New Wallpaper for Upcoming Wheel of Time Book, A Memory of Light!

Not only is one of my favorite artists (Michael Whelan)  illustrating the cover of one of my most-anticipated books (A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson), now you can download the painting as wallpaper for your desktop computer, phone or mobile tablet-type of device! I’m so there. Below you can see a tiny copy of the image, but don’t use that one. Click through to the Tor web site to get a copy customized for the size of your screen. Here’s the link.

Michael Whelan cover art for "A Memory of Light"

You can find a pic of the final book cover here: A Memory of Light book cover

You can find Michael Whelan’s web site here: http://www.glassonion.com/

Disclosure of Material Connection: At times, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Best New Science Fiction and Fantasy Links of the Week

Happy Friday, everyone! It’s time to give you my favorite links from this week. So many to choose from this time. Well, here goes…

  • I stumbled across http://www.thetatteredscroll.com this week. There you can find many current fantasy ebook deals, including two RA Salvatore ebooks currently priced at $4.99 (that’s $3 off the usual digital price). It’s nice to have someone willing to go through what’s out there and find the cream of the crop.
  • http://www.starwarsuncut.com/ has released a remake of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, comprised entirely of 15-second fan clips. I watched a few minutes and have to shake my head at the originality of some of the submissions.
  • I love beautiful artwork. Naomi Novik has posted a beautiful piece of fan art by Daniel Govar, a dragon based on her Temeraire series.
  • MIT unveiled In Europe the Hiriko electric car, a windshield mounted car that folds up to take up one-third the parking space of an average size car. A pilot program for the little sci-fi looking buggy is set to begin next year.
  • I see Steven Spielberg is considering creating a Moses epic for Warner Bros. Will it going to be more fantasy or faith? I guess we’ll see.
  • Last year, Tor Forge gave away copies of Templar One (EVE, #2) by Tony Gonzales. Well, they’re at it again. Five copies are available on Goodreads. Deadline is February 24, 2012. (The book is based on the MMORPG game, http://www.eveonline.com/) For a peek at the action-packed trailer for the game see the publisher’s book page.
  • Here’s one that cracked me up: The 10 most undignified deaths in SFF, according to the Facebook followers of io9.com.
  • Care to contribute to one man’s attempt to list the family tree of every character in Lord of the Ringshttp://www.lotrproject.com/. I wish him luck.
  • Giveaway: To kick off the Year of the Dragon, Tor is giving away four copies of the Wheel of Time prequel, New Spring: The Graphic Novel by Robert Jordan, Chuck Dixon, and Mike S. Miller. Speaking of WOT, the publisher is also offering 10 copies of the first book in the series, The Eye of the World. The deadline for both is February 24, 2012.
  • Giveaway: Another offering by Tor on Goodreads — The Stolen Throne by David Gaider, the prequel to Dragon Age: Origins, the role-playing video game from Bioware. Deadline is February 24, 2012.
  • Here’s some geek news: University of Washington researchers have created a game, Foldit, where players can decode and create protein shapes to help scientists learn how proteins work and help with drug research for HIV and Alzheimer’s cures. Gamers, go forth and save the world! More on this story on CNET.
  • Minecraft and Zelda unite! Here’s a video showing the Hyrule Temple built in Minecraft. Now that must have taken quite some time.
  • Want to up your geek-cred points a tiny bit? Tell people you know where to find the video showing the Lego Man in Space, footage shot by 17-year-olds Matthew Ho and Asad Muhammad using a weather balloon and makeshift Styrofoam spacecraft to send a Lego man 15 miles up into the stratosphere. To make it easy, here you go:
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I think that’ll do it for now. Have a great weekend, everyone! If I missed any good links, leave a note in the comments. I love to hear from you.

Disclosure of Material Connection: At times, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Cover Art Released for “Way of Kings”


One of the things I love about fantasy fiction is the artwork. There are some incredibly gifted artists out there that create works for this genre. One of the most respected is Michael Whelan, who has been commissioned by Tor to create the cover art for Brandon Sanderson’s upcoming book The Way of Kings. Wouldn’t you agree with me that this is an absolutely stunning painting?

For the author’s thoughts on having a Michael Whelan cover for his new book, click on over to a post on the Tor.com website.

Disclosure of Material Connection: At times, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Don Dos Santos Paints Warbreaker Cover

In a follow-up to yesterday’s coverage of Brandon Sanderson’s soon-to-be-published Warbreaker, I want to draw attention to the artist who painted the beautiful cover. Don Dos Santos has made available a five-minute video demonstrating the process behind the Warbreaker oil painting. What an incredible talent!

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Disclosure of Material Connection: At times, some of the links in my posts are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”