Fable

Over on Facebook, Sean Smith pointed me to this article: Fable Legends Cancelled As Lionhead And More Close. Here’s the announcement on Xbox Wire.

It’s strange to know I’ve written a tie-in novel for a game that will never exist. But hey, does that mean Fable: Blood of Heroes is now a collector’s item?

I wanted to wish everyone at Lionhead the best. I’m sorry we won’t get to see Fable Legends. I can tell you there were a lot of fun ideas and characters in the game, and everyone I spoke to and emailed while working on Blood of Heroes was a pleasure to work with. Interacting with the fans over on the Fable boards was great too.

I know there were delays in getting the game into production, and it was pushed back several times. I don’t know any of the specifics as to why they decided to cancel it now.

My thanks to the team at Lionhead for giving me the chance to play in their world.

Back in the first part of 2013, my agent got in touch with me to ask if I’d be interested in writing a tie-in novel for the new Fable: Legends video game.

Today, more than two years later, Fable: Blood of Heroes officially hits bookshelves across the country. The book is humorous fantasy, most similar in tone to my goblin books, and tells an original story about the Heroes of the game joining forces against a nasty threat with bad teeth.

Q&A:

“Can I read and understand the book if I’ve never played the Fable games?”

Yes. Yes you can. I wanted to make the story accessible to everyone. There are a few inside references for long-term Fable fans, but they shouldn’t detract from the experience or bump you out of the story if you’re not familiar with the world.

“When will the Fable: Legends game come out?”

Later this year. Check the Fable: Legends website for updates, or to sign up for the beta.

“What was it like working with Lionhead?”

Different. Fun. Ultimately, very rewarding.

Purchase Links:

• TRADE PAPERBACK: Amazon | B&N | BAMM | Mysterious Galaxy | Schuler Books | Indiebound
• EBOOK: Amazon | B&N | BAMM | Kobo | iBooks

Amazon appears to have marked the trade paperback down to $7.65 today.

Excerpt:

• Available on the publisher’s website. Click the “Look Inside” link.

Other Release-Day Links:

• The Big Idea – Guest post on John Scalzi’s blog, talking about a world in flux.
• Companion Novels are Clucking Poetry, Man! – Guest post on Chuck Wendig’s blog, talking about writing my first tie-in novel.
• Interview: Jim C. Hines – Matt Staggs interviewed me for the Suvudu website.
• Jim C. Hines on the Game-Inspired Novel Fable: Blood of Heroes – Paul Semel interviewed me for GameCrate.
• In the Spotlight – An interview at Second Run Reviews.

More to come!

Final Note:

Thank you to Lionhead, Del Rey, and my agent for helping to make this happen. Thanks also to all the readers and Fable fans who’ve expressed their excitement and enthusiasm about the story. I hope it makes you smile, laugh, cheer, and look at chickens in a whole new way.

As always, release week is one of the most important times in a young book’s life. If you felt like mentioning the book online or posting a review, the redcaps would be forever grateful. (Though, considering what redcap gratitude probably looks like, that may not have been the best way for me to encourage word-of-mouth…)

Fable: Blood of Heroes [Amazon | B&N | Indiebound] comes out tomorrow, which means I’ll be spending much of this week doing the new book dance. Here’s where you’ll be able to find me both in the real world and online:

• Tonight (8/3) from 8-9 p.m. – Online Chat/Q&A at Night Owl Reviews.
• 8/4 at 7 p.m. – Book Launch and Signing at Schuler Books – Eastwood. Lansing, Michigan.
• 8/5 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. – Talk and Q&A on Heroes, Writing at Delta Township District Library. Lansing, Michigan.
• 8/11 at 7 p.m. – Booksigning at Schuler Books – Grand Rapids. Grand Rapids, Michigan.

I’ve got two guest blog posts going up at other folks’ sites. I’ll link to those as soon as they go live. I’ll also be sending out a newsletter tomorrow, and one subscriber (drawn at random) will receive a free autographed copy of the book.

Happy Book Week, everybody!

Fable: Blood of Heroes [Amazon | B&N | Indiebound] comes out in exactly one week.

Making life more interesting, Revisionary is due to my editor on Saturday, August 1. It’s going to be a hectic week or two in the Hines house.

Anyway, since it seemed to go over well last time, I figured I’d give away another book. Next week, I’ll be sending out another author newsletter about the book, and when I do, I’ll pick one subscriber at random to receive an autographed copy of Blood of Heroes.

If you’re interested, you can sign up here.

And on that note, I gotta get back to revising Revisionary… Have a lovely night, all!

Friday brought author copies of Fable: Blood of Heroes. That same day, I discovered that the publisher had posted the first few chapters of the book on their website.

So head on over and click the “Look Inside” link to meet my Villain and four of the Heroes, as well as a king, a dead ex-king, a runaway pig, and more.

Just to give a quick sense of the book’s tone, here’s the dedication:

Dedicated to the memory of that legendary Hero Sir Whitefeather Cluckwarbler the Quick, also called the Courageous, the Strong, the Daring, and the Chicken. He was an inspiration to generations of poultry to come.

(In the end, Sir Cluckwarbler ultimately came to be known as “the Tasty…”)

Only 15 days until the book comes out!

For the past year or so, I’ve been hinting about a Secret Project I was working on. Said project came with a nondisclosure agreement, which meant I couldn’t share the details, but it was a great deal of fun, something different than I’d done before, but still very much a match for my style as a writer.

Well, a few days ago, said project showed up on Amazon and other online retailers, and then today my publisher gave me official permission to talk about it.

For the gamers out there, have you heard of the Fable video games from Lionhead Studios?

Perhaps you’ve heard of the newest installment in the series, Fable Legends, which is coming out later this year?

Well, I’m happy to say there’s a tie-in novel to go with said game, an original story set in the ancient days of Albion, involving the heroes and creatures from Fable Legends:

Fable: Blood of Heroes, by Jim C. Hines

This has been a really fun book to write. Both my editors at Random House/Del Rey and the folks at Lionhead were wonderful to work with, helping me stay within the bounds of the gaming world while also giving me a lot of room to tell my own story.

According to Amazon, Blood of Heroes comes out on August 4, 2015 in electronic and trade paperback format. I haven’t seen cover art yet. (The image here is from the video game.)

There’s no official summary of the book yet, but I can tell you that we meet some of the characters from the game, and there’s plenty of action and chaos. And also chickens. Because it’s Fable.

I was a little nervous about doing my first tie-in novel, but this has been a wonderful experience, and I’d love to do it again in the future. And not just because there were a few weeks where I got to sit around the house playing video games, while legitimately telling my kids, “Daddy’s working!”

Pre-order Links

• Amazon: Print – Ebook
• B&N: Print – Ebook
• BAMM: Print – Ebook
• Indiebound: Print
• Schuler Books: Print
• Kobo: Ebook

While I can’t talk about a lot of the details yet, there will be more information coming relatively soon, including cover reveals, character info, and more. In the meantime, I’m just excited and thrilled and proud to be able to announce this one. If you’re a fan of Fable and/or my work, I think you’re really going to enjoy it.