He’d had almost four months to figure out a better way and he hadn’t.”
Ahhhh! Ok I missed that. Thank you!!! ❤️
once again I am entrapped er intrigued by a new story. I read this short preview not knowing what I would think of this story. I love most of what Illona Andrews writes and am a proud Horde member.
I was unsure how I would feel about this one. I was happy to get a feel for how this story would go. Now I have to know what happens next.
Darn you Tor and Author!!!(;
I stayed up till midnight to read the preview last night! It is wonderful and I couldn’t put it down. Thank you so much, this is amazing!
And it’s to the BDH…..we are so well fed.
Not laughing, but obviously Arabella has a lot to say. So obviously she needs her own book or books to fully express herself in:) OK, am smiling & maybe chuckling a little, but it is a chuckle/smile of anticipation & excitement for the upcoming release of Beast Business, complete with Arabella POV:)
Awesome! Have preordered the book and can’t wait to read it.
I was touched and delighted to see the dedication to the BDH.
I love the comments and questions here – it feels like the best book club! Where is the author, who is the man in the Garden, who is the romantic interest, how long will Maggie take to revive, will the kids be able to find their way home… etc.
The world reminded me of GoT, with all the violence. And here is Maggie, bringing kindness and light, one act at a time.
It reminds me of when someone asked Brandon Sanderson if he would finish GoT, if asked. He laughed and replied that then everyone would make peace, get married and live HEA. 😆
Maggie is bringing these good qualities to her world.
thank you for the lovely preview.
Spoiler speculation: Now wondering if the author of the books is the child seer. Since the books talk about things that happen in the future in the world Maggie is in, it would need to be someone who can either time travel or has knowledge of the future, and maybe something about how the seer came to be able to publish the two books in the “real” world or cross realms is connected to their amnesia in This Kingdom?
There was also something about the reasoning that the seer was his kid that seemed interesting. Maggie cited the fact that the kid had prophecy which was a rare trait as coincidental evidence that it was his kid, but it wasn’t quite explained whether his child had previously been said in the books to have this ability, and then this other character (who may or may not be the same person) popped up with the same ability, or if it’s something that runs in the family, in which case it could be a relative that is the author of the books. Leaning towards not something that runs in the family though, since the book said hereditary magic is in the Houses, and other magic popped up randomly.
It made me think that maybe Reynald has the gift of farseeing too. “It would have been a cosmic coincidence for him not to be Reynald’s son. The gift of farseeing was very rare.” What part of his gift might have played into Reynald’s immediate acceptance of Maggie? That is my question. Especially from someone who has been so recently and epically betrayed.
I like your theory of his son being the author. I personally think the author could also be the anonymous guy she met at the Garden since he seemed to know her or at least know he would see her again. Fun to speculate!
I was speculating in a comment above that maybe the author (not a fiction writer, but a chronicler!) had recorded Kair Toren’s actual history (the original timeline) in the books Maggie read as fiction, and magic was used to somehow reverse time and bring Maggie to Rellas at the starting point, but I’m liking the possibility of mage foresight being used to chronicle Rellas’ original “future” in those books even more. Then, the events described in the book never actually happened–but would absolutely have happened, had Maggie not been brought in to alter those events.
Continuing the theme of Maggie altering events, if the third book was never published because the author died in the portal world and couldn’t continue, then there would be no third book until Maggie altered events enough that the author lived, making it the most extreme example of the lengths a reader would go to to get the final book in a series! 😀
Hahaha. “the most extreme example of the lengths a reader would go to to get the final book in a series!” I love this.
But seriously, I find it plausible that the third volume couldn’t be written before because magic time reversal back to point zero happened before history advanced that far; or alternately, magic foresight from point zero into the future only reached far enough to encompass the first two volumes. Either way, the third volume = the resolution of the story was always going to be created from someone like Maggie altering history and shaping a different future than the one originally intended for the world of Rellas.
The artwork is as always,perfect!
I loved the preview and the stelkas. I’m trying to be chalant until March!
I just want to say that it came and got devoured before this post even went up, and I can’t wait for the rest.
Love the book, and I got my brother to read the preview too!
I really like the emphasis on how Maggie’s experience in this world is more vibrant than her read. Her recollections of the book description and her own views make it very clear that she’s in the real world. Can’t w*it for the book!
FFS!!! I now have to w@*t for the rest of the story!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOO!!!!! IT IS SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know I shouldn’t have read it, I should have w@*ted but it is so good, sooooo goooooddddd. How will I hold on?
I keep trying to be less dramatic, but I can’t seem to help it. That’s how good it is.
Me too! I am bashing my head because I knew better than to read it and now I shall have to pay for my impatience! Ughhhh. Why did it have to be so GOOD!?? 🤦♀️
Right?!?!?!? So amazing. House Andrews always delivers. I still feel extra dramatic about w@*ting for all the goodness.
I already preordered TKWNKM and I refuse to go near the extended preview because cliffies, so instead I’ll enjoy the info that Arabella has an extended POV, which means she has something to say, which means there’s a greater chance that we’ll get her story someday! 😁
Delighted by the preview and looking forward to rereading it, along with the rest of the book when it is released.
Apologies if this has been asked and answered before – what is the significance of the name Maggie, if any?
I ask because one of my favorite scenes in Kate Daniels’ world is in when Maggie (aka Christopher’s emotional support dog) bites Curran on the ankle. This is the book with Roman, the wedding planner and is my favorite of the series. I’ve always wondered what happened to Maggie, since I don’t think she reappears in next book.
Just a concidence?
Also, if you are considering topics for a Frinday interview, would love a conversation involving Roman, Sean and Oro about planning for Arland’s bachelor party. Since Roman is an expert on all things wedding and Oro watches a lot of movies …. the possibilities are endless.
Oooooo!!!!!!!! What a fabulous idea!!!!!
Oh my!! This is exceptional. I LOVE IT! I read it all and I CAN NOT WAIT for the rest. I know, I know, I’ll just have to. But holy cow you two have out done yourselves yet again. the BDH exist because you are freaking amazing at creating a place to go and live! I am always sad when one of your book’s end. But alas, you are always making more! Better and better. Am I gushing? YES! This book is going to be awesome. The 1st 126 pages have blown me away!!!
Thank you so much to HA and Tor for the extended preview.
I have a few questions, which I’d love to see answered, if not too spoiler-y.
1) Given that Maggie discovers that there’s much happening in Rellas that isn’t mentioned in the books, can we assume that Rellas is an independent real world, and not simply a writer’s creation?
2) Will the narrative explore possible limitations on Maggie’s resurrection powers? (On a personal note, I feel that as powerful a “goldfinger” as unlimited life points for the main character lowers the stakes quite a lot and seeps tension out of the narrative–because I don’t have to worry for Maggie’s life, just for her well-being.)
3) When Maggie was held hostage by Derog in Chapter 8, was she right or wrong in assuming Reynald would let Derog go free in that situation?
4) Is this the kind of isekai where the main character will get the choice to return to their original world?
Alternate question: Is time flowing normally in Maggie’s original world while she’s gone?
Good list!
For question 2, I’d love to know if there are limits, but I don’t think it will lower the stakes. Maggie is our main character, so we know even if she wasn’t undying she would not die; at least, not until the end.
From another POV, it almost raises the stakes because now we worry about the wrong people finding this out, and how much pain they could put Maggie through. I’m seriously concerned about her being burned alive. The continuous drowning possibility she mentioned in the book is also unimaginable.
+1
I respect your opinion, but I still, respectfully, disagree.
Like you rightly pointed out, yes, as readers, we do expect that our MC in any book won’t die in medias res, and especially not in a first-person narrative–and we’re usually not wrong to expect that. But there are always exceptions to that “rule” (Veronica Roth’s Allegiant comes to mind), and that string of tension in the narrative, no matter how frail, matters.
More importantly, however, is there’s a very big difference between the reader knowing the MC won’t die because she’s the MC, and the MC being literally undying. The former is an abstract, amorphous “knowing” and doesn’t influence the reader’s interaction with the narrative. The reader identifies with the MC’s perspective; when the MC fears for their life/is cognizant of the risk of death among dangers and extreme threats, that tension, that uncertainty, that fear seeps into the narrative and transfers itself to the reader as well. Not so for a character who is undying inside the narrative.
Which brings me to my second point. There’s a very big difference between *the reader* knowing, from outside the narrative, that the MC won’t die; and *the MC* herself knowing the same, from inside the narrative. The former doesn’t influence the narrative/plot, the latter does, very much so. Even if the MC says there are still risks and she wants to act as if she didn’t have this “goldfinger”, she will still have a subconscious reliance on it in extreme situations. Because she knows she won’t die, she can act a bit more recklessly, take a few more risks, solve otherwise unsolveable (or seemingly unsolveable) situations by… just dying once. Just endure the pain, and come back to life. Proof: the scene at the end of the extended preview. Maggie only chose that option because she knew she was undying. It would not have been an option for any other MC, in any other book, who knew they only have one life to lose.
I’m not saying Maggie isn’t in horrible pain when she dies, I’m not saying she can’t be made to suffer terribly if an enemy wanted to torture her. I’m just saying all of that applies for an undying MC as well, plus the undying MC can actually die. Maggie can’t die, and will even heal perfectly the physical traces of her death. So, by contrast, how can there not be lower stakes for the immortal MC versus the mortal one?
This is just my personal opinion, and I anticipate reading about an undying MC for once will be quite a shift in perspective, and lots of fun. But I also believe this will have an impact on how high the narrative can strum the tension for me, if there are no limits on the undyingness.
I suspect the real stakes and limits of the character will land more clearly for you on a reread and hopefully when you have the opportunity for full read, because at the moment they seem to be eluding 🙂 . It appears from your comments it’s easier to map familiar genre assumptions onto her and miss where the text is deliberately diverging from them. But the tension here is not built on whether Maggie can die once—it’s built on whether she can ever escape if she finds herself in an experience of dying indefinitely, which is not a lower-stakes condition at all.
There may be a gender gap as well, what you see the “worst case” and what a women readers do. It is well known female audiences rearrange the severity of harmful acts. Murder in fiction is easier to deal than rape is for example, because readers are emotion-led. Some criminal acts involve maintaining an emotional negative state for a prolonged time and others are “cleaner”.
This is amazing.
So far, I’ve gone to bed late; lost my place in my exercise routine countless times because I’m wondering about different aspects of Maggie/Kair Toren.
Some epics take several pages (if not chapters) to get warmed up into the story.
Others start with so many POVs that you continually back track to remember who is doing what and why.
Still others jump so hard from different scenes that you get whiplash.
None of this is true with you all.
Amazing. Thank god I’m retired, so I don’t have documents to research and write anymore!
totally bummed out, can’t get the preview as in NZ.
Well, you’ve got another winner hitting publication! To nobody’s surprise, Maggie is just simply fabulous.
Thank you so much for the large preview. Since the world of Rellas grabbed me right away (as yours always do), I am now impatiently waiting for March 31(?) and the whole book.
Take care of yourselves, please. (We need you to finish all the goodies on the “coming soon” list in a timely manner…)
I’m so glad you liked it!
The comments and questions here are fantastic, the full book will blow everyone’s mind, I’ve had a huge grin on since yesterday knowing what awaits 😁
Can’t wait. Really.
Did I miss Beast Business isnt up for preorder?
There is no preorder period, it will just drop on Friday 🙂
I have to admit I was a little skeptical of Maggie going into the preview because the description is SO similar to the plot of Long Live Evil it threw me off. I am incredibly happy to be wrong because the first 100 pages has me hooked! Instantly preordered and I don’t know how I’m going to distract myself for 2+ months…
Both books play with the basic premise of the isekai genre, but that is where the similarities end 🙂. It’s a bit like saying all romances are the same because there’s a couple that end up together 😉
Thanks for the map!
not available in Australia on Google play!
It’s not available in Australia altogether. It is a promo by the US publisher 🙂
sorry but which edition will these beautiful illustrations be featured in?
I’m sure it’s been said somewhere but I must have missed it
More on that soon 🙂
The pictures are gorgeous! Cant wait for the full book. March is so far away…
So I knew I was gonna like This Kingdom. I had a countdown timer in my head that wasn’t blaring, but it also wasn’t forgotten. NOW, it feels like March 31 is FIVE YEARS AWAY!!!!!!
I am already a huge Maggie fan and I barely know her!!! Also, it got me thinking: I would NOT make it in any of my favorite books. I would be very dead very quickly, especially if I’d stay the me I am.
All in all, loved it, and now I’m impatiently waiting to read the whole thing.
Thanks for the preview!!!
Holy Cow, it was amazing. I’m finishing Silver and Blood and then I’m going to read the preview again.
Just printed a copy of the map (thank you!) and will now go back and read the preview again. So much easier for me to have the map handy to look at while reading instead of flipping back-and-forth to look for something specific between the text and the map. Looking forward to the completed book in March!
It looks like a red panda and a fox had a baby. And it is so cute.
Will there be pushies? I just know some kid is going to want a plushy.
(It’s me. I’m the kid. Ok, in Roland years I am a kid)
Nice cliffhanger! I can’t wait to read the whole thing.
(Though I do understand better now why you weren’t sure it would appeal to your regular readers, and am grateful you gave a long preview so we could figure that out on a person by person basis.)
Wow, wow wow wow wow wow wow wow wow wow!
House Andrews have always been great writers, but this is amazing!
I don’t know why, but the line about vomiting, when trying to get the cloak off the bloated, dead person that said something about dry heaving until she peed herself was just an example of the amazing imagery in this book.
Thank you for the taste, and for the dedication to the BDH, it’s going to be a long wait, but it will be worth it!
Just gonna say thank you! Writers are saving what is left of my sanity and it is much appreciated!
I should not have read the extended preview. Now I’m painfully aware of how many days are between me and March 31st. Only eight chapters and I’m on the edge of my seat!
This was absolutely mindblowing…not a restful book just before going to bed, but the minute I saw the download in my kindle, I had to dive right in! Now I need a time portal to whisk myself to Mar 31! HA, you have outdone yourselves once again. Every book seems to be getting better than the last.
**chalantly wriggling in glee at having a morning break to re-read the preview**
Is it March yet?
Zoom questions
1. How much time elapses in The Thieves of the North? How much time elapses in The Lords of the East? How much time elapses in This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me? I know Maggie 2 is only partially written but what time frame do you anticipate for it?
2. I think another comment asked about this: what was your process with creating both This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me and Adrian Latour’s two books? Did you brainstorm/imagine/write the fictional books (world building, characters, storyline) first and then brainstorm how Maggie fit into that fictional world or was the creation simultaneous?
3.Were Adrian’s books self-published or traditionally published? I’m wondering if some of his inaccuracies stemmed from an editor who forced edits on him due to implausibility.
4. Did Elaut sell Ulmar Hreban the secret of Galiene’s daughter’s existence before ever approaching Galiene so she needs to act before he can buy the caregivers? I’m trying to figure out where Maggie’s warning fits in the storyline.
I’m wondering if Adrian Latour originated from Rellas and he’s the guy in The Garden and the tale of the toad was actually unique to the book and is used to identify fans of the book from Earth.
That extended preview was magnificant and horrible because now I can’t wait to read the rest!!
So Maggie will get the slave citadel?
I guess we’ll have to read on and see 😉
I should not have bought this preview— I am DYING to read the rest now! So good!
It’s like reading Star Trek from Q’s perspective 🤣🤣🤣
Naturally, I squealed and summarized the entire snipped to my boyfriend who laughed at me and said ‘Tropeception!!’
“Don’t laugh.”
I’m sorry. I laughed.
I still want a Stelka in the worst way! Read the extended preview and was blown away by the expanded book beginning. Well done!
Can someone link me all Maggie’s previous snippets? I seemed to remember there was a scene in which Maggie was talking to someone in the garden and all her people were there to ‘protect’ her.
Most of the previous snippets have been archived 🙂
Thank you for your amazing writing, I really enjoyed the extended Maggie preview! I’ve re-read to the entire Hidden Legacy series in preparation for Beast Business on Friday!
Take care of yourselves 🙂
You need to w*it longer for Augustiner.
Whaaaat?
You get 7k more words of Arabella.
Yay! All is forgiven. I will happily w*it.
Stupid autocorrect.
How come it doesn’t know Augustine?
It has nothing to do with This Kingdom, but today is a joyful day, because The Inheritance audio is now available on non-evil platforms! Starting my first listen!
hello from German little question is the ebook of Beast Business to buy tonight from 29.1=30.1 ore must i waiting on the USA timeline to change to buy the ebook ?
thangs
The files are being uploaded on Friday morning US time, it’s safest to wait until tomorrow for the book 🙂
The system takes a while to process
Fantastic! Thank you!
I adore how self aware this book is. Thank you for the art.
When I try to say something about how stunningly fabulous this preview is, my mind jams my fingers trying to type too many things at once!!!!!
It was AMAZING I’m so excited for the whole book!
I was expecting it to be good but I was floored by how good it was, so relatable (alluding to fanfic for example). I knew that there was a cliffhanger and I did not want to read the preview at first but that resolve lasted exactly one day. Please don’t ever stop writing.
Whaaaa…..Just finished the extended preview.. I don’t know if I will be able to make it to release day….whaaaa
I’m ready for Solentine to become my book bf! I have a feeling he will be the love interest. So many similarities to another IA hero fave of mine.
Monumentally Phenomenal Preview!
Your book is going to take the world by storm.
Long Live Maggie!!
When you are in Australia and it’s the 30th and Beast Business isn’t available on Apple Books yet. The stress, the excited anxiousness, the clock watching!
It’s been uploaded and started populating, some retailers just take longer than others with the system checks 🙂
Thanks Mod R, I’m sneakily checking between jobs at work… the excitement is real!
One of my son’s favorite joys is when he picks out a new book at the library (mostly fantasy) and opens it and there is a MAP. He will be overjoyed to see this. As am I. Thank you for sharing!
I couldn’t resist and ended up reading it 😭 Now I have to wait two months for the rest—it’s torture.
This is definitely one of those books where you need other characters’ POVs. It would be so intriguing to see what they’re thinking when Maggie drops hints about them and their futures.
Kicking myself for reading the preview because now I have to WAIT. FOR. SO. MANY. WEEKS. to read the rest!
I have read the extended preview and now must practice pat**nce and w*it. It was excellent and I want the rest NOW! 😁
Cannot wait for this book to come out 😍
Using this thread to send in my deep appreciation for the free preview. Yum, yum, yuuuuuum!
I’m now wracking my brain for what other snippets there have been, as it was so pleasing to read the tea-scene in its proper context. Was there a list somewhere? I should go hunt the interwebs…
Loving this world, and in particular I like that seemingly for once, a bunch of chiseled jawlines have been bandied about instead of there just being one amazeballz male, and that is it. (It’s been a few days, so I’m not sure there were any corded muscles, as they’re all so dressed, but yeah, buffs abound apparently).
Will now patiently (suuuure) wait for two (sigh) whole (double sigh) months (chalance!).
Love the preview, love the art, love the map (which I went back to at least a dozen times for clarification). This and BB will provide several fruitful rereads during the continuing cold snap. If you could arrange for normal seasonal temps* to return within the next week, I will return to normal outdoor chores and not obsess over when the actual book drops. Thank you for your time and attention in this matter!
*On a more hopeful note, I have named my new heat pump Honey Badger. That technology has improved out of all recognition. The old heat pump could not keep up anytime outdoor temps dropped more than 50F below the thermostat setting. This winter is worse outdoors, but so much better indoors.
Wondering if the character in the hallway was the king, because he said “of course I’d be the king?” in the fable? And a king would be rich as the character is implied to be. But he seems not insane and paranoid, which would make it another example of how the author of the books is not a reliable narrator, if the character is indeed the king. I feel like he pegged her as an imposter because most people that went there were rich, so someone who is not a servant but dressed like someone not rich would stand out, and since normal rich people wouldn’t go there, he’d assume she was someone else trying to be incognito like he was.
He’s also described as having a “regal nose” so a clue he might be the king?
And what is the “famous beauty” is really the Sleepless Duke? Where else could they meet easily in secret in the city? Also think he’s the king because he wasn’t afraid to disparage a Great Family in public.
Agreed. Having read it a second time, I’m leaning toward Adrian Latour being a Rellas native, possibly one of the Big 8, and of course no one can include everything in a book. So he didn’t include the giant amoeba – well, I’ve read American novels too numerous to count that did not mention killer whales or giant squid, because marine biology was outside the scope of the novel.
And if he’s a native, even if he’s politically moderate, his take on political figures is never going to be entirely bias-free. Plus, he won’t have access to the totality of their behavior, public or private. I’m well-supplied with siblings, niblings, inlaws, etc. None of us know everything about anyone in the group. I learned new things about my dad after his funeral, and about my closest friend last year.
Facts that don’t show up in a novel should not inevitably be considered lies of omission. They may reflect gaps in the author’s knowledge, or a simple lack of relevance to the author’s story. So any character Maggie meets could appear and act in ways that don’t match Adrian Latour’s characterization. If it looks like a king and talks like a king and acts like a king, it might be a king – sane or not. And mental health issues aren’t always obvious on casual acquaintance anyway.
The preview was great, ty for making it available, but dang it waiting till March will be hard
The excerpt is amazing and just makes the w*it for the book that much harder. That said, so so many thanks to Tor for making it available. I put it off until heading home from vacation. It made my various long air flights actually tolerable. Too busy reading to be aware of much discomfort 🤣❤️
I think the Preview was perfect! Perfect lengh and ended at just the right moment! We even got the first meet between Maghie and Solentine AAAAGHBCV!!
I heard it’s a love triangle but we all know HA is notiriusly bad a those (which we LOVE! DON’T EVER CHANGE HA!!) and I remember the little sneak peek from 2 years ago with a certain someone coming ito another certain someones Bedroom through the Window and *Banter* sooo yea I’m really fcking happy!!
Now I’m hungry! Thanks again.
the stelka preview you created here is fun to read after you finish the tor release. I am going to have to go back now and try to figure out which was the bad house , I think I know but will enjoy rereading to make sure
I’ve read the extend preview from Tor, I am HOOKED. Too bad it won’t be published by the end of Feb, I’m taking an international trip and I would have loved to listen to this on the plane! Guess I’ll just have to listen to other IA books instead, lol!
Finally broke down and visited Rellas through the extended preview. What a smart choice on HA/Tor’s part. 🙂 Loved the world, Maggie, and our heroic heisting stelka (pleaseeeeeeee). Looking forward to the rest of their adventures in March.
Oh man!!! I read the extended preview and I am so all in!!! I’m already totally invested in these characters. I so hope Maggie’s warning was enough to save Galiene and her daughter!! Not to mention Reynauld. And the kids! Oy! that world does NOT seem like a good one!! Go, Maggie! save yourself and those that you can!!
Looking forward to March!!+
the preview was wonderful. I can’t wait for next month when my pre order drops.
I had no idea there was an extended preview of This Kingdom. I did not remember signing up for it. It’s been a crazy year. Last night I had my semi-periodic insomnia and was browsing my library and there it was. It was like a Christmas Miracle – only later. The Magic Book Genie came through. I read it. I read it all.
Fellow BDHers:
TKWNKM is even better than we imagined. I don’t know how they do it every time, but the story, world, and characters are vibrant, distinct, and unique from any others. I did not guess the twists, yet they made complete sense! I also feel a little like Maggie’s actions healed me a little from my Game of Thrones final season trauma and fury because she was able to right some wrongs that happened in her GoT-like series. I listened to it (and the narration is really good); then, when it was done, I immediately went back to the beginning and restarted it! My one frustration (other than now having to w*it for Maggie 2) is that some of the names in this huge cast of characters were similar to my ear, so since it was audio, I needed to make a list to keep everyone straight. I wish there was a character list.
I can’t wait for you all to read it and to discuss/read about your theories and thoughts!!!
Amazing preview! The art, maps, and questions spark excitement and curiosity such a vivid, engaging glimpse into This Kingdom’s world!