George R. R. Martin Recommends Elegy For Darkness

George R. R. Martin Recommends Elegy For Darkness

Hi Everyone,

When we received our copies of Elegy for Darkness by Jacqueline Carey, Jeff and I were excited to see how beautiful the book turned out. I think it might be my favorite Grim Oak edition so far. Epic Donato Giancola artwork inside and out, foiled and embossed dust jacket, a black ribbon to keep your reading place, black stained pages, double-signed by author and artist, and the highest quality materials.

And not only that, but it's an epic tragedy of epic fantasy, one of my favorite books in the Tolkien tradition.

I'm not the only one who feels that way. Years ago, bestselling A Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin said the same on his Not A Blog about Banewreaker and Godslayer, the two books that comprise Elegy for Darkness:

"Someone once said that the villain is the hero of the other side, a maxim that l long ago took to heart in my own fiction... And now comes Jacqueline Carey, best known for her Kushiel series of erotic fantasy novels, with Banewreaker and Godslayer, a two-part high fantasy epic that is at heart a retelling of Lord of the Rings from the point of view of Sauron.
Oh, Sauron’s not in it, of course. Neither is Gandalf nor Frodo the Ringbearer nor Aragorn son of Arathorn; that would be copyright infringement. You don’t have to squint very hard to see their shadows standing behind Satoris the Third-Born, Malthus, Dani the Water-Bearer, and Aracus Altorus, however, for all that Carey does a deft job of making them characters in their own right. And where Sauron had his Nine, Satoris has his Three, the foremost of whom, Tanaros Blacksword, is really the hero (antihero?) of the saga, and a damned compelling character. You can’t help rooting for him, even though you are uncomfortably aware all the while that you’re cheering on the Witch-King of the Nazgul… which may well be Carey’s point.
It’s a splendid idea splendidly accomplished, so much so that I ended up wishing there were three of them instead of two. I mean, hey, if you’re going to go this far, why not go all the way?"

As you can see from what George says, he loved Elegy for Darkness. He's a man who does not recommend books lightly. I actually sent George a copy -- "numbered" GRRM because I thought that'd be fun -- and I hope he loves it like I do.

While you wait on The Winds of Winter or if you love Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, I also recommend Elegy for Darkness. You can order it HERE — and a slipcase for it if you like — and you will not be disappointed.

Hope you are staying safe, healthy, and reading something great! All love from us to you during this hard time.

Shawn Speakman
Publisher & Creative Director

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