Angry Robot sign up Paul S. Kemp

I'm pretty excited by this news :o) Shamelessly copied and pasted from the announcement over Here...

Million-selling US writer Paul S Kemp is unashamedly a fan of the classic “swords and sorcery” fantasy of Fritz Leiber and Michael Moorcock. Such a passion has fed into his New York Times-bestselling titles for Star Wars and Forgotten Realms. Now he’s created a series of original fantasy novels that bring swords and sorcery right up to date, for us here at your ever-lovin’ Angry Robot.


The Hammer and the Blade will introduce you to Egil and Nix, a pair of down-at-heel treasure hunters and incorrigible rogues. Egil is a priest, happy to deliver moral correction with his pair of massive hammers. Nix is a sneak-thief; there’s no lock he cannot open, no serving girl he cannot charm. Between them, they always have one eye for a chance to make money – the other eye, of course, is on the door. Only this time, the treasure they’ve thieved is an important relic of a most sinister and ancient family, who will stop at nothing to get their bloody revenge.

The Hammer and the Blade – a Tale of Egil & Nix will be published in July 2012, with a sequel, A Discourse of Steel, to follow in early 2013.

Because you always do this sort of stuff on press releases, I said: “Mixing the classic buddy pairings of swords and sorcery with very modern language, all delivered at a breathtaking pace, these entertaining novels are a tremendous addition to Angry Robot’s list.”

Paul added all sorts of crazy stuff, but we managed to cut it down to: “To say that I’m excited about joining the Angry Robot family would be an understatement. I’m beside myself with evil, maniacal glee. When I look at their talented family of writers – Abnett, Beukes, Tidhar, Broaddus, Forbeck, Remic, Warren, just to name a few – I think that surely someone made a mistake. I mean, in that family I’m pretty much the crazy uncle they lock in the attic.”

The deal, for world rights to two novels across all formats, was arranged by AR’s publishing director Marc Gascoigne and Kemp’s agent, Bob Mecoy, of Creative Book Services in New York.

Now I know we're not even going to see the first book until this time next year but I had a lot of fun with Kemp's 'Erevis Cale' books (reviews Here, Here and Here) and the thought of him doing that kind of thing all over again... Well, you can't blame me for looking forward to July 2012 already :o)

If I were you I'd mark this one in the diary and then go check out the 'Erevis Cale' books...