Between the Stacks: Volume II

January 2024 Edition

• What's been happening?
• What's coming next?
• Important dates you don't want to miss!
• Book Spotlight:  In His Majesty's Service

Happy New Year everyone! Like most of you, the holidays were a busy time for the Grim Oak team. Besides the usual chaos of family and holiday events, we also had multiple shipments of books and cases arrive in early January (12 pallets 🤪). On top of that, we were hard at work obtaining rights for new books, with some big wins that are going to be amazing additions to the Grim Oak portfolio. We are very thankful for the incredible community of book readers and collectors that are allowing us to pursue our passion projects and bring them to life in true Grim Oak fashion.

What's been happening in the warehouse?

With the delivery of 12 pallets of goodies in early January, Becky has been one busy girl. We started with the unwrapping and inspecting of Unbound II and the slipcases. What a beautiful project that turned out to be. The quality we received from our partners was fantastic and the design and color scheme of the wrap around dust jacket was crushed by the amazing Todd Lockwood once again. We've added some cool pictures to the product page HERE if you are interested in taking a look. All pre-orders have been packed up and shipped out to customers. We do still have some copies in stock, if you are interested.

So what was on the other 9 pallets? Well, the rumors are TRUE! We have finally completed our oldest project, The Belgariad by David Eddings, and the final three books were delivered along with the slipcase that fits all 5 from the series. While we are not happy with how long it took to complete the series, we are VERY happy with how it turned out. The warehouse is currently shipping out all pre-orders and we expect to be completed by mid-February. Since this is a very old project that will have multiple books per shipment, it is an absolute beast to pack and keep people in their matching number sets. We thank everyone for their patience and know you will love them when received!   

What's next on the horizon?

Based on current printer and bindery schedules, we expect to be receiving Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris in early March, followed by The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune in April or May. We don't have exact dates from our bindery for House but we have received proofs for both titles (some pictures on the Grim Oak Community) and approved designs for artwork and casing. Get your pre-order in if you want to lock in a copy. They are impressive in artwork and design, let alone great stories you need to read.

Also, for the first time ever, Grim Oak Press will have our own booth (20305) next to Todd Lockwood at Emerald City Comic Con! This is such a fun convention and it happens to be hosted in Seattle, an incredible city and our hometown! We plan to give away some cool swag, have multiple authors stop by for signings, and showcase some amazing Grim Oak titles. It would be wonderful for those of you planning to attend to stop by and say hello. Rumor has it that Jeff and Becky will be in costume, but believe it when you see it 😂.

Put these dates on your calendar!

• January 31st: Open ordering for Stone of Farewell by Tad Williams begins at 11am PT! This is the second book in the beloved Memory, Sorrow, & Thorn trilogy and a Grim Oak must own title.  The past couple of weeks owners of The Dragonbone Chair have had an exclusive chance to purchase and match their series number, but time is running out! Please get your order in before 1/31 so we can guarantee you a copy and matching numbers. Once open to all, we cannot make any promises.
• February 7th: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss pre-sale begins at 11am PT. This is going to be out of this world as we will be the first Small Press in North America to bring to life this wonderful novel featuring an unprecedented amount of artwork from Marc Simonetti across four incredible editions. Please take a look at our FAQ page to learn more and get ready.
• February 12th:  Grim Oak press will be LIVE on our Facebook page at 11am PT and doing our Q2 project reveal. There will be something in there that we have not even hinted at along with another very special guest star!  Don't miss it.
• February 21st: The exclusive 2 week pre-order period begins for The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett for owners of The Warded Man. Emails with passcodes will go out at that time with Open ordering beginning on March 6th at 11am PT.

January Book Spotlight:

Together in one volume, here are the first three novels in Naomi Novik’s New York Times bestselling Temeraire series, combining the gripping history of the Napoleonic era, the thrill of Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern books, and the excitement of Patrick O’Brian’s seafaring adventures.

Capt. Will Laurence is serving with honor in the British Navy when his ship captures a French frigate harboring a most unusual cargo–an incalculably valuable dragon egg. When the egg hatches, Laurence unexpectedly becomes the master of the young dragon Temeraire and finds himself on an extraordinary journey that will shatter his orderly, respectable life and alter the course of his nation’s history.

Thrust into England’s Aerial Corps, Laurence and Temeraire undergo rigorous training while staving off French forces intent on breaching British soil. But the pair has more than France to contend with when China learns that an imperial dragon intended for Napoleon–Temeraire himself– has fallen into British hands. The emperor summons the new pilot and his dragon to the Far East, a long voyage fraught with peril and intrigue. From England’s shores to China’s palaces, from the Silk Road’s outer limits to the embattled borders of Prussia and Poland, Laurence and Temeraire must defend their partnership and their country from powerful adversaries around the globe. But can they succeed against the massed forces of Bonaparte’s implacable army?

- The Grim Oak Team

"Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts. There are seven words that will make a person love you. There are ten words that will break a strong man's will. But a word is nothing but a painting of a fire. A name is the fire itself."

-Kvothe